Practices for Shattered Nights

March 11th was a normal day, filled with typical responsibilities and joys, concerns and endeavors, practices and distractions.

- ANDREA SHERMAN, PHD & MARSHA WEINER, MA

March 12th, I awoke to a new normal...

The change began with a menacing dream the night of the 11th:

There are two women and a man.

One of the women has a very domineering presence and is insisting, is forcing the other woman to get impregnated by the man.

I’m standing between the two women, between the bully and the frightened woman, and scream — NO!!!

Then, not dreaming, I found myself on the floor of my bedroom covered with blood, so much blood that my husband wrapped me in towels and rushed me to the hospital.

Evidently, while dreaming, I physically waved my arms to protect the frightened woman, and flung myself to the bedroom floor with such force that I broke my nose.

Two weeks later, another dream:

Am waiting for a friend at a school bus stop. He’s supposed to drive the bus. He’s late. The bus begins to move. There is no driver.

I woke up screaming!

There was a distinctive quality to the dreams. A vividness and a pervasiveness. A visceral, oozing terror. From my years of meditating and studying dharma, I had started to become familiar with the terrain of my mind. These dreams alerted me that the terrain of my mind had changed dramatically.

I needed help.

First, I met with a neurologist, and after a series of tests, I was given the diagnosis of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder. According to DSM-5 (edited):