[jwdunne]

Same for me. Sometimes on bad nights it can be hours but I need that time to "unwind".

The music is awesome. I sometimes get hypnogogia. I can imagine the music and then, as I get closer to sleep, I actually hear the music.

If I don't imagine music and I get hypnogogia, I'll hear people chatting next to me. That was quite scary before I understood what was going on.

If I don't get hypnogogia, I'll start imagining odd scenarios. Sometimes I'll recognise that it's a sign I'm about to drift off and then bang I'm awake.

From what I've read, this comes from straddling wakefulness and light sleep phase.

I believe Thomas Edison and others took advantage of the creative power. He drifted whilst holding a ball bearing above a plate so when he went, the ball would clatter on the plate. He'd wake up and note everything down.

Me, I just wanna sleep. I struggle as it is and I cannot nap. The idea of purposefully preventing sleep sounds like torture.

[balabaster]

What on earth... I've never heard of hypnogogia. I just looked that up to discover hypnopompic... auditory hallucinations as you transition from sleep to waking up. I haven't constantly suffered this, but at periods in the last 5 years, I have often woken with a jump and an impending sense of dread to either the sound of a doorbell, or my ex yelling my name. In both cases, I know these were hallucinatory, the doorbell I have installed doesn't make the same sound as the doorbell I hear as I wake, nor has my ex been in my presence at the time I heard her calling my name. I had no idea this was a thing, I thought I was just going crazy, lol. So thanks for introducing me to these "conditions(?)" Perhaps I am still crazy, but at least there's a name for it :D

[e12e]

There's a word in the Sami language (a culture indigenous to parts of Scandinavia) that describe the state between being awake and asleep: "Adjágas".

It's been somewhat impotently translated as "slumber" - but it's more akin to what gp describe. I'm sure many native American languages have similar concept.

[jwdunne]

Yeah, a friend told me about that a while ago. He was pretty freaked out and worried it might be some kind of psychosis!

Don't think you have to worry. I haven't had any issues with my mental health for 8 years, beyond maybe periods of high work stress, and it's appeared at night often since then.

[Cerium]

I used to hear the voices if I was very tired and in a silent room and just listened, not thinking. Since I got tinnitus I've never heard them. I think for me silence was essential, felt like my brain was trying to auto gain select, and if there was no signal crank up the gain until some feedback creeps in.

[auxym]

While I don't recognise the music/art part, I have this happening pretty regularly:

> If I don't get hypnogogia, I'll start imagining odd scenarios. Sometimes I'll recognise that it's a sign I'm about to drift off and then bang I'm awake.

Almost like lucid dreaming, but when I'm only half-asleep, and becoming lucid wakes me up.

[kazagistar]

Lucid dreaming itself woke me up, often in the middle of the night. I had to force myself to forget to ensured I stayed asleep and got a full nights rest, and eventually I stopped remembering dreams altogether.

[_0ffh]

Lol, reminds me of my first lucid dreaming experience after a long time of sowing the seeds. The moment I recognized I was dreaming ("I" "was" in my living room) I was very excited and thought "Great, it worked! That means I could try out flying!". So I took off - and bumped my head on the ceiling (1). Woke me right up... :-/

(1) Seems like sometimes dreams /can/ be logical

[jwdunne]

Only had one lucid dream and it was pretty disappointing.

I woke and my light was on. I remembered that I'd definitely turned my light off - hey, this must be a lucid dream! So I looked at my hand for a few seconds and everything turned to white. Then I woke up, pitch black with my arms under the covers. The excitement of lucid dreaming woke me up!