Sunday, January 30, 2011

No Coffee, No Prana, Dream Journal

Today is my rest day from practice, so I have nothing to say about practice. Well, actually, I did do a few Suryas this morning in order to open my hamstrings and hips a little; I "cheat" myself of my rest days this way by sneaking in a few Suryas :-)

Although I didn't practice this morning, I did manage to prove Sharath's "No Coffee, No Prana" hypothesis, in a way. I had a double espresso, and then I had this really cheesy and greasy giant tomato pesto bagel (it seems that in the midwest, everything is extra giant-sized and cheesy...). It was so greasy that I felt I needed to wash it down with something after I ate it, and water alone wasn't enough. So I ordered another double espresso. Less than ten minutes after that second double espresso, I felt this familiar, powerful churning sensation in my bowels, and I had to go to the bathroom right away (I won't tell you what happened in the bathroom; I have more taste than that). So coffee does get the prana moving; at least enough to put the digestive system into overdrive :-)

So, as of right now, I've had four shots of espresso. Feeling too wired up to do any "serious" work right away, so I may as well blog. What should I blog about? Well, I did have another very vivid dream last night, so I'll write about it (this blog is fast becoming a dream journal!). So here's the dream:

My girlfriend and I have moved to Portugal, because I got a teaching position at some Jesuit college there, and she got a job teaching elementary school kids at the same college. [Why Portugal? One of my first yoga teachers in grad school, B., was from Portugal, and he taught me lots of things and had a powerful influence on my practice. So that's probably why.]


So the college has a really interesting setup. It turns out that my office is only a few doors away from our bedroom. It also turns out that one of my colleagues here in Minnesota has also moved to this college, and has his office right next to mine, just like it was in Minnesota.


Anyway, on this particular morning, my girlfriend goes out to her classroom. Somehow, I am with her too. The kids are seated at their desks, just like in any regular elementary school classroom. But then I notice something strange: Some of the kids have gray, transparent skin! Then it occurs to me that these kids are ghosts. These ghost-kids are really loud; some of them are laughing loudly for no apparent reason, others are bawling. The human kids are really disturbed and distressed by these ghost kids; some of them start crying. 


Then I make my way to my office. Somewhere along the way, I get into a vehicle to go somewhere. I am sitting in the backseat next to this guy whom I have never met before. He turns to me and tells me that they are going to arrest me and detain me for questioning [Who's "they"? I've no idea. What do "they" want to question me about? No idea either.]. We arrive at this little building that looks like a police station. A couple of men dressed in black-and-white uniforms and armed with automatic rifles walk toward our vehicle. The man next to me produces a pair of handcuffs and handcuffs me. I notice something unusual about the handcuffs, but I can't place my finger on why they are unusual. 

I get out of the vehicle, escorted by the man and the armed guards. The man leads me into this room with a desk and a mattress on the floor. He tells me to rest and sleep well, because starting from tomorrow morning, they are going to interrogate me for six days straight, and I won't be getting any sleep at all for those six days [Gee, are they going to water-board me as well? I wonder]. I must have look worried and/or distressed, because the man's tone of voice softens somewhat, and he assures me not to worry, this is all "standard practice." [How is that any assurance?] 

The man then leaves the room. I examine my handcuffs again, and discover why they are unusual. Although they are locked with a key just like a standard pair of handcuffs, they are made of leather, and are fastened together by velcro! Which means that all I have to do to get out of the handcuffs is to stretch my fingers a little and unfasten the velcro! For a moment, I thought about unfastening the velcro, getting out of the handcuffs, and then escaping by breaking through the window. But then there are still those armed guards out there: How am I going to get past them? Besides, this whole velcro-handcuff thing just looks too easy: It might be a setup. So I decide to wait and see how things develop before making any further escape plans. 

I decide to lie down on the mattress and get some rest. Shortly after that, my girlfriend comes into the room [how did she get in?]. Apparently, it is already the next morning [time flies when you are having fun, doesn't it :-)]. She says we should do our Buddhist prayers together and do some yoga before the interrogation starts. So we do our Buddhist prayers, and then do some sun salutations and standing postures. 

I can't remember what happened after this point, but I woke up soon after that. Strange dream, isn't it?  

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