Keeping a Dream Journal.

In my Spiritual Coaching Class I recommend my clients reserve a section of their notebooks for a dream journal. Learning to communicate with your expanded awareness is more of a practice than a word lesson. Interpreting the messages from our dreams can be very enlightening. It takes a bit of practice and a simple nightime intention to begin to get in the groove of it.


I was in my twenties when I found myself separated from my husband, jobless, penniless, with a baby and feeling quite like a victim. A depression swept over me that paralyzed me from taking any action to turn things around. My future looked very dim and my past was too painful to confront. After several months of barely surviving I began to read self-help books. I learned from the books, how to meditate, how to use visualization and affirmations to lift my energy. Soon thereafter, I began a dream journal. During this process of recovery the doors and walls to my unconscious mind began to open up.

I put my daughter to bed one night and went to the couch to watch some television. I started to drift off to sleep when it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the back door lock. Still, I let it go and fell asleep. But my dream began with me laying on the couch, watching television, just as I was. It didn't feel like a dream at all. In my dream I realized someone was standing at the sliding glass door. Fear gripped me and I felt adrenaline surge through me. I was paralysed with fear. I couldn't move a muscle. My heart began to race and I woke with a terrible fright. I literally had to catch my breathe. I realized it was just a dream as soon as I awoke. I calmed myself down and soon found myself drifting back to sleep.

Again, the same dream appeared. There I was, laying on the couch, watching television when I realized a man was at the glass door. I had to force myself to get up, in my dream. I had to overcome the overwhelming fear to move past the paralysis and go to the door. I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds. Still dreaming, I walked to the door and saw a tall blonde man with light colored eyes. He had the most evil look on his face. I knew he was there to rape me, kill me and cut me up in pieces. I reached for the door and the lock was broken. Panic filled me with adrenaline and I awoke. Whew!

Again, I fell back asleep without checking the door. This time, in my dream, as soon as I realized someone was at the back door, I got right up, not at all paralysed. I strode to the door ready to confront my intruder. There was a man standing outside the glass door though, this time he was shorter, darker and wearing black leather gloves. The look in his eyes told me that he meant only to steal from me, not to physically harm me. I reached for the door and could see that it was open a few inches. His gloved hand slid through the crack and I slammed the door on his wrist. I screamed, "Who are you?!" "What do you want?" In my rage I felt the energy move through me and, again, I awoke, this time thinking......"What the hell?"

Back to sleep I went. Yes, I know. Why in the hell didn't I check the door? Because I was gooshy. That is a word I've used since a very small child, meaning...."I'm very cozy and comfy" or "Let's get gooshy." Anyway,this time, there I was, laying on the couch, watching television when I realized there was something or someone outside that same glass door. I was furious! I threw back the covers, stomped to the door and threw it wide open! "Who's there?" I yelled. A small, dark boy came running in. He ran past me and through my living room to the front door. He fell against it and dropped to the floor. I walked over to him and I could see that he had been tortured. He had marks all over his naked, little body. I lifted him up and cared for him....then I awoke.


It was very clear to me what my unconscious mind was communicating to me. From paralysing fear and being a complete victim, to the intruder being the victim. I was no longer afraid. I was ready to confront my past and heal my wounds. I was ready to become the healer. A short time later I enrolled in a course for massage therapy and energy work.

I will never forget that night and the message that surfaced in my dreams.

Every night for many years I would sit on the side of my bed and repeat, "Tonight, I want to remember a dream and I will remember a dream. As soon as I awaken I will write it down." Then I would go to sleep with a pad and a pencil beside my bed, expecting to remember and write down my dream as soon as I opened my eyes. I even got a small recorder to so I could just describe my dream without opening my eyes.

At first I just wrote down the first impressions and images that surfaced. I payed close attention to the surroundings of any rooms or buildings I was in. What colors came to me or numbers. Was I driving in a car? If so, what was the condition of the car? Did the brakes work? Was I going too fast? What kind f car was it?

There are many books on dream symbols and interpretions. My favorite is, Betty Bethards, "The Dream Book: Symbols for Self-Understanding." She has over 1000 dream symbols in it. Not all symbols mean the same thing to everyone but once you start figuring our the language of your unconscious mind, you'll learn quickly the messages presented.

I used to ask for a healing or a solution to a problem before I went to sleep. Often I would wake up with the answer to my problem. In my class I call it, "Divinely Inspired Next Action"

The significance of the large building in the dream I shared in the earlier post was this. "A large building is a tremendous energy source; suggests you have great opportunities, tremendous potential and a big destiny to fulfill.

I often dream of babies. "Baby~ "New birth within self; new aspects coming into being, new beginnings. Openness, uptapped potential for growth."

It's fun to remember your dreams. It's fun to figure out the messages.