A friend alerted me to this Reverse Blinking technique. I was sceptical at first, but I was so amazed by the results I felt compelled to share.
What Reverse Blinking may do for you:
Nothing (it doesn't work for everyone.)
Put you to sleep quickly.
Make you so tired you feel you have to sleep.
Put you into a trance so that you can use autosuggestion.
Initiate hypnagogic hallucinations (that is, the kind of hallucinations we experience pre-sleep).
How you do it:
1) Lie down comfortably, as if you're going to sleep.
2) Relax. Close your eyes.
3) Count to five in your head.
4) On the count of five reverse blink: that is, open your eyes quickly (but in a relaxed manner) and close them again. (NB: I estimate that the reverse blinks are about twice the duration of a normal blink - with the eye-opening the duration of one normal blink, and the eye-closing the duration of one normal blink.)
5) Repeat stages three and four.
Experimenting with hypnagogic hallucinations
I wanted to see if I could combine Reverse Blinking with autosuggestion to control the images I would see in hypnagogic hallucinations. I achieved this simply: In my count to four (before the reverse-blink) I would insert the suggestion: "I will see an image of London". Then, after a while - once my eyelids were feeling very tired - I stopped reverse-blinking but continued with the counting to five and the London suggestion. On the count of five I was finding that random images of London places were popping into my head, without any attempt to visualise on my part.
Experiments
There are some experiments I want to try with this technique.
1) I want to see if I can make the hallucinations creative: I'd make a suggestion like, "I'll see a good idea about a place in London" etc.
2) I want to use the suggestion, "I'll see a memory from my childhood my conscious mind has forgotten".
3) On some occasions I've actually stopped blinking and dreamed that I was continuing to blink. I would be interesting in finding out what happens if I create a trigger to ensure I keep blinking and don't fall asleep. Maybe this would be a metronome in 5/4 time. The sound of the metronome click would remind me not to fall asleep. What will I experience when I continue Reverse Blinking beyond the stage where I'd normally fall asleep?
Trying it
Would love to know how others get on with this. I expect that some people will find that it doesn't work at all, while others will, like me, be amazed. When I used the technique two days ago I was reverse-blinking and thinking to myself, "It isn't going to work this time" but within two reverse-blinks I was hallucinating.
A word of warning though: hypnagogic hallucinations can be frightening.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
100 Tips for Improving Your Creativity
My BrainReactions challenge 100 Tips for Improving Your Creativity has reached 100 ideas! I've memorised my favourite ones and I'm thinking of ways to categorise the suggestions. Maybe the two main categories would be: techniques you can use to create ideas now, and attitudes/behaviours you can adopt to develop your creativity in the long term?
I've got another one to add: at the moment I'm into an intensive exercise regime. Immediately after I've finished exercising I start brainstorming for ideas. The ideas are flowing at the moment using this approach. It's also worth keeping a pen and paper handy because I think of ideas during exercise too.
Looking at this approach from a broader perspective I reckon there must be many benefits to be had from generating ideas in different mind states. For example, I like to write jokes, and I've found that I come up with more ideas after I've faced a fear or have been concentrating intensely for a long period of time.
I've got another one to add: at the moment I'm into an intensive exercise regime. Immediately after I've finished exercising I start brainstorming for ideas. The ideas are flowing at the moment using this approach. It's also worth keeping a pen and paper handy because I think of ideas during exercise too.
Looking at this approach from a broader perspective I reckon there must be many benefits to be had from generating ideas in different mind states. For example, I like to write jokes, and I've found that I come up with more ideas after I've faced a fear or have been concentrating intensely for a long period of time.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Listing Facts About A Subject
Suppose I want to improve my blog. To kick off my thinking -- and before I get creative -- it's a good idea to list as much information as I can about blogs and blogging. My aim is to make a list of 100 facts about blogs and blogging. Here's a way to quickly list such information.
I'll start out with a title: blogs.
I need to start listing information and I can do this by using the letters within the title word - blogs - to create words. Using the "b" and the "l" I list a couple of one-syllable words that start with those letters. Say, be and like. So the first item on my list reads:
1) Be like...
All I do now is complete a sentence about blogs that starts with those words:
Blogs
1) Be like...a kind of journal you write online.
Now I've started out it gets easier; I can pick one of the words from that sentence and use it as the start of my next item on the list. I choose "Online":
2) Online...
and I can then use that word as a trigger for more information:
2) Online...blogs are very popular.
Then I continue the process, selecting a word from each sentence and using it to help me list more information. (I've highlighted the chosen word in blue.)
3) Very...many blogs are listed on Technorati.
4) Technorati... tells you the latest about what's being talked about in the blogging world.
5) Blogging...can be addictive.
6) Can blogs replace books?
7) Books have been written based on blogs.
8) On a blog, you can talk about any subject you want.
9) You can blog twenty-four hours a day.
10) Hours can fly past when you're blogging.
11) Hours can be spent reading blogs.
12) Reading blogs is easier if the layout is nice and the font easy to read.
13) Fonts can be difficult to choose.
14) To start blogging requires a site like Blogger.com
15) Like a blog and you'll visit again.
As you can see, this is quite a nifty way to list information. It's important to write down the information (not just do it in your head) and set a quota of 100 items -- to take you beyond the obvious. To sum up, there are two ways to use information to trigger further items:
1: Use the letters from a previous word to list words, then use those words to trigger the listing of information.
2: Select a word from a previous item and use that as the first word in a sentence that triggers the listing of more information.
These are the first two techniques that I'm adding to my brainstorming template that will be specifically used for the listing of information.
Example: 100 List, "Information about blogging"
I'll start out with a title: blogs.
I need to start listing information and I can do this by using the letters within the title word - blogs - to create words. Using the "b" and the "l" I list a couple of one-syllable words that start with those letters. Say, be and like. So the first item on my list reads:
1) Be like...
All I do now is complete a sentence about blogs that starts with those words:
Blogs
1) Be like...a kind of journal you write online.
Now I've started out it gets easier; I can pick one of the words from that sentence and use it as the start of my next item on the list. I choose "Online":
2) Online...
and I can then use that word as a trigger for more information:
2) Online...blogs are very popular.
Then I continue the process, selecting a word from each sentence and using it to help me list more information. (I've highlighted the chosen word in blue.)
3) Very...many blogs are listed on Technorati.
4) Technorati... tells you the latest about what's being talked about in the blogging world.
5) Blogging...can be addictive.
6) Can blogs replace books?
7) Books have been written based on blogs.
8) On a blog, you can talk about any subject you want.
9) You can blog twenty-four hours a day.
10) Hours can fly past when you're blogging.
11) Hours can be spent reading blogs.
12) Reading blogs is easier if the layout is nice and the font easy to read.
13) Fonts can be difficult to choose.
14) To start blogging requires a site like Blogger.com
15) Like a blog and you'll visit again.
As you can see, this is quite a nifty way to list information. It's important to write down the information (not just do it in your head) and set a quota of 100 items -- to take you beyond the obvious. To sum up, there are two ways to use information to trigger further items:
1: Use the letters from a previous word to list words, then use those words to trigger the listing of information.
2: Select a word from a previous item and use that as the first word in a sentence that triggers the listing of more information.
These are the first two techniques that I'm adding to my brainstorming template that will be specifically used for the listing of information.
Example: 100 List, "Information about blogging"
Current creativity projects...
I've become both a keen student of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and a prolific writer of jokes. Inspired by the lessons I've learned in the Medici Effect, I've been thinking about ways to fuse CBT techniques, joke-writing techniques, and creativity tips (especially those generated in the BrainReactions challenge: 100 Tips for Improving your Creativity.)
I'm thinking this will be a kind of brainstorming template where the idea is to create 100 ideas, with each entry on the list being guided by prompters within the template (Such as "Name something that won't work", or "How would you achieve the opposite?"
I'm thinking there could be different templates for different tasks -- such as: problem solving (and definition), creating ideas, and the listing of information and facts. I will start blogging about some of the techniques I've used so far and see how it works out.
I'm thinking this will be a kind of brainstorming template where the idea is to create 100 ideas, with each entry on the list being guided by prompters within the template (Such as "Name something that won't work", or "How would you achieve the opposite?"
I'm thinking there could be different templates for different tasks -- such as: problem solving (and definition), creating ideas, and the listing of information and facts. I will start blogging about some of the techniques I've used so far and see how it works out.
Thinking about thinking...a great blog
If you're like me and enjoy thinking about thinking - and thinking of ways to improve your thinking - then I highly recommend Luciano Passuello's Litemind site.
The site has a simple mission:
To explore ways to use our minds efficiently.
The site is full of information on creativity skills, memory skills (including such methods as the Major system and Roman Room system), self improvement strategies, and Mind Maps on well-known books (such as The Medici Effect). There are also some wise words on overcoming "the dreaded P" - procrastination!
I can't recommend this blog highly enough.
The site has a simple mission:
To explore ways to use our minds efficiently.
The site is full of information on creativity skills, memory skills (including such methods as the Major system and Roman Room system), self improvement strategies, and Mind Maps on well-known books (such as The Medici Effect). There are also some wise words on overcoming "the dreaded P" - procrastination!
I can't recommend this blog highly enough.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Word Games To Help With Spelling
I've been creating these word games to help with the spelling of difficult words. The idea is, you generate a sentence that provides clues for the correct spelling of the word. It's also a fun creativity exercise.
Example
Word = exaggerate. They key thing is to create a sentence that highlights the hardest part of the word to spell. In this case it's the double G. So the clue-sentence I've created is:
I'm not exaggerating when I say I must have lost a million pounds on the GGs!
More examples
(the words to spell are in bold, and the spelling reminders are in red):
Definite is hard to spell, init?
Dissection separates a rat.
I can crash over my mum's for accommodation.
I walked past the cemetery: eeek! (or Eeek! Eeek! Eeek!)
Super spelling's always necessary.
Misspelling: (Ji) m is spelling words incorrectly. (Or (the) m is spelling.)
Let me know what you think and if you can think of others.
Example
Word = exaggerate. They key thing is to create a sentence that highlights the hardest part of the word to spell. In this case it's the double G. So the clue-sentence I've created is:
I'm not exaggerating when I say I must have lost a million pounds on the GGs!
More examples
(the words to spell are in bold, and the spelling reminders are in red):
Definite is hard to spell, init?
Dissection separates a rat.
I can crash over my mum's for accommodation.
I walked past the cemetery: eeek! (or Eeek! Eeek! Eeek!)
Super spelling's always necessary.
Misspelling: (Ji) m is spelling words incorrectly. (Or (the) m is spelling.)
Let me know what you think and if you can think of others.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Improving Vocabulary, Wordcount
I wanted to improve my reading vocabulary, so I went through a small dictionary and underlined all the words I didn't know the meaning of. I then marked all these words in my larger "breeze block" dictionary and memorized the definitions using various memory systems. There were about 1500 words and I'm continuing to learn more.
I think there would be an easier way to do this exercise using Wordcount. Wordcount presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonness. With this listing of words in order of commonness, it is thus easier to decide which words you need to learn as a priority.
To aid this process, Wordcount could introduce a feature where a brief definition of a word is given whenever you hover the cursor over a word. To get a more in-depth definition (or perhaps a link to an online dictionary definition) there could also be an option to click on the word.
I think there would be an easier way to do this exercise using Wordcount. Wordcount presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonness. With this listing of words in order of commonness, it is thus easier to decide which words you need to learn as a priority.
To aid this process, Wordcount could introduce a feature where a brief definition of a word is given whenever you hover the cursor over a word. To get a more in-depth definition (or perhaps a link to an online dictionary definition) there could also be an option to click on the word.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
How to generate names for new businesses?
Challenges asking for names for new businesses are very popular on BrainReactions and I'd like to create a systematic way to approach such a problem. If a person is trying to create a name for a new business, what are the best, creative ways to go about it? What strategies - new or existing - can be used? What sources online may provide inspiration? How can they be systematic in their search and the generation of names?
BrainReactions challenge: How to generate names for new businesses
brainstorming
business names
business
BrainReactions challenge: How to generate names for new businesses
brainstorming
business names
business
Monday, March 09, 2009
Google Idea For The Lazy, Reclining Surfer
I like to get comfortable in my big chair, sit back, and do lots of reading online. Occasionally I'll see something I'd like to search for on Google. I copy and paste the search item, but the oh-so-annoying problem is I have to lean forward to the keyboard to add quotation marks to my search. So, in addition to the to the "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" searches I'd like to see a "Add Quotation Marks" option on the Google search page. You may well already be able to do this in some way, but I'm too lazy to find out ;)
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