Variations of this technique is what has worked for me also. The trick is to focus your attention on something as you fall asleep, it doesn't have to be imagina

Variations of this technique is what has worked for me also. The trick is to focus your attention on something as you fall asleep, it doesn't have to be imaginary typing. Keeping attention focused as you fall asleep after you go to bed is hard, but doing it after you awake at night is quite easy if you don't wake up too much. The best way I have found to wake up just the right amount is to use a wristwatch with a vibrating alarm and set that to go off maybe two hours before I'd normally wake up. When it goes off, turn it off with as little movement as possible. It seems important to keep almost perfectly still. Using this I have been able to observe the transition to a dream quite gradually by watching hypnagogic patterns (the noise you see in the dark) turn from colored blobs and noise slowly into objects before transition gradually into an immersive scene. I find it quite hard to stay in the dream though, and usually wake up after a couple minutes.