I Wrote Down My Dreams Every Morning for a Week—Here’s What I Noticed

Even we know everyone about sleep, dreams are still widespread. Sometimes they are strange. Sometimes funny. And sometimes, scary.

Although dreams have made scientists interesting for centuries, interest in their search has recently gone beyond the lab. From social media to books and podcasts, more and more people are interested in how to regulate their dreams can help stress or even guide personal development and self -detection.

Sadly, I barely remember most of my dreams. And when I do, they usually feel like nonsense. So, the idea of documenting my memories is to see if they can start to understand that I was curious. Can paying deep attention to my dreams, in fact, can tell me something useful, or least interesting?

My dream journal experience

With a diary through my bed and pen through my bed and pen, I tested it for a week. What I discovered surprised me.

Day 1

All night tossing and turning and did not know. It’s disappointing because I feel tired. Also, I should write my dreams, which I can’t sleep when I am unable to sleep. I finally crashed tired after 6am. I was out like light.

Day 2

Another night of poor sleep, I’m wondering what’s happening. I followed my routine routine, but I still didn’t get a mind to rest. Trying to silence my brain, the old radio was eliminated while listening to the mystery of the murder during the week. I felt myself anxious that I might have a dream to write, and that was of no use.

Day 3

I felt bad. Emailing my editor today is seriously considering that I may not be fit for this assignment. And at the same time when it was clicked: In the back of my mind, I was a bit anxious about being able to remember my dreams. And this anxiety is what is preventing me from sleeping. And since I’m not asleep, I’m not dreaming, which is bothering me more and more. The loop felt like a small advance, realizing it.

Day 4

Keeping in mind tomorrow’s feeling, I talked to myself to leave the pressure. I reminded myself that what I was worried about has already happened – it can’t be bad. When I went to bed, I removed my thoughts from the assignment and finally got a few hours of rest. Remember a dream, but the details survived me. Still, that’s something, okay?

Day 5 and 6

Now that I have identified this problem, I can sleep more easily. The sixth day, I remember seeing my grandfather in a dream – we lost her cancer in 2017. I couldn’t remember every detail, but I missed enough to feel relieved. It was the first time all the week when the memory of the dream felt natural rather than forcibly.

Day 7

I slept well – maybe a mixture of sleep debts from the beginning of this week, relief to be closer to the end of the experience, and finally the last night’s reminders of some dreams increased the calm. The remembrance of the dream was sharp today. I woke up keeping in mind the pieces of two clear dreams. I was surprised how detailed they were. Feel like a small reward to move forward.

What is the benefit of a dream journal?

Let’s take a look at how to write our dreams can help us:

To get personal insights

Dr. Cristina McCare, director at the Neurobyhrell (Shine) Science Center at the University of South Florida, says Dream Journaling provides the opportunity to find your dreams, symbols, and the opportunity to find links between your dreams and waking lives through helping to identify the basic ideas and emotions.

Studies suggest that considering the contents of these dreams can help with emotional processing And promote self -reflection and self -understanding.

To improve creative abilities

Appeared in a study Journal of creative behavior It has been found that participants who had a daily dream login showed better scores on creativity tests, such as a tournaise test for creativity.

Helping with the nightmare dreams

It can often be difficult to go back to sleep after a nightmare. Clinical sleep educator and Valley Sleep Center, Lori Ledley, founder of Arizona, says writing it can help “put an emotional release” on the bed.

Over time, it can also help you work through fear or trauma that is not solved in a safe environment, and gradually attracts you to their contents, which makes them easier to deal with.

Should you try to write your dreams?

According to Andrew Kolsky, the founder of the Sleep Medicine Cleansian and National Sleep Center, the journey of dreams is mostly suitable for, especially those who want to better understand their emotions or increase their awareness. Artists, authors, and other creations can also benefit from their dream documents to give rise to unique ideas or gain a fresh perspective.

Kolsky says it can be a helpful tool for anyone who has trauma, PTSD, or night fear, provided it is used in conjunction with therapy.

That said, if you are a person who is very upset or thinks of yourself as a joint thing that you can’t control, the dream journalist may take you down from the rabbit hole to think more because it does not directly provide answers.

How do I start a dream journal?

If you choose to try it, there are five points approved by the expert here to take the most out of the dream journal.

• Write as soon as you are awakened: Kolski says: Dreams eliminate rapidly, so they need to be written in more detail, says Kolski. Start with the basics like who, what, when, and where. Kolski added, note any particular emotions or strange symbols.
• Find out which format works for you: These detailed paragraphs, freestyle writing, or tablets can be located. You can also record your dreams as a sound note on your phone or draw what you see.
• Give each entry a title: The title should catch the basic space of the dream. “When you compare dreams over time, this will work,” says Kolsky. According to his advice, you start looking for repeated topics, emotions, people and places after some entries of the journal.
• Decorate your mind: Kolsky recommends journaling before going to bed. Writing whatever you have in your mind can help clean your head and calm your thoughts, making it easier.
• Rewrite the script: If you are repeatedly dealing with nightmares, Ledley advised them to rewrite a more positive story to help them change their mentality before sleep.

And finally, “be interested in your searches but don’t put pressure on them,” reminds Kolski.

Alternatives to the journal’s journal

If dream journaling is not your tea cup, but you still want to get the benefits of remembering dreams, consider trying:

• Morning reflection: Make a ritual of the morning where you ask yourself the basic questions like, “How did I feel last night?” “What emotion I experienced during sleep?” Or “Waking up my minds or photos in my mind?” Kolsky notes that these questions can lead to better awareness and emotional processing.
• Dream Incubation: This technique involves consciously attracting your thoughts to a particular topic or question before bed. The idea is that your conscious mind will continue to take action and can offer insight through your dreams.