I experience bright flashes of light when I hear noises on the verge of sleep

**Jesslet** · 01-21-2015 04:32 AM

Hey guys so this is a bit of a weird thing I've noticed, not sure if anyone else has heard of it or has experience.

When I sleep at night I always meditate, and a lot of times I'll listen to some of the guided meditations on youtube. Now, by the time I'm pretty deeply relaxed and about to fall asleep something strange happens. As a voice or outside noise/sound plays (as long as there's a few seconds of silence before) I'll instantly see a bright flash and feel a slight buzz/vibration in my head akin to very mild or weaker hypnic jerk. The intensity of the flash and jerk is related to the loudness of/how startled I am by the noise. I've also experienced this if I hear something sudden while I'm trying to WILD (but it doesn't have to be a particularly loud or piercing noise).

It's not really that inconvenient or unsettling but I'm just curious if anyone has any information on what it might be. Thanks

**TravisE** · 01-21-2015 05:57 AM

I've sometimes experienced something like that when awake but relaxed enough—if a sharp, sudden sound occurs I'll sometimes see a slight “flash” or swirl in my visual field at the same time for a fraction of a second. I'm guessing it's a form of synesthesia which is somehow brought about or enhanced by a relaxed state.

**chance7hope** · 02-01-2015 09:10 PM

Heyy Jesslet ^_^
You shouldn't worry about it! What you are expiriencing is nothing more than a hipnagogic illusion. They accure when you are deeply relaxed and something happens and you emmidiatly get your focus back. They are typical when you are using the WILD technique and when you are meditating and are deeply relaxed.
I hope I was helpful ^_^

**Alric** · 02-02-2015 11:43 AM

Usually it is a very good sign that you are close to entering a dream. If it is sudden it can startle you and wake you up, which sucks since then you might have to start all over if you are trying to do a WILD or something. However, if you remain relaxed you can usually enter a dream if you are experiencing loud noises or seeing vivid images. Everyone is a little different, but seeing and hearing things in general is pretty common when on the verge of sleeping.

Basically, if you are partly asleep you are partly dreaming so you see and hear weird stuff. It can be even weirder than that since dreams can be pretty vivid. It isn't uncommon to experience dream emotions too, like just randomly feeling sad or happy or scared or something. Being randomly sacred is actually very common with sleep paralysis. I can't recall ever hearing anyone like smelling fake smells while falling asleep but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

Any way, seeing and hearing things are the most common things to experience when falling asleep, along with the vibrations some people feel.