I noticed something which is happening sometimes when I’m laying in bed and almost fall asleep.
Before I fall asleep I always think about a lot of things (from things that happened that day, to memories from the past, to my hobbies, to random things, basically everything that comes to my mind but I feel relaxed).
Now I noticed that at this point (when I almost fell asleep but just not yet) my thoughts change to false memories or assumptions.
For example, I suddenly think about something that has never happened but it feels like it happened the day before and then I believe for several seconds that it actually happened until I wake up and realize “What is this? This never happened!”.
Sometimes this false memories/assumptions are very illogical, for example yesterday night when I almost fell asleep I was thinking something like “My mother told me that the staff of my assisted living facility will not take an air raid siren seriously…” and then a few seconds later I woke up and I think “What? My mother didn’t say this and why am I even thinking about an air raid siren?”
I’m very curious what this is.
I thought that it were probably hypnagogic hallucinations but I don’t see imagery with it, it are pure “thoughts/memories/assumptions” so I think I cannot call it an hallucination.
It’s something illogical (a false memory or assumption) that come up to my mind when I almost fall asleep, and then I believe for a few seconds that this illogical thing is true and after that I woke up and I realize that my thoughts where non-sense, not true and never happened.
I’m now calling it “hypnagogic delusions” for myself but I don’t yet know the actual meaning and reason of it.
Does anyone have a similar experience or explanation?
That is interesting. I think it comes and goes but sometimes I get a sort of mental gibberish before falling asleep. I don’t think I have ever recalled the actual words or made an effort to write them down. It’s not just racing thoughts but something more like you describe. You seem to be able to tap into that state a little better and recall it. Surely there is a link between that and hypnagogic imagery though I would assume hypnagogic imagery takes more focus and practice to notice and recall. I know if I decide on a random night to watch for the HI I rarely succeed. It seems to take practice and a more disciplined mind than mine lol. Though I have seen it when I was younger and more dedicated to this kind of stuff.
I love the hypnagogic space! I look for it every time I close my eyes. Soooo many interesting things…images, voices, sounds, feelings emerge in that twilight.
Typically, after close my eyes and gently relax the body…I look into the darkness behind closed eyes until the darkness deepens or gains depth. And then, I’ll see what looks like these very fine rippling/scintillating lines deep in the darkness….very faint to start. At that point it’s kind of like very gently coaxing a fire from faint embers. If I drift into thoughts, they go away. If can hold onto that delicate balance between waking and sleeping, the scintillating lines start to flourish and their light gets brighter. It’s like their brightening gains momentum. After that different things can happen…flame fractal-like abstractions or dream images evolve.
