Things that Go Bump in the Night

Almost every night I dream, or, rather, I remember dreaming. My dreams are always vivid and colourful... and really messed up. But I don't usually have nightmares. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of nightmares I've had. When I was four I dreamt about a cat being blown up after drinking toxic gases out of a water pump - seriously, what kind of child dreams of that? A few years later, I had a recurring nightmare where I was lying on a couch in a big house with lots of sunlight filtering in. A man walked towards me and I knew if I lay still, under my Oma's blanket, and kept my eyes closed, he wouldn't hurt me. When I was 14 I dreamt that a man in black knocked on the screen door at the back of my house. I ran through the house towards the stairs, but as I ran he entered through the front door and chased me. Right before he caught my ankle I woke up.

The reason I'm writing about this on

this blog is because in the last week I have had three nightmares. Considering I've only really had 3 memorable ones in my life, I'm concerned.

Nightmare #1: I dreamt that I was a CIA agent and was in a hotel with many dark hallways and doors. The phone rang. When I answered it, the caller said something about a bomb, or "I'm going to kill you" or something equally terrifying. I knew there were people watching me in the room and if I hung up the phone I would be murdered. Now, I did recently watch the Bourne Trilogies, so maybe that has something to do with it?

Nightmare #2: I'm wandering drunkenly down the streets in downtown Ottawa. I look down and realize I have no shoes. I ask myself where my flipflops are and realize I'm going to be late for work, even though it's nighttime. I hear people's voices around me. I start to spin, everything becomes blurry, and I fall to the ground smacking my head on the concrete. I wake up.

Nightmare #3: By far the most unusual and messed up of the lot. I'm on the hill/road by my old elementary school and as I'm walking down it, I see a snake on the sidewalk. It's pink and fuzzy. It curls up in a ball as if frightened by me. I walk past it, but when I turn around there is another snake, also fuzzy, but blue in colour. The blue snake charges towards the other and bites it. I turn away and continue walking. But when I hear gasps for air I turn and see both snakes have turned into monkeys. The one monkey is bleeding profusely from its neck while the other watches with satisfaction. The sound of the dying animal makes me sick to my stomach but I can't look away. In agonizing pain, the dying monkey drags itself across the road and reaches for a lamppost, as if it's found a place where it can die with dignity. When I turn around again, the monkey has changed into a man.

All this nonsense is leading me to think a few things: 1) This yoga is literally detoxifying me and even my deepest, darkest fears are resurfacing OR 2) I'm totally sick in the head.

I researched a little about yoga and nightmares and found that it's quite common for emotions, including fears, to resurface when we do yoga. In fact, my teachers always mention that it's normal to feel emotional after Camel pose. On one particular website a student asked, "How come after I do yoga I have nightmares when I sleep at night? It's like it brings up all my insecurities and bad memories?"Another states that after her yoga class she "had a horrible nightmare that kept getting worse and worse... And it wasn't like as scary monster kind of scary. It was more like betrayal, manipulation, violence..."

Could there be a link between detoxifying yoga and what we dream about at night? Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about going to sleep tonight...

J