Using a Dream Journal
Record the elements of a dream immediately up awakening (See: Dream Recall), but do not stop to interpret them. Later, you will also record your interpretation, and start a "dictionary" of the symbols and other elements that seem meaningful to you, and what they seem to mean.
The Values of Dream Journals
The dream experience is a personal gateway to the subconscious with its abundant empowering resources. Embraced by the subconscious mind, the dream experience becomes a powerful agent for growth and change. In that role, the dream can promote restful sleep while at the same time opening totally new channels for growth and self-discovery.
But aside from simply recalling the dream experience, a major task we face is unraveling its significance and developing our ability to use the dream experience as a channel for personal growth and empowerment. We now know that dreams don’t do it for you, they instead work with you. Through your dreams, you can exercise your psychic skills, including your ability to see into the future and travel out-of-body to distant spatial realities. Beyond these, you can develop your ability to experience firsthand the spiritual realm with its advanced spirit guides and higher planes of spiritual power.