Keeping A Dream Journal
If you are trying to learn how to lucid dream, or if you are seeking to understand what your dreams mean, then keeping a dream journal is an important step. By keeping a dream journal you will learn how to better recall the dreams you are having plus it will enable you to spot patterns in your dreams. Keeping a dream journal is not difficult or time consuming but it does require discipline as you need to record your dreams immediately upon awakening on a consistent basis in order to see results.
It is important to keep the journal right at your bedside along with a pen so that you can reach for it right as you wake up. Also be sure to have a flashlight or lamp at your bedside so you don't need to get up and turn on a light first. Dreams are often fleeting and tend to fade away rapidly so it is important to jot down the details immediately. When you first write down the details of your dream, just mention the high points that will jog your memory of the dream later. Once you have written down the important points, then read them to yourself while remembering the flow of the dream and make a few more quick notes if you need to. If you have the time, go ahead and write out the dream now, but if you do not, then just leave it until later and rely upon the important points to jog your memory into remembering the entire dream.
If you cannot recall it later, don't worry too much about it as you should have enough basic information recorded with your original notes. You should do this even if you awaken in the middle of the night. In that instance particularly, you would not want to take the time to write a detailed description of your dream as it might prevent you from falling back asleep. Just quickly jot down the key points and then go back to sleep. It may sound difficult, but once you have the routine down you should find that you can fall asleep easily enough if you haven't over stimulated yourself. If you find that you have difficulty recalling a dream as it happened it sometimes helps if you start at the end and run the dream in your mind in reverse.
It is also a good idea to date your dreams and time them if possible. This can be valuable information when it comes to trying to decipher their meaning. Sometimes it can take quite awhile for a pattern to emerge and once it has, it helps to be able to go back and correlate your dreams with what was happening in your waking world at the time.
Keeping a dream journal can be a great self discovery tool. It takes a little effort in the beginning to stick with it since it is so preferable to just go back to sleep if you awaken at night. It also helps to set the alarm for a few minutes earlier in the morning so you know you have the time to write down your dream notes instead of being in a rush to get your day started.
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