Too Little or Too Much Dreaming

Our Dreamer Writes:

Dear SMYD,

I know I dream all the time, but I hardly ever remember my dreams.  I wake up knowing I’ve been dreaming, but can’t recall much of anything.  I can almost feel the dream slipping away as soon as I realize it was there to begin with.

Or, when I do remember a dream, it’s a long, convoluted saga!  I have the sensation that the dream went on and on, traveling from one weird scene to another.  These dreams even seem to cover long periods of time and have so many different characters in them!  Sometimes I recognize the people, but other times my dreams have strangers in them.

It seems impossible to believe that these dreams make any sense or would apply to my life in the real world.  I don’t know how or where to start!

Signed,

Baffled

Dear Baffled,

It’s clear you’re curious about your dreams!  That’s a great place to start even though you may feel at a loss for the moment.  You actually have quite a lot to work with.

First, you mention that though you don’t remember the pictures from your dreams, you wake up knowing you’ve been dreaming, even feeling the dream fade as you become more awake.  Research shows that in addition to their mental images and emotions, dreams create a muscle memory that begins to fade as we start to stir in the morning.  So, if you lie still just a few moments when you first wake up, you increase your chances of recalling a dream. 

And don’t dismiss the feeling of the dream!  If you have a sense of the emotions your dream carried, you have a toehold on the dream itself!

Perhaps the most important step in signaling your brain that you want to remember and learn about your dreams is to write them down.  Even the tiny bits that we’ve just discussed can be recorded in a bedside notepad.  Make a note that you woke feeling you’d had a dream, but it slipped away leaving only a feeling.  Name the feeling.  Was it exaltation?  Anger?  Relief? 

You mention those long involved dreams that seem complex and overwhelming.  Such dreams can feel a little like “War and Peace.”  Don’t try to decipher the entire epic!  Start with an image or two from the dream and write them down.  Record the briefest snippet from the saga.  You will be surprised what power even a static image can hold for you.

Start here:

¬  Lie still for a few moments when you first wake up.

¬  Make note of your dream’s emotions, even if you can’t remember its images.

¬  Record even a fragment of your dream to open the window into your dreaming life.

With these small steps in the direction of remembering and learning from your dreams, you will be rewarded with a rich and varied experience offering wonder and insights into the issues you face every day.

Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com