Getting the Message
Dreams may be revealing, but only if you can remember them. Even the most sophisticated dream chroniclers, notes Harvard researcher Robert Stickgold, typically can recall only about 15 minutes of their nightly two-hour movie. But dream recall is a skill that can be learned, says Alan Siegel, author of Dream Wisdom. Here's how to practice:
Keep a notebook by your bed, and record every dream--no matter how brief--immediately upon waking, even if it's when you're groggy at 3 a.m.
Prep before sleep by reviewing the day's events in your own mind or with a family member.
Rest quietly for a few moments before getting up so that images have a chance to resurface. It may help to assume your sleeping position.
Record any image, feeling, idea, or fragmentary narrative, no matter how garbled or weird or mundane it may seem. People tend to feel that their dreams are unimportant, but treating even fragments as legitimate will help more detail stick. When you write a dream down, don't make any additional associations--stick to the facts.
Don't attempt to organize the dream or edit it, even if it seems illogical.
After you've finished describing a dream, note any feelings or associations that come to mind on the back of the page. For example: "I woke up terrified." Or: "It reminded me of my old childhood house."
Some people find remembered dreams to be more vivid if they draw them or describe them into a tape recorder.
Try giving yourself a pep talk before you go to sleep. Say, "When I wake up, I'll remember."
This story appears in the May 15, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
