Dream Journals

I can't stress enough how important keeping a dream journal is. No matter how much we'd like to remember all our dreams, sometimes those small ones slip away from us and are forgotten.

When keeping a dream journal, be sure to write down every little detail of the dream no matter how small. What may seem out of place or pointless can mean everything.

For example, when I was a teen I had a dream about my mother with a huge emphasis on this bright pink laundry detergent bottle. Being a teen, any parent was the enemy and I had gone to sleep thinking bad thoughts about her. The tone of the dream was of course bad, with that odd bottle appearing more than once. I woke up feeling aweful and immediately went to hug my mom (caught her by surprise! LOL!). I told her about the dream, leaving out the part about the bottle. I thought it was just weird and blew it off. Later that day we went shopping, and wouldn't you know she picked up that same bottle. I never paid real close attention to the fact she used it, but it freaked me out. Point of the dream? For me it was don't take advantage of your  mother.

Another good reason to keep a dream journal is to keep track of dreams that may not make any sense to you at the time, but turn out to be something important later on. Once you start to see what truths lie in those "weird dreams"and what they actually are, current ones start to make more sense. You start to understand the difference between the different types of dreams, and can better interperate what each of your dreams mean. The longer you keep your journal, the better you get at being an expert.

It's also a good idea to write down your first thoughts on what the dream may mean. Sometimes our first thoughts are closest to the truth, and can spark new ideas later on.

Just remember to include every single detail. You never know what's going to have the biggest impact and really pull everything together.