(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?
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