How was I able to "see" images with my eyes closed before I was asleep?

Very strange. I went to bed and closed my eyes. About 20 minutes after I closed my eyes in bed I was 95% sure I had not already fallen asleep. Even so, with my eyes closed, I was able to create an open book in my mind and on the left page I was able to make different images appear and disappear as I wished.

Basically, at first I saw a picture on the left page of the book. Then I really wanted another picture to appear. First, the former picture on the left page faded out and then the new picture appeared, again on the left page. Every time for about 5 times when I really wanted another picture to appear, it did. And yes, I really saw the images, just as vividly and realistically as you are looking at your computer screen right now. However, at the same time I was 95% sure I was still laying in bed trying to fall asleep.

What is this kind of experience called? Just very vivid imagination right before sleep?

There's a five percent chance you may have been in a dreamlike state according to your own statistic, don't rule that out :)

It's called Hypnagogic Imagry

You hear whispers and voices, and hallucinate stuff too. If it ever happens again, close your eyes and imagine a scene. Then pretend you are going inside it. When you do you will have achieved a wake induced lucid dream.

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Originally Posted by 9696spartan

It's called Hypnagogic Imagry

You hear whispers and voices, and hallucinate stuff too. If it ever happens again, close your eyes and imagine a scene. Then pretend you are going inside it. When you do you will have achieved a wake induced lucid dream.

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That's amazing. Especially because this night when I experienced this, I tried the WBTB method for the first time. I am pretty sure I had this experience after the 30 minutes I stayed awake after being asleep for 5.5 hours. I am so going to try WBTB out again!

We dream and imagine in the same area of the human brain... the secondary visual cortices. Visualization works and is the only 'method' I use for lucid dream induction. It is a cool thing to discover and , quite frankly, does not get enough mentions around here!

If you can get this to happen again try this...

Make the book or whatever object you are looking at spin as fast as you can. Then make it spin even faster. And then faster again. If it begins to glow then good news. If you are in a deep enough tance state you can use your dream hand to reach and grab the glowing object and you will be sicked into a dream world.

Something similar happens to me all the time. I could close my eyes right now and I would see random glowing blue patterns swirling around....

Yeah, this kind of thing happens to me too, but when I realize it's going on, it disappears.

Sometimes when I'm bored at school or something I'll close my eyes and visualize something, like yesterday I was a soldier in WW1 (I had just taken a test on it). Its never as vivid as you described it, but the longer I do it without opening my eyes the more real it seems. I just have to concentrate on the scene around me unfold and stuff and I won't get distracted. That being said, I'm not really in a dream state or trying to fall asleep, I'm just sitting in a chair imagining everything.