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The Sex Impulse, the Subconscient and the Spiritual Practice · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The waking consciousness takes notice of only a very small
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  fraction of all the impressions that reach the senses, not all
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  impressions or direct sense impressions, as some impinge
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  directly on the aura or on the mental substance without
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  involving the five external senses.
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  Of those directly noted, only a small percentage are actually
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  accepted consciously and acted upon, while we do not generally
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  take cognizance of them. These impressions are captured
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  and held in the subconscient being when the waking
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  consciousness withdraws and along with it the active mental
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  control that it exerts. The unnoticed and undigested
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  impressions have the ability to rise and take the form of dreams
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  in many cases, as well as a general restlessness during
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  sleep. When we live an isolated life
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  away from modern media and the energetic force of modern
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  society. We obviously do not capture as
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  many of these impressions directly as we do if we are
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  actively involved in the external life of the world, for
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  example, as the world has become hypersexualized in its imagery
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  and energy. Even those who are focused on
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  other things or who actively reject sexual energies from
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  their being are exposed to the impressions that get embedded in
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  the subconcient layers of the being.
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  They are to arise when the control is absent or when
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  somehow triggered by some past experience, event, or formation.
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  The spiritual seeker may avoid sexual expression or focus and
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  yet have an experience in dream. This can be seen as a highly
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  positive fact as it implies that the sexual tendency has been
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  mostly reduced or eliminated from the act of consciousness.
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  The risk, and therefore the area for required vigilance, is that
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  when the sexual dream arises, the seeker will accept it or
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  even allow it to gain a foothold in the waking consciousness
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  through action or through imagination or visualization.
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  The sexual impulse, as it is so deeply bound to the physical and
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  vital nature, will always attempt to re establish itself
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  through environmental pressure, through the rising of sexual
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  impulses in the subconscious, and from there an attempt to
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  obtain the acquiescence and active support of the waking
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  consciousness. At a certain point in the sadhna
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  it is possible for the seeker to become conscious even in sleep,
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  to maintain his dedicated aspiration and thereby to reject
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  the pressure if it tries to arise in dreams.
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  Note that becoming conscious in sleep does not mean fighting to
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  stay awake, but rather to infuse the aspiration so completely
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  into the consciousness that it permeates even the subconscious
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  realm of the being. Sri Orobindo observes quote.
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  This kind of sexual attack through sleep does not depend
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  very much on food or anything else that is outward.
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  It is a mechanical habit in the subcontinent when the sexual
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  impulse is rejected or barred out in the waking thoughts and
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  feelings. It comes in this form in sleep,
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  for then there is only the subcontinent at work, and there
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  is no conscious control. It is a sign of sexual desire,
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  suppressed in the waking mind and vital, but not eliminated in
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  the stuff of the physical nature.
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  To eliminate it one must first be careful to harbour no sexual
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  imagination or feeling in the waking state, next to put a
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  strong will on the body, and especially on the sexual centre,
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  that there should be nothing of the kind in sleep.
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  This may not succeed at once, but if persevered in for a long
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  time, it usually has a result. The subcontinent begins to obey.
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  End Quote reference Srioro window bases of yoga chapter 4
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  desire food sex page 80.