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Keeping a Dream JournalDreams digest the meals that are our days. ~Astrid Alauda Keeping a dream journal is a really important part of having lucid dreams. Fortunately, it's easy and fun - and ultimately improves your awareness of the dreamstate, making it easier to wake up in dreams. The average person has around five sleep cycles per night. At the end of each cycle, there is a period of REM sleep, where dreams occur. Most people usually dream for about 100 minutes every night. The closer it is to morning, the longer and more frequent your REM sleep becomes. So you are more likely to remember dreams just as you wake up in the morning, as opposed to waking up in the early hours of the night. If you have trouble remembering dreams, keeping a dream journal will help you form a stronger connection with your dreamworld. This will put you on the right path to having vivid lucid dreams. Otherwise, if you are actively learning how to lucid dream, chances are you already remember at least one dream per night. Keeping a dream journal will improve your dream recall even more and help with interpreting dreams. How To Keep a Dream JournalHow to keep a dream journal may seem obvious. But there are a few things worth remembering. So here we go... Step One Find a notebook or journal specifically to record your dreams in. Keep it within arm's reach of the bed. Dreams fade quickly on awakening so you need to write them down as soon as you wake. If you get up, walk around and start talking about other things, it will cause motor neurons to fire in your brain. This is what "overwrites" the memory of the dream. So be ready to jot down a few details first thing. Step Two Note down the date of your dream. Then write down everything you can remember. Write everything in the present tense (eg "I am walking down the street when a frog jumps out of the bushes"). This helps with remembering dreams by putting you in the moment. Step Three Identify dream themes. Think about the location, characters, sensations, sounds, objects and emotions of the dream. Underline key themes that may help with interpreting dreams (eg, "the frog is sad because he knows a drought is coming"). You may want to analyze the themes and fully interpret your dream. Otherwise, continue to write down all the memorable details in your dream journal. Anything that you can associate with established neural patterns is also important (eg, you feel protective over a puppy). This may be a dream symbol or concept that represents a real life issue. Step Four Don't worry about spelling, punctuation and grammer. As long as you can read it back later and it still makes sense, you are fine. Step Five Sketch any strong images from the dream. It doesn't matter if you're not an artist. A sketch is just to help you visualize the dream later on. Step Six Step Seven Give the dream an appropriate title. Nothing flashy, just something to remember it by.
Dream Journal: FAQHow often should I write in my dream journal? Expect your enthusiasm to come and go. Sometimes you won't feel bothered because real life just seems more important. A wise choice! In fact, I would be worried if you put your dreams before real life. How can I improve my awareness of dreams? If you have difficulty remembering dreams, your journal may look a litte bare. Don't worry. Start by writing down little snippets - anything at all - and watch your dream recall improve over time. How can dream themes help me become lucid? Online Dream JournalsYou may have seen some websites offering online dream journals. Beware - these could be red herrings. There are three reasons why I don't use them: First, you have to get out of bed and log on to your computer before you can record your dreams. This isn't me being lazy. Remember what I said earlier about neurons firing away in the brain? That neuron activity will increase when you get side-tracked checking your emails too. By the time you get down to writing, key elements of the dream will be lost forever. Second, if you don't regularly save a back up, you risk losing your entire dream history. All computers give up the ghost eventually. But your dream journal is meant to last for years. Don't risk losing it! Make sure your journals are all hard copy - books and notepads are cheap and reliable. Third, I checked out a few public dream journals before writing this - and you know what? There is nothing quite as tedious as reading about other people's dreams! (Of course, lucid dreams are another matter!) But as for your average dream from your average Joe - it is really not worth your precious time. Focus on your own dreams. Those are the most important dreams of all. Your Lucid Dream JournalLet's not forget that the main reason for keeping a dream journal is to have lucid dreams! These can be recorded the same way in your normal journal. Make sure you mark them as lucid dreams and describe the moment you became lucid (if it was a Dream-Initiated Lucid Dream, or DILD). Decide what it was that made you realize you were dreaming. This could be a useful trigger for having lucid dreams in future. Then go on to describe your lucid dreams in as much detail as possible. How you felt, how you achieved greater clarity, and how long you thought the experience lasted for in real time. And, of course, remember to send me your lucid dreams for publication in the lucid dream forum. Lucid Dreaming Techniques
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When you have finished, jot down any major life issues that are going on right now. For instance, you may be suffering from a broken heart. Over time, you will be able to link your subconscious dream symbols with real life issues. 
