How Writing Down Your Dreams Can Be A Pathway To Better Emotional Awareness

Dr. Jane Haynes, a licensed psychotherapist, suggested that dream-journalling could have potential mental health benefits, in the form of increased emotional self-awareness and being able to understand your own emotions at a deeper level. Dreams As A Mirror Into Your Vulnerable PsycheMany people already use journaling as an effective mental health technique to increase self-awareness. Studies in the past have shown that journaling can help us develop neuroplasticity, a trait that allows us to detach from our thoughts and look at our own mind from a more pragmatic perspective. However, there’s a slight catch. The key to journaling is that you need to be open with yourself and what is bothering you. When it comes to issues that are deeply rooted like trauma, however, it can be difficult to jot it down in paper when it comes to something that sensitive. Remembering dreams, on the other hand, lets us understand what’s on our mind. Dreams have an uncanny quality to them and when you’re troubled that is consistently at the back of your mind, you will likely be dreaming about it, even if you don’t remember it.How Can You Cultivate Dreaming As A Habit And What To Look Out ForIf you’re not a heavy dreamer, there are some things you can do to maximise the chances of remembering your dream. Journalling right after waking up in the morning at the same time everyday is ideal, since tuning into your dreams is easiest if you do it consistently. Writing it down and putting it down on paper can increase your overall recall as well. However, you do want to keep in mind that many of these dreams may either be bizarrely gibberish or bizarrely disturbing. When you’re journaling, Dr. Jane recommends to be prepared when you’re logging down your dreams, as you may need to be prepared to explore some deeply sensitive issues and unfinished business. However, for the tradeoff of being able to resolve long-past trauma and to better understand yourself on a more holistic level, dream-journalling could be your perfect chance to change your life for the better.