Back then, without the internet and in a small city with a limited library, I didn't find very much at all on this subject, but I did manage to come across the term 'hypnagogic', and it seemed to fit well enough. 'Hypnagogic' means "of, relating to, or associated with the drowsiness preceding sleep" (Merriam Webster's Dictionary 10th edition) I briefly experimented with it back then, but in hearing nothing recognizably significant (I recall hearing something about chocolate bars) and also due to the lack of any further knowledge, I basically forgot about it. Until last night.
The hypnagogic state is"The condition which exits between the awake and sleeping states which is characterized by illusions of vision and sound. It was first recognized around 1845 by J. G. F. Baillarger (1809-1890) in France, and W. Griesinger (1817-1869) in Germany. The state was studied by the scholar and antiquarian Alfred L. F. Maury who named it "illusions hypnagogiques." This condition is distinguished from "hypnopompic visions" which appear the moment that sleep recedes and momentarily persist in the awake state. Both types of illusions are related to the faculty of dreaming; however, hypnagogic illusions may be a precursor to out-of-body experiences." From themystica.com
While all sensory experiences (visual, auditory, olfactory and even physical sensations) have been reported in the hypnagogic state, the most common are visual imagery, but with my hypnagogic experiences being auditory, I researched it and found that "Auditory hypnagogic [and also hypnopompic] phenomena include the hearing of crashing noises, one’s name being called, a doorbell ringing, neologisms [new words or expressions], irrelevant sentences containing unrecognizable names, pompous nonsense, quotations, references to spoken conversations, remarks directed to oneself, meaningful responses to one’s thought of the moment." Mavromatis (1987) I had at last found a description of my experiences during the pre-sleep stage.
The dream cycle lasts around 90 minutes, and we go through about 4-5 of these per night.Upon further research I discovered that the most vivid dreams occur during the last cycle in the sleep period, in which the REM, or dream state, lasts the longest. (So P, I gave you the wrong advice...the alarm clock should be set 60-90 minutes before you would normally wake, rather then 60-90 minutes after you fall asleep for the best results when experimenting with dreams).
The picture above shows four of the different brainwave frequencies during different brain activities. (There is, however, a fifth frequency: gamma waves, which operate at a high frequency of 30 - 80 Hz and are the result of 'higher' brain processes such as perception and consciousness.) As shown, dreaming, deep meditation and hypnagogic imagery are all associated with Theta wave patterns (which is yet another indication of how Buddhism is indeed the middle way...lol).
It appears that hypnagogic experiences have also been found to be related to things such as sleep paralysis, ESP and OBEs (Out of Body Experiences).
Hypnopompic experiences, on the other hand have very simliar characteristics with the hypnogogic. However, "hypnopompic imagery, in particular, tends to anticipate forthcoming daily events, and in connection with actual later events it may be considered to be precognitive." (Zusne & Jones, 1989).
I think that any type of work with the mind or its various states strengthens its functioning as a whole, so I think I will start exploring these states further.
8 comments:
As for me dear Sphinx,
I have always experienced dreamless sleep. I wonder what this means as the only dreams i've ever had are when i wake up, and then fall asleep again for the maximum of 5 minutes. This is where i will dream a very elaborate but short dream where i cannot begin to tell you the things i've seen. But for the most part, my mind is blank. It only works overtime when i am on my bed trying to sleep, this is when my train of thought is seemingly limitless and then i drift of to obvlivion and see, nothing.
enelrahs...
They say that everyone dreams...every night. Perhaps they've found the exception? Do you suffer from insomnia or other sleep disorders at all? Certain meds can also alter sleep cycles.
Psychiatrists and other medical professionals have claimed that complete lack of REM sleep would drive one insane. Although we know just a little about sleep and dreaming, they seem to be required processes for mental and physical health.
Have you done much experimentation with sleep and dreaming? I will tell you what I told P...try settting your alarm clock 90 minutes to an hour before waking to see if you can remember any dreams.:-)
I ‘might’ have some useless things to say, but I am extremely stupefied to belch out a relatively sound yet pointless thought on the matter.
Regarding those that lack dreams, I think it's a case of lacking REM sleep. Normally, one would experience dreams during a basic state of sleep, which takes up a portion of one’s sleeping hours in the form of REM sleep. On the other hand, if you generally lead a very tiresome life with very little sleep, you tend to go into deep sleep for the longer part, which means no conscious interaction with your unconscious (No REM sleep)--we don‘t recall our dreams, we don‘t undergo significant REM sleep. Uhh, yeah, I’ll shut up now. Lookin’ at those diagrams is an intimidating task. I think I am going insane due to lack of REM sleep, or maybe just finding an easy excuse to justify stupidity.
Good work, Sphinx. You’re an educator.
Keep it up.
Kade...
I'm pretty sure that you're exactly right with what you've said here.
That said, try to get some good REM sleep tonite.
Thanks for your generous words.
Hey M,
Ever keep a dream journal? I've been slowly returning to awareness of my dream states lately. When I was like 15 or so I started keeping one and the mind is absolutely fascinating during sleep. Most of the content is very specific to daily experience. Of course, it's all symbolic; but all of is pretty straight forward. You have to trust your intuition though. I just had the thought that if one was practicing very seriously, dreams may be an excellent source of study. During one period like this my life I was accusatory of my dream self of whispering dharma to me. Odd eh?
The Josher
Josh...
I try to keep a dream journal, but it hasn't worked out that well. I usually find I can't remember anything, so there's nothing to write. I do write down my memorable ones in my regular journal though.
"if one was practicing very seriously, dreams may be an excellent source of study" I agree. Do you know much about dream yoga?
"I was accusatory of my dream self of whispering dharma to me" That is very interesting.
You're not 'joshin' are you? (hahaha sorry very bad joke lol)
Geez, If I could count the times I've heard that one (joshin)! Whatever makes ya smile :) Yeah, Dream Yoga, Six Yogas of Naropa and all that. I know it exists but I'm really not sure I've run into the contents of the practice. I've bumped into a pre-bed-time prayer for mindfulness during sleep but that's about it. That's something that helps, asking yourself for rememberence. Another thing is when you are in the waking state trying to rememeber it's best to do it as soon as you wake up. When you are making the effort to remember, don't use your waking state. Try to recede back into the comfy sleepyness with the intent to recall dreams. This can't be pushy, it has to be an 'requesting intent'. Remember this is an over-intellectualization for the sake of explaination. Take 'er with a grain of salt.
I'm glad i found this, because I too have be going through this most of my life. As a child I would be soo scared to sleep bc of the people that would talk to me in my head (I just thought I was crazy and scared of the dard), and then later on in life I started having the visual type of this. I'm just glad after all these years I've got an explanation to this.
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