Hypnagogia

[enoch]

As someone who strongly believes that hypnagogia is the easiest accessible state for anyone wanting to explore or improve their pyschic awareness I've been trying (in vain) for a few months to induce hypnagogia at will.

I started by drawing white entoptic forms (phosphenes) onto pieces of black card and studied them in the daytime. At night I would visualise the entoptics singularly and then combine then in the hope that I might induce hallucinations. David Lewis-Williams's (anthropologist) theory is that entoptics (the natural patterns that appear before closed eyes) combine in stages with recent memories and are responsible for closed-eye visuals. This technique hasn't been a great success so far.

Then I heard that playing the game 'tetris' one hour before bed is 'likely' to induce hypnagogia. I've read about this in a book called 'counting sheep' by (can't remember who it's by) but I haven't tried this yet.
has anyone else tried this????

last night I tried some simple visualisations: holding an apple - tossing it from one hand to the other. Opening a door, standing in a pine forest and inhaling the scent, and visualising shapes of different colours. Something that did impress me was when I opened the door I visualised myself falling out of it and soaring through the air (like an eagle) across a snowy mountain range dotted with log cabins.

This didn't work either! :lol:

So, what I'd like to ask is: does anybody have any techniques that they use to induce hypnagogia?

:P

[escogido]

Relaxation-just a light one+concentration(counting from 1,25 to 0,00- repeating til I don't feel my body and visualizing those numbers black in white backround-)+BWGen-Trance preset for 40 minutes helps me to go into that state where there are images flowing but I can't control them-the more I'll go there and 'interact'with them the deeper I will go?.I guess my intention is to control them in time and practice so I could control trance.We're aiming the same goal?

[enoch]

Thanks for that. Counting helps but I find it annoys me after a while. I can't use bwgen any longer because I started to get a constant 'rumble' in my ears after using it which caused headaches and nausea. Plus, my doc advised me not to use it.

Now, I'm not sure whether anyone can help with this but I often read conflicting methods for experiencing visuals: some people talk about concentrating on the 'black space before closed eye-lids' and others talk of 'inner' visuals. What do you normally focus on?

[CFTraveler]

I try to divide my attention between the blank spot before my eyes and listening to the ear-hiss that is normally always on.

[escogido]

The one that is always buzzing or the one that turns on in some occasions and is very special?I think those buzzes are different.Maybe you've got the second one at all times?
I don't focus before eyelids but some say it helps-it helped me once when I tried but through the barrier of some 'pain'.For me it's easiest to just see the numbers and count(without inner chatter) again and again til the I reach something.And I'll keep doing it.

[CFTraveler]

The one that is always buzzing or the one that turns on in some occasions and is very special?I think those buzzes are different.Maybe you've got the second one at all times?
I don't focus before eyelids but some say it helps-it helped me once when I tried but through the barrier of some 'pain'.For me it's easiest to just see the numbers and count(without inner chatter) again and again til the I reach something.And I'll keep doing it. Good observation. In general the 'usual' hiss, but (if and when) the lower- pitched one comes in I try to focus on it. If anything, it's an exercise in focusing, and if I don't fall asleep it brings up both forms of hypnagogia on fast (visual and auditory).

[enoch]

Often I am startled by the sudden appearance of an image of a person, or people, or an object, and my mind immediately reaches out to grasp the image, to comprehend it, wondering what it is... and *poof* it vanishes. Then if I return to my observing state of mind, they return. It takes a lot of restraint and is a good exercise for mental willpower to simple observe without reacting.

Excellent description, Alex. I think you hit the old proverbial nail on the head there.

So, can you willfully prevent yourself from reacting to the stimuli? Is it a case of not becoming involved too consciously in what's happening, being passive and observing asif a fly on the wall?

[enoch]

I read a paper by Simon J Sherwood, Dept. of Psychology at Edinburgh Uni and he notes that hypnagogia onset is accompanied by reduced eye movements. I wonder whether willfully reducing eye movements during relaxation/thought control may hasten hypnagogics? There may be some visualisation that one could do to achieve this. Or maybe even focussing on one point in the space before the closed eyes. I dunno.

[enoch]

Currently experimenting with 'drempels' to see whether it might (as in the tetris example) induce hypnagogics.

http://www.geisswerks.com/drempels/

[enoch]

I've produced a 30 minute track with relaxing music accompanied by a bwgen preset at 8-12hz (ideal for hypnagogic state).

sample can be downloaded here. The original file is 300mb so if there's enough interest I could upload it in future.


File.sc - bwgen-hypnagogic-induction-sample (http://showfile.file.sc/22973/9y1dbntO/bwgensample.htm)

[jalef]

well i try to focus on nothing as far as this is possible. i try not to think consciously and to observe my unconscious thoughts and i try to register them but not to react to them if you know what i mean. if you have succes with not thinking consciously then unconscious thoughts come pretty fast. first you just think about words or pictures but if remain in a passive state and just observe these thoughts then they develop into hypnogogics. so the key is a quiet mind and an observer state.

[Gent]

To get the hypnagogic show started it sometimes helps me to imagine a tiny hole in a wall/covering. After visuals appear in the small void I move in closer until the images fill my mind. Walking up to a door and looking through the keyhole is an example of this. One time I imagined myself laying in the dark interior of a blimp floating high above the ground. I poked a small hole in the bottom and immediately went into full blown hypnagogics when I peered through it. I guess starting small and getting bigger is the theme of this approach. Sometimes telling myself that no one can see me watching enhances the effect.

Hmmm...maybe I have some Peeping-Tom issues I need to work out! :oops:

-Gent

[enoch]

lol..actually that sounds like a pretty viable option. I'll try that tonight. Thanks! :wink:

[Leary Herring]

Trying to see, triggers the involvement of your physical eyes, which is what you don't want here.

Try this. Close your eyes. Think of an object, any object, say an apple. Pinpoint the area in your conciousness where this image is projected. It is different than where your eyes project their image.

Keep your attention in this area. Wait in a relaxed state.
Images will begin to flash. They might be dim at first. Acknowledge them regardeless and continue calmly in this region. More and more will come on.

[enoch]

It's funny you should mention that Leary because I was doing that last night and it worked a treat. I was visualising water running from a tap and splashing off and across my hand. I kinda developed a 'cycling' system which I'll explain. One of the problems I have is holding an image. I've been trying to figure out ways of sustaining an image beyond the normal fleeting 'feel' for an image I normally get when visualising. I realised that by first focussing on separate aspects of a complete visual/auditory and tactile visualisation I could 'cycle' each aspect. Let me explain: in the case of the water running from the tap I first visualised the sound of the water. I then cut off that visualisation and went straight to the sight of the water - cut off that and went to the feel of the cold water hitting the back of my hand. Then we come full circle and start again at auditory. This is what I mean by 'cycling' the visualisation initially. each separate visualisation lasts for a few seconds but with each cycle the whole gets stronger until I my conscious 'dimmer' begins to lower and I find myself phasing into hypnagogia (the tap turned into a dancing dwarf in a pale blue cloak). The first thing that happened is I experienced a full-blown hallucination of running water which, when the conscious 'dimmer' got lower, destabilised into the saturated plasticity of hypnagogia. The best experience I had was after visualising putting a chocolate on my tongue and feeling it melt...a whole host of voices began to call my name.

The only problem I face is the moment after destabilisation of the visualisation when I get that sudden thrust back into full consciousness and tend to 'void out' for a while before I can resume.

[The Cusp]

I find meditating before bed, then just waiting for it works like a charm. I stopped doing it because i would get the creepiest feeling that something was in the room with me afterwards. I was seriously afraid to get out of bed, like a kid hiding under the blankets again. I'll give it another go this weekend and see what happens.

But I find they are harder to remember than regular dreams. If the hypnagogic imagery continues too long, I tend to forget the images from the start. I find myself having to force myself out of it if I want to write it down. But that's when I get spooked.

[CFTraveler]

The Cusp wrote:
I stopped doing it because i would get the creepiest feeling that something was in the room with me afterwards. I was seriously afraid to get out of bed, like a kid hiding under the blankets again. I'll give it another go this weekend and see what happens. That is fairly common, aka 'Dweller on the Threshold' phenomenon. It's nothing to be afraid of, prob. your projected double. No worries!

http://forums.astraldynamics.com/viewtopic.php?t=3689

[kiwibonga]

Simple projection technique that allows you to create hypnagogics -- this is a Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming technique, as well as a phasing technique:

Put yourself in a relaxing position and close your eyes. Eliminate all worries and attachments to physical consciousness. This is your time, so do not let external factors steal it from you.

Visualize yourself getting up and walking out of the room. Walk out of your house, onto the street. Walk along a familiar path.

You do not have to see the images, but you have to be careful to simulate time exactly. This means that if you are visualizing a 20 minute walk to a familiar place, the visualization must take 20 minutes as well.

At first, you'll be completely blind, all you will see is the darkness behind your closed eyelids. So what you need to do is imagine the scenario and use the familiar memories of your house to populate the landscape.

As you walk around, look at everything you can, look at the walls, look at the ground, look at every object on your path, analyze it, name it, visualize it clearly. Make it last.

The trick is to slowly forget that you are sitting in your chair or lying in bed, and to keep visualizing for as long as possible. Never let anything phase you.

From time to time, you'll skip ahead and find yourself taking giant leaps across long distances. Or you'll forget to open a door or press an elevator button. Simply go back to the moment you skipped time and do it again.

You really have to become the character you are imagining, you need to believe that you are there for real, so simulating reality as closely as possible is a must.

The thing is, by the time you take a strong first person point of view in your created scenario, you will have gone into trance and risk falling asleep. This is why this exercise is better done during the day, when you are not likely to fall asleep.


How it works is, you create something with the conscious mind and start believing that you are there. The subconscious mind slowly takes over and automates everything until you have shifted focus into it. The main issue with projection is that you have to set up the subconscious mind to do what you want it to do. So first, program it by imagining the situation, and once you lose consciousness, it'll keep doing what you wanted it to do. It's therefore an "indirect" method, but it is what is most effective for us rigid skeptics! Just remember not to fight the feeling that you are drifting off to sleep, it is what you want.


To summarize it, just pretend for so long that it becomes real. Start with something complex so that your subconscious mind becomes overactive. Don't use simple situations, otherwise your mind will get bored and do something else.

The technique above pretty much allows you to pick your dreams. You don't have to pick the situation I gave you, but it's one of the simplest examples. Just imagine anything as long as you are creating it in real time, next thing you know, you'll lose focus and you'll be in the scene with very vivid vision. Unexpected elements might appear, you will also be able to leave the body, if you so desire.