If you are just beginning to record your dreams, the important thing is not to try too hard. Being relaxed about the whole thing will give you far more potential for success than getting worked up because you cannot remember your dream or because you do not appear to have dreamed at all. The more you practise, the easier it becomes.


If you do decide to keep a journal, it is worthwhile incorporating it in the preparation for your night’s sleep. Making these preparations into something of a ritual can help to concentrate your mind on the activity of dreaming, and thinking over a situation before you go to sleep, or meditating on it, can help to open the doors of the unconscious to some of the answers you are seeking. So, carefully laying out your tools, re-reading some of your old dreams, using deep relaxation methods, assisted by relaxing oils or herb teas, and even asking the superconscious for useable material can all assist in the creative dreaming process.

Try to wake up naturally, without the shrill call of an alarm clock or booming music. There are various devices on the market such as daylight simulators which come on gradually, dimmer switches, and clocks which have a soft alarm, graduating in intensity, which can help with this. Even a radio, tape recorder or mobile phone programmed to play soft relaxing music can be used. Using such waking aids can help us eventually to hold on to the hypnopompic state and use it creatively. Some dreamers report that the spoken word seems to chase away a dream, so gentle music is probably best.

On waking, lie as still as possible for a moment, and try to recall what you have dreamt. Often it is the most startling thing or feeling which you will remember first, followed by lesser elements. Transcribe what you remember into your journal, and write the ‘story’of the dream. This may well give you an initial perception which is sufficient for your needs, both in the everyday and from a spiritual perspective.

Later, list alphabetically the elements of the dream, and decide first on the individual meanings of each aspect of the dream. Then look for the theme of the dream, and which part of your life it applies to. Often the theme is presented in more than one form, so that you ‘get the message’. Next, reconstruct the dream and interpret it on a deeper level so you understand what kind of dream it is – that is, whether it is giving information as to the state of things as they are at the moment, whether it is suggesting a particular course of action or whether it is offering an explanation of what is happening within your Superconscious.