Have you ever had one of those morning where you woke up and realized you just had the strangest dream? Maybe you told your partner a few details before shrugging it off and getting the shower and getting ready for the day.
Then, 20 minutes later, you're eating breakfast and think: I know I had a crazy dream but for the life of me, I cannot remember a thing about it now!
This ability we have to lose our dreams quickly - like sand falling from our fingers, really - is universal in our culture. We do not place much value or emphasis on noting our dreams in the West.
If you, however, are someone who would like to remember your dreams and be able to think about them, this article is for you. Let's take a look at some easy to implement tips for how to remember your dreams.
The first one is mandatory. Skip this and you might as well just forget it. I'm talking about creating a dream journal. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. You can use notepad on your computer, a spiral bound notebook, loose leaf paper, a nice journal, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you wake up and immediately get to work at writing down any details you remember.
When doing this, it's ok to jot down concepts, ideas, and words as they come to you. Don't force a sequential narrative onto the dream - just the memory of it float to the surface of your mind and through you pen onto the paper.
Next - actually, I've just tricked you. The act of writing down your dreams is all you need to do to start remembering them. If you tell me right now you can't write them down because you don't remember them, then set your alarm an hour early, wake up, and try again. Do this for a week and I am sure you will start remembering dreams.
Once you get in the habit of penning them, you will find that the details naturally come to you with more and more ease, and it's much easier to remember your dreams without even trying.
It all starts with a dream journal - I challenge you to start one tomorrow morning!