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This one works best when lying in bed at night. You've probably already tried it. In
fact, in can be a good way to put yourself to sleep.
First, you just shut your eyes. After you've gotten used to what "nothing" looks
like back there, start rubbing your eyes with your knuckles, like the hand signal people use to
mean "crybaby."
You'll start seeing all kinds of weird patterns and colors almost right away and
they'll linger for a while when you stop.
Then spend a little while staring at "nothing" again. Sometimes some very subtle
things start appearing even without touching your eyes, little flashes and transparent shapes that
are called "floaters". This is the part when you'll probably fall asleep.
Why this happens:
This is called "inadequate stimulus vision. "Our nervous systems are continuously
active, but usually we need a stimulus (an event that triggers the response) to tell our brains
that a sound, smell, sight, or physical feeling is happening.
When you rub your eyes, it activates your brain's visual tract, waking up the part
of you that notices when a sensory event happens only the "event" that you see when your eyes are
closed is just the background noise of your nervous system.
This is similar to "seeing stars" when you get clocked by a softball or when you
go without sleep for long enough to mess up your central nervous system.
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