Understanding your dreams is an opportunity to receive information and receive messages from your subconscious or guides. How you feel in the dream provides information, and thinking about the emotions it evoked can also provide insight.

In particular, dreams of a hawk can have a powerful meaning, and Honigman explains if you dream of hawks, “It may be a message from your inner self, reminding you that, like birds of prey, you cannot be tamed—you decide.”

Another meaning may be about trusting and respecting one’s own knowledge. “The message can also remind you of your own innate wisdom,” says Honigman, adding that hawks are highly intelligent, “and if you’ve been distrusting yourself and your own judgment, the dream can offer you balance and remind you of your true worth.”

According to Garbis, who tells mindbodygreen, the dream can also alert you to impending changes: “Think about life choices—maybe there’s a big change ahead or a change that needs attention.”

According to Nerenberg, the main messages of a dreamtime lie in the emotions it evokes and how it makes you feel. “Imagery is often more a means of conveying a message than a symbolic meaning itself, although it can be both,” she adds.

To understand what the dream is trying to tell you, write down everything you can remember, this will help you understand what the message might be. “Take the time to journal about it—write down all the details, how you felt, what time it was, and anything else you can remember about the dream,” recommends Honigman.