Nobody cares about the dream you had last night—but here’s why you should

The case for writing that shit down

Few things are more boring (to me) than hearing about someone’s dream. (Unless I’m in it, and maybe not even then.)

However, notwithstanding the fact that I generally avoid bothering other people with my nocturnal life, I recently heard a very compelling case for paying more attention to my own dreams.

Your unconscious is doing a ton of work, both when you’re asleep and when you’re awake. Tracking your dreams is a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening beneath the surface — helping you recognize and integrate emotions or conflicts that would otherwise express themselves as vague anxiety, low mood, or reactivity.

How to do this?

Per the Jungian psychologist Satya Doyle Byock:

• When you wake up — before you touch your phone — jot down whatever fragments you remember from the night’s dreams.

• Don’t worry if you can’t remember much. Just note the faintest image or feeling that lingers.

• Try to write in the present tense (“I walk into a room; there’s a man in a red hat”).

• Later, study the material alone or in therapy. Over time, patterns start to emerge: recurring colors, places, animals, or figures that form a symbolic language. Seeing those themes with fresh eyes can lead to small “aha” moments — flashes of self-recognition that subtly realign the waking mind.

The benefit isn’t usually immediate euphoria. As Byock admits, sometimes writing down dreams is “a pain in the ass.” But over time, she’s seen people experience genuine relief from amorphous moods or recurring emotional loops. Often, she says, a recurring dream or stubborn morning malaise is like a child tugging on your sleeve. When you finally turn toward it, the tugging may stop, and occasionally the message turns out to be something truly important.

For more on what your dreams might be trying to tell you — and how working with them can make you feel more whole — listen to today’s episode of 10% Happier with Satya Doyle Byock. We also dig into Jung’s idea of the “shadow” self — not your “bad” side, but the hidden, creative parts of you waiting to be brought into the light.

As always, the episode comes with a companion meditation. This one’s called “The Tricky Balance Between Building a Secure Life and Building a Meaningful One.” It’s designed to help you find the balance between your “wild, meaning-seeking” side and your “civilized, safety-seeking” side — one of which usually lives in the shadow. It comes from our Teacher of the Month, Sebene Selassie. You can find it and the rest of her meditations on the Meditations page at DanHarris.com.

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Episode cheatsheet

The big takeaway

Psychotherapist and Jungian educator Satya Doyle Byock unpacks Carl Jung’s enduring influence on psychology, pop culture, and personal growth. By exploring concepts like the shadow, wholeness, and dreamwork, Byock offers practical ways to engage with parts of ourselves that are often hidden, leading to greater self-understanding, creativity, and balance.

Making friends with your shadow: Carl Jung’s playbook for wholeness

Key takeaways:

• Shadow isn’t just “bad stuff”—it’s the creative, hidden, and repressed parts of you waiting to be integrated for a fuller life.

• Jung’s influence is everywhere: From “introvert/extrovert” to Myers Briggs, and even dream journaling, much of self-help owes a debt to his ideas.

• Wholeness means including all of yourself: It’s not about becoming perfect, but about having a conscious, ongoing relationship with every side of you.

• Synchronicity, the collective unconscious, and dreamwork are not just heady theories; they’re practical doorways to insight, meaning, and connection.

6 practical ways to work with your shadow and dreams: