Two great questions or issues here. First, how to access your dreams.

Start with recording in your journal any phrases, thoughts, feelings, or songs that are running through your head when you wake. Or, if you have even just the briefest dream image record that, giving it a title just as you would for a longer dream.

Or, try telling yourself at night, before falling asleep, that you will sleep well, dream well, and remember your dreams when you wake. A kind of dream programming.

I generally recommend to women that they pay attention to the phases of the moon because my experience is that we tend to dream more around the full and new moons, so that might be a time to make the effort to remember and record.

As for the disturbing or uncomfortable dreams, they are often unfinished dreams, that is, dreams we wake ourselves from because of their emotional content. Often we can re-enter those dreams to resolve them, face our fears, or learn the message our dream messengers are trying to send us.

Thanks, Shawn, for visiting.

Cheryl, I haven’t read the book you mention but will check it out. And dreams are great grist for the poetic mill, especially because they both often use metaphor and symbol. Thanks for stopping by!

Wow, what a wonderful blog! I love dreams and have often used them in my poems. I’ve also taken a couple of dream workshops led by a writer in the Montague Ullman tradition. I also just recently started reading “The History of Last Night’s Dream” by Rodger Kamenetz. Are you familiar with this book? Good stuff.

I really enjoyed all your posts (yes, I read several of them even though I am behind in my work). I’ve bookmarked this site and plan on visiting regularly.

I don’t remember my dreams very often and those I do remember are often on the disturbing or uncomfortable side. I think your suggestions are interesting and I’d like to try them - do you have suggestions for accessing your dreams? I do have a dream journal next to my bed…for those mornings I do remember them!