Dream Journaling

Dream journaling is one of the most effective ways of increasing dream recall and inducing lucid dreams, but how you do it and what you record is totally up to you!

Some like to be thorough and scientific in their journals, some are quick and sparse, and others dive into the symbolism and psychological significance of their dreams, using it as a launchpad for broader journaling.

To help you put together a Dream Journal habit, here are some things you can record:

What was the dream about?

• Storylines: What happened in the dream?

• Locations: Where did it take place? Was it day or night? Familiar or unfamiliar?

• Characters: What role did others play? Did they remind you of someone?

• Conflicts: What were the points of anger or discord for you?

• Emotional Tones: What was the underlying mood or emotional quality?

Deeper Analysis

- Dream Signs: Make note of the people, places, themes, and symbols that recur often in your dreams. Knowing what your dream signs are will help you recognize them while dreaming. This is the basis for DILDs.

- Parallels to waking life: How are the storylines, emotions, and conflicts from your dream, manifesting in waking life? What is only showing up at night?

- Insights: Did you learn something about yourself, a situation, an obstacle? Did new questions arise? Did you see the world through another perspective?

Technical Analysis

• Bedtime / Waketime: When did you go to sleep and wake up?

• Specific Intentions: What intentions did you set for dream work tonight?

• Induction technique(s) used: Did you use any dream induction methods?

• Level of lucidity: How lucid or unaware were you in this dream?

• What worked/didn’t work? Insights into how your dream practice is going