The Art of Remembering Dreams
These last several days I haven’t been able to remember my dreams. The most I can remember is that I had them and maybe the faintest of a feeling or hazy edges of an image, all of which are questionable.
I feel disappointed and frustrated that I can’t remember the dreams. I’ll sometimes lie back in bed and squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to squeeze the details into my waking consciousness. Funnily enough, it’s works every once in awhile! 😆
Other times, I’ll luxuriate a moment too long in stretching awake or remembering something from my to-do list, and the dream will suddenly evaporate. Poof. Gone. Just like that.
And then there are times when I can’t help but reach for my phone and read texts I’ve received or check what emails await me. That’s often a guarantee that generous swaths of the dream will be stripped away…
The in-between moment between asleep and awake is a precarious one, a rapidly shrinking pinhole window of opportunity for recalling my gossamer dream.
Much like Stephanie’s share on the relationship between sleep, dream, and rest, I have found that how I awake is a part of cultivating the quality of my relationship with my dreams.
Below is a rudimentary set of notes I am exploring as I work towards the art of remembering dreams, particularly those ultra-delicate skiddish ones:
a gentle alarm for a gentle wake-up
making the conscious choice to stay with the dream while keeping the long line of thoughts crowding the entrance of my mind at bay - they can wait
recording what I can remember as soon as I wake up
slowing down to feel into whatever I can recall from the dream - a sensation, a color, an image, a sound, etc. - inviting the dream to reveal more of the details (sometime’s I receive little to nothing more and other times this seems to dislodge significant portions)
when a dream is really alluring and I have time, I will attempt to return to sleep with the dream
I say, “감사합니다.” “Thank you.” to/for the dream(s)
In a culture that depends on our mindless patterns and mechanical responses for keeping us asleep to our vitality and interbeingness, purposeful rituals and mindful practices even in our awaking state feel so vital.
Dear dreamer, how are you cultivating the art of waking up?