what's on your mind when you are falling asleep

[PlayWithFire]

I take a very long time to fall asleep (somtimes as much as 40 minutes) so, naturally, there are too many thoughts circling in my head when i am drifting into sleep i always try to use self-suggesting to tell myself that i will remember my dreams, or to relax and let go of my thoughts, but i can't seem to be able to do that. So i will think about work, frieds, my finances, the RAID array that i want to build for my media center. This may be the reason it takes me a while to fall asleep. I can't seem to let go of the world How can i prevent that? One time, i was pretty relaxed, and even though i was still awake, my mind started painting a picture of a while room that i was in. I got distracted thogh, and never managed to re-enter it.

[nightshade]

I have the same problem. Everytime I try MILD I get distracted. Stupid brain

[Peregrinus]

I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain this well, but I'll give it a shot. I can have the same problem you're describing, which can keep me awake for an hour or more. However, I've noticed that when I finally start to fall asleep, the same thing happens every time: I let go. I don't engage in those thoughts anymore. They still come, but by not indulging in them, by not engaging my critical thinking processes to analyze these thoughts, to worry about them and follow them down a long and wakeful chain of imagined causality, they tend to start to form the beginnings of dreams. Instead of being purely intellectual, these thoughts begin to resolve into imagery and sound and rudimentary plot. Often it's just an acting out of the thoughts that have been plaguing me - if I'm worried about a particular upcoming event, that event will begin to play out behind my closed eyes. And as soon as these images start, I just lie back and watch - turn off the mind and turn on the imagination. What keeps you awake is thinking, so if you pretend as if you're just lying down to watch a movie - something which is passive instead of active - you'll be in a mindset more conducive to sleep. So basically, just let go. Let those thoughts come, but let them go as well. Just watch. Acknowledge them and then dismiss them until one begins to take hold in the imagination. When that happens, pay a relaxed attention to the developing dream. Don't try to WILD - if you're already having trouble getting to sleep, WILD and even MILD will require too much thought and attention and will dissolve the dream and keep you awake even longer. I don't know whether that makes sense to you - I hope it does, and I hope it helps. Losing sleep because the mind can't let go of waking worries is exasperating, so good luck.

[PlayWithFire]

actually, that made really good sence i do like the movie analogie i am going to try that.

[pj]

Originally posted by Peregrinus So basically, just let go. *Let those thoughts come, but let them go as well. *Just watch. *Acknowledge them and then dismiss them until one begins to take hold in the imagination. The key for me is abstract thought. Peregrinus is discribing exactly how I allow myself to get there. Over the past few years, paying attention to my thoughts ALL the time has generated wonderful results - lowered blood pressure, (quite a bit below any need for meds,) and great ease of falling asleep. In order to accomplish this, I've had to learn to stop thinking in circles. For me, much of the circular thinking stemmed from self-doubt, concern about overlooking details in a series of very ugly situations, and simple recognition of my own forgetfulness. The beginning of it all for me was starting to keep a journal... not a dream journal, (I keep one of those too now,) but a diary-like thing in which I record my thoughts and experiences. The game (for me) is to think something through once or twice and then release it to my journal or fate or whatever. When I conquered daytime circular thinking, my night-time thoughts followed. I had to learn to recognize my own anger, fear and self-doubt in the process... but man, was it ever worth it. Now, when I can't fall asleep, it is a sure sign I've neglected something or other or let something get to me. "Let" is the operative term there! When it works right, whatever is on my mind quite naturally drifts into abstractions. At that point I can choose let go and sleep or start hanging on in an attempt to WILD - if I've already slept some. None of this may apply to you, but perhaps it will benefit somebody. It is my own experience, so caveat emptor and all that.

[Merlock]

There is absolutely no need to stop the thoughts, it can't be done (meaning letting go of all thoughts all together, usually what others imply is keeping a state of mind dedicated to one thought for concentration). Hypnagogia is in itself your thoughts going independant of your awareness. Thus, the best choice here is to train becoming aware at state state when you're extremely exhausted and then continue slight awareness (this is the challenge, one needs to keep awareness but not too much) of your thoughts as they become independant. Hypnic jerks often luckily help on this endeavour.

[PlayWithFire]

i have a pretty crappy atention span and have a hard time focusing on things. i thought about taking up yoga to help me improve focus just to be able to do that Merlock, thatnks for linking stratight the page i was going to have to look up. I used to get those pretty often, but not anymore

[danbarber]

If I try MILD it takes me up to 3 hours to go to sleep. So usually I just spend about 10 minutes consciously daydreaming, and then I let my conscious mind just slip out and watch where the daydream goes without concsious thought. Within a few minutes I am usually asleep.

[Wolffe]

When I go to sleep, I just think about things I like in particular, or have put a lot of concentration into during that day. Usually fantasising about kickin' some ass on a favoured computer game, or about my wonderful missus

[Burns]

Originally posted by PlayWithFire This may be the reason it takes me a while to fall asleep. I can't seem to let go of the world How can i prevent that? One time, i was pretty relaxed, and even though i was still awake, my mind started painting a picture of a while room that i was in. I got distracted thogh, and never managed to re-enter it. When I have a ton of thoughts racing through my mind and have trouble letting them go and falling asleep, I do the following exercise: I close my eyes and picture a large blackboard. On it are scribbled thoughts and words, constantly moving and changing, depending on what I'm thinking (work stuff, etc.). I pick up a big eraser and start wiping the words off the blackboard. Once it's completely blank, I concentrate on the blank board and my blank thoughts. If my mind wanders and words start to appear on the blackboard again, I just erase them again and keep trying to concentrate on the blankness of my mind and of the board. Usually, I'll drift off to sleep while trying to keep my mind blank. This may seem like a silly visualization technique, but it's easier to see yourself physically wiping away your thoughts, than just trying to make them stop. Give it a try, all you've got to lose is more sleep.

[Chympara]

What I think about as I drift to sleep is probably not the best dream tinder. I usually think about philosophical issues, such as government and how people are, why people are the way they are. I am constantly in thought. When I think about other things, I usually dream. And I have been afraid of trying to set my alarm clock for one in the morning for fear that I might wake my parents. I just did a test, and it turns out that you can't even hear the alarm clock in their room. So now I will awake before my dream is wiped out, and will then get a chance to WBTB. [edit] Some advice that I have derived, take it with a grain of salt. I think the best things to think about before you fall asleep, if you are the type that thinks long and often, is something engrosing that can keep your attention and keep it very well. Try to incubate it, consously driving it through its paces. As you slowly fall asleep, more and more will get done by your subconscience. This is not for everyone, only the type of people who can't keep themselves from their thoughts.

[PlayWithFire]

Burns, you always give me the best ideas i'll give that a shot tonight (as soon as i fix me bed)

[Axis]

I tend to play out stories in my head as I am falling asleep. It would start with a main character and progress into a storyline. By the time the story get interesting I’m usually asleep or of onto my computer to type it up. I guess you could call them “sleep stories” - Axis

[Burns]

Originally posted by PlayWithFire Burns, you always give me the best ideas i'll give that a shot tonight (as soon as i fix me bed) Glad to hear that! Let me know how it turns out.

[PlayWithFire]

i think it's helping a bit i did find my mind a little clearer, but it still wandered i guess it takes practice, so i'll give it a try again tonight

[PlayWithFire]

ok, second night of trying it, i actually remembered some details from a dream and this is considering that i went to bed pretty stressed, and didn't get enogh sleep this technique is working well, i just need to keep practicing

[Burns]

Great! Thanks for the update

[nesgirl119]

Usually, my mind will be full when I get into bed (thinking about school, LDing, Video Games, worrying, etc), but if I have trouble sleeping, I might actually try to play some music (not VG music, more like Religious music), and I will start zoning out, and keep doing so until my mind is empty, and my body starts to fall asleep. Once I get into the trans state of WILD though, there is something on my mind, and it is what I want to do at that point: Deciding to follow all of the dream imagery into a dream (until I was almost 16, this was my only choice), or try to struggle out of bed at this point and go read the open book in the other room (I love doing that! 8) ), but it is much easier to choose earlier in the morning.

[Rainbow Werewolf]

Sometimes sex, It's hard not to when in that very relaxed state it can seem so real.

[harvey3000]

I let my imagination produce images. Somedays the images come easy, whereas other days its color blobs and very nebulas.

[Starlite]

Originally posted by Rainbow Werewolf Sometimes sex, It's hard not to when in that very relaxed state it can seem so real. hhhmmmm.....I do this also. I have trouble falling asleep and lately Ive found out that if play out romantic/sexual scenarios in my mind I find that sleep comes to me faster. Not to say that I find sexual exps. so boring that it puts me to sleep, but like you said it puts in you in that relaxed state and for me Im only focused on the sex scenario and not all the other b.s. I usually fret over while trying to go to sleep.

[PlayWithFire]

Originally posted by nesgirl119 ...Video Games oh, i hear you i've been playing Oblivion latley, and it's the first gave i would sit down an play for hours at a time for quite some time. And when i go to bed, i have to tear myself from the computer and resisting not do "just one more quest" anyway, i found another method that helps me calm down. I started trying to picture myself in a happy place. I tried the woods, mountains, lakes and finally managed to come up with something. I used to row in college (no, not like row boats, or cayaks) so i pictured myself at a dock. I carried down the scull, strapped in, and started rowing. It was night time, and i would pick up speed, i would relax. Any thought in my head, i would picture leaving it behind me as i would row away from it. It seemed to work better for then a whiteboard, but the idea is simiar And when i say sculling, i mean this