Dream Journal Tutorial

Welcome. Thank you for reading my tutorial for journaling your dreams. This method is to show a way to get the most possible out of your dream journal. It will help you understand things about your lucid journey and your recall journey.

What you need:
Dream Journal
Dream Goal Journal
You already know what this is. You probably keep one. The reason you keep one is probably to increase recall. You know that a dream journal is the most effective way to increase recall. This is true, it really is amazing. I am not here to convince you to DJ though, :P I just want to show you what a good Dream Journal has in it.

This is a format for a highly effective Dream Journal



"But Brandon! Why do you have all these things in your Dream Journal? That seems like a lot of work for no reason!" -Random voice from the crowd of people that are always around me asking me questions.

I shall give you a reason for all of these.

Date, total sleep
Obvious ones first. The date will allow you to look back from the days surrounding this DJ entry and see things like "I slept 1 hour the night before and it really effected my recall the night after". Total sleep works the same as well. You can see how more hours of sleep really effects your sleep and hopefully see an amount of time that is prime for you to sleep each night.

Daytime Techniques
The techniques you did throughout the day, not things that you do right before you go to bed. Note that these 3 are only at the beginning of the Whole DJ, not to be repeated for every dream. Anything below this will be repeated if you have multiple dreams.


Lucid and Recall Techniques
This is so you can look back at the techs that you are using for this night and see how it effected everything. Another obvious one, but an important one. Remember that LDing techniques can make your recall go up or down as well. So put that into consideration when analyzing.

Stress level
Stress can cause inaccurate readings through your DJ, since it inhibits recall and lucidity. I recommend learning to cope with the stress in your life through many different ways. I am a Christian, so I just trust in God, you might want to try things like meditation, yoga, etc.

Fell asleep and Awake
This is the time you fell asleep and the time you woke up for this dream. If you didn't wake up after the dream then put that down as well. Everything must be documented.

Dream
No. I am not explaining why.

Vividness
These are the things that you are always trying to maximize in dreams. If any of these are higher than usual you can count a success.
Vividness scale
*1＝extremely hazy, only remember the plot but no sensory dream elements
*2＝hazy, only some sensory dream elements were discernable
*3＝decent, sensory dream elements were fairly discernable throughout the dream
*4＝vivid, realistic dream elements throughout the dream
*5＝extremely vivid, sensory perception was heightened throughout the dream, seemingly more vivid than waking

Awareness
This tends to be difficult to put on a scale, and people may use "layers" or other things, but I would recommend a short sentence describing the awareness in your dream.

Length
This is important because you want to be able to tell what things you did to make your LDs longer, it might actually have more to do with what you do outside dreams rather than stabilization techs inside dreams.

Emotions
This is helpful, because the emotions of dreams fades after time. If you have it written down, you won't lose it.

Dream Signs
"This doesn't count for me, I don't use dream signs."
:nono: You don't think you have dream signs
This part is actually mislabeled a little bit. This isn't really for dream signs you have, but things that might be dream signs. I will discuss where dream signs go later, if you are still with me after this crazy long tutorial. So you put anything that has happened in a dream before. Also put emotions in here as well as pains. You might see them more than you think. Just noting that something has happened multiple times in a dream can increase your awareness in this matter.

Tags (optional)
This part is optional if you use tags. This will help you see if your tags in the middle of the night help, and which ones help. Things like "When I put a color theme to the dream, I remembered it much better" will pop into your head and you will get better at tagging, because everyone is different, so one word tags might not work well for you, or they might work better.

Summary
So this whole thing is here so that after a while, you can analyze what helps you, and what doesn't. I would recommend only adding one technique every 2 weeks. Also keeping a technique for at least 2 weeks. Then analyze.

Disclaimer about what is in there and what isn't in there.
If you feel you use something that is not listed, then feel free to say, and add it to your own chart. I am 100% against using supplements, so I didn't put it in here. If you wish to have it, then just add it to your format and put how much you used that day. You might also want to put what reading material you read throughout the day, even non lucid books. Developing an idea of what is passing into your brain at night and why is the primary reason for a dream journal.


This is for your goals. Start with your long term goals. Where do you want to be at in terms of lucidity and recall in a year? A year is a long time. Reach far on this point. I can't tell you what goals to put in this, but I can tell you how to format it. This is also good for long term "in-dream goals"


FAQs by the weird voices in my head that are skeptical about this tutorial

"But BrandonBoss! I don't have that many LDs a month or dreams a week! I can't put this many down! What do I do?"
First, you don't have goals for the first month. Then going by the previous month, you make your own goals.

"Why is it separated into sections of six and one of 7?"
3 reasons:
1) I lie to myself and call each period a week to make myself feel more motivated. 1 LD in a week! I can do that!
2) So I can have 5 "weeks" every month instead of four, this gives me more goals to hit.
3) So that it always starts at the beginning of a month, because that is a lot easier to set goals for.

"Why is there a goal journal at all?"
To analyze your success and failure (I can use this word without it effecting my LDs) even more and giving you motivation through goals. Goals help a lot in shaping your lucid future. Right now your goal may be just to have a lucid dream. That is a goal. Go for it! Write it in Goal Journal!

"Why does your total LDs not add up to the amount of LDs in each of the weeks combined?"
Because you are going to do better than that on at least on week. I recommend 1 or 2 LDs higher than your total at first, make it higher in the future if you wish. Your goals.

"I can't get 1 LD a week even, what if my goal for the month is one LD?"
Good question. I am afraid my only answer is that you should prove yourself wrong! You can has 1 LD a week! You have at least seven tries (see how I lie to myself about the week thing?)! :P I hope this doesn't discourage anyone. Another thing would be to not have amount of LDs in there until you get better.

"What do I put in the Goals for January spot?"
In-dream goals! You should have an expiration date for these, so they stay fresh and you are always trying something new and exciting. If you don't accomplish these, then make sure not to get discouraged. If you want to keep them, then move them to long term goals and continue to try.

Thanks for staying with me. I think that this can help you figure out what techniques are helping you and which ones are not. Ask me any questions you have below. :)

Dream like a Boss. -BrandonBoss