How to Rest, Sleep, and Actually Remember Your Dreams

Sleep is one of the most restorative and healthy practices one can do.

If we do not get enough of it, our sanity can start to slip. Prioritizing your sleep is always a good thing—just be sure to set the necessary alarms so that you can wake as you need to start your day.

During our sleeping time, you may find that some of us speak during our slumber (like my husband likes to say I do), and some make other noises—like our dog Max when he is in a deep sleep. As a parent, I loved to watch our kids sleep when they were little, and I still love to watch Elphaba our cat and Max our dog sleep today.

No matter if you are active or not while sleeping, the important thing is to rest.

Is Rest Sleeping?

The simple answer is: sometimes. Have you ever woken up feeling more tired than when your head hit the pillow? You may have slept in that instance, yet it didn’t feel like rest.

Sleep also helps us process things that happened during our waking hours. It can give us a different perspective. Because we’re processing, it may not feel like we got good rest at all.

Can you Rest without Sleep?

It starts with telling your body it’s time to rest. This does not replace sleep by any means—but it is helpful to give ourselves a break from time to time.

Sounds simple, right? Some of you reading this may be thinking, That sounds too good to be true. But it is.

Imagine: you're sitting down on your couch, ready to relax at the end of the day with a good movie or show. As soon as it starts, so does your mind. You start to remember all the things you need to do or should have done before sitting down to relax.

Can you relate?

Our bodies can be very literal. If you’re wanting to intentionally rest, telling your body “I am resting while on this couch”can send a signal that it’s time to slow down. If your mind is racing with things you feel like you need to do, ask yourself, “Is this a right now thing, or can I do it after?” If the answer is “after,” write down whatever you wanted to do so it can be out of your mind and you can enjoy what’s in front of you.

How to Rest When Going to Sleep

This same technique can work as you go off to bed as well.

For me, it actually starts about an hour before I go to bed. I have an iPhone—I'm sure you can do the same on Android—and I’ve programmed it to “sleep” at 9 p.m. CT every night. What this does is turn off all notifications except from our children, so I stop paying attention to my phone.

For us, in our home, Rich and I don’t keep our phones in our bedroom—or a television—which is an optional added layer.

Why?

It helps my body know that our bedroom is the place to rest, not to watch TV or scroll on the phone. In a home as techy as we are, many of our friends have told us they thought that part was odd. My feeling is: let them.

Why?

Studies have shown that the blue light from our computers, televisions, and phones can cause our minds to need extra time to calm down before resting. By setting the "sleep mode" on my phone and leaving it in another room, it helps my body know we are resting—or getting ready to sleep—now.

If it works for you to have your phone by your side or a TV in your bedroom, you do you! That is totally okay. I’m just sharing what works for me. Use it. Don’t use it. Either works!

Nightly Rituals

Doing the same ritual to go to bed can be a comfort to our body and our nervous system. So, every night, I do the same ritual.

It starts with getting comfy in the space I’m about to sleep in—be it our bed, or a hotel room if we are traveling.

Then, I imagine rays of light or water sprinkling down on me while giving my body a command:

"Any energy that is not mine must leave my space now. Likewise, any energy that is out and about that is mine returns to me renewed and refreshed."

I imagine the energy that is not mine leaving my body and sinking into the earth. Then, like a sponge, I pull in any energy that is mine that I left out in the world.

Note: This energy you are calling back can be any energy floating out there that you do not need other people to have. Any love energy that is attached to your children, family, or friends is not intended to be recalled with this exercise—though it could be if you find the need.

After the energy feels like it is where it needs to be, I ask Mother Earth to help me feel grounded and rested while I slumber. I imagine little pieces of ivy comforting me and helping me feel renewed.

Last, I ask my blanket to be my shield, and while I do that, I request to my guides that—should I dream—I wake up feeling rested and that anything I’m meant to remember is easy to do so.

Do I always wake up rested? No.

Does it work more often than it doesn’t? Yes—I’ve found that to be the case.

Now, remembering what I dream though? That is not always easy to do.

How to remember your dreams?

There are times I wake in the middle of a dream, or I know I dreamt something but just cannot, for the life of me, remember it. Or if I do remember some of it, it doesn’t stay long. When that’s the case, I try to use voice-to-text or a voice memo to take down what I do remember. You can also write it out in a dream journal. I just like to talk it out as a personal preference.

When I don’t remember a dream or want to go deeper to expand what I did remember, I use a technique called channeled writing.

Channeled Writing: A Tool to Go Deeper or Fill in the Blanks

When I wake up knowing I had a dream but can’t quite hold onto it—or when I only remember one random detail and wish I could piece the rest together—I turn to something called channeled writing.

This is something I first started using when I was writing my book, and it’s become one of my favorite ways to get information from my dreams, my guides, or even just from the deeper parts of myself that I don’t always hear clearly when I’m busy during the day.

Here’s what I do:

• I get quiet. I clear, ground, and shield my energy so I’m able to focus completely on the writing. If I’m still half-asleep, I’ll sometimes just talk into a voice memo and listen back later. (I do a lot of voice-to-text. You’ll notice that theme.) If I’m more awake or working on this later in the day, I’ll use some sort of writing tool—like a laptop, voice-to-text on my phone, or even paper—before going to the next step.

• Set a time and ask a question. If I’m using paper or a laptop, I write the question down at the top. The question can be something simple like: “What was that dream about?”or“Is there anything I need to know from last night’s dream?” Then I set a timer for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how much time I want to give—knowing I can always do another round.

• Then I just start writing. No editing, no overthinking. Sometimes it’s a few sentences, sometimes it keeps going. Sometimes it starts off by just writing what I see, and soon the words shift to what the dream was about. I might not even know where it’s coming from—it’s just coming through.

• Read it over. Reading it over is where the magic is. If you start the writing time with mundane things like “The sky is blue and there are clouds in it” just to get your mind into writing mode, you’ll often see it shifts into what you were wanting to write about all along. If more questions come up after reading what you wrote, do it again with another question until you feel satisfied.

If you’ve never done this before, it might feel weird the first couple of times. That’s okay. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re just building a new muscle.

Sometimes what comes through is crystal clear. Other times it’s a little murky, and I sit with it for a bit. And yes, there are times when I try this and… nothing happens. That’s normal too.

I’ve found that the more I show up for this practice, the more my dreams show up for me too. It’s like they know I’m paying attention now, and they don’t have to work so hard to get through.

So if you’re curious, try it. It doesn’t have to be a big production. Just a quiet moment to ask and listen.

You never know what might come through.

hope these tips on how to help your body rest and how to recall your dreams have been helpful. If you have other tips, feel free to leave them in the comments below—or if this has helped, leave a 😴 in the comments.

May your dreams be full of the insights you’re looking for, and as George of the Jungle would say...

"Sleep sweet."

With Love and Stardust,

Sarah