Not sure if we are talking about the same thing, but I too am able to get into this "visual state".

I have started meditating a couple of years ago to better connect to my emotions and manage my ADHD and at one point I started seeing some colors (mostly yellow and green) and then a couple of months later it even became full-blown lucid states where I knew I am consciously awake, yet at the same time could view imagery and symbols that were deeply personal and helped me cathartically understand many things about myself.

But to your question - I have a recipe that works for myself, and I am curious if it will work for you too:

- ANC Headphones + listen to things like (Music for Psychdelic Therapy by Jon Hopkins)

- Ideally lay flat on a bed/ground, in a position where you can entirely relax all your muscles

- Cover eyes with a dark T-shirt or a pillow so that NO light gets in

- if you have trouble with nose breathing like me, use Nose strips (that helps for me)

And now the more challenging part, what happens in my head:

- consciously relax all of the muscles in the body, if I have some kind of pain somewhere, try to not think about it

- just as meditation goes, try to not think about anything, focusing on the music like I mentioned above helps. If some thought occurs, some emotion comes, really just observe it and let it pass. This is of course easier said than done, but I think it's very important to learn to not be always reactive

- to intensify the focus and for me, this is how the colors start (later becoming symbols), try to not even move your eyes while closed. Imagine looking as if on some object that is as close as 5 inches away from your face and don't move the eyes until you reach the "colors" stage

As for me, I start seeing colors and shapes around 10-20 minutes into this. But I am pretty confident that in the beginning before I realized this was happening, it took even longer.

I don't know if this will work for you, but I will be happy to answer any questions :)

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sgbeal a day ago | parent | next [-]

> - if you have trouble with nose breathing like me, use Nose strips (that helps for me)

Just to clarify your intent there: do mean you _must_ breathe through your nose or that you _must_not_ breathe through your nose? (And what on earth is a Nose Strip?)

If this requires mouth-breathing, it's a non-starter for me :(. (Radiation treatment deleted many of my salivary glands, so my mouth dries out, to a painful degree, very quickly, when breathing through my pie hole.)

	▲	eszed a day ago \| parent [-]
		Nose strips are springy things which hold your nostrils / nasal passages a bit further open. In context, it appears GP means that nose breathing is expected. Sorry about your medical issue; I hope you had a good result.

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mna_ 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I did this as a teen but I wasn't trying to meditate. I just wanted to listen to my favourite albums without any distractions. Anyway, I'd almost always fall asleep. How do you stay awake?

	▲	danard 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		I guess coffee helps. But yes, the line is thin, I also often feel like sleeping. It's much easier to enter this state while well-rested, i.e. in the morning or afternoon, not before bed. But I think what psychologically helps is also doing this not in bed, if possible, because we have bed mostly associated with sleep. But yes, it certainly requires some focus on not allowing oneself to sleep.