Interpreting your dreams is a matter of remembering what they were, writing down the details, and consulting a dream expert who could connect what is happening in your subconscious to greater lessons about your life. Dreams can be brought on by life events, stress, and a variety of other situations we find ourselves in, but they can also be deeply meaningful in ways we never expect.

Consulting a dream expert can help detangle some of the meaning behind your dreams. We’ve all woken up feeling distressed, happy, sad, angry, or buoyant from our dreams- how can our minds make us feel so strongly about something that isn’t real?

Dream interpretations begin by keeping a dream journal. When I know that I want to track the course of my dreams, I sleep with a notebook and a pen beside my bed. I tend to give myself a time frame for tracking my dreams, anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. If I wake up during the night, I write down what I remember about my dream and then go back to sleep. I’ll do the same thing in the morning when I wake up to start my day.

Gradually, your body gets used to writing down your dream memories and I find myself being able to remember more and more about the dreams that I’ve had during the night. We aren’t usually able to recall every dream we have, but some are more vivid than others. All this note taking serves to take abstract thoughts and ideas from our minds and turns them into a concrete thought on paper.

Looking over my dream journal, I can begin to see where there might be patterns forming. Certain symbols, images, or connections may be forming in the dreams that can allow a dream interpreter to make inferences about your subconscious mind. Our dreams are connected to our conscious minds, too, and can shed light on situations we experience in our daily lives.

There are certain dreams that we all have- falling, flying, and being naked in public are common across cultures and time. Since we are all different, they can mean something different to each person. These recurring dreams seem to emphasize certain aspects of the common human experience.

Nightmares are dreams that give me and others highly negative feelings. When I wake up from a nightmare I can be shaky, have a dry mouth, and be filled with dread or fear. Constant nightmares can be debilitating to your physical and mental health, but they can also be an indication of anxiety, depression, or fear of things in our waking lives. Finding the underlying source of nightmares can help us sleep better and begin to fix parts of our lives that may be off balance.

Dream interpretations can be highly beneficial for those of us who are seeking to find out what our subconscious minds are trying to tell us. Keeping a dream journal, whether or not you want a dream interpretation, can be a fun way to explore your mind and make stronger connections between your dreams and your conscious self.