As one who practices visualization almost
nightly I can say with certainty that
the ability to visualize assists me in my own
quest for sleep. As I have pointed out in
other sleep thoughts the human brain's
Secondary Visual Cortex is active during both
imagining and dreaming. In other words,
imagination and dreams share similar brain
functions. If you can visualize a relaxing
scenario it is much easier to fall asleep then
just using a background of looped ocean waves.
Simple visualization
methods you can try
tonight (or any night for that matter) would be
to turn on your radio to some soft music and
imagine being in an audience watching the
performance live. Really try to visualize
subtleties of the performance. Try to 'see' the people next to you,
the curtains on the stage and so on. What you
are doing is performing a version of sound
assisted meditation.
This type of mental exercise can lead to a
brainwave state called the Theta state.
The Theta state is that warm comfy feeling most
get right before slipping off into deep Delta
sleep. Most of our dreams occur while we are
transitioning into or out of the Delta brainwave
state. So, our dreams occur at the beginning of
sleep and at the end of sleep as well as in some
transitional brainwave states throughout the
night.
The concept of virtual dreaming is simply to add relaxing sounds in context to sounds we can visualize. So, instead of just ocean waves we are at an Hawaiian Beach Luau and instead of simply wind and rain sounds we are hiking a snow covered mountain... and so on. It is the combination of sounds we find naturally relaxing and sounds we can visualize that stimulates not only Alpha relaxation brainwaves but also the Theta brainwave state. Sleep soon follows.
Being a chronic insomniac it was my own desperate nightly quest for sleep that became the driving force being these new types of audio assisted visualization methods. I am so sure this can work for insomniacs and others with relaxation issues that I can and do guarantee it.
An overview of brainwave states as they relate to sleep can be found here.