When I was in Ubud, Bali this year, I joined the High Vibe Yoga retreat by Emily Kuser. At the beginning everyone received a journal. While it was very useful to write down new things and ideas out of the many workshops, yoga lessons and meditation sessions we had it was also meant to be a dream journal.
Why dreams are important
In our dreams we process our memories and experiences, reflect our actions and dealing with our problems and worries. Our subconscious replays the pictures, emotions and sensations we have experienced before or mirrors our sorrows. Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t dream at all and just have a quiet sleep. But why not rather see it as a great tool our mind/soul gives us to dive deeper in our thoughts and discover forgotten feelings we often hide in our all-day lives?
Dreams are the touchstones of our character.
Henry David Thoreau
Remember your dreams
Emily insisted on having us trying to remember our dreams during this week of inspiration, energy and high vibes. Every night before we turn out the lights, we should say the following sentence three times aloud to ourselves: “I am worthy of remembering my dreams.”
It may sound weird and it actually felt weird doing this for the first one or two times but I believe it is a good ritual to prepare yourself for the night and the dreams.
The second thing is to ask yourself a question or think about something that needs to be resolved and set your mind on dreaming about it. This does not mean to take your worries to bed as this might keep you from sleeping. Better leave the problem or question for your dreams and give your mind the rest it needs.
Thirdly, have your journal ready. Which means flip open a new page with a pen on top of it and place everything right next to your bed.
And then: Happy dreams …
When you wake up the next morning (or even during the night), try not to move. Lie still and remember your dreams. This is the perfect moment to do so. Write down whatever comes into your mind, even if it’s just pictures you describe or tiny pieces which don’t seem to belong together. It might help you later.
Don’t push yourself or expect a clear answer. That’s not the point. I’m sure, we all dream quite a lot of crazy things that might not mean anything. But doing this exercise on a regular basis will help you to understand most of your dreams and you will be able to transfer some learnings to your real life and take advantage of it.
Most importantly: Don’t loose yourself in the various websites or books on dream interpretation. Many symbols are obvious while others are too personal to be written down in a list from A to Z.
For example, when I was in Bali doing this exercise , I had several dreams of me being on a boat and being afraid of the supposedly huge waves that were about to crash down to me. It was like being in a small canal and the waves where building up on the horizon in front of my boat. When the waves came closer they still seemed big but I had to face them and when they’ve reached the boat I easily managed to maneuver it.
I’ve looked it up in some dream dictionary. For “Boat” or “Ship” there are many meanings from navigating through the various situations in your life to riches, travel, isolation, danger, romance, or complete and utter frustration. Well yeah, thank you. Not.
Here is my interpretation, very straightforward:
I quit my job before going on this trip and of course I was worried about the future and about what will happen when I return to Germany in a couple of weeks. Will I find a new job? What kind of job am I looking for anyway? And where? Do I want to move to another city? What about the relationship with my boyfriend? And will I be able to take all the energy, motivation and optimism of this trip with me or am I going to fall in a deep black hole not knowing what to do next?
I guess the waves in my dream symbolize these questions. The questions I was trying to hide from. And the dream showed me that sooner or later I have to face these questions and when I do, it’s not as hard as I thought. On the contrary: Accepting that the wave is coming anyway helps to calm down and focus on the solution.
So, this was quite easy. Sometimes it’s clear, sometimes your dream may just be completely weird and not mean anything. You will soon find out which dreams to think about and listen to.
Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope it inspired you to try it out and go to bed tonight, saying to yourself “I am worthy of remembering my dreams”.
