Key points

Many great inventions and discoveries have emerged from the hypnagogic state, including the song "Yesterday."

Transcendent creativity comes from beyond the conscious mind.

It's possible to train ourselves to utilize the creativity of the hypnagogic state.

The Beatles’ song "Yesterday" was written in what psychologists refer to as the “hypnagogic state.” This is the twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness, when we drowsily linger in a semi-conscious state, experiencing vivid mental images and sounds.

Waking up one morning in early 1965, Paul McCartney became aware of a long complex melody playing inside his head. He jumped straight out of bed, sat down at his piano, and picked out the melody on the keys. He quickly found the chords to go with the melody and created some

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