Writing down dreams as an eye-opener
He recommends keeping a dream diary to understand and even use these deep emotional processes. According to Bulkeley, dreams can also have a potentially inspirational function: In times of crisis, for example, certain dreams can shift the focus from threats to our capacities for creative change, adaptation and new growth: “These abilities can appear, for example, in a simple dream in which you discover a new room in a house.”
If you write down your dreams, you can read them again and again, recognize patterns, compare them with your real experiences and perhaps understand yourself better. You can buy special dream diaries, but a notebook or notepad will also do the job.
Keeping a dream diary: How to do it
To get the most out of your dream diary, Bulkeley recommends keeping a notepad and pen or your phone with a voice recognition app next to your bed. It should be really easy to record your dream as soon as you wake up.
Ideally, each entry includes the date, the place you sleep, the time you fall asleep, the time you wake up, and an assessment of sleep quality – good, fair, bad. This is useful because sleeping conditions can affect dreams. And “if you can’t remember any dreams that night, you’ve at least collected some useful information about your sleep.”
One more thing: If you write down your dreams first thing in the morning, you might end up scribbling. That’s why it’s a good idea to type your notes out neatly by hand or on the computer. After all, you want to be able to read them again to get the most out of them.
