How to recall your dreams (and why it will save your life)

(NOTE: This is the third edition of "Power of dreams @ work) - a newsletter on proactive utilization of your sleeping intelligence, your nocturnal dreams - for much more creative problem solving, deep personal insight, and thriving better at work, and generally, in life. Do make sure to tell others about the newsletter e.g. by sharing this article, and don't forget to subscribe to be notified when the next one is out.)

Now, let's get to it. This time I'll start out with my personal story of how I discovered the power of my nocturnal dreams.

I mostly felt sad at the time. Didn't really see how I could continue living my life the way I did. I had just come out of yet another (broken) love relationship. My level of selfworth had hit rock bottom. I felt very lonely. I desperately needed help, and I started seeing a psychologist. One of the very first times I was there the psychologist asked me;

"So Michael, do you dream at night, at what do you dream about?!"

I was very surprised, to say the least. There I sat. Feeling like shit, not knowing what to do about my self and my life. He might just as well have asked me how many times I had been to the moon. My response?

"Dreams?!? I don't dream. Come on, aren't dreams just a load of mumbo jumbo?!"

This was where my journey with dreams began. In 2002.

What I had unknowingly commenced was what turned out to be many years of psychoanalysis (a type of therapy, where actively working with dreams is a part of the therapy). And this was also where the vision of bringing the power of dreams to the corporate world was born. Once I started recalling my dreams and we started talking about them, I was simply blown away by how much I could learn about my self by pondering the contents of my dreams.

But also, how many ideas I got for solving my business/work-related problems by suddenly being able to recall my dreams. .

So how do you then become better at recalling your dreams? Today I can recall around 3-4 dreams per week (what about you? Do share in the comments). Again, we all dream about 2 hours every night (when getting the sleep we need). And also know this; as you start building the habit of recalling your dreams, it becomes easier and easier. It is in fact a natural thing to be able to recall at least some of your dreams every week, an ability many of us lost as kids (understand why by reading the last newsletter).

Now let me get to it, improved dream recall starts with this fundamental truth:

• In order to recall your dreams (better), you need to show sincere interest in them. In other words; you need to start developing a deep curiosity and openness towards them. A generel feeling of "hmm, I wonder what might hide in my dreams - maybe brilliant solutions to my currently biggest challenges at work? Maybe some deep knowledge about myself, my thinking, my behaviour... Knowledge that if only I knew it, my (work-) life would be much, much easier?!

A great way of continuing to show interest in dreams (and thus also YOUR dreams) is to continue reading my newsletters. But more than that, here are some very practical tips for improving your dream recall. .

1. Remind yourself several times during the day that "I want to recall my dreams" This is a very simple place to start. Tell yourself during the day "I want to recall my dreams when I wake up, I want to recall my dreams when I wake up!". And of course; also say it as you fall asleep in the evening. It is all about building intention around improved dream recall; a hugely important step.
2. When you snooze, you win! Yes, you got that right. When starting to tune in on your dreams it is critical that you don't just rush out of bed in the morning. Very often, when waking up, you will just be in the midst of REM-sleep, i.e. there is a great chance that you are dreaming. By staying in bed you stay in this half asleep, half awake state. REM-sleep is an extremely light type of sleep, and you are almost awake when dreaming (well, sometimes you are awake when dreaming, this is called lucid dreaming, more about that in later newsletters). The idea of "snoozing" here is thus not to simply go back to sleep, but to stay in bed, focusing on recalling the dream.
3. Make sure you have a recorder or pen and paper ready. Yes, a classic I know. But again, all about increasing focus on the fact that you (really!) want to recall your dreams; i.e., building intent. I prefer recording my dreams on a dictaphone (could also be the dictaphone on your phone), but you should do what you prefer. If not sleeping alone; I have placed my dictaphone in the cupboard at our bathroom - strangely enough I have reached an age where I often need to go pee in the middle of the night :-) ...often with a dream fresh in mind. Also know this; maybe you can recall a small element of a dream, so small that you won't bother recording it. If you do start recording it, you will often experience that the full dream comes alive in your head.
4. Return to the sleep position you had when dreaming. This is a funny one, but imagine you wake up with a dream in your head, and then you turn to the other side, and the dream disappears. If you have a small memory of the fact that you were dreaming just before, then try to return to the position you had when dreaming. Then focus on trying to recall the dream you had, and you will often experience just that; the dream comes back in your mind.
5. Practice meditation/mindfullness, and/or yoga. Consciousness-increasing tools like meditation and yoga can have a huge impact on your dream recall. Several studies have found strong (significant) correlations between practicising meditation and increased dream recall.* Spending time in nature will for most people have the same effect.
6. Start working with your dreams (try to understand why you dream what you do). We dream what we do for a reason, and when you start actively working with your dreams (i.e., try to understand them), you will further experience that their content changes; your dreams play along! In order to experience dramamatic increases in dream recall you simply have to start pondering why you dream what you do. Again, as a start, this one fundamental question will often open up to sudden realizations coming from what seems to be a "strange dream":

"Despite this dream appearing weird, how might it afterall portray something of huge relevance to what is happening in my life right now?"

(More about how to approach your dreams in later newsletters).

Finally, why is it life-saving to start tuning in on your dreams? Believe me when I say that I have a lot to say on that topic, and I will touch upon that in many if not all of the coming newsletters, but let me just focus on this one thing for now;

When you start tuning into, and act in accordance with the knowledge that your dreams carry, you avoid having what for most of us is the biggest regret as we get to the end of our lives;

"I wish I'd had the courage to live my life true to myself. Instead my life has been all about trying to live up to the expectations of others"

(Bronnie Ware; "Top five regrets of the dying").

And again, by tuning in on your dreams, you also get enormously creative input for your work-related challenges, be it practical challenges, or personal / emotionally related challenges. This is one of many reasons why I shine the most when doing inspirational talks at workplaces - teaching leaders and employees how to utilize their sleeping intelligence.

Until next newsletter, happy dreaming!

Michael

* E.g. this one; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246873492_Improved_dream_recall_associated_with_meditation