Dream work can help individuals recover the lost or confused parts of the self.
Dreamwork means to spend time trying to understand what a dream has to tell you about yourself and your current situation. By understanding what can be learned from your dreams, more healthy inner awareness is generated.
But first you have to be able to regularly recall your dreams. This seems to be easier for some people than others.
Dream Recall Techniques
There are several methods that can help you to improve your ability to recall and remember dreams.
- Keep pen and paper beside your bed. Some people find it helpful to keep it right on the bed next to their pillow.
- Keep a small reading light or flashlight so that you don’t have to wake up your bed companion or wake yourself up even further.
- In the morning, or whenever you wake up, don’t just jump out of bed, but lie there and let the dream linger a bit. Give your dreams a chance to reintroduce themselves before full waking consciousness takes over.
Problems with Dream Recall
Sometimes dreams are just not that easy to recall. This may be due to a number of factors which can include things like unusually high levels of stress and anxiety.
Changes in lifestyle can also inhibit dream recall such as consuming higher than usual levels of alcohol and caffeine.
Moreover, if the adrenal system is not working properly this can play a factor in difficulty with dream recall. There are things that one can do to increase dream recall which include:
- Make some changes in diet and routine. Both more protein and better exercise can help;
- Practice positive affirmations or prayer before sleep in which you ask to recall your dreams, and;
- Try taking a mid-morning or afternoon nap if time allows. Nap dreams are often easier to recall.
Key Questions to Stimulate Recall
On waking some key questions might help bring back a fleeting dream. These are as follow:
- Is there a key image associated with this dream?
- Is there a key feeling associated with this dream?
- Does this dream have a location or place name you can recall?
- Are there familiar people or animals in this dream?
If any of the above come to you, begin there. Jot down the information and then reenter the dream-scape through active imagination. Active imagination means re-imagining what might have happened.
How to Have More Lucid Dreams
Other things you can do immediately on waking to help with dream recall include:
- Write down any words or messages you might have received in this dream;
- Write down any numbers or phrases that came to you in the dream, and;
- Try sketching a single image, no matter how unclear or vague it seems.
If you don’t think of yourself as someone who draws, don’t try drawing an entire picture. Just start with a circle. Doodle. A picture or image may start to emerge.
Dreaming About a Man With No Eyes
For example, say you dreamed of a strange man with no eyes. But you don’t recall this at all.
Instead, you sketch some circles. The circles you begin sketching awaken in you a memory of man’s eyes from the dream. So you begin to recapture the image. You draw the eyes. You remember the eyes had no pupils. This strange image brings another and another. You begin to recall the figure lying on a bed. His leg has a huge gash in it.The eyes have no pupils. Something is beginning to emerge.
As you draw you begin to remember more. Write down whatever you remember.
Keeping a Dream Journal to Improve Dream Recall
It is not enough to sketch or scribble random images and words. Try to develop the habit of spending a few moments daily writing out the dream more fully. Date the top of page when dream occurred. Write as much as you recall. Often it happens that as you begin to write, more will come.
As these dream journal entries accumulate you begin to get a larger picture of your dream life.
For more about dreams, read The Meaning of Dreams.
 |
 |
 |
 |
