Monday, January 28. 2008
My Hippy Trippy Dream
As I have mentioned before, sleep is one of my favorite things. The problem is, I never seem to get enough of it. Back in my dark days I began having insomnia problems...when you don't feel safe, it is difficult to reach a relaxed state in which to surrender to sleep...
In recent much-improved years I've battled through the insomnia and I consider my ability to regain control over my sleep one of my proudest personal victories. But when life gets stressful, or busy, or even run-of-the-mill it's not easy to get all the sleep I want and need.
This past Sunday we had absolutely nothing to get up for, so I slept late...not just late...11:30 late!!! (Gasp!)
You know that sleep-aid commercial (with the beaver, Abraham Lincoln and the scubadiver) that says, "If you can't sleep, you can't dream...?" Well, I have officially proven that...
The cats were confused by the fact that we just didn't get up, so they started getting a bit restless around 8 A.M., but it was such an indulgence to just roll over and not give them another thought. Somewhere around 10 A.M. I lapsed into a dream...the likes of which I've never experienced...
In recent much-improved years I've battled through the insomnia and I consider my ability to regain control over my sleep one of my proudest personal victories. But when life gets stressful, or busy, or even run-of-the-mill it's not easy to get all the sleep I want and need.
This past Sunday we had absolutely nothing to get up for, so I slept late...not just late...11:30 late!!! (Gasp!)
You know that sleep-aid commercial (with the beaver, Abraham Lincoln and the scubadiver) that says, "If you can't sleep, you can't dream...?" Well, I have officially proven that...
The cats were confused by the fact that we just didn't get up, so they started getting a bit restless around 8 A.M., but it was such an indulgence to just roll over and not give them another thought. Somewhere around 10 A.M. I lapsed into a dream...the likes of which I've never experienced...
Disclaimer: The following is a dream...I am not crazy, nor under the influence of any foreign substances. For better or worse, this was 100% me on pure sleep...
It started in the salon where we get our hair cut. (Doesn't everything?...) They provide a myriad of spa services as well and in my dream I was offered an "aromatherapy massage." Cheryl escorted me to a the aromatherapy lounge, pushed me inside and slid the door shut behind me, saying that the room had to remain bacteria-free. Through the dim lighting I saw I was in a huge, high-ceilinged room. It resembled a gymnasium in scale, but it was beautifully landscaped with plants and other elements to resemble a naturalized garden. Beside a lovely pond reclined my masseur, a man with long, curly blond hair, dressed in sweat pants and a sweatshirt. He introduced himself, but I don't remember his name, only that he said he was Rochelle's (the owner) brother.
He ushered me to a seat that turned out to be a swing of sorts. I was instructed to remove my shoes...nothing else could proceed until I complied. Once I was seated in the swing - sans shoes - he asked me to tell him about anything I wanted to. (Suddenly this felt like a lot more like therapy than any spa treatment I'd ever had.) At first I hesitated, telling him I didn't understand why I needed to talk, then I realized I was talking, but I couldn't understand my own words. I remember wondering why I didn't smell anything...after all, this was supposedly aromatherapy.
The next sensation I remember is swinging, and I mean swinging so high - like when you're a kid - but I wasn't pumping the swing...it was self-powered, almost like a ride. I was just swinging fast with the wind in my face, back and forth in this gigantic arc from one side of the room to the next, almost touching the ceiling at each end. It was the freest feeling I've ever known...so thrilling, so free, so released from my body. This whole time not one thought went through my mind. I no longer had the ability to move or speak...the most amazing thing about that is that it didn't matter to me...in fact, I completely succumbed to the sensation - or lack thereof.
It was as if my brain had been disconnected from the rest of my body...I was so utterly relaxed and - to steal a phrase - comfortably numb.
Later, Cheryl was sitting with me in another smaller room that looked more like a sauna with wood on the walls and wooden benches (but it wasn't hot) and she kept asking me when I'd eaten lunch, and what I'd had. I could remember eating a bagel for breakfast, but for the life of me I could not remember what I'd eaten for lunch. I told her I never skipped lunch; I was sure I'd eaten, but I couldn't remember when or what. Apparently it was important information for them, because they said that they could only give me the aspirin if they were certain I'd eaten within a certain amount of time. I couldn't understand why I would need aspirin because I had never felt better...
...the dream kind of fizzled out after that and I slowly returned to reality...
DAMN!
Even once I woke up, the essence of the dream stayed with me throughout the day, and lingers still into today...
That was some powerful mojo, man!
It started in the salon where we get our hair cut. (Doesn't everything?...) They provide a myriad of spa services as well and in my dream I was offered an "aromatherapy massage." Cheryl escorted me to a the aromatherapy lounge, pushed me inside and slid the door shut behind me, saying that the room had to remain bacteria-free. Through the dim lighting I saw I was in a huge, high-ceilinged room. It resembled a gymnasium in scale, but it was beautifully landscaped with plants and other elements to resemble a naturalized garden. Beside a lovely pond reclined my masseur, a man with long, curly blond hair, dressed in sweat pants and a sweatshirt. He introduced himself, but I don't remember his name, only that he said he was Rochelle's (the owner) brother.He ushered me to a seat that turned out to be a swing of sorts. I was instructed to remove my shoes...nothing else could proceed until I complied. Once I was seated in the swing - sans shoes - he asked me to tell him about anything I wanted to. (Suddenly this felt like a lot more like therapy than any spa treatment I'd ever had.) At first I hesitated, telling him I didn't understand why I needed to talk, then I realized I was talking, but I couldn't understand my own words. I remember wondering why I didn't smell anything...after all, this was supposedly aromatherapy.
The next sensation I remember is swinging, and I mean swinging so high - like when you're a kid - but I wasn't pumping the swing...it was self-powered, almost like a ride. I was just swinging fast with the wind in my face, back and forth in this gigantic arc from one side of the room to the next, almost touching the ceiling at each end. It was the freest feeling I've ever known...so thrilling, so free, so released from my body. This whole time not one thought went through my mind. I no longer had the ability to move or speak...the most amazing thing about that is that it didn't matter to me...in fact, I completely succumbed to the sensation - or lack thereof.It was as if my brain had been disconnected from the rest of my body...I was so utterly relaxed and - to steal a phrase - comfortably numb.
Later, Cheryl was sitting with me in another smaller room that looked more like a sauna with wood on the walls and wooden benches (but it wasn't hot) and she kept asking me when I'd eaten lunch, and what I'd had. I could remember eating a bagel for breakfast, but for the life of me I could not remember what I'd eaten for lunch. I told her I never skipped lunch; I was sure I'd eaten, but I couldn't remember when or what. Apparently it was important information for them, because they said that they could only give me the aspirin if they were certain I'd eaten within a certain amount of time. I couldn't understand why I would need aspirin because I had never felt better...
...the dream kind of fizzled out after that and I slowly returned to reality...
DAMN!
Even once I woke up, the essence of the dream stayed with me throughout the day, and lingers still into today...
That was some powerful mojo, man!
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