Alright, I’ve been trying the hypnotic imagery technique for two days now, and I can’t seem to keep the colors and lights for more than a couple of seconds. My eyes always seem to open, and the light from my shadded window sinks into my vission, causing me to loose any of the Imagery I have been focusing on. 
After wasting three hours trying to hold onto the colors, I came upon this Question of mine. Do you think I am not closing my eyes tightly enough, or should I block out the light from my windows? Any replies will be gratefully appreciated. 
Hey broken-sword88,
You dont need to close your eyes tightly. Just close them as you would when going to sleep. Any light that still shines through will be mixing up with the HI to create all kinds of images (though if the light is too strong it gets annoying). Normally, if you don’t focus on the light, you forget about it pretty soon. If you have problems with it, try it in a totally dark room. Good luck with it 
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Thanks 
that makes sense. I’m gunna work on it more tonight, so I’ll post if I have any progress.
try rolling over to face the wall?, thats how i sleep.
I bought a sleep mask (an eye mask meant to block out light while sleeping or attempting sleep). I don’t know how much it helps with HI because I tend to fall asleep too quickly, but it really does block out the light; I love mine and rarely sleep without it now.
I was thinking about buying a sleep mask, so I guess I’ll give that a try if the same problem happens tonight.
When I’m observing phosphenes (random colors and light dots), sometimes I notice that I’m not sure if my eyes are closed or not.
I verified. Of course, they were closed.
So, errrrr… my question sounds stupid 
but… are you sure your eyes are open ?
well, at first I thought my eyes were still closed, but they just kept opening, until finally they were open all the way. I actually didn’t have a problem last night, but I fell asleep too fast to do it right. I’m going to get a sleep mask today, and try it out.
When I was lying in bed in the dark with my eyes closed one night before I bought my sleep mask, and I was waiting to see phosphenes or HI or anything, my eyelids started twitching so fast and uncontrollably that I had to smoosh my eyes into the pillow to get them to stop (well I could’ve opened them instead but I wanted to keep them closed). That was really weird…anyone else ever have that twitching eyelid experience?
well, last night I went to bed really late, and pretty much passed out, so I didn’t have an oppertunity to try out my mask. the problem is, my puppy got a hold of it this morning, and tore it to shreds so I’m going to buy a new one and try it tonight. Again, I’ll post if it works
That sounds like the kind of bad luck I always have…sorry to hear that…thankfully, they’re pretty cheap…I think I got mine at Walmart for less than $3.00.
Someone recommended a sleep mask - this works very well for me. But I would go further and suggest some earplugs as well. Night sounds can be very distracting and the closer you can get to sensory deprivation the better in my opinion. Once light and sound are removed all the focus becomes inward - with no distractions and this is ideal for WILD.
Sensory deprivation has been used in the past as form of torture, and while I’m not suggesting you torture yourself, people who have been subjected to involuntary sensory deprivation report that visual imagery becomes hugely enhanced once the external stimuli of sound and vision are removed. Give it a try - it works very well. Obviously though don’t put yourself in danger - such as not being able to hear a smoke alarm etc.
I like to use ear plugs with my sleep mask too but the only time I can do it is when I take daytime naps because I’m afraid if I use earplugs at night that I won’t hear my alarm in the morning. And it’s kind of hard to lie in my favorite position, on my side, with the ear plugs in so I have to fall asleep on my back when I use them, which can be annoying.
It would be cool if some sort of “ear mask” existed, like an eye mask, that can be worn externally, because I can also hear my internal body sounds more when I use the ear plugs. I had a bad chest cold last week and the phlegm in my chest would make wheezing and gurgling noises when I inhaled and exhaled and as soon as I tried napping with my ear plugs in, it increased the chest noises my body was making so much that it kept me awake and I had to remove them. The earplugs also sometimes cause me to hear my pulse too loudly in my ears and that distracts me from concentrating on doing my sleep techniques.