This course is self-guided and self-paced, feel free to do everything at whatever speed and in whatever order feels right to you.

But, if you find it helpful to have a plan or schedule presented to you before going in, feel free to use this page as your guide. (Also feel free to modify it and go off-schedule in whatever ways feel genuinely helpful to you.)

Week 0

Before starting this dream return course, it may be good to go back to Imaginal Literacy volume 0 and try out the “Imaginal Freestyle” exercise there. It’s a great introduction to the imaginal realm more generally, and will help provide experiential context for what’s ahead.

Week 1:

• Before starting the course, journal or record some voice notes on the following topics: How do you view dreams? What potential do you see in working with dreams? Do you have some idea of what the place of dreams is in your life? Of what the place of dreams could be in your life? What do you hope to get out of developing imaginal literacy?
• **Our View:** Go through the three pages, Introduction: , Why Dreams?, and Not Just Dreams.
• Try out the practices and journaling exercises on each page.
• Get a Waking Journal. Start using it to record everything you remember about the night before, when you wake up each morning.
• Consider the point of view I’m presenting about dreams, the unconscious, and imaginal literacy. Take a long walk and mull it over. Journal on it, or record some voice notes.
• What parts of this view resonate with you? Which parts feel distant or ill-fitting? Which ones feel potentially on-base, but still unclear to you?

Week 2:

• **Our Practice:** Go over the pages Mythosomatic Dream Return in a Nutshell and This is a Practice-Scaffold, as well as the relevant linked pages, exercises, and examples.
• Try out a basic dream return practice on your own. The first couple times are likely to be clumsy, you’re likely to feel like you’re missing something or you’re messing up. Let me assure you right away: there’s not really a way to mess up at this stage. Whatever you’re doing is exactly what needs to happen, as long as you’re giving genuine effort and trying things out.
• Continue keeping the Waking Journal. If you forget right away in the morning, do your best to come back to it when you remember again, even if it’s in the afternoon and you don’t remember much of anything. At this point, we’re all about getting the habit in place.
• Look back at last week’s practices; keep repeating any of them that felt fruitful, or that just felt nice.
• In your calendar this week, schedule a couple 15 minute events where you can just sit, breathe, look at the sky, or watch the trees move — a little calm empty space where you can look at something natural and let your mind wander. Later in the day, maybe journal about how it went. Keep it in the Waking Journal.