Techniques to Recall and Access Dreams for Creativity

Did you know you could talk to your subconscious? I didn’t until my freshman year in college when my film history professor taught us a technique that he said was a sure-fire way to remember more of our dreams. Skeptical at first and not quite sure why this was being taught in a motion picture class (as opposed to my psychology courses), I tried it and was stunned by the results. As I progressed in my studies, I understood more and more why this was taught in a film class and the connection between dreams, creativity and the arts. 

Our dreams are a set of clues that lead us back to ourselves. Thoughts, feelings and beliefs that we ignore during our waking hours, tug at us while we sleep. The more we get in touch with this buried content, the more control we have over our narrative and the more we can give to the creative process.

Research has shown that there is a relationship between the frequency of dream recall and creativity. For example, the findings of one study suggests that, “increased awareness to dreams increases creativity through a ‘loosening’ of stereotyped thinking patterns”. In other words, focusing on dreams helps you to think about things in ways you normally wouldn’t. It opens the floodgates to new ideas.

During my years as a mental health counselor, I came across many dream recall techniques, some similar, but none more effective than this one. 

Understanding Sleep Cycles

During sleep, we go through four sleep cycles: stage one, two, and three and Rapid Eye Movement or REM. Non-REM sleep is considered quiet sleep, while the REM stage is considered active and is closest to a waking state. Our most vivid dreaming occurs in REM sleep, but recent research has shown that we can dream at any point.

Generally, people dream about two hours on and off throughout the night. If you tend to wake up a lot while you’re sleeping, for any reason (e.g. stress, lack of a good sleep routine, hormones, illness), you may be more likely to remember your dreams.

Dream Interpretation

Our dreams use symbols and metaphors to tell us truths that might be too painful, counterintuitive, shocking or unbelievable to face head-on in the light of day. Freud offered a detailed, psychoanalytic interpretation of dream symbols and a deep-dive into the subconscious to decode the hidden meaning in dreams.

How deep you want to go into your dream-world depends on your goals. For surrealist Salvador Dali dreams were his art. Dali described sitting in an uncomfortable wooden chair and dosing off with a key in his hand. When the key dropped, it woke him and he was left with a rich dreamscape to interpret through psychoanalysis and use in his art.

However, the goal for most artists is to use dream interpretation to mine their emotions and enhance creativity. According to neurologists and neuropsychologists, logical decision-making and focused attention are suppressed during dreaming, while senses and emotions dominate. This helps the brain to form “unexpected paths, instead of the obvious, normally strong associates.” They point out that forming loose associations is a lot like the psychoanalytic technique of free association and is a strong component in thinking outside the box.

If that’s what you’re looking for now, some light dream interpretation to help you think a little more outside the box and develop a more unique perspective in your art, try these simple techniques. It’s a hybrid strategy I used when I practiced psychotherapy. The essence of it is in accord with the IASD, because they view dreams as a reflection of your own underlying feelings and thoughts as opposed to some dream experts who focus on archetypal dreams that are supposed to apply universally to different people across cultures. 

Technique #1: Have a Conversation with Your Subconscious

Now for the aforementioned dream recall technique. This is the basic one my film professor used and is along the lines of the approach touted by the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD).

Step 1: Tell Yourself Dream Memory is a Priority

For this to work, you need to have an assertive conversation with your subconscious. Before going to sleep, sit at the edge of your bed and let the buried part of yourself know that you intend to remember your dreams when you wake up. Say something like, “Subconscious, I am going to remember my dreams tomorrow morning. Are you listening? You are going to help me remember my dreams in the morning!” Make it emphatic. Make it definitive.

In the past as a psychotherapist, it didn’t seem to work as well with my clients if they were equivocal or wishy-washy in their request. When I first tried it on myself, I didn’t necessarily believe it would work; however, I still spoke unambiguously to my id and any other submerged cognitive structures lurking about.

Step 2: Record It

Be sure to leave a journal and a pen by your bedside to remind you of the request you made the night before and to immediately record anything you remember even if it’s a small dream fragment. The details may turn out to be important later so record every image, feeling and thought you can remember. Anytime you wake up during the night you should record your dream immediately.

Step 3: Repeat

Repeat this every night or every other night and it will become habitual. Your subconscious will become more comfortable showing itself to you in the morning.

For me, the technique worked the first time, but for many it might take a couple of weeks. If it doesn’t work for you the first time, make sure when you wake up you’re not letting thoughts about your upcoming day distract you from your dreams. And don’t get discouraged if you don’t remember full dreams at first. Please keep at it even if it doesn’t work the first time. It’s a matter of breaking through to a sometimes stubborn unconscious.

Technique #2: The Emotions Behind the Dream

Step 1: Uncover the Feeling Behind Your Dreams

After a dream, the first thing you ask yourself should be, “What was I feeling during the dream?” “What were my emotions?” Were you anxious, angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, peaceful or joyful? Or maybe lost, depressed, helpless, and confused? Try to identify your feelings with a lot of specificity. 

The meaning of a dream can change so dramatically depending on the feeling behind it. For example, if a person has a dream about sitting at their mother’s bedside, only focusing on what the symbols mean, gives a limited interpretation. During the dream, did the person feel calm sitting there or burdened? The meaning is completely changed depending on the emotion.

The key is to be as honest with yourself as possible. Remember, sometimes the emotions you dream are the ones that you’re uncomfortable feeling when you’re awake. Make a pact with yourself that you will explore a range of feelings despite the repercussions. For a more nuanced approach, it might help to look through a dictionary of emotions or a list of feeling words.

Step 2: Make the Connection Between Your Dream and Reality

Once you have clearly identified the emotion during the dream, you need to connect it to what you are feeling in real life. For example, if the primary emotion behind a dream is being overwhelmed, identify what is making you feel overwhelmed in your own life. Then go back and relate it to your art. Are these feelings present in your projects? Are these feelings affecting how you work on your projects? Do they block you? Inspire you?

Step 3: Identify Repetitive Themes

If you find that you are identifying the same feelings over and over again in your dreams, even if it’s not the same symbolism (e.g. you have lots of fear based dreams surrounding bugs one day and tornados another), then your subconscious is trying to tell you something. Tell yourself you are willing to listen to what it has to say.

Step 4: Examine the Symbols

If you find that this type of dreamwork bolsters your creativity, go further, go deeper. Start analyzing the symbols in your dreams. For instance, if you dream the image of your childhood home, is that always associated with the feeling of calm? How is this symbol connected to your present? Did you talk to someone from your past recently? Why would this image from your past be coming up now? You always want to look for the real place you pulled your dream image from. Not only will this help you to interpret your dreams, but it will demystify them for you as well. 

Dig into the metaphors that come to you during sleep. It will be a new and exciting journey that not only unlocks your dreams, but also your creativity. When you begin to find that sometimes your dream content mirrors your art and your art sometimes mirrors your dream content, it will be motivation to continue the journey with your dreams.