Many people wonder if they should start using a dream journal prompts to capture the inner workings of their mind. They might wonder if there are any benefits of a dream journal. The mechanisms of dreaming are not yet widely understood. We do know that dreams involve electrical discharges in specific areas of the brain, and we know that we go through a cycle of brainwaves that (on an ideal night) should lead to a period of uninterrupted dreaming.
What isn’t certain is the purpose of dreams. This article will explore opinions held by many psychologists and sleep experts, but the dream theories shared here are not the only possibilities. From the work of Dr. Kelly Bulkeley, Dr. Stephen LaBerge, Ryan Hurd and Dr. Jennifer Butler, all sleep specialists, we can find some fascinating insights into the ways that dream journaling can unlock our unconscious mind. At the very least, using dream journal prompts can help us to better understand: how we dream, why we dream, and what our dreams can teach us.
Dream journal prompts to get you started:
- Write about a dream you had that left a strong emotional impact on you.
- Describe a dream where you were in a place you’ve never been before.
- Write about a dream where you were able to fly or had some other superpower.
- Describe a dream where you were being chased or pursued by someone or something.
- Write about a dream where you were lost or unable to find your way.
- Describe a dream where you met someone famous or historical figure.
- Write about a dream where you were back in a significant time or event in history.
- Describe a dream where you were in danger or had to escape from a dangerous situation.
- Write about a dream where you were in a surreal or dream-like world.
- Describe a dream where you were reunited with a loved one who has passed away.
- Write about a dream where you were successful in achieving a personal goal or aspiration.
- Describe a dream where you were in a haunted or eerie place.
- Write about a dream where you were able to travel through time.
- Describe a dream where you were a different gender or had a different identity.
- Write about a dream where you were in a high-pressure situation or had to make a difficult decision.
- Describe a dream where you were stranded on a deserted island or in a remote location.
- Write about a dream where you were able to communicate with animals or nature.
- Describe a dream where you were attending a significant event, such as a wedding or concert.
- Write about a dream where you were in a room with doors leading to different places or dimensions.
- Describe a dream where you were able to relive a happy or significant moment from your past.
How do we dream?
When we sleep, our brain is still active, running on different brain waves, like standby mode for a computer. During the REM (Rapid eye movement) phase, the brain stem is lit up. This part of the brain regulates sleep cycles, but it is also involved in breathing, vision, hearing, motor control and multiple other functions. One theory, called the Activation-synthesis Hypothesis, proposes that stimulation of the brain stem, along with the limbic system (our emotional and memory centre), induces the dream-like state of consciousness. Meanwhile, our frontal cortex rapidly tries to make sense of those impulses and that’s why the dreaming character doesn’t often question the abnormalities they see. When people remember their dreams, it is usually because they awoke either during their REM cycle, or just after.
So, we know that dreaming is a natural and designated part of the sleep cycle and thus we can infer one of two things. Either dreams are an important part of our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being, or they are a random side-effect of the brain-stem/limbic system interplay. Which ever theory you subscribe to, you can benefit from journaling about your sleep and dreams. Dr Kelly Bulkeley, an esteemed expert on dream psychology, recommends keeping a dream journal, so that you can uncover for yourself the importance of your dreams.
What should be included in a dream journal
1. Keep your dream journal right next to your bed so it’s the first thing you see.
2. Every morning, write down the date, the approximate time you fell asleep and the time you awoke.
3. Briefly record what you were feeling and thinking about before you slept, and what you woke up feeling/thinking.
4. If you remember your dream, record it in your journal with as much detail as possible. Dr. Bulkeley also recommends giving your dream a title to help establish meaning to the dream as it came to you.
Even if you don’t often remember your dreams, keeping track of your sleep cycle can help you make changes wherever your routine is negatively affecting your sleep. Improper sleep cycles are linked to higher all-cause mortality rates and cardiovascular disease, so getting the right amount of sleep and REM sleep in particular are vital for your health.
Why use dream journal prompts?
I mentioned the basics of journaling about your sleep patterns, but when your journaling about your dreams, I suggest writing them as if they really happened. Don’t comment on the incredulity. Simply write what happened. Write what you experienced and how you felt about it. You can write about the scenery as you recall it and about the people or creatures. Write the dialogue as you remember it and all along, think about the sequence of events. If you have multiple dreams in a night, try to remember the transitions and the themes. Basically, you want to recount the entire escapade like a story.
As a layman, I have found incredible benefits of using dream journal prompts because I have seen time and again the connection between my waking life and my sleeping one. Some of the benefits that Dr. Bulkeley mentions include: problem solving, creative intent, disaster planning, and lucid dreaming. I have ample experience in all of these areas and I can say that when you find the purpose for your own dreams, therein lies their potency. Once you become in-tuned, you realize how dreams can influence you.
Problem solving
We can train our brain to come up with solutions while we sleep. There are numerous accounts of famous thinkers who went to sleep with a problem and awoke with a solution. Every person has this capability and every person had access to this tool. Before you go to sleep, meditate on your problem. Put it into focus and tell your brain to come up with ideas. It’s not black magic. It’s the same process you use with the waking brain, the only difference is your level of consciousness. That’s it.
In fact, removing the thinking brain from the problem is sometimes all that’s required. Free thinking means stripping limitations that the waking brain is only too good at putting up. To go the extra mile, write about your problem the night before. Brainstorm ideas right before you turn in for the night so that that track of thinking is your last conscious thought. In the morning, revisit your notes and find out if you missed something, or if you’ve found an option to try.
Remember, even if you aren’t blessed with the answer in your sleep, journaling through a problem in the comfort of your bed allows your slower thinking process to mull it over and form a bona fide solution.
Creative intent
Artists, musicians, writers, directors, and craftsmen have all been influenced by their dreams. Just look at the limitless possibility for adventure and intrigue in dreams. Look how objects seem to take on new shapes and meaning right before your eyes. Enjoy the novelty of your dreams and regard the things that appear fully fledged and life-like. These are gifts to you from your own open intelligence. They are your opportunity to create something totally unique and out of this world.
Disaster planning
I didn’t realize my dreams were preparing me for catastrophe until I was in my twenties. I have always been plagued by terrible nightmares whenever I began a new job or started back at university. Dr. Bulkeley explains that dreams have the potential to brace us for big changes. From my experience, I’ve seen that dreams always have the worst case scenario at play. When I worked at a pet store, I dreamt about earthquakes cracking open the floor and I had to rescue the tarantulas and scorpions. When I began as a tutor, I dreamt of yelling at my students and terrifying them.
Our dreams can set down the most improbable and horrible outcomes and we simply deal with them. Our dream characters just get through the sequence of events. They may be frightened and alone and confused, but because a dream just happens to them, it’s like watching your gaming avatar move while you’re away from the keyboard.
In this way, dreams are incredibly beneficial for anyone suffering anxiety. When we watch our dream characters move through the flames, a part of us learns to relax with our real-life problems. Personally, nothing phases me in my dreams anymore. My dreams literally cured me of my fear of spiders and once you know that you can overcome fear just by sleeping on it, you free up a lot of mental space.
You don’t have to take your dreams literally, but you should enjoy the sheer absurdity and intensity that your avatar is faced with. There are so many benefits of using dream journal prompts. Use your dream journal to write about how they overcome obstacles, how they solve problems, how they find support, how they fail, how they feel, and notice what areas in your own life can benefit from the motifs in your dreams.
Benefits of a lucid dream journal
A lucid dream is one where you are aware that you are dreaming. Rather than watching the dream play out without regard for the nonsense of it, you recognize that you are dreaming and you later become able to control different aspects of the dream.
Why do I have a lucid dream?
Dr. Bulkeley co-edited a book on lucid dreaming with Ryan Hurd. Hurd is another renowned sleep educator, and board member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Hurd discusses his Lucid Dream theory that fits well with understanding the benefits of using dream journal prompts. He explains that there are three states of lucid dreams:
- The waking consciousness, where people engage with their dream with reasoning, and intention.
- The higher consciousness, where people experience a universal oneness and the interaction with other-worldy beings and teachers.
- The healing consciousness, where people reclaim their power, and explore “tantric-like emotional/sexual surges, dreams of ancestors and the dead, and existential/initiation-style lucid dreams that can sometimes be scary and nightmarish.”
Benefits of lucid dreaming
Hurd goes further to express the potential for healing ourselves through the practice of lucid dreaming and indeed, it can be used as a therapy for insomnia and nightmares. Further than that, lucid dreaming can be a source of liberation and respite. For myself, there is a sense of pride and self-affirmation when I lucid dream and I take that into my daily life. Because I generally fly when I’m lucid I also benefit from the joy and novelty that these dreams invoke.
The depth of the dream relies on your openness to your experience and to training up in lucid dreaming. The beauty of the practice is that it depends on your commitment. You should find a teacher of lucid dreaming, such as Ryan Hurd, or Dr. Stephen LaBerge (dubbed “the pioneer” in Lucid Dreaming study). Then, engage in one or more of the different lucid dreaming techniques and, as always, keep a dream journal.
Journal after having a lucid dream!
For anyone learning to lucid dream, the benefit of using our dream journal prompts is that it is your tool to recall detail, character, and plot line. The journal enables you to relive the dream as you remember it and it encourages you to pay attention to your dreams in high definition, making them even more real.
Warning
When we sleep, our body is generally sleeping too. That is, your brain may paralyze you from the neck down just to keep you tucked in and safe. This is normal. We don’t notice it because…we’re asleep. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t explain the connection between lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a bit of a misnomer because you will actually be awake but your body won’t be. When we start to become more aware in our dreams, it is possible that we awake before our body and we have to wait for the body to fire back up.
Some side effects of sleep paralysis are:
- Feeling trapped, confined, or heavy
- Pressure on the stomach, head and chest
- Feelings of fear and dread
- Auditory and Visual hallucinations
Those last side effects are particularly nasty. People do recount nightmarish hallucinations that keep them from sleeping. For myself, I hallucinated seeing the indents of a cat’s paws crossing my bed and then I felt the sinking weight of something much heavier than a cat sitting on my chest. It lasted about two minutes and when I awoke, it felt like hauling my consciousness back up into my body. That is why it is imperative that you do not engage in lucid dreaming without a teacher. Do your research and then choose a practice that is right for you.
What to do if you feel the effects of sleep paralysis
If you find yourself paralyzed and frightened, I want you to remember this: Focus on your breathing, focus on your body, focus on nothing else. If you see something that frightens you, breathe out long and steady through your mouth like you are blowing it away. You are safe. Your sensations will return. Your only mission is to remain calm and wait for the lights to come back on.
At this point in my life, my dream journal is the only one I return to again and again. I still remember all of the events in my daily journal, but my nightly one just thrills me. You can find a lovely kind of satisfaction in your dreams.
What Can Dream Journal Prompts Teach Us?
Now, as I’ve mentioned, your dreams can also offer insight into your mental health. By taking your dream journal to a dream specialist or sleep expert you can uncover some of the events and shifts in your life that could be affecting your dreams. You can also discover psychological techniques for incorporating the lessons from your dreams into your daily life.
A dream journal is a self-fulfilling wish. You want to tune in to your night-time adventures and so you do. When you do, you recognize themes that correlate to the waking world. As you start to incorporate the dreams as more than just “random happenings”, you open up a power to challenge old beliefs, pursue new goals, and rest deeply in your experience.
What a great article Kassi! You nailed it!