Hypnagogic Imagery: Letting Go

(If you really can't bear to read all of this, just skip to the bottom of my post.)

I have found that while falling asleep, it really isn't too hard for me to consciously experience some sort of light hypnagogic imagery. I lay down and let my mind wander as freely as possible. Sometimes I like to quickly formulate strings of words in my head like "tree, run, river, rock, space, light, sun, gravity, atom, elementary, child," just to force quick and random freedom of train of thought. I try to let go and set my train of thought wandering as freely as possible.

As my train of thought freely wanders, I try to exercise alert mindfulness and simply neutrally watch my mind bubble and churn into this sleepy non-sensical and random mess of thought, and soon I begin to occasionally notice that I am seeing actual images (hypnagogic imagery) of those things my mind is racing through. Anyone can, while awake, imagine a mental image of a tree. While falling asleep, hypnagogic imagery is this same mental image that simply increases in vividness.

(Also, anyone can, while awake, imagine a sound, smell, emotion, or any sensation. In this way, hypnagogic imagery is not actually just visual "imagery," but actually any sensations as they move from your vague imagination to a vivid dream reality.)

The problem that I run into in this process is letting go and exercising the full mental passivity required for the hypnagogic imagery to grow. As soon as I realize that I am experiencing more vivid hypnagogic imagery, the imagery fades. It's the same problem with staying calm when you suddenly realize you are in a lucid dream; If you give into any excitement about the dream or the imagery, it will quickly fade.

Have you successfully WILDed many times? How do you go about letting go and maintaining passive mindfulness as a dream flourishes before you?

To your questions: Yes, I have successfully WILDed many times. I used to have spontaneous ones before I tried to induce them by will. I experienced the same problem as you at first, when I tried to induce them. My mind wasn't relaxed, so I snapped out of hypnagogia every time I got close. It simply took me some practice and experience to get over that problem. What I do, is that I visualise what I want to dream, not only visually, but also by imagining my body moving. Be it flying, running, walking, or even brushing my hair. If I'm able to get deep enough into hypnagogia, this technique rarely fails me. My personal record while WILDing that way is 11 WILDs on a row. (I had a major REM rebound, it took me around an hour and a half) Also, I never hit SP before the dream starts.

I have exactly the same problem! I once saw a lightbulb out of the HI, which looked really real but as soon as I focused on it, it vanished and became a strand of thought again. That happened 2 or 3 times, over the period of about 1 1/2 hours. :(

I have transitioned from HI to full on WILD a few times in my life, but generally there is a period where there is some imagery, then darkness, and then it is as if I am sucked into the dream from that point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Captain Sleepalot

I have transitioned from HI to full on WILD a few times in my life, but generally there is a period where there is some imagery, then darkness, and then it is as if I am sucked into the dream from that point.

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i kinda experience the same thing when i WILD. my hypnagogic imagery i experience consist of very very very vague colors/lights and sounds that arent really there. then when i successfully WILD, i feel an incomprehensable feeling of.... something coming. and that something is the dream.