Who Are You, and What Are You?

As you fall asleep, you pass through a magical state of mind known as hypnagogia. During that time, you are neither awake nor asleep. Aristotle first wrote about this fascinating phenomenon of the human mind. Since then numerous other writers and thinkers have written about it.

In the hypnagogic state, the conscious thinking mind is slowing down and relinquishing its control. While in that state, other parts of the mind may manifest themselves. Images (not necessarily thoughts) may emanate from parts of the mind that normally have no direct channel to the conscious mind. And the conscious mind, which is half asleep and half awake at the time, is able to notice these images and remember them for later use.

Hypnagogia is fascinating and useful because it is truly a way of “thinking outside the box.” The images you may receive contain ideas and suggestions that might never be arrived at by conscious thinking. Hypnagogic images may contain solutions to problems as well as new, artistic ideas that normally wouldn’t occur to the conscious mind. Hypnagogia can be an important doorway to creativity.

One frustrating aspect of this transitory state of mind is that it is usually too brief. It’s there, and then it’s gone. Oh, if there were only some way that we could dwell for an extended period of time in that wonderland of the mind.

There is a way. It’s called Conscious Quiescence, the state of being wide awake with no thought. When you learn to quiesce the thought stream and “empty the mind,” a hypnagogic state opens up. If you learn and practice CQ consistently over a period of time, a beneficial transformation happens inside you, and new powers and resources become available. In future posts, I will explore some of the things that students have discovered in the state of Conscious Quiescence.