I used it a few years ago, but not extensively. It does help induce the trance state. Some have noticed vibrations and other sensations of seperation. I'm not the best person to ask about this, as I really don't have any 'signs' of seperations. I simply relax and eventually feel myself 'release.'

If you are still working at relaxation and mental focus, then the presets may help. I would suggest giving it a try and see what you experience. It certainly won't hurt you or anything. Worst case, nothing happens. Best case, you begin to reach MA/BA stage faster than before.

Let me know what happens!

A rundown isn't necessary either, although it is very helpful in the beginning. It helps pull your awareness completely away from the physical and 'inside' yourself. However, even without the rundown, if you can maintain a trance long enough, you will get to a point of seeing swirling colors, hypnogagic images, 3D blackness, etc. With the images, once they become stable, you can phase into one of them simply by thinking it. If you reach the 3D blackness stage, the blackness opens up and creates a tunnel type thing that you enter. Once in the tunnel, focus on a person/place -- also called placing intent. And the tunnel will take you there.

I think the run-downs and noticing exercises are very good though. It really helps you get more aquainted with your body as well as your mind/thoughts -- always a good thing!

I'm quoting what I wrote a few posts ago. I think if you practice this you'll get past this stage. Essentially, if you get to the point where you feel completely seperate, then you can roll out. The thing with OBE is that you do need to 'move' to move. Unlike phasing where everything is thought/mental. Try doing what I describe below. When you've isolated the amount of effort needed (as I'm describing below), then next time you feel like your completely out, use that amount of effort to roll yourself out of your body. Or you could simply sit up and out. The point is, you will need to feel like you are moving your ams/legs, but it isn't the physical body moving. It's very much the same except you don't need as much effort to do it, that's all.

If you don't feel this 'release.' Then, once you are totally relaxed, begin by moving your arms or legs. Be careful not to move your physical body by mistake though. It takes a lot less mental effort to move your etheric than to move your physical body. One way to get the feel while still awake and not attempting OBE, is to pay attention to your muscles as you lift one arm. Just lift one arm like you normally would do when reaching for something. Then lower the arm to rest against something and repeat. You want to get to the point where you can isolate where in your thought command to "move my arm" do the muscles start moving. When you identify where that is, you want to stop the effort just before that point. This is all the effort it takes to move your etheric arms.

Let me know if this isn't making sense and I'll try to clarify.

I thought it was OK. I don't use it though. I played with it just to see what would happen. Didn't have a problem doing any of the exercises. I was turned off by RB's explainations/interpretations of his experiences as fact. That's probably why it sits in the back of my bookshelf collecting dust. I think the parts on energy and sensing energy are very good though. Just not for me, that's all. And I've never had an issue with needing to do energy work in order to OBE, but others may have different experiences.

I haven't tried drumming, although I have listened/lost myself in chanting (I have a CD with rhythmic chants). I actually ripped the CD and burned a new one that had the same chant repeated enough times for 20 minutes worth. Then I medtitated to that....suffice to say it was a REALLY cool experience.

I'm sure it depends on the tone/pitch etc, but with this particular song I was deep into it at around 15 minutes or so. At that point, noticed that each note in the song would also resonate somewhere in my body. I felt like I was a harp being played. After about 5 minutes of that, each note not only vibrated within my body, but started to be accompanied by a color. It was the coolest thing. I had read before that sound, at some point, becomes or is theorized to become color. And I had read of different tones and colors being associated to different chakras, but I had never put the two together. The tones weren't restricted to vibrating only within chakras. In fact, they vibrated at various places within my body. But the colors really surprised me.

So, short answer, I would definately give drumming a try. I wouldn't expect it to help with phasing/OBE. However, it could lead to some really neat experiences!

I think everyone is different. You need to do what's best for you and your body. The problem is, no one can tell you what that is except for you.

I've eaten meat most of my life and never had a health related issue. I went vegetarian about 5-6 years ago. It wasn't a conscious effort or my part. Rather, within a year of doing yoga and meditating, I simply found myself repulsed by meat. Once I noticed the feeling, I found myself a complete vegetarian in a month. I've been that way ever since.

This past year I started trying veganism out. Mainly because I had become lactose intolerant after my first child was born (still don't know what the correlation is there). I feel much better with those diet changes, but they came about because I listened to my body. It wasn't forced on me.

So if you enjoy meat and are only considering vegetarianism for 'guilt' reasons, I would suspect you won't do well. You need to want to live that way willingly, not because you *think* you should. I would recommend keeping meat, especially red meat, to a bare minimum and make sure you eat plenty of frutis and veggies. Maybe try going vegetarian for one month. See how the lifestyle suits you. See how you feel afterwards. If you feel better and like the changes, then keep it. If not, go back to adding meat into your diet.

Like everything else in life, there is no right or wrong. There is only what you do. So make sure you do it for the 'right' reasons!   (intentional pun there). 

Here's a link to a really good description of phasing. This may help you get further than you've gone thus far.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_the_astral_faq/what_is_phasing_and_how_can_i_do_it-t17413.0.html

Did you read Frank's post on phasing?

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_the_astral_faq/what_is_phasing_and_how_can_i_do_it-t17413.0.html

This helps you with the basics and should get you started.

Good luck!

I have no fear of death whatsoever anymore. It doesn't frighten me in the least. I know I'm more than my physical body. I know I can/do exist without it. I enjoy the time here, but I'm not about to cling to it. When it's time, it's time. I have a pretty good idea of what to expect so it isn't some strange, scary experience for me.

For techniques to try go to the Permanent Astral Topics and Astral FAQ sections. There's a bunch of info/tricks/techniques to choose from there.

This isn't considered news and medai. So I'm moving it here, to the chat section. This topic has been moved to Welcome to Astral Chat!.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/index.php?topic=27120.0

Btw, when I give up and tend to come back totally to physical, I realize that my arms, legs and body are not immediately there. They take time and kind of dizzy - i need to slowly move them to take control - is that correct feeling ?

Well there is not right/wrong feelings in this stuff. But yes, what you've described is a common occurance. If the body is truly asleep, it will take awhile to bring it back. It's not unlike coming out of a deep sleep mentally, where you feel a bit slow, like you aren't functionning up to speed. Normally what I do to wake up is start by just slowly, gently moving my toes. Then I move my fingers. I wait a few moments. Then move each of them again. Then I slowly move my feet/hands. then the legs and arms as I slowly get up. In case you hadn't noticed, the key word here is 'slow'. If you do it that way, you should feel relaxed upon waking/moving but not groggy like you describe.

If your head is still attached, rolling out won't work. You simply need to keep working on relaxation. As I mentioned, for me the neck/head area is always the last to relax. I don't know how long it will take you. You may want to get a really good workout before practicing. Running, cycling, weights, something that you work up a really good sweat doing. Make your muslces really tired. Then grab a hot shower. Afterwards, lie down. Your body will be tired from the work out and relaxed from the hot water. It should relax quicker and (with any luck) more fully than trying this without the exercise....plus it's good for you!

You are correct. Your entire body needs to be asleep first. Once it's asleep, you simply roll out, or sit up out of it, or whatever you want to do. I don't need to do much. For me, as soon as my body is asleep, I can feel myself "release." Not sure how else to describe it. Basically it feels like a latch attaching my etheric body to the physical is released. AT that point, my entire etheric body rises just slightly above the physical body. I then roll over and do whatever it is I want to do.

If you don't feel this 'release.' Then, once you are totally relaxed, begin by moving your arms or legs. Be careful not to move your physical body by mistake though. It takes a lot less mental effort to move your etheric than to move your physical body. One way to get the feel while still awake and not attempting OBE, is to pay attention to your muscles as you lift one arm. Just lift one arm like you normally would do when reaching for something. Then lower the arm to rest against something and repeat. You want to get to the point where you can isolate where in your thought command to "move my arm" do the muscles start moving. When you identify where that is, you want to stop the effort just before that point. This is all the effort it takes to move your etheric arms.

As for Magickist's comment about phasing, I agree completely. I much prefer phasing to OBE, but everone's different.

Hope this helps!

This topic has been moved to Welcome to Dreams!.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/index.php?topic=27114.0

Welcome to the board. I would suggest you read articles in the Astral FAQ and Permanent Astral Topic Sections. There are loads of techniques and tips already there.

What you are doing isn't bad. I would suggest that you not try and imagine sliding out, at least not as you describe it above. It isn't so much what you seem to be imagining, as when you seem to be imagining it. If you begin to imagine this and your phyiscal muslces tense up, then you aren't nearly as relaxed as you need to be.

Relaxation itself is an art nowadays. You shouldn't imagine that you no longer feel your arms and legs. You need to get to the point where you don't feel them at all. It's not imagination, they simply disappear. Soon after they disappear however, you'll start to feel them floating slightly in the air, not unlike you feel when you float on the surface of the water. This is your ethereal arms/legs loose and floating nearby. This isn't imagination, this will happen if you relax enough. The rest of what you are doing will not work until your body is completely relaxed, not just your arms/legs. Those are usually the first to go to sleep, at least for me. The torso and head are always last and hardest to get to sleep, especially the head. I think it's because we keep most of our stress/tension in our neck/jaw area.

My first recommendation would be to simply practice relaxing. Practice putting your body to sleep while remaining completely awake mentally. You'll see this stage called MA/BA (Mind Awake/Body Asleep). This is very importnat.

Another important thing to keep in mind is when to try this. When just starting out, it's much easier to practice in the early morning hours (between 4-6). This is because your body is already asleep. Therefore, it's much faster/easier to get to the MA/BA stage.

As for vibrations, people talk about them often, but I've never felt them. Don't look for signs/symptoms in anticiaption. Not everyone experiences the same thing. Instead, look for the end result: seperation of th etheric body from the physical. When it happens, there's no guessing or imagining involved. You'll know immediately.

Good luck!

PS: one last note to keep in mind. A few days practice is nothing when doing this. It takes many people months of daily practice before they can experience this. If this is something you really are interested in, then time is irrelevant. You'll practice because you want to. But if you are looking for a quick, get-me-out-now process, I don't know of any.