What is a dream?
When we experience a dream, it is with every fiber of our being. How many times have you awoken with the words, "Thank goodness, it was only a dream"? Most people have a tendency to explain away a dream on something they ate or on something they the day before. However, dreams are a gift from a deeper part of our mind that desires to help lead us on our journey of personal growth. Like poetry, they are expressed symbolically in a form of an image and emotion. This can make them feel so confusing or even unimportant. However, dreams are an important puzzle to be solved so that we can discover the secret treasure that is within us.

Generally, the purpose of a dream is to communicate something that we do not know, or do not fully understand. The dream is like a window into the unconscious, which is addressing your current feelings and life issues. By working with your dreams in therapy, we can often get to the core issues more quickly. Developing a cooperative relationship with this deeper, wiser part of your self promotes the natural healing aspect. A more balanced attitude inside of us creates more balance in our lives and relationships.

1. Place paper and pen, your dream journal or a tape recorder next to your bed indicating your intention to remember and record your dream upon awakening.
2. As you are relaxing yourself to enter sleep, remind yourself that you want to remember your dreams. Visualize waking up and remembering a dream.
3. Upon awakening, stop...don't move...and remember your dream. Try to recall as much as you can; it may only be a fragment to begin with. As you go over that fragment in your mind, other parts of the dream may develop.
4. If you don't recall a dream, notice your first thoughts or feelings. These thoughts and feelings may give you information about what you were dreaming.
5. After you have gone over the dream in your mind, you are ready to record it. If you do not have time to write it out before you start the day, you may want to use a tape recorder and journal it later. Dreams tend to fade away unless recorded.
6. Be patient with yourself. Remembering your dreams is a skill that you can learn. It is well worth the effort!