Drawn to the astounding potentials of Dream Yoga, Albert Buhr takes his pillow to an experimental retreat – the first of its kind in the world

One moment Rob Nairn aims his meditation cushion at my face. The next, I learn that even foam can feel unexpectedly solid when swung with sufficient force. The impact leaves me in dumb shock. If there’s a point this renowned meditation teacher is trying to drive home, it’s not landing in any sensible part of my brain.

My policy towards assault is strictly reactive. I can get sportingly Zen, even if my adversary is backed by the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. I take my meditation cushion and wallop away, returning a respectable blow right on Rob’s 70- year-old noggin. Gasps erupt from the other ‘retreatants. Rob’s hair has gone Eisnstein; he looks incredulous.

I’ve taken it too far. “Wait!” I say. “What’s happening?” “Pillow fight!” someone shouts, and suddenly there’s mayhem. I’m knocked to the floor by the squealing chaos as everyone grabs a meditation cushion and bats away in violent abandon. And it strikes me that there’s something suspicious about this sort of behaviour on a Buddhist
retreat. The incongruity worms its way deep into my mind. This is just the sort of sign we were warned to look out for …

And then the realisation strikes. I’m actually asleep! It’s just a dream! This is the very definition of lucid dreaming: you know you’re dreaming as the dream is occurring. Jackpot!

Read more in the December Issue of Complete Yoga – out now!