Dreams are fascinating. The stories that our minds paint at night are certainly entertaining, but they can also tell a much deeper story.
Interpretations of dreams and visions have initiated wars, built and toppled empires, started and ended relationships, and changed lives. So what are your dreams trying to tell you and how do you interpret them? While dream analysis is far from an exact science, these 5 tips will put you on the right path to discovering the meaning behind yours.
1. Keep a Dream Journal
This is the first and maybe most important step in interpreting your dreams. If you want to find meaning in your dreams, you need to record what you are seeing and feeling.
I highly recommend keeping your dream journal and a pen on your nightstand so that you can make notes the minute you wake up. We can forget our dreams within minutes of waking, and without a recollection of what happened, you’ll never get an accurate interpretation of what they mean.
If writing down the details of your dream as soon as you wake up seems like a lot to ask when you’re half asleep, you can keep a dream journal on your phone instead. Many of us reach for our phones before anything else in the mornings, making it ideal for dream recording.
There are a few key things to remember when it comes to keeping a dream journal. Firstly, record what you remember every time you wake up. Even if you wake up at 3 in the morning, write down as much as you can before you go back to sleep. When we wake up in the middle of the night, we’re more likely to be in the middle of our sleep cycles. This is when you’re most likely to remember details most clearly and vividly.
Secondly, make a point of recording what happened and where you were right before you woke up. We tend to have this habit of waking up at the height of our dreams— right when that good or terrible thing is about to happen. By consistently recording the details of these moments, you should start picking up on patterns.
2. Pay Attention to the Moments Before You Fall Asleep
Have you ever observed how the thoughts lingering in your mind just before you drift into sleep tend to manifest in your dreams? It’s worth noting that our thoughts and emotions significantly shape our dreams. This makes it importance of not only recalling the content of our dreams but also our thought before we fell asleep. This practice can provide a more profound insight into your dreams.
Your dream journal doesn’t only have to include details about your dream. What I recommend is separating each new entry in your journal into two parts: your thoughts before you fell asleep and the actual events of your dream.
With that in mind, it’s likely that not every night will bring the recollection of dream details, leaving you without fresh material to jot down. However, it’s perfectly fine— there’s merit in noting down your nightly thoughts before you drift off to sleep. This practice aids not just in dream analysis but serves as a therapeutic release as well. By documenting your thoughts, you’re consciously enhancing your self-awareness. Reflecting on these notes later can reveal recurring patterns or stressors that preoccupy your mind prior to sleep.
If you find yourself constantly thinking about work, a relationship, or questions about your life path, you can identify which of these thoughts are healthy, and which are intensifying your stress. Once you’ve recognized the source of a problem, you can actively take steps towards solving it. You’ll find that if you change your behaviors and spend more time calming your thoughts at night, your sleep, and dreams, will shift as well.
3. Establish an Objective Perspective
Let’s face it— sometimes it’s hard to be honest with ourselves. We want to come up with an interpretation that suits us or makes us feel better. Maybe you see an ex in your dream and you want to believe this is a sign they’re going to return to your life. While I’m not saying this isn’t true, it’s important to analyze these things from the most objective standpoint possible.
One effective way of interpreting a dream objectively is to look at it as if it’s not yours. Imagine if a family member or friend is the one who had the dream – think about how you’d interpret its meaning for them.
If this is impossible given the context of your dream, imagine instead that you are the friend or family member giving yourself guidance. What would your mom, or your best friend say about what you saw? Approaching these interpretations from an objective perspective is a critical part of arriving at a truthful and accurate conclusion.
4. Consult With a Professional Psychic
If tip number 3 really isn’t working for you, then the next best thing is to get a real objective viewpoint. By consulting with a psychic you’re guaranteed to get a non-biased perspective on your dreams. Aside from this valuable perspective, a professional psychic can also offer an interpretation from an experienced and more qualified standpoint.
Top psychics know what different symbols and visions mean, and have a much more intimate understanding of dreams than you or me. While we might be able to search for some generic explanations online, there’s nothing that matches getting an expert opinion from a qualified psychic.
Thankfully there are many options and sites out there. Kasamba’s website offers an entire section dedicated to psychics who specialize in dream analysis. You can browse through a long list of psychic profiles and read verified client reviews.
California Psychics also has a dedicated section on dream analysis. The site even has a guide that shows you how to prepare for a dream analysis with a psychic, ensuring you get the most out of your reading.
If you do decide to consult with a psychic, having a dream journal is absolutely necessary. The better you can describe your dreams to your reader, the more thoroughly and accurately they can interpret it for you.
5. Consult a Dream Dictionary
In case you’re not ready to invest in a psychic reading, another way to get some objective help in interpreting your dreams is by consulting a dream dictionary. A dream dictionary is a database of information about different dream symbols and scenarios. With the help of your dream journal, you can determine what recurring objects, symbols or numbers you see in your dreams, and then search out their meanings in a dream dictionary.
The important thing to remember about a dream dictionary is that the interpretations it provides are general, not hard and fast rules. They can be a great help in establishing your basic understanding of dream interpretation, but they are by no means a definitive source for an accurate dream analysis.
Bottom Line
Dreams themselves are complicated and oftentimes nonsensical. That means that interpreting them can be challenging and inconsistent. But don’t let that discourage you! There are ways to make sense of these intimate and personal experiences. Whether or not you’re interested in consulting with a psychic or a dream dictionary, it’s absolutely critical that you start keeping a dream journal if you hope to arrive at any sort of valid interpretation. The more detailed you are, the better your chances of finding meaning in your dreams.
If you decide to consult with a psychic, make sure the reader you choose specializes in dream analysis. If you opt for a dream dictionary, just remember they offer guidelines and not definitive interpretations. And above all else, remember that your dreams are directly affected by your emotions, attitude, and experiences here in the conscious world.
