Music and "false" sleeping...?

[Puffin]

For the past three nights, I've been listening to music before going to bed. Not necessarily relaxing music, but not crazy loud stuff either. This is what happened on each night. Night 1 - got into bed at 10:00 listened to music until 10:30, put head down with eyes closed next time I checked the clock it was 3:20 Night 2 - got into bed at 10:10 listened to music until 10:20, put head down with eyes closed next time I checked the clock it was 3:30 Night 3 - got into bed at 11:00 listened to music until 11:25, put head down with eyes closed next time I checked the clock it was 4:00 I don't recall dreaming during these times or really even falling asleep (although I remember being rather still and not tossing and turning that much), but I'm not tired in the morning. Any idea as to what this is?

[dakotahnok]

Hmm i have experienced this before as well. I dont really know WHAT it is but i know its kind of fun. I actually had one of theese in lucid form once. I woke in the middle of the night, went back to sleep. I see theese blue dots and think hey im lucid. Then i kind of laugh and think think that of course im not lucid because im not even asleep.. I think of theese blue dots slamming into eachother. Then i "decide" to open my eyes and when i do about 2 hours go by.

[nightronics]

That has happened to me many times as well, I just drift off to sleep with headphones in my ear. Maybe the music is feeding your brain input so you dont dream because your brainwaves are different. Im no expert, thats my guess.

[anderj101]

I've done this quite often when on long flights. I begin composing a track in Fruity Loops, then just lay back and listen for a while (on repeat). Next thing I know, the flight attendant is tapping me on the shoulder and asking me to put away my laptop because we're about to land. 4-5 hours can disappear without any sense of the passing time.

[kunfu11]

I've had this happen to me as well. I think your really just resting, not sleeping. This would explain the fact that your not tired in the morning, because your brain (probably) isn't thinking too much, being focused on the music, and since your not moving,or conciously aware your body rests. I think that it would be somewhat similar to meditating, in that you would mostly be aware of your surroundings, but resting at the same time. I'll have to try this as an experiment.

[Moonsong]

What is it about this that makes you think you're not dreaming? Just because you don't have any recall and time seems to have jumped forward doesn't mean that you aren't dreaming. Or am I missing something here?

[kunfu11]

Usually when I do it,moonsong, I'm actually aware and awake the entire time. But time seems to go by as if I were asleep. That's what leads to the conclusion of not dreaming.

[MatthewOlson]

My thoughts are, ... one can easily replenish their mind during a state of 'trance', so to say, as one can replenish their mind during a state of REM sleep. You don't 'have' to be in REM sleep in order to be fully rested. It has more to do with the Theta and Delta brainwaves then it does with whether you are dreaming or not,... or can even recall the dream or not. Music has always had the power of bringing people into different states of consciousness.If you can think of your mind as a multi-track recorder, with many signals/inputs/stimuli going on at the same time, throughout the day, it must be a very clustered track list. ... However, during any rested state where the mind does not have to process many tracks of information at once, the mind is not bombarded with countless signals and frequencies, and instead is focused on a particular form of stimuli or thought pattern (IE. ... your dream,.... or the music you are listening to). ... The process of sleeping/dreaming, and the process of deep meditation are really not that different. In fact, isn't dreaming really just a kind of meditation?