Dreams
Calling All Creative Cats: The Sleepiest Pumpkin Patch 2012
For the third year in a row, I’m inviting all Halloween enthusiasts to design sleep-themed pumpkins for REM Runner’s Virtual Pumpkin Patch! 1. Create your own SLEEP/DREAM-themed PUMPKIN. Be creative – Is your pumpkin having a dream or nightmare? Snoring? Cat-napping? Anything sleep or dream related goes. 2. Send me a photo of your pumpkin…
Read More“Sleepwalk With Me” Movie Raises Awareness about Sleep Disorders
“Sleepwalk With Me” is a must-see movie for everyone, especially the 40 million Americans challenged by sleep. The film features a struggling comedian, who is driving cross-country for low-end gigs, while managing a rocky relationship and odd incidents of acting out his dreams at night. I’m a big fan of Mike Birbiglia, the writer, director, and star…
Read MoreA Dream Among Dreams: Taking On Yoga’s Headstand
“Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.” I dream a lot, but one dream stood out recently: I saw myself in a handstand position – whirling my legs around like I was an acrobatic superstar. Um, yeah right. I love yoga,…
Read MoreREM Runner’s Summer Reading
I love summer. Lightening bugs, late sunsets, weddings, and trips to the beach! Here’s what is in my beach bag this summer: ISLAND PRACTICE Cobblestone Rash, Underground Tom, and Other Adventures of a Nantucket Doctor by Pam Belluck A spirited true story of a colorful, contrarian doctor on Nantucket, a world-famous yet strikingly offbeat corner of America. Dr.…
Read MoreThe View From Dreamworld
Did you know that the boundaries between dreaming and consciousness are broken down in the brains of people with narcolepsy? I experience my night dreams as real as reality. So during the day, I chase down my life dreams. Current dreams I’m chasing: the steepest road race in America and my memoir. Is it selfish…
Read MoreInevitable Dreams
“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable,and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” Have you ever awoken from a dream wishing it was reality? A year ago, I dreamed about going sleep walking on the National Mall to raise awareness about narcolepsy and sleep. I…
Read MoreFollow Your Dreams: REM Sleep, Intuition and Oprah Magazine
I’ve learned to trust my “gut feeling” in sticky situations. Yet how is it that my body’s natural response is smarter than my well-educated rational mind?! This month, O: The Oprah Magazine answers this question in a fascinating article, “The Science of Intuition: An eye-opening guide to your sixth sense,” by Annie Murphy Paul (August…
Read MoreAdventures of the Sleepy Yogi Part II: From Hallucinations to Inner Peace
I woke up and slowly climbed out of bed, still wrestling with sleep. A few minutes later, I woke again, much to my own surprise, still lying in bed. Strange, I thought, I remember just getting up. Had I not gotten out of bed a second ago? I couldn’t be sure. No…
Read MoreI Double Dare You…
While recently visiting downtown Greensboro, NC, a bright purple store-front caught my eye. The store’s large glass windows were bare – a tell-tale sign that the store was closed and the space deserted. Yet, just above the door-frame, written in gold lettering, a simple phrase commanded my full attention. The store-front read, “WE DOUBLE DARE…
Read MoreWide Awake and Dreaming
With 16 days until the Marathon, I’ve decided to discuss an aspect of narcolepsy I’ve never discussed here on this blog. One evening in June of 2007, while sleeping overnight at my dad’s house, I awoke in the middle of the night to the repeated ringing of the doorbell. Hours earlier, I’d fallen asleep on…
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