This is an old thread, so perhaps the answer has come some other way?
Anyway, I sometimes turn on a lot of lights in the ceiling so I don't fall asleep.
I sometimes use ear plugs to keep out sounds, because there are lots of
street sounds around here. I very seldom use H-S. I think I nowadays
get a better result without H-S.
I half sit up or use a thick pillow so I'm not too comfortable, to avoid falling
asleep. I close my eyes, sometimes I use a light cloth so some light shines
through but not too much so it disturbs me.
And then... Well, maybe I don't really go to the TMI-There Crystal that often.
---
I prime the pump by
peeling-my-clementine.
If I can avoid needing to sink into a too deep relaxation, I try to imagine things
as soon as possible. If I can't do that I relax for a moment and wait. Then try
again and so on, until it start rolling like a movie to my mind's eye.
Lately I often go to "
my place" and use that as a starting point because some
things there are familiar to me, so I can begin imagine things.
The last point requires you to create a "your place", which you should call
"
my place", in the nonphysical.