Brief, immersive hallucinations in deep relaxation

[archdreamer]

I find that whenever I am sufficiently relaxed for long enough (lying down, eyes closed, of course), and allow my mind to wander, eventually, I will begin to experience very immersive hypnagogia. This will usually take the form of auditory hallucinations, kinesthetic sensations (as if the parts of my body are in different relative positions), feelings of acceleration, and, rarely, proper visual hallucinations, although I will often have a sort of sense of a visual scene, although I don't literally 'see' it. These usually happen when I let my mind wander for a bit, and manage to forget my physical surroundings, and the fact that I am trying to relax and enter a dream. They typically last a few seconds, and I will be completely focused on them, and unaware of my physical body (like a full-fledged dream, only not as vivid). They seem to 'build up' in vividity, as if they are the first moments of possible dreams, and I suspect that if I didn't catch what was happening, then over a short while they would indeed become full-on non-lucid dreams. When I do realise what is happening, there is usually about half a second of limbo (no perception, or very subtle perception), then I will rapidly snap back into exclusively perceiving my physical body, sometimes with an accompanying sensation, such as falling, or being hit by a 'wave' of physical senses. If I stay relaxed, then in about 20 seconds to 5 minutes (it varies a lot), if I allow myself to 'zone out' again, then another hallucination will usually occur. The content of these experiences seems to be independent of what I am thinking about, and just sort of start happening when I am daydreaming and have temporarily forgotten my physical surroundings. The hallucinatory perceptions are often unrelated to each other (for instance, I may feel a sliding sensation, accompanied by snippets of a song I have recently heard) Some examples of recent perceptions I have had are hearing male voices chanting, feeling as though I am lying on my side in a ditch (when I am on my back in reality), feeling as though I am sitting up, and hearing a ukulele being played. My question to you guys is, have any of you had similar experiences, either during WILD attempts, or when going to sleep normally? Has anyone any advice on how to 'hold' these hallucinations together (it seems to be very difficult to think about not thinking about one's physical body while making sure not to think about one's physical body ), and allow the experiences to develop into dreams while being lucid, or on how to encourage them to occur more frequently or vividly?

[ctman20]

yep, last year i was pulling an all nighter for a school project and i saw a tangled black mass on my wall moving, then a purple book climbed up my wall, it scared the shit out of me

[poliganometry]

yes! you put it into words very well. I have these hallucinations nightly when i'm trying to fall asleep, not 'seeing' what is around me, but having a very good sense and orientation as to what is there. I pop right out of them when something familiar happens - like if my foot twitches, or if i feel sleep paralysis coming on. usually it only happens when i am unaware, so i have no idea how to hang onto it. last night i had one where i had a very strong sense as to how a knot was being tied. I rolled over, woke up and layed in bed for a few minutes trying to figure out how to untie my knot before i realized i don't really even have a knot to worry about.

[archdreamer]

I tried relaxing this afternoon (15:40 - 16:10). I decided, this time, to wait for any sort of hallucination, plus the usual feeling of tingling, heaviness, and a sense that my limbs have somewhat melted into the bed, then, as soon as I got a few light ones, began to imagine myself in an adjacent room (as suggested in the saltcube DVD, pt 2), just walking around, sitting, picking things up and fiddling with them. However, the hallucinations basically stopped when I began doing this. I think I have to really let my mind wander in order to get these spontaneous hallucinations, and not expend any effort in trying to think about anything in particular. There were a few times when the visualization became noticeably less effortful to maintain, and I seemed to partly forget my physical body, and this lasted maybe 15 - 30 seconds each time. It was a subtle effect, but it was there, and it stopped when I considered what I was doing, even for a moment, unless I kept my purpose in the 'dim background of my thoughts'. Maybe I am not good enough at visualization, or tried too hard, or too early, to allow the scene to properly develop. A question for those who can WILD using visualization-based techniques: how long do you usually have to deliberately keep up your visualization before it begins to 'run under its own power'? On a side note, during my visualization, my hand and forearm suddenly, and quite dramatically, jerked and twisted. I believe this might have been a 'hypnic jerk', which is hopefully a good sign. Can anyone offer any additional information about this sort of involuntary movement?

[poliganometry]

from what i've read, the jerks are tests that your body gives your mind to see if it is asleep. kind of like, "hey, I haven't got any instructions for a while... im going to wretch to see if you're still awake." typically, if i ignore the jerks i get sp within a few minutes.

[defacto]

I get these from time to time. Usually I'll be falling asleep while watching a movie or lying on my couch. An image will play in my mind and then something will happen in the image and I'll jerk violently and regain awareness. One particular image comes to mind. I was riding a bicycle then I veered off into a ditch and crashed. At the exact moment I was about to hit the ground, I jerked and threw myself off the couch I was lying on.

[archdreamer]

I had another session this afternoon, for 35 minutes. This time, I definitely 'dropped out' of awareness for longer periods before 'catching the dive' (minutes at a time) and being pulled back into waking. However, I was able, a few times, to let myself hover between focus on my physical body and on the hallucinations, for a few seconds. I think, perhaps, if I am able to let the hallucinations continue further before catching them, without falling asleep proper, and if I am able to become more proficient at balancing awareness and unconsciousness, I might be able to catch the hallucination, but not immediately be thrust back into my physical body, and instead lower myself into sleep in a controlled manner (a WILD).