In the days following my 100 mile race last month I noticed one distinctive thing. During my afternoon nap my dreams were more intense than usual. After intense physical efforts the body needs to recover. You need more food and sleep. Everything is exaggerated.
The last 6 hours of the race I was essentially alone, running by myself. This was pretty taxing on my brain. I always run alone during my training so I'm comfortable being alone, but when you are running for 20 hours straight It's nice to have some company. I think the combination of the mental and physical fatigue I endured required a little more recovery than usual.
Each nap following the race got more intense. It almost got to the point that it was hard to distinguish between what was real and what was a dream. I would wake up and for a few moments I felt confused and disoriented. I felt well rested but the dream intensity was pretty incredible.
After a few days I started to talk about my dreams. Either writing them down or talking to someone about them. The more I talked about them the more vivid each dream got. It was as if I started to gain control over my dreams. This was kinda my attempt at Lucid Dreaming. Lucid dreaming is a technique of waking up and immediately writing down whatever you can remember. It's a whole intense process that involves certain supplements and a whole protocol of sleep hygiene.
Over the last few months I participated in several plant medicine ceremonies, two DMT sessions, took a very intense yoga teacher training, and began to delve deep into yoga philosophy. All of these things turned something on in my brain. It tore down walls, began to chip away at the ego, and had me see things from a different angle. All very therapeutic and life changing.
My afternoon nap has become a therapy session. I make the whole thing a ritual now. I always use my bed. I turn the fan on, and use breath strips on my nose so I can keep my mouth close as i sleep. As I fall asleep I can now navigate though these Lucid Dreams. I am more aware of what things mean and what my sub conscious is trying to say. I now wake up with less confusion and more clarity.
Now I can see why artist and yogis of old put so much thought into the idea of dreams and dreaming. Artists often got most of their ideas from dreams. Musicians would keep a pen and paper next to their bed to immediately write down what they saw. Yogis would meditate for hours and days to clear the mind, tear down the ego in order to go to that place that is not of this world.
There is something inside of all of us that is not of this world. People attach names to it like God, or energy, or consciousness. I don't know what it is and I won't put a name on it. It's just there and the act of trying to find what it is can be a life changing journey. It almost feels like the things we dream can be images from another life, or existence. Who really knows?
Sometimes it takes one tiny moment to spur a curiosity in us. Single moments can change your perspective. There is something in us that is not made of matter. It is that thing when you are alone and close your eyes. It is our imagination that cannot be explained by science. It is that eternal flame.
Peace.