What is Hypnagogia?

The Curious State of Hypnagogia

By infiniteone NeuroCognitive 0 Comments

“I am aware of these “fancies” only when I am upon the very brink of sleep, with the consciousness that I am so.”

Edgar Allan Poe describing his ‘fancies’ – his infinite source of ideas.

Have you ever felt like falling when you go to sleep?

Usually, you jolt back up, fully or partially awake for a brief moment, leaving you wondering what happened. This involuntary muscle contraction is called “Hypnic Jerk” – the term Hypnic being short for Hypnagogic¹.

Hypnagogia is the transitional state of your consciousness as you hover between awake and asleep. It can include visual hallucinations, lucid thought and muscle paralysis. It’s relatively brief and you may not even notice it².

About 70 percent of people experience hypnagogic hallucinations, which can range from dreamy sights to sounds and even the feeling of gentle movement³.

Here are some examples

Visual hallucinations:

Bright and colorful specks of light dancing across your vision
Shifting geometric lines and patterns
Images of animals, landscapes, or people’s faces
Even complex fractals

Auditory hallucinations:

Indistinct muffled noises, as if hearing underwater
The doorbell or telephone ringing
Voices or words
Music
Paper being crumpled
White noise. Something described as ‘fuzzy’
Even your own name

Other hallucinations:

The feeling of floating or weightlessness
Flying
Falling
Numbness
Pulsating or bobbing along invisible waves
Out of body experiences

As mentioned in the beginning, the most common of these are the “hypnic jerks”.

Cognitive processes present during hypnagogia

As your mind relaxes, it changes the way you think.

This is when the limits of your ego expand. You are more susceptible to suggestion. The mind is more open to new ideas and you may experience an illogical flow of thoughts and associations.

Your brain jumps from one subject to another as your mind relaxes.

‘Autosymbolism’ is a term coined by Psychoanalyst Herbert Sillberer and describes the process by which the hypnagogic hallucinations represent the thoughts of an individual at the time. Abstract thoughts become symbolic visual representations.

The hypnagogic state has been recorded as being a time of heightened creativity and an opportunity for insights into solving problems.

Edgar Allan Poe isn’t the only genius in history to describe his method of reaching the epiphany of mental clarity.

Salvador Dali had his own method of tapping into his creative side by using the ‘hypnagogic vertical nap’. He would have a siesta after eating and take a spoon with him⁴.

At first, Dali would leave a plate on the floor. Then he would get comfortable and take a nap while loosely holding the spoon above it. Eventually, the spoon would fall and the noise of it landing on the plate would wake him. As a result, the nap only lasted a few minutes.

But sleep wasn’t his ultimate goal.

In short, he wanted to reach the dream state and be inspired.

He wasn’t the only famous person to use such a technique to inspire himself. Inventors like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner and novelist Walter Scott used the state between wakefulness sleep to process their thoughts. It goes back even as far as Aristotle.

How to induce Lucid Dreams

Meditation is a good way to prolong the hypnagogic state.

If that’s difficult, don’t worry – there are other ways to trigger it.

Firstly, lay down and cup your hands over your eyes, then focus your eyes on the middle distance to see faint lights. You might see static shapes or geometric patterns.

Another way is to lay on your back and relax. Try to remain completely still while retaining mental consciousness. All your muscles should be relaxed. Keep your breathing steady, inhale through the nose, hold, exhale through the mouth.

If you feel like rolling over, just put your arms behind your head and let yourself drift off without moving anymore.

You might begin to experience the hypnagogic transitional state and use it for visualization. Use this opportunity to explore the realm between wakefulness and sleep and experience deep relaxation, beautiful visuals, clarity of thought, and new insights.You can also try using Mind Machines to guide your mind into a hypnagogic state. Red Light also puts you in the right mood.

As your body prepares to sleep, you begin to lose contact with reality. These effects are most prevalent in young adults and teens. On the other hand, it becomes less common as people get older.

For some unknown reason, women are more prone to having these hallucinations than men.

Lucid Dreaming

Out of all hypnagogic experiences, the ones that are by far the most interesting are lucid dreams.

Understanding that you’re dreaming gives you power over it.

In recent years, it has become more popular to try and induce lucid dreams. It is an easy and accessible means for wish fulfillment, overcoming fears and reducing the effects of nightmares⁵.

Poets, inventors, mathematicians and artists all over the world have used the power of their minds to advance their craft.