I’ve written a previous post for our BBO Prime feed about how the game of bridge can make its way into your dreams – and how this relates back to what’s known as the “Tetris effect.”

Anyone who has devoted a significant amount of time to an activity will eventually start to dream about it; It’s a fact of life, and I know that many kids of the eighties and nineties will have experienced this with any number of games including Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Pacman.

How about we get right back on that topic and talk about dreams?

Improving Dream Recall

I’ve heard a lot of people claim that they do not dream. I’ve heard just as many people say that they’re pretty sure they do, but never remember what their dreams are about – and even then, all they can ever recall are flashes of what they might have dreamt about.

Both of these are normal. One of the reasons they might not remember their dreams upon waking up is the fact that they might never take the time to properly recall them.

What’s the first thing you do when waking up?

If the answer is, “Get out of bed.” then that might be the problem you’re facing.

The next time you wake up, lie completely stlil and don’t even open your eyes. Most dreams are still there in your mind when you wake up from them, but the brain is forced into waking activity so fast that it doesn’t really have the time to process what it just went through.

This method can start the journey of better dream recall if you want to find out more about any of the bridge dreams you might have been experiencing.

As an added piece of advice, start keeping a dream journal. This consciously tells your brain that your dreams are going to be something it wants to remember – and this can kick your brain into recalling dreams easier and clearer than before, even if you’re convinced you don’t dream.

There are plenty of theories and studies that attribute certain compounds in cheese and other dairy products as being an aid for particularly vivid dreams, but don’t you think that might work a little better? That depends, of course, on how you feel about cheese.

How to Spot the Meaning

The main inner-workings of the mind relies heavily on symbolism, and in the world of dreams, everything tends to mean something – but that something might only be obvious to the person who had the dream.

Dreams are there to express desires, anxiety and fears: The wants, needs and definitely do-not-wants about our lives.

If you’re dreaming about bridge, be sure to take a step back (or leaf a few pages through your journal) to ask what the dream could mean.

Running away from something, losing against a good player, showing up at a game naked or unprepared. They’re all fears.

As for the dreams where you walk off triumphantly, they’re generally all your needs, wants, goals or future feel-good moments.

Learn how to analyze your dreams, the symbolism of your dreams and what they mean to you personally and it could teach you a lot about the internal workings of your mind – and what you can do to achieve your goals and kick the sting out of your fears.