Hello all,
I recently had my first projection experience (
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_projection_experiences/my_first_projection-t35604.0.html ) and I've come across something that I've not heard anything about but I feel like it's my duty to share if this helps even ONE person. I've struggled greatly with projecting in the past (probably still will

) and I feel like my main hang-up was getting my awoken consciousness acquainted with my astral body. My main focus has always been the straight-up conscious projection. I felt like LD's were cool and all but nothing would be as amazing as a conscious mind inhabiting physical body > conscious mind inhabiting astral body. Anyway, since my recent attempts to project, I've noticed an immense increase in both my dream recall and my consciousness in my dreams. The other night, after I projected I realized something that I think greatly helped me "get out".
Most people agree that dreams are projections with your unconscious mind. That being said, a lucid dream is when you have your "awoken consciousness" in a dream which means it's inhabiting your second body. I'm beginning to feel that lucid dreams would act as that first bridge between your astral body and awoken consciousness which
to my understanding is the primary goal and most fundamental element to having a conscious OBE.
I am DEFINITELY not an astral guru; I'm a total rookie. These are just my thoughts and they make a great bit of sense to me. I'd love to hear other's opinions on this topic!
<3