That means that over your lifetime something like six years will be spent in the world of your dreams! So don't you think it would be great to be able to spend that time productively?
Well you can, because by learning the techniques that you need to fully understand your dreams you can then use them to achieve all of your goals in life. All you have to do is follow the simple steps that will enable you to uncover your dream secrets.
Follow these seven steps and you will be well on your way:
Prepare Your Environment
To ensure you dream truly significant dreams you must get a restful night's sleep. So the environment in which you sleep must be just right. Make sure you are comfortable and are neither too hot nor too cold. Ensure that the room that you sleep in is right for getting a good night's sleep ? a room that is too light for instance will make it more difficult. And try to remove those things that might distract you before you go off to sleep, like TVs and computers.
Prepare Your Mind
If your mind is still full of the pressures or excitement of your day then it is not going to produce gainful dreams. So try to clear your mind by taking time to relax and wind down before you go off to sleep.
Use techniques like visualization to see yourself going off to sleep and becoming absorbed in vivid meaningful dreams. Tell yourself that you are going to dream about something significant.
Learn To Remember Your Dreams
It's no good having all those great dreams and then simply forgetting them. Within five minutes of waking it's reckoned that around fifty percent of your dream content will be forgotten. After ten minutes as much as ninety percent simply can't be remembered. So you need to learn the steps required to change this.
Ensuring that you wake slowly and keeping your eyes shut for a few moments will help to keep the images from your dreams in your mind. Then it's important to record what you can remember as quickly as you can.
Record Your Dreams
You should have a notebook and pen by your bedside so that as soon as you wake you can jot down all that you remember about your dreams. Note down the main objects, characters, and events that appear and include things like colors, shapes, sounds, even any smells.
There is no need to worry about being grammatically correct just get the details down in the best way you can. This will form your dream journal.
Examine What You Have Recorded
Start to examine more closely what you have been dreaming about. It is important before you start to try analyzing the symbols, that you ask yourself what the dream could mean to you. Ask yourself what was the location of the dream, what key images or symbols did it contain, how did you feel during it, and what real life experience could it reflect?
Record your thoughts on these areas and try to formulate what the theme of the dream is. Highlight the keys points and then leave it and get on with your day.
Analyze Your Dream
Set some time aside later in the day when you can go back to what you have recorded and start to analyze it. It's vital that you find a quiet place where you won't be interrupted.
Examine the key symbols in your dreams, maybe using a dream dictionary to find some initial possible meanings. The true picture of what they all mean though will come by looking at your life, both now and in the past, to see what the images mean to you personally. As you think about them you will be able to form associations with aspects of your life.
For example the people in your dreams are there to tell you something, possibly about the qualities or skills they possessed. If they are from your past think about conversations you may have had with them or ideas or hopes you had at the time. You will soon get clues about the areas of your life your dreams are prompting you to look at.
Define The Interpretation and Act Upon It
It may take you a few days but soon you will become accomplished at understanding what the contents of your dreams mean to you personally. You will see themes develop and certain images will start to reoccur. Try giving each dream a title and see how the patterns emerge.
Get into a routine of doing your dream work and soon the clues to the actions you need to take in life will be revealed. Then act upon them.
These steps are the basics of what you will need to learn to be able to fully understand your own dreams. When you learn to uncover your dream secrets you truly will see the benefits in your life.
So take a step each day towards discovering the real meanings of your dreams and keep seeking new ideas to help you make the most of your every dream. You won't regret it.
Setting goals, determining measurable milestones, and consistently taking action are certainly good ways to manifest what you want in life. Here's a fun activity I often use with clients and workshop participants to jump-start the process. It's a collage-making activity, and the end product is called a dream map, treasure map, or dream board. Dream maps are powerful tools for self-discovery and manifestation. They are based on a proven concept: that clearly picturing and creating a visual image of a desired outcome helps it come about. If drawing cave paintings helped ancient people prepare for a successful hunt, imagine what a pictorial wish list could do for you. Set aside half an hour, bring your passions, aspirations, and intentions, mix them with paper, scissors, glue sticks, and magazines, and see what takes shape!
To prepare for this activity, collect a stack of ten to fifteen magazines and catalogs that you won't mind dismantling. You'll need some type of adhesive: a glue stick, rubber cement, or tape, and a pair of scissors. For the background, use a poster board, oversized construction paper, newspaper, or a large piece of drawing paper. If you have a choice of colors, select your favorite for the background.
Before you begin, spend a few minutes setting your intention for the exercise. Think about what you'd like to manifest in your life.
* What would you like more of?
* What's missing from your life right now?
* What may already be in your life that you'd like to devote more time to?
* What gaps became apparent as you completed the Beginnings exercises?
Now, quickly leaf through the magazines and tear or cut out pages with images that appeal to you. Don't second-guess why you're selecting certain pictures; if something catches your interest, makes you smile, or say "Yes!" then it's a keeper. You may find you choose images that remind you of a significant place, person, or object from your past or present. Your pictures could represent what you want for the future. Give yourself about twenty minutes to go through the magazines. Then, take your stack of pictures, play with the placement of them, and glue or tape them on the paper when you're satisfied with the arrangement. Feel free to add your own drawings to complete your dream map.
Some people choose to hang their finished dream maps where they'll see them several times a day. Popular spots include the refrigerator door or an office wall. Others prefer to tuck them away to keep them private. I've used both approaches before with tremendous success. I usually need to create a new dream map every six months because everything comes true. For instance, I once chose pictures of a woman receiving a massage, a Zen fountain, a lone cross-country skier, a smiling gardener pushing a wheelbarrow of harvested vegetables, and a woman doing yoga in her living room. These manifested in my life as:
* a barter arrangement with a massage therapist
* a great deal on a Zen fountain at a discount retailer
* an opportunity to rent a Vermont ski condo which was only a few miles from a lovely Nordic touring center * an offer to work an exceptionally fertile garden plot at a nearby horse farm in exchange for tilling the soil and sharing some of the crops
* an exchange of coaching for personalized yoga instruction to help me develop a home practice for when I can't make it to yoga class
Exactly why this happens is somewhat of a mystery, although I have some theories. When you clarify what it is that you want, you are better able to focus your energy and actions to move you in that direction. When you commit your ideas and dreams to paper, whether in words or pictures, you make them more concrete. This helps harness the power of visualization. When you put a desire or an intention out to the Universe, amazing synchronicities and coincidences begin to occur. When you've clarified what you want, it becomes easier to recognize opportunities that could provide the openings you need.
Once you realize how powerful dream maps are, you may want to create separate maps for different areas of your life. Choose a background color that you associate with each area, for instance: green for financial, red for relationships, and blue for leisure. Select only images related to that aspect of your life. You may want to bind all of your dream maps into a book.
Choose a favorite photo of yourself to add to your dream map to claim this as your dream.
Use dream maps as a tool for self-discovery. Select every picture that resonates with you for some reason. I often use dream maps with people who are changing careers to help them explore their interests. If you are trying to reconnect with your passions, this exercise can provide valuable clues.
Other good times to make dream maps include: your birthday or the New Year when you're setting goals for the year ahead, when you're looking for a life partner, when you're starting a family, when you're planning a dream vacation, when you're relocating, when you're building a dream house, when you're looking for a new creative outlet, or when you're planning your retirement.
Have fun creating your dream map! This is one of those activities in which you benefit as much from the process as from the final product.
Both Tony Hall & Grace Durfee are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Tony Hall has sinced written about articles on various topics from self improvement and motivation, Public Speaking and self improvement and motivation. Tony Hall is an author and publisher of self-improvement products. He has vast experience in the areas of personal and business development and assists business owners in developing their personal and business skills.In his book "Dream Secrets Uncovered". Tony Hall's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
Grace Durfee has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Family and Family. Grace Durfee, PCC, is an ICF certified coach, trainer, speaker, and writer who helps busy professionals, small business owners and career changers achieve success while enjoying more balanced lives. She is the author of Balance with Grace: Celebrate the. Grace Durfee's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.