Adventures in Sleepwalking

Photo from Pinterest

Disclaimer: This post has some personal/slightly TMI details in it. If you're not interested, don't read it... but it's pretty damn funny.

I've never been a sleepwalker. I experience night terrors (still) and talk in my sleep, but I've never been a sleepwalker. I find it fascinating/terrifying that people can do things in their sleep, act perfectly normal, but have no memory of it... it's like being blackout drunk without the alcohol.

Anyways, last night I was flippin' exhausted. Not just exhausted, but flippin' exhausted. We went to bed and I fell asleep right away, when all of a sudden I had this "dream". You know, a "dream" where you feel like you're awake, but you're having an internal dialogue with yourself.

My dialogue was as follows...
Brain: "Katherine, get up, you have to go to the bathroom!"
Me: "No. I'm so comfortable and tired."
Brain: "For reals. Get up. Go. To. The. Bathroom. Now."
Me: "Nah. I'll be fine. My bed and I cannot be separated."

I then woke up.... in the bathroom, on the porcelain throne, with a magazine in my hand, light on. With no recollection of how I got there. In my groggy state, thinking I was still in my bed, I thought the following:

Photo from Flickr

But when I fully woke up, I began to feel this feeling of fascination/terror - how the hell can I not remember getting up and going to the bathroom? I felt like I had lost control. I was in severe beta consciousness... like when you get somewhere and you cannot remember how you got there.

Isn't it terrifying?

It got me thinking about consciousness. What made me sleepwalk? I've not done it before. Sure, I sleep-talk nonsense (like asking my husband on numerous nights if he had "talked with the secretary"), but sleepwalking is a whole new frontier for me. 

Was I so exhausted that my body decided to take matters into its own hands and haul my ass (literally) to the bathroom?

Was it because I had gluten and dairy?

Arianna Huffington has this great book, Thrive, that talks a ton about sleep and its importance. But I think that it also sends a huge message about consciousness, and being in control of our brain's health and conscious decisions. When we are mindful and fully present in the moment, we are happier, healthier, and more in control. When we are not, we lose this control over our happiness and, especially, our health.

While this incident is funny, it also stirred something up in me - how can I become more mindful, present, conscious, and in control? I might have to sleep on it.

I'd love to hear any funny sleepwalking, sleeptalking, or other crazy stories that you have experienced or witnessed others experiencing. 

Namaste.