Analyzing dreams is a complicated practice without any well-established rules or clear-cut guidelines. Humans have been pondering over their dreams for thousands of years and have come up with countless ways to analyze and interpret them. The best tip for analyzing dreams is to take the entire dream and any real-life events that may have led to it into account. People should also pay attention to their emotions and their thoughts during the dream in order to help determine what it might mean. Of course, analyzing dreams is not a science and should not be taken too seriously, though dream analysis may offer insight into a person's subconscious desires and fears.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when analyzing dreams is that there are many possible interpretations for each dream. Dreams may be based on a variety of factors, including symbols, personal feelings and beliefs, social norms, and environmental and psychological stress. Interpreting a dream by examining only one of these elements can produce a limited interpretation that may not be particularly useful.
Though there are many dream experts that claim to be able to analyze and interpret dreams, the person who is best suited for analyzing dreams is the person who has the dreams. Dreams are personal experiences, and while there may be symbolism in common from one dreamer to another, one person's big bad wolf may be another's loyal guardian. Books on the interpretation of symbols can be useful in some cases, but analyzing dreams is not as simple as picking out a few objects or events and using these to make sense of the entire dream. The best dream analysis involves introspection and open and honest consideration of the events and feelings in the dream.
Another thing to keep in mind is that dreams do not occur in isolation. Dreams are influenced by the events and stresses in a person's life and often provide an outlet for a person to work through dangerous situations safely. When analyzing dreams, the events that occur while the dreamer is awake should also be taken into account.
The tone of a dream is important to correctly analyzing it. Being chased through a dark forest could be frightening, exhilarating, or exhausting. When analyzing dreams, it is important to take the dreamer's emotions into account, both the emotions felt in the dream and those felt about it afterwards.