Do I have the potential for an OBE?

[glosoli]

Ever since I was a child I've been scared to fall asleep on my back. I find that every time I do I experience a hypnagogic state of sorts, and as my Mother always explained, it's like someone is sitting on your chest. The Old Hag as myth calls it. More-so, if I nap, like I've read in the details of Astral Projection, I find that in a matter of moments I can reach this state where I'm begging my body to move and I feel as though I'm slowly moving my fingers, until finally, and most of the time, I fall out of my bed so the fall will wake me up from this state.

Last night I lid on my back, held up my forearm, and when it dropped I never acknowledged it, but if this was a nap after sleeping I'm almost positive that I could acknowledge it and enter this state full force.

Ever since I experimented with LSD a few years ago I've been craving to learn the difference between dreaming and reality. I know there's some giant secret out there, and I feel like I've spent my entire life looking for it, having had existential thoughts as just a child, for years and years of my life. I also have ADHD and Bipolar II, so my entire thought process is just different than the average individual, I can assure you that, since my thoughts always clash with others. I feel very alone in the way that I think, forums like this give me hope that others are out there to, and from the looks of it, there are many skilled OB-Experiencers.

I feel as though the hardest part of this will be to stop my racing thoughts, though I've always had no trouble falling into a deep sleep within moments.

Any comments are appreciated

[AstralBlogger]

Nice post! I see that you are new here and from what I have read it sounds like you have some fears of going out of body. Be they conscious or not but have you ever successfully Astral Projected or have you always been interrupted before you can do this?

Also Welcome to the forum my friend! 

[glosoli]

Thanks

I have never successfully performed astral projection. At most I've felt awake while asleep but unable to respond to my body or speak. What interests me is how quickly I can create an onset of hypogogia or paralaysis easily. It's a very weird buzzing feeling, like napping for the short term and you wake up feeling all strange. In this state I feel numbness come on and I feel shocked that I cannot move. I have however been too tired in the past to bother fighting this so I experimented with moving my fingers and just enduring the overall feeling. Could this be the start of where I must push my mind? I feel as though there's a persistent feeling to 'let go', but it's as though I turn back, well, as I do by either moving my fingers or forcing myself onto the floor to wake up.

[glosoli]

I so often try to describe sleep paralysis but I don't think many experience it. I've met others that have, but most my family and friends don't deal with it. If I smoke marijuana after sleeping or get tired from the day, I find that taking a nap is guaranteed to bring on paralysis. In sleep paralysis, and I guess it's lucid dreaming in ways too because I am aware I am sleeping, I am aware of what's going on to a degree, but it is unknown all the same. One time during school I remember hearing my parents making breakfast and my sister getting ready for school. I was asleep though, indifferent to them, aware, but paralyzed. Again, I used my fingers to wake up.

[AstralBlogger]

The main thing to remember is to never force Astral Projection or any other kind of energy work. Let it happen naturally. If you ever force it you are sure to fail but I find it interesting that you can get to the numbness and buzzing so fast. Without actually experiencing conscious astral projection before that in itself is a very good thing. 

[Astral316]

Hey there... we seem very similar in that I too was fearful of falling asleep on my back as a child. It was too easy to fall into the "nightmares where I'm totally aware" as I referred to them back then.

I feel like a broken record but meditation can only boost what seems like an already natural ability in you. What you need is to exercise your focus... it's how you're going to transition out of paralysis and into the non-physical.

[Tibor]

It sounds like you not only have potential, but are gifted. 

Personal discipline will be your greatest obstacle in achieving an astral projection.  It is a spiritual facet, a tool, a flashy ability, but will not by itself offer you an ounce of the spiritual rewards that meditation and introspection offer.  If you are seeking that "big secret," astral projection's excitement will pass and become commonplace, just like any other concept or skill. 

Your ability to succeed in the dream world or the astral world might be factored into 3 basic areas:

-Energy work

-Ability to relax deeply

-Present moment awareness.

Energy work affects the quality of your projections and the control you have over your astral body and the environment.  The ability to relax gets you to the sleep paralysis state, and present moment awareness is what distinguishes an experience from any other experience that we are simply reactive towards, or even forget altogether. 

You have one of the three areas down (relaxation to sleep paralysis), and your success will critically depend on your dedication to master the other two despite your racing mind and tumultuous bio-chemistry. 

[Tee1234]

Ever since I was a child I've been scared to fall asleep on my back. I find that every time I do I experience a hypnagogic state of sorts, and as my Mother always explained, it's like someone is sitting on your chest. The Old Hag as myth calls it. More-so, if I nap, like I've read in the details of Astral Projection, I find that in a matter of moments I can reach this state where I'm begging my body to move and I feel as though I'm slowly moving my fingers, until finally, and most of the time, I fall out of my bed so the fall will wake me up from this state.

Last night I lid on my back, held up my forearm, and when it dropped I never acknowledged it, but if this was a nap after sleeping I'm almost positive that I could acknowledge it and enter this state full force.

Ever since I experimented with LSD a few years ago I've been craving to learn the difference between dreaming and reality. I know there's some giant secret out there, and I feel like I've spent my entire life looking for it, having had existential thoughts as just a child, for years and years of my life. I also have ADHD and Bipolar II, so my entire thought process is just different than the average individual, I can assure you that, since my thoughts always clash with others. I feel very alone in the way that I think, forums like this give me hope that others are out there to, and from the looks of it, there are many skilled OB-Experiencers.

I feel as though the hardest part of this will be to stop my racing thoughts, though I've always had no trouble falling into a deep sleep within moments.

Any comments are appreciated

Just dont get scared. You know its gonna happen when you fall asleep on your back, so let it. Let the energy take over, it will end and when it does youl be free to move about. It might seem like a pretty nasty 15/30 seconds but itl be worth it. Once you conquer it a few Xs the fear will begin to fade.
Ive been getting and inducing OBEs for over 15yrs and that stage of it has never left me. If anything, it got more intense. It seems horrible at first but you get used to it and the fear leaves.

[Xanth]

Everyone has the potential for a projection.

It's your given right as "consciousness" to extend that consciousness anywhere outside this reality.
Actually, you do it every single night that you fall asleep and dream. 

A dream is an astral projection of an unconscious nature. 
I call it a "Dream Awareness Experience".

[glosoli]

Everyone has the potential for a projection.

It's your given right as "consciousness" to extend that consciousness anywhere outside this reality.
Actually, you do it every single night that you fall asleep and dream. 

A dream is an astral projection of an unconscious nature. 
I call it a "Dream Awareness Experience".

Thanks for the post And others too.

Are there any good links to some meditation techniques I can try? The one that I've always used is laying down, placing my left hand on my upper left thigh and making a circle with the index finger and thumb while stretching the other fingers on this hand outwards. Then I place my right hand just under my stomach and proceed to inhale until it reaches down my spine, then out, then in, all the way down to my spine, then out.

It relaxes me very quickly, but I am curious of other methods. I found myself laying on my back for 2 hours last night. The longer I'd lay there and focus on my crown chakra, the more vibrations I'd feel, though I never reached sleep paralysis. I found that the more I drifted off while conscious, the faster my heart would beat as I was coming up on the paralysis.

[Astral316]

I dont think you could ever have an Astral Projection or even a Lucid dream you sound like someone in great need of therapy. I would not be the least surprised that you cut your self for attention that your mother never gave you in childhood. I think your presence on this forum would be welcome but the fact of what you describe yourself sounds more like a kook than anything else so no i doubt you can do much with Astral Projection ever. 

Well aren't you just a beam of sunshine... holy hell.

It relaxes me very quickly, but I am curious of other methods. I found myself laying on my back for 2 hours last night. The longer I'd lay there and focus on my crown chakra, the more vibrations I'd feel, though I never reached sleep paralysis. I found that the more I drifted off while conscious, the faster my heart would beat as I was coming up on the paralysis.

Here's a tip... when attempting projection you're not looking for paralysis. Sleep paralysis is for projecting "naturally" after waking up from a state of sleep. You want your perception of your body to fade away completely. Focusing on your crown chakra is a fine way to meditate. Rope technique and tactile imaging in general is pretty popular with beginners also... search those keywords here along with visualization, no-mind meditation, mantras, etc.

[glosoli]

Thank you