[kylebenzle]

Great post, I wish we had more of these types of pragmatic techniques from zen buddhism/yoga. I've heard of this one as both a way to induce lucid dreaming and as just a yoga meditation but this post does not seem to mention that some people say the best results are often had right before falling asleep.

[Hnrobert42]

The images you see just before falling asleep are called hypnagogic images or hypnagogic hallucinations.

[malauxyeux]

> pragmatic techniques from zen buddhism/yoga

Not Zen, but there's "kasina" meditation that sounds similar to this. You might stare at a light source or a colored disc, then close your eyes and watch the afterimage. Repeat. That's it really – very mechanical.

That can lead to wakeful closed-eye hallucinations, some of which are described here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-eye_hallucination

[Zetobal]

It's the same for lucid dreaming it works the best if you take a nap 20-30 mins and push caffeine and before the onset you fall asleep again.

[bondarchuk]

Hypnagogic state is the only time I can see anything at all so can confirm I guess.