The best dream journals for recording your dreams

A place for you to write down your dreams ✨

best-dream-journals

by Samantha Price |
Updated on

A dream journal can help you keep a record of all of your dreams. Like a wellness journal, keeping a diary of your dreams can help you to spot patterns in your thought process. Have you ever woken up from a dream you thought was significant, only to forget it a few hours later? During the stages of sleep, our minds are still full of activity. This activity conjures up a series of mental images that take the form of dreams. Sometimes, these dreams can be a sensory, emotional or spiritual experience for some.

Writing down our dreams can sometimes help us make sense of them. In some circles of psychology, dreams can often be a reflection of our subconscious minds, our fears and our desires. In spirituality, dreams can be symbolic for some. There have even been people who have reported experiencing precognition in which they've predicted the future. Whatever way you view dreams, there's no denying they're fascinating.

Best dream journals at a glance:

Best designed dream journal: Leather Triple Moon Journal – View on Etsy
Best guided dream journal: Dream Journal: Notebook For Your Dreams and Their Interpretations – View on Amazon UK
Best free writing dream journal: Nemesis Now Dream Book Journal – View on Amazon UK

Keeping a journal can also be a form of self-coaching. For example, an affirmation journal that's filled with your own positive words can reframe your perspective. As such, you might find negative or reoccurring dreams transforming into profoundly positive experiences.

We've taken a look at the best journals for you to record your dreams, a guide on how to start your own and the benefits of keeping such a journal. You may even want to make this a part of your morning ritual in order to better connect with yourself and take a moment to breathe before starting your day. Alternatively, it could be that you're looking for the ideal gift for a Gemini in your life. This is a great place to start.

Best dream journals

Best designed dream journal

Leather Triple Moon JournalEtsy

Crafted in India with time-honoured techniques passed down through generations, this exquisite journal is a testament to traditional craftsmanship. Each Leather Triple Moon Journal features recycled cotton plain paper, offering a thick texture that invites pen or pencil to dance across its pages. It secures with a brass clasp that elegantly slides shut. The cover is adorned with an embossed triple moon pattern, meticulously created by hand tools. The leather is dyed by hand, adds an element of individuality as colours may vary. Whether it's documenting your spiritual journey, capturing dreams, recording spells, sketching ideas, pouring out prayers, expressing gratitude, or simply chronicling your daily experiences, this journal is your companion, ready to hold whatever your heart desires.

Customer review: "Absolutely adorable journal, I love it so much. It's sturdy, great paper, looks awesome, and locks well."

Pros

  • Handmade so every journal is unique
  • Stunning design and craftsmanship
  • Very well reviewed
  • Etsy Star Seller

Cons

  • Delivery charge

Best guided dream journal

Dream Journal: Notebook For Your Dreams and Their InterpretationsAmazon
Price: $16.99

With an ethereal celestial design, this dream journal helps you record your dreams and guides you in interpreting their significance with the help of prompting questions and checkboxes. From exploring your emotions, the key themes of each dream and how they relate back to your life, you'll be a dream expert in no time at all.

Customer review: "This Dream Journal works for me. I love the forms to fill out they help record the Dream entries. There is a lot of space to write out the dream with details. This helps me with Dream recall and analysis the more I use it. I dream almost every night and write them down when I first awaken in the morning. I recommend this journal. This is my second one to have purchased."

Pros

  • Gorgeous cover
  • Pages already structured for you
  • Encourages you with various prompts

Cons

  • Bigger than expected for some

Best free writing dream journal

Nemesis Now Dream Book JournalAmazon/Nemesis
Price: $16.95

This dream journal features another beautiful design of the tree of life and is embellished with stars. Your new dream book will give you the chance to unleash your creativity on each page. As this A5 book is totally blank, you may want to use it as a space to draw, sketch or paint out your dreams.

Customer review: "This is an absolutely stunning product. The hardback cover has the details beautifully embedded and the pages inside are unruled, so it's easy to draw something if necessary. The pages are a good quality and ink doesn't bleed through. All in all, it's a really sound product and looks fantastic."

Pros

  • Blank pages for creative freedom
  • Beautiful design
  • High-quality paper

Cons

  • Smaller than expected for some

Best vegan dream journal

Custom Vegan Dream DiaryAmazon

Made from faux leather, the suede fabric of this dream diary is soft to the touch. With the option to personalise this diary, it could be a thoughtful gift for a friend or a fantastic choice of dream journal for yourself to keep close to your heart. It features some structure with the option to add the date at the top of each entry and more.

Customer review: "Beautifully crafted with a personalised message."

Pros

  • Can be personalised
  • Colour and size can be customised
  • Suitable for vegans

Cons

  • Design isn't customisable, but there are other journals to choose from

Best insightful dream journal

best-dream-journals
Price: $14.99

Record your dreams while fostering creativity, strengthening memory retention, and setting goals. With this functional journal featuring beautiful motivational quotes, you are invited to track and interpret your dreams as well as consider your sleep quality.

Customer review: "I love this diary. Really well laid out and easy to track your dreams. Really recommend it if you want to start a dream journal."

Pros

  • Tracks sleep quality
  • Pages already structured for you
  • Contains motivational quotes

Cons

  • Cover is not as decorative as others

Best structured dream journal

best-dream-journals
Price: $14.99
Alternative retailers
Target$14.99View offer

This guided dream journal helps you record, explore, and reflect on the themes and symbols that appear in your nightly visions. Not only can this journal record your dreams, but it also includes a dictionary to help you analyse these dreams. It also contains some great reading material to immerse yourself in.

Customer review: "This is a very interesting book. The writer has put time into the journal portion, but also time to help the dreamer analyse their own dreams. It’s a very unique concept that would really be fun for any adults. Even if someone doesn’t believe in a meaning behind dreams, it would just be fun to track themes in personal memory. My granddaughter has found this to be an easy to use journal. The prompts are straightforward and she can go into as much or as little detail as she wants."

Pros

  • A fantastic reflective journal
  • Pages already structured for you
  • Includes a dream dictionary

Cons

  • Dream dictionary is only fairly basic

Best reflective dream journal

Dream Journal NotebookAmazon
Price: $3.83

Yet another journal for you to record your dreams until your heart is content, this one contains prompts and space for you to reflect on the dreams you've had in order to better understand yourself. Including a number of prompts, such as thoughts before sleeping and thoughts upon reflection, this may give you an insight into yourself.

Customer review: "This is an ideal little journal for keeping a note of all your dreams. Includes sections for time, date, your feelings before bed, feelings after dreaming, explanation of dream and your interpretation of it."

Pros

  • Contains space to track thoughts before bed
  • Pages already structured for you
  • Reflective prompts

Cons

  • Print inside is a bit small

Best lined dream journal

Starbursts Hardback NotebookPapier

This A5 size Starbursts Hardback Notebook presents endless possibilities. When you put pen to paper, it can be practical, cathartic, or just to express an idea. There are 96 leaves to fill. Additionally, this hardback notebook can be gifted in a stylish Papier presentation box. It's available with lined paper, a choice of foil colours and personalisation.

Pros

  • Can be personalised
  • Choice of foil and gift wrap
  • Pages are lined

Cons

  • A5 size only

Best lifestyle dream journal

best-dream-journals
Price: $8.99

The Essential Dream Journal provides a space for you to begin recording and tracking your dreams each night. Each spread includes the date, time you fell asleep, the time you woke up, sleep aids used, dream summary, recurring themes or symbols, as well as an indicator for whether the dream was lucid or not. If you prefer to sketch your dream or simply need more space, the facing page is blank.

Customer review: "Definitely a basic level journal, mainly because I want the pages to be different with different prompts, but still super cute and does the job. I love the different sections to write things, and the area to sketch. Overall worth it, especially with the cute cover."

Pros

  • Includes blank pages as well as structures ones
  • Contains health habit checklist
  • Great for beginners

Cons

  • Some found it basic

Best pocket-sized dream journal

For a magical-looking journal that gives you freedom while including structure in lined pages and date formats at the top of each page, this one from Magic of I gives the full effect. With a spellbinding holographic cover, it also includes evoking illustrations and quotes for you to peruse at your leisure.

Customer review: "Amazing products!"

Pros

  • Suitable for vegans
  • Two colours to choose from
  • Can fit into your pocket

Cons

  • May be too small for some

Which dream journal is best?

A dream journal is totally personal, and choosing one comes down to your own individual needs. Some may enjoy blank pages, some may enjoy a little bit of structure while others want a guided experience.

If you're looking for total creative expression, we would recommend the Nemesis Now Dream Book Journal, if you're looking for some structure, we would recommend the Custom Vegan Dream Diary, and if you're wanting a guided journal, we would recommend The Guided Dream Journal.

FAQs

How to keep a dream journal?

Starting your own journal is fairly easy. Sometimes, a journal made specifically for this purpose will have a certain layout to make tracking and recording dreams easier. However, if you're wanting to set up your own from a blank notebook, here are some things you may want to write in.

The date

Make sure to include the date of your dream, so you have some context of what your life was like at the time you had this dream.

The time

You may want to log the time you woke up, as well as the time that you went to sleep, in this journal to give you a better understanding of your sleep pattern.

The amount of hours slept

As our sleep occurs in cycles, a certain amount of hours and quality of sleep can impact whether we dream or not. REM sleep usually happens an hour and a half into our sleep, which is when we tend to have the most vivid dreams.

The sleep quality

Rate your quality of sleep on a scale or comment on how good or bad your sleep was. If you were waking up in the middle of the night, it's unlikely you'd have had much time to relax into a deep sleep.

A description of your dream

Write down what happened, who was in the dream, what was in the dream, where the dream took place, how it made you feel and how you felt when you woke up. Describe your surroundings, colours and senses.

Your interpretation of the dream

Why do you think you had this dream? What can you take away from this dream? Do you think there is a deeper meaning, a hidden symbol or your subconscious trying to reach you? Explore these avenues in depth.

Other interpretations of the dream

Use a dream dictionary to analyse the meaning of your dream. Or, research across the web what other common interpretations say about your dream. Some of these may have psychological or spiritual significance.

What are the benefits of keeping a dream journal?

Some of the benefits of keeping a dream journal include a better connection with yourself, an understanding of how your mind works, and an ability to identify and confront your fears. Think of it as a form of self care.

Not only that, but it can help to encourage and channel your creativity. A dream may serve as inspiration for artistic works such as painting, poetry or creative writing. It's a time for you to take a moment to breathe, which may help you to relax and reduce stress levels.

It may also help you with the skill of being able to lucid dream, a technique where you're able to actually take control within your dreams. This usually happens with REM sleep. So, keeping a journal not only helps you identify your sleep patterns but can also help you with techniques like lucid dreaming too.

How To Start a Dream Journal | Setup & Flip Through

Samantha Price is a Commercial Content Writer at Spirit & Destiny covering topics such as fashion, beauty and wellness. She joined Bauer Media as an intern at heat and Closer, and just a few months later, in 2022 scored a role as a Commercial Content Writer for Mother & Baby, Yours and Spirit & Destiny covering topics on family life. After a year of writing for these brands, Samantha joined the Fashion, & Beauty team.

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