hypagogic imagery. (is that how you spell it?)

i find that when im falling asleep and trying to concentrate on the imagery, i dont know WHAT to concentrate on. it feels like i have many layers of images to look at...there are fuzzy dots floating around directly behind my eyelids...there are images of people and places flashing in my head...among other things. what am i supposed to be focusing on? the fuzzy dots and shapes floating around behind my lids...or the images that feel like, theyre inside my head? It's extremely hard to concentrate on the shapes because they come and go so fast, and it kind of gives me a headache trying to focus on them.

Im not really an expert at hypnogogic imagery but I notice that when I let my thoughts drift and I focus on like driving a car fast or running fast then things start to come. Or you can like stay alert with your eyes closed your body relaxed. Images and things could come up with out your expectation and could lead you to a lucid dream eventually Usually when I just lie there and not try anything all of a sudden i notice that something happened to me and i woke up. I felt like i kind of had a mild jolt and i mihgt have had some of the things happen to me when i didnt even notice it. Usually thats when i get the closest. Sorry for the length of my response. good luck

Dont focus on the images just let them come to you, like what Lucid83 said, give yourself a task, running driving a car, walking through the woods, acending a huge staircase if your into martial arts focus on your kata. soon the images become what you are imaginingand you might just find yourself slipping right into a WILD =)

its hard to keep your focus though my mind drifts so quickly I dont even realise I am not wokring at the task at hand anymore.

I think I'll try this staircase thing, but I am terrified of the potential results. I had a nightmare when I was little. It involved stairs and doors. So many, no way out *shudders*

i focus on a noise...usually one i make in my head that isnt real...works nice an good for me...the images often accompany the noise...try talking to yourself and concentrating on your internal dialogue...your mind should make images to go along with what you're saying...kinda neat :D

Yeah-theres alot of good ones, like thinking of your day in reverse right when you layed down, or doing mathmatical equasions, or just daydreaming/ thinking of pleasant thoughts, but the driving a car one has a better effect for some people.

WerBurN-YOUR SIGNATURE! Tennessee Williams
i just read a play by him that was pretty good

"A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE"

Errr... I think i'm getting loads and loads of WIDS..... not WILDS, WIDS.
Wake Induced Dreams. No Lucid ones, sadly.
I have them often in the bus/train (I travel alot to go to college)
The motion of the train or bus just makes me close my eyes and I immidiately have a short dream. Today (saturday) I woke up at 8:30 to walk the dog and then I tried a WILD, but its too hard for me to focus on something... I guess i'm to impatient. I dont think about anything yet thoughts randomly come up, and I just lie there and observe what I'm thinking, and letting em go. Maybee if you guys could tell me what things you focus on or what types of things (motion, shapes, images?) I should focus on...

I had a weird dream while trying to induce a LD but it turned out to be a WID, someone was applying pressure to my stomach till a point I started feeling really weird and I lifted my arm and hit the arms of the person doing that, And I woke myself up because I moved my arm in that way, only hitting air. I thought I'm gonna concentrate on that dream, only now knowing its a dream. I started dreaming the same situation, and I again tried to smack the arms away, waking myself up AGAIN...

Also my dream recall is getting less :( Dont know what I am doing wrong all of a sudden? They've never been really vivid, I was hoping to train that but today I dont remember anything. I remember a tiny bit from my WIDS as i'm just gonna call em.

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Originally posted by CT
Errr... I think i'm getting loads and loads of WIDS..... not WILDS, WIDS.
Wake Induced Dreams. No Lucid ones, sadly.

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yeah-i get this problem all the time!

Info, scroll down about halfway
Download Video of Hypangogic Imagery (Quicktime Required)

Quote:

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fig. A What you might see is random flashing and abstract patterns like fig. A. These are called hypnagogic imagery. Look carefully at this blackness. You'll find it's a complex layered space.

Shapes might start to appear fig. B, let your mind be a blank canvas (don't let your mind wander) and passively observe what you see. More solid objects or scenes might start to appear. They could randomly flash up in very quick succession or they could slowly float around.
fig. B

fig. C It can be like watching a film in a darkened cinema fig. C. Keep relaxed and your mind focused but blank. Look at some of the details in one of the scenes. Hopefully it should increase to fill your whole view. You might also be experiencing a sort of vibration. This could feel like chills or warm water or static sweeping all over your body. They can get intense, but stay focused on the image. See yourself step beyond its surface and become part of the scene. Hopefully you will zoom into the scene like a camera zoom in a Hollywood film, and you'll be there, lucid and ready to enjoy.

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Interesting post.

I find it difficult to focus on oe thing. My thoughts shift to quickly, if I settle on say a forest walk, Ill think of a memory when I climbed a tree when I was younger, then from there it'll go onto a memorable time I grazed my knee about the same time, then a trip to a hospital, then to hospital tv dramas, then to sitting on the couch, then to petting a dog on the couch... It never ends until I fall asleep into regular dreaming. Is this normal, should I try focus on something less visual instead, like my breathing or a sensory feeling??

Necro post. Locked.

@LittleStar - please feel free to start a new thread with your question