When beginning the steps towards interpreting your dreams, many people find it helpful to keep a notebook - a dream journal, if you will - right next to your bed with a pen or pencil. As soon as you are physically able, begin your journal.

Write down your dream as soon as you remember it. Write down everything you remember, even if it doesn't make sense. Most often, the parts that don't make sense or are out of place are the most valuable. Every detail, even the minutest element in your dream is important and must be considered when analyzing your dreams. Look closely at the characters, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even color and numbers that are depicted in your dreams.

Ask yourself, "What does this remind me of?" Write down the first thing that comes to your mind. This will likely be the real situation in your life that is symbolized in the dream. What did that real-life situation make you feel like? If this is the same feeling represented in your dream, you're on the right track. Often when there is more than one part to your dream (more than one story line) that usually means there are two things your subconscious is trying to tell you.

Remember that we have between four and seven dreams per night. If you wake up from a dream, write it down. Don't roll over and go back to sleep. If you don't write it down, you'll never remember it in the morning! At the very least, you can jot down the basic premise of the dream and go back in the morning to fill in the rest of the details such as feelings, etc.

Suggest to yourself every night as you fall asleep, "I will remember my dreams." Say this over and over. Your sub-conscious will act on this subtle suggestion. Practice keen observation in your dreams through self-suggestion prior to sleep. When a problem confronts you, you might want to ask by prayer for guidance to be sent to you through your dreams.

Trust your instincts! If something seems important, it probably is. Try not to let your logical side take over.

So you've got your dreams down on paper. Where do you go next? The next step would be interpretation.