Before falling asleep you are in the twilight zone of dream and awake. This is where some people start having dreamy visions, images, and sounds as they drift off into the unknown.
This is also where some people fall into the preys of sleep paralyses, and therefore maybe whether consciously or unconsciously avoid conscious visualization.
However, at that frontier is your change to improve your hypnagogic visualization. By consciously focusing on images of whatever your mind drifts to, you start seeing the images more clearly which then can translate the images to your dreams.
At the start, you may have few seconds of clear images of whatever it is you are thinking that moment, and as soon as you become aware, maybe even amazed, of how your mind can do this and how sharp the images can be, the image instantly drifts of.
By doing this visualization before falling asleep regularly the images start to last longer even after you realize you are doing the visualization. After doing it for months, hypnagogic visions become the regular occurrence before you fall asleep. In addition, these visions enhance the clarity of your dreams. Don’t take my word for it, try it out yourself and find out.
These visions can be a source of inspiration and gateway lucid dreams, and will eventually let you take a closer glimpse into the unknown realm.
As Wikipedia put it,
The hypnagogic state can provide insight into a problem, the best-known example being August Kekulé’s realization that the structure of benzene was a closed ring while half-asleep in front of a fire and seeing molecules forming into snakes, one of which grabbed its tail in its mouth.
Many other artists, writers, scientists and inventors — including Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Walter Scott, Salvador Dalí, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Isaac Newton — have credited hypnagogia and related states with enhancing their creativity.
Down the rabbithole 