But there is always someone who says, "That's nice, but how can I study my dreams when I never remember them?" After hearing variations of that comment through the years, my wife Jerri-Lynn and I made a list of
approaches to dream recall. This list has proven to be useful to many students of
dream work. We hope it serves you well.
1. Why do I want to remember? Set my intent.
2. Get a full night's sleep. Dreams are recalled easier when I am well rested. Sleep is for communing with my unconscious as well as for resting my body.
3. During the daytime, keep a 3x5 card in my pocket with "I'm willing to remember a part of my dream tonight" written on it. Look at it many times during the evening. I could even put it under my pillow when I go to bed.
4. Keep writing materials or a tape recorder within reach of the bed. Have a soft light within reach.
5. Enter the date in my dream journal for next morning's writings.
6. Review dream journal or dream book before retiring.
7. Before falling asleep, give an auto-suggestion that I am willing to have my dreams remembered.
8. Thank myself for doing my best at sorting things out with my waking mind. Now I'm willing to turn it over to my sleeping consciousness. lf I have a specific problem I can ask for insight to come during the night.
9. Program myself to awaken before my alarm goes off, as it may break me out of my connection with the unconscious. I can ask to awaken 5 minutes before my alarm.
10. If I'm sleeping heavily and have poor recall I can use the alarm to wake me several times during the night trying to catch a dream. Or if I have a willing partner I can ask them to wake me anytime they notice I'm experiencing rapid eye movement.
11. When I awake, move as little as possible. Don't think about the day ahead. Let myself stay with the bridge between my unconscious and conscious awareness. Use the time before I become fully conscious of the physical world again.
12. Note my feelings upon awakening.
13. Rather than trying to recall the first of the dream, start at the point I remember, even if it's only one image, and work backwards. As images come up, use point form. I don't have to try to remember the images in sequential order. I'll then have the points to trigger memories and fill out the dream. If I don't have the time to work the whole dream right then at least I'll have a starting point for later.
14. Sort out as best I can, the order of the different points. Images that don't seem to fit aren't necessarily from different dreams.
15. If I'm blanking out and can't remember, I try moving back to the position I'm most comfortable sleeping in.
16. Consider possible fears of waking my spouse. The fears may block my desire to remember. I can ask my spouse if they are okay with any disturbance my dream recording may cause. I could also consider sleeping in another room on nights I choose to record dreams.
17. Make it okay if I can't remember as much as I would like to.
18. Even if I don't recall a dream, write in my dream journal how I feel upon awakening.
19. Let the dream into my consciousness during the day. Watch to see if it connects with my thoughts and activities.
20. If connections come during the day, write down the points in a note pad.
21. Now I have a good starting point to explore the dream. It's important to note that the more I honor my dreams by studying them and acting on their messages, the more I naturally remember my dreams.
22. If I am having difficulty remembering a new dream, a place to start the process is to study old dreams. Perhaps repetitive dreams from childhood. These dreams can still give valuable information.
23. It may be difficult to remember dreams at first. But as they are worked with they become easier and easier to remember.
24. Above all, be willing to be patient and gentle with myself. Be open to letting go of any judgment I might have in comparing my ability to remember with others. When I belittle or condemn myself, my body and mind tend to contract in defense. When I am defending against attack (including self-attack) the contraction blocks an openness to new information. Self condemnation tends to close out, rather than open me, to dreams.
If you work with these approaches it likely won't be long before you have a dream in hand. Now comes the fun part of decoding the messages.
We've found that the support of a dream study group or private consultations can be very useful in the revealing of the information within dreams. You may choose to interpret them yourself. If so, here are examples of some of the books available for dream study:
Inner Work by Robert Johnson
The Dream Book by Betty Bethard
Dreams: Discovering Your Inner Teacher by Clyde Reid
Understanding Your Dreams by Stanley Krippner.
