A determined beginner's OBE *attempt* log (never had one before)

[Szaxx]

You'll find info here too on where you should focus.

http://www.unlimitedboundaries.ca/forums/how-to-phase-lesson-t754.html

[tomek]

Today I had a realisation. Astral projection is nothing else but switching between one data stream and another. Our consciousness does that all the time: looking at the sky (one data stream), listening to the music (another data stream), watching a movie (another). You've got the idea. For most of the time however we are listening to the Monkey Mind Life Stream, right? We are driving on auto-pilot and monkey mind is our duffle channel or data stream. Since for most of us, focus is a very poorly trained ability (speaking form experience), the choice which stream to choose is made for us. We can direct our awareness wherever we want. The problems is, if we don't choose, if we don't do it consciously, then we receive whatever comes first. Based on this, I believe astral projecting may be as simple as a decision to watch the discovery channel or news. However we are handling our focus so badly that astral projection can be achieved only under special circumstances (i.e. when we are falling asleep and the switching of astral channels occurs whether we want to or not). I remember Tom Campbell saying during one of his lectures. You don't need to experience SP, you don't need to feel vibrations, you just switch your attention from one state to another. Since. I'm clearly not Tom Campbell, I'll keep trying my own way. Nevertheless, the realisation of what I just described may provide a breakthrough I needed.

I'm not even sure if I make sense here but wanted to share this very personal revelation with you guys and ask for your comments. Moving from Believing to Knowing is a big step for me.

[Szaxx]

Good post Tomek. That's all I do, switch off the physical and focus on the NP effects when that noisy wind sound appears.
It takes less than a minuit most times and no vibes or SP have been a bother for decades.
Choose to phase and crash out keeping just aware enough to wait for the images and noises to synchronize.

[rainbow_light]

I can finally report some progress in this thread. Hooray! I vaguely felt like I was floating fully out of my body last night. There was the beginning of some visual sense as well.

Just to recap on the technique I used:
1. I set a hand-held alarm to go off after ~3 hours of sleep. I kept it in bed just out of reach so that I could turn it off without having to wake up too much.
2. I lied in bed on my back with my head tilted slightly back (which is supposed to allow me to relax my eyes while keeping them closed).
3. I lightly bit my tongue to maintain a very slight awakeness. This was crucial as on many occasions I was just falling back asleep without doing this.
4. I just kept my mind clear and didn't try to do any projection technique, which also made a big difference for me, as it seems use of any technique just causes me to become too awake.
5. I tried to remain open and relax into the onset of the projection. This could be improved as there were still some moments of tightening or pulling back in my chest out of anxiety.

The most promising thing about last night's attempt was that it felt like my energy body fully separated from the physical, which, if true, is the first time that has happened. It seemed like all that remained was for my consciousness to fully transfer over to the energy body, if Robert Bruce's theory is right.

I was a little surprised, in hindsight, to find that I was getting some sort of vague visual input from the energy body. My impression was that one's visual sense works in a more-or-less binary fashion when out-of-body: it seems as if, for most people, their vision only kicks in once they're well out of their physical bodies, and generally goes from nothing to 100%.

There were a bunch of previous attempts since my last post as well. I'm trying to project twice weekly, unless I just fall straight back to sleep, in which case I try again the next night.

I've no ideas on how to improve my technique from here, but I might be doing enough as it is.

There have been a lot of interesting posts in this thread since my last one. Thanks to all. Tomek, you're right, there's a fantastic sense of community on these forums. I truly appreciate it. 

[tomek]

Hey Rainbow, thanks for the post. I'll try your technique tonight. My problem is, I overanalyse everything. I try to project pretty much every night with less and less result. Apparently trying too hard is as bad as trying too little. I usually give myself 3-4h sleep as well. My alarm is just a very soft music played from iPad when the time comes.

From your description, it seems you are doing pretty well. Keep up and I'll try do the same.

[Szaxx]

Don't analyse anything, you need only to be aware of yourself and just notice what is occurring. That's about it. Anything more will keep you too close to the physical. It feels like you just let go of the body and only exist as a personality in the blackness of your mind. It's not totally black, you can get shapes etc appearing, just ignore them all, they are an indication of your progress to be noticed only.
The tactile sensations (movement) can be used as above. These are near the door out.

[tomek]

Usually I don't use icons but what the heck    :-

I had my first OBE last night; a couple of hours ago in fact. Since this suppose to be a log, let me start from the beginning.

Before I went to bed I sat down to write some affirmations. Normally I just write something like "I now have an out-of-body experience". This time I started with allowing myself for the experience as advised by one of you guys. I had a feeling that something, a fear is holding me back from having the experience. I did a couple of those and a regular "I feel safe, secure and protected". I also said it out loud to involve not only vision but hearing as well. I thought the more channels of communication you involve the stronger the message.

I set up alarm for 2 am, which meant around 3h of sleep. Falling asleep I repeated some affirmations. I woke up as planed, feeling very sleepy. Went to the bathroom to empty my bladder. Came back and made a strong commitment to don't use any method inspired by the previous post by Rainbow. My mind wondered many times but I kept going. I realized that my mind becomes more and more awake whilst not paying any attention to my body. There were of course ups and downs but I kept going. After some time (not sure how long but it seemed like anything between 30 min and an hour), I decided to call the night. I turned from my back to the side (my usual sleeping position) and try to fall asleep. I maintained some level of lucidity but eventually fell asleep. I had a dream in which I'm running on the beach, having a race of some sort. I realized that it's a dream and I can run as fast as I want and easy outrun anyone next to me. So I did. The sense of freedom plus the control felt great. Soon after I felt overwhelming vibrations and I thought this is it. The vibrations were strong but warm and soft at the same time. Then I just got up and found myself above my bed floating. It felt as if I'm suspended in sirup, slow but light and free. There was no fear but great comfort. I tryed to shout but no voice came out. Surprisingly it didn't matter. It didn't startled me, I felt calm and confident. I looked at my bed trying to find myself there. I only saw a silver lining around my bed but no signs of my phisical body. My vision wasn't very clear and it didn't matter at this stage. I did the only reasonable thing I could think of: a big time, cheerful dance to celebrate my success. I didn't care about anything, I experience a great sense of joy and calmness at the same time. Very curious. I felt this was IT, and nothing else mattered at that point. Although my discription indicates that it may have taken me a long time to perform this, it was only 20-30 seconds to this point. The next obvious thing that occur to me was: let's go flying! So I did. I turned around and jumped through the wall, a superman style! I went through the wall no problems and then when I returned to my body. Happy and satisfied with my first experience. Big smile!!! After a couple of minutes I decided to get up and recorded everything in my journal so I don't loose anything by the time I wake up.

This is it! This is my first OBE. thank you all for your support. Thank you Rainbow for the motivation. Thank you for the sense of community.   

[rainbow_light]

Usually I don't use icons but what the heck    :-

I had my first OBE last night; a couple of hours ago in fact. Since this suppose to be a log, let me start from the beginning.

Before I went to bed I sat down to write some affirmations. Normally I just write something like "I now have an out-of-body experience". This time I started with allowing myself for the experience as advised by one of you guys. I had a feeling that something, a fear is holding me back from having the experience. I did a couple of those and a regular "I feel safe, secure and protected". I also said it out loud to involve not only vision but hearing as well. I thought the more channels of communication you involve the stronger the message.

I set up alarm for 2 am, which meant around 3h of sleep. Falling asleep I repeated some affirmations. I woke up as planed, feeling very sleepy. Went to the bathroom to empty my bladder. Came back and made a strong commitment to don't use any method inspired by the previous post by Rainbow. My mind wondered many times but I kept going. I realized that my mind becomes more and more awake whilst not paying any attention to my body. There were of course ups and downs but I kept going. After some time (not sure how long but it seemed like anything between 30 min and an hour), I decided to call the night. I turned from my back to the side (my usual sleeping position) and try to fall asleep. I maintained some level of lucidity but eventually fell asleep. I had a dream in which I'm running on the beach, having a race of some sort. I realized that it's a dream and I can run as fast as I want and easy outrun anyone next to me. So I did. The sense of freedom plus the control felt great. Soon after I felt overwhelming vibrations and I thought this is it. The vibrations were strong but warm and soft at the same time. Then I just got up and found myself above my bed floating. It felt as if I'm suspended in sirup, slow but light and free. There was no fear but great comfort. I tryed to shout but no voice came out. Surprisingly it didn't matter. It didn't startled me, I felt calm and confident. I looked at my bed trying to find myself there. I only saw a silver lining around my bed but no signs of my phisical body. My vision wasn't very clear and it didn't matter at this stage. I did the only reasonable thing I could think of: a big time, cheerful dance to celebrate my success. I didn't care about anything, I experience a great sense of joy and calmness at the same time. Very curious. I felt this was IT, and nothing else mattered at that point. Although my discription indicates that it may have taken me a long time to perform this, it was only 20-30 seconds to this point. The next obvious thing that occur to me was: let's go flying! So I did. I turned around and jumped through the wall, a superman style! I went through the wall no problems and then when I returned to my body. Happy and satisfied with my first experience. Big smile!!! After a couple of minutes I decided to get up and recorded everything in my journal so I don't loose anything by the time I wake up.

This is it! This is my first OBE. thank you all for your support. Thank you Rainbow for the motivation. Thank you for the sense of community.   

Congratulations Tomek, that is great news! There's nothing like that feeling when all the effort you've been putting in finally pays off.

I never thought of using written affirmations before. Good idea, I'll have to try that.

It's interesting that you didn't see your physical body. If I recall correctly, this accords Frederick Aardema's view in Explorations in Consciousness, and contradicts what other authors like Robert Bruce say you should expect.

Best of luck with your future out-of-body endeavours!

[Szaxx]

Nice one Tomek, if it works, don't try to fix it lol.
Congratulations.

[Lumaza]

It's interesting that you didn't see your physical body. If I recall correctly, this accords Frederick Aardema's view in Explorations in Consciousness, and contradicts what other authors like Robert Bruce say you should expect.

Congratulation Tomek

Rainbow_light, expect nothing, observe everything! 

[tomek]

Thank you Guys for words of encouragement.

A quick question. From your experience, is it advisable to OBE every night i.e. get up at 3 am and practice for an hour or would you rather suggest different regime?

[Szaxx]

You can overdo it wirh all things in life. If you feel great a continuous effort is OK. If you start to feel drowsy and lethargic outside your norm, give it a rest for a few days. Doing this can give spontaneous projections but you get the rest your body requires.

[Projector4life]

I am happy you had success. With strong vibrations, you can almost guarantee an obe as long as you time the separation right. I have had obe's for a few years, and all have started from strong vibrations except one.

[rainbow_light]

I made an attempt almost every night since my last post, using the technique I described. I think I must be over-doing it though, as I've been either (1) forgetting to bite my lip to stay awake and falling back asleep soon after turning off my alarm; (2) somehow turning off my alarm and going back to sleep automatically without having any recollection of doing so by the morning; or less often (3) waking up too much and not experiencing any signs of projection. I've sometimes been writing or saying out loud affirmations as well without any noticeable effect.

My alarm is getting turned off on auto-pilot when before it would wake me up just enough to put me in the sweet spot for projection. I'm going to go back to making two attempts a week in the hopes that my brain will un-learn this response.

My motivation is as high as ever since I started reading Jurgen Ziewe's new book, Vistas of Infinity. It's a sequel to Multidimensional Man and is every bit as good, IMO. I will say that the Google .epub version is so badly produced it's unreadable, and the .pdf version has some typos and weird splicing of a random paragraph into an unrelated section at one point.

I may have to switch in future to Jurgen's approach of becoming lucid in a dream, then collapsing the dream narrative to enter a consensus environment. He makes it sound like a viable technique.

[ThaomasOfGrey]

I may have to switch in future to Jurgen's approach of becoming lucid in a dream, then collapsing the dream narrative to enter a consensus environment. He makes it sound like a viable technique.

I have been on this task for several months now. Stopping the dream narrative is really challenging. Last night I was being chased by two people with guns when I came across a high fence. I knew it was too high to jump in real life, but that wouldn't be a problem for me because  I was dreaming. I jumped over but I ended up getting caught, I jumped off a building and woke up as I was landing.

At the time even though I knew I was dreaming I was not able to muster the incentive or awareness to leave the scenario. This has been my experience in a good 30 lucid dreams recently. Doing reality checks hasn't helped for me. The only advice I can offer is to get some dream tea. You will have a lot easier time remembering the dreams and will have a much more lucid engagement while in them.

[Lumaza]

I have been on this task for several months now. Stopping the dream narrative is really challenging.

At the time even though I knew I was dreaming I was not able to muster the incentive or awareness to leave the scenario. This has been my experience in a good 30 lucid dreams recently. Doing reality checks hasn't helped for me.

When I first become aware in a dream and am controlling my actions, I try to find out the "purpose" or lesson of the Dream. I found I had to do that though because if I attempted to change the dream narrative, many times the dream just ended then and there.

Now, I had no problems re-scripting the dreams, but attempting to end it and go somewhere else usually ended the dream itself. Mind you though, I could go back to sleep and have another LD in an entirely different scenario. But for me personally, when I become aware in the dream I know there is a task to be had. Many times that task is a "retrieval" or some kind of "heroic" adventure.

Sometimes the dream will just change itself. Example: I am in a dream with friends just talking around the neighborhood and suddenly I just find myself in a completely different scenario. I then have to get my bearings and search out the reason why this occurred.

When I begin to lose my awareness in any dreams, they tend to just spiral out of control and get really bizarre. I usually awaken shortly after that.

I don't use reality checks anymore. I just "know" I am Dreaming. There are normally enough dream triggers to be had that bring conclusion to bear.

I do use this every night before I go to sleep. It says the affirmations for me. I just repeat what he says in first person tense. I usually will only listen to about 10 minutes of it though before I got to sleep. I find that every bit helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRyDqwmnLAM

[ThaomasOfGrey]

It has been a while since I have even been able to attempt to change my dreams, but every time in the past it would cause the dream to end like you say. It isn't always instant either, on a few occasions I have oscillated between the dream and being awake as I try to change things.

I feel like there should be a way around this - it is possible to change the scenario during a wake induced dream or astral projection, why not the dream induced version?

The just "knowing" I am dreaming part is familiar to me; it is strange because often the realization comes when I am faced with something I cannot deal with in this reality - like a fall from great heights - but I know it is fine.

The trouble is that the consciousness which experiences this stuff isn't really me as I am now. The me as I am, upon learning I am dreaming would stop and try to do astral stuff. The me in these lucid dreams is somehow incapable of even thinking about something else other than the task at hand. It is almost like there is a psychic barrier separating genuine thoughts from instinct.

[Lumaza]

The trouble is that the consciousness which experiences this stuff isn't really me as I am now. The me as I am, upon learning I am dreaming would stop and try to do astral stuff. The me in these lucid dreams is somehow incapable of even thinking about something else other than the task at hand. It is almost like there is a psychic barrier separating genuine thoughts from instinct.

I call that my "other personality". It does seems to be quite a bit different from my physical one here. It also seems to get me in some interesting quandaries over in the other realms. Many times I become aware right in the middle of a quandary. I then have to get my bearings and quickly adapt to the scenario at hand.

The problem is it's as "real" as this realm is. So your first instinct is to "go with the flow". Something needs to happen to "jolt" you enough to realize that this is in fact just a dream. That's why it's good to be aware of all DTs (dream triggers). When I log my nightly adventures in my Dream Journal, I also log all the DTs that I experienced. This helps me to be even more aware the next time they surface.

When I become aware I just control my actions in the scenario at hand. But I am doing it from a totally conscious state of mind. Many times I will first view the scene from a 3rd person point of view before I actually enter it as a active participant. This way I can get the basic plot of the scenario and begin to plot my next move in it.

I find that "thinking on your feet" is a very important attribute to have in the other realms. So is "common sense".  

[rainbow_light]

Just thought I'd record the lucid dream I had last night, the second I've ever had. I read Vistas of Infinity and did about 15 minutes meditation before going to sleep. During the dream I seemed to spontaneously become lucid without anything really provoking me. One of the first things I did was look down at my hands to try and increase clarity. I had difficulty focusing on them and eventually found myself opening my eyes when I was trying to concentrate harder. Fortunately I managed to close them and go back to the dream environment. I focused on my hands again and, if I recall correctly, they were transparent at one point and later one of my fingers seemed much shorter than normal. So I didn't have success with focusing on my hands and lost lucidity soon after. Then the dream actually continued in the same environment for some time.

All in all I'm very encouraged by this, given that I didn't have any strong intention of becoming lucid, hadn't been using any of the techniques in daily life to induce lucid dreams, and that my lucidity didn't seem to be dependent on any particularly striking circumstances in the dream.

It's not the first time that what I've been thinking about just before going to sleep has played a part in my dreams. It seems like whatever stays in your mind then has an especially good chance of coming up.

[Szaxx]

Whatever has been on ypur ind will be in your subconscious too. This can be used to create an experience rather than a dream.
Experiment with what's on your mind as you try to reach into the NP. Have thoughts based on it with another outcome that suits you more.

[Lumaza]

All in all I'm very encouraged by this, given that I didn't have any strong intention of becoming lucid, hadn't been using any of the techniques in daily life to induce lucid dreams, and that my lucidity didn't seem to be dependent on any particularly striking circumstances in the dream.

You did on a "subconscious" level though. You picked up Jurgen's new book and read it. Sometimes that's all it takes. Many people report having spontaneous OBEs/LDs after just hearing a interview or talk on AP itself period.

Dr. Albert Taylor talks about this in his interview with Art Bell here from October 2013. I love this man's passion for AP. He makes AP sound fun again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Xl9a7qMAY

[tomek]

I'd like to report some progress in my OBEs. I spent 3 weeks in Malaysia, which i though is going to be a perfect, relax destination for some juicy OBEs. Nothing kills the actual experience more then your expectations:) Nothing happened during that time, mostly because I didn't have much time to try or didn't give myself enough rest before an attempt. Upon my return things has changed and I want to report another OBE/LD or vice versa. My LD was so real! Only walking through walls and doors made me realise it's a dream. The same night I also had an OBE. I felt very strong vibrations and jerked myself out of the body. The projection didn't last long but I was able to see myself sleeping on the bed. I wonder if rapid moving out of body may contribute to low quality of the projection. Next time I promised myslef to be more gentle and check if this method is going to work better. What are your experiences with the moving out-of-body? I understand this is a very personal experience but perhaps I you could share some tips.

At this point i try pretty much every night. Before I go to bed i start with written affirmations. On the night of projections I listened to Condition D from Journeys Out of the Body. I don't want to be dependent on aids with my OBEs, that's why I try not to use Binural Beats. On the other hand I think to myself, once I master the technique with an aid I will drop it and move on without it. Once again, I'd like to hear your opinions if I may.

Happy projecting:)

[Szaxx]

If you can move 30+ feet away from your sleeping body you'll find the clarity improve greatly.

Using aids is very good if they work well. Its like putting stabiliser wheels on a cycle when you learn to ride. Once proficient at the basics you remove them as you get a feel its time to do so. This applies to projecting too, you'll notice the clarity of your memories and the environment you're in get crystal clear and as said, it becomes almost impossible to distinguish the visited reality from the physical.
You will eventually just find yourself in one and it will have every aspect of the physical biased to the physics of the environment visited. The bonus is the creative power you possess, use this only when needed. When you're ready you'll get the picture.
The fun has begun, be true to yourself and try to blend in. You'll get far deeper into the nicer realities this way. Some you'll experience will make you not want to return.

[rainbow_light]

Tomek, your successes are a nice reminder to anyone reading this thread that it's usually not as difficult as I'm making it seem!

Most recent attempt
I set my alarm to wake me up after about 4 hours sleep. When it went off I seemed to be sleeping quite lightly, and when I turned it off I was able to get into a 'mind awake, body asleep' state easily. I realized a couldn't tilt my head back like I was doing and bite my tongue to stay awake at the same time, so I had to just use intent and carefulness to avoid going back to sleep. I started experiencing vibrations and a fast-oscillating sound. I mostly didn't use any technique in the hope that I would rise out of my body naturally. I did try the rope-pulling technique very briefly but soon noticed this was waking me up too much. I also tried focusing on the vibrations with the aim of losing awareness of the body, and this did result in the first feelings of rising out of the body slightly which I couldn't help but notice.

I also noticed some rising sensations when I tried to just will myself out of the body.

I made a lot of other attempts at attempts, you might say, previous to this one, where I just fell back asleep soon after waking up, or sometimes found that I was too awake to make progress.

I tried Jurgen Ziewe's technique once of doing an hour of meditation early in the morning, then going back to sleep with the strong intention of having a lucid dream. I suspect I'm not spending long enough on the intending part for it to really sink in though. I actually don't feel intention and a sense of doing the way I used to where it seemed to be the result of an Intender or Doer self, and I suspect that may actually be hindering me.

Plan for future attempts

• Set alarm to go off after 4 hours.
• Once the vibrations kick in, focus on them to the exclusion of all else.
• Also, try listening to Hemisync or binaural beats again.

[tomek]

Thank you Rainbow for your message. They say that misery needs company, which in this case means that I'm happy to share with someone my struggle. If I make my attempts sounds easy then I'm not making myself clear. It's a big effort and if there's a way to go around it, I'd love to hear it. For now I'll stick to what works for me and thanks again for the support.

At this stage I try pretty much every night with little effect. That's the way it is, I guess and I accepted it. To response to a couple of your threads Rainbow let me say:

->> Intention is everything to me, to stronger (i.e more focused, more pure) intention the better results. I do written intentions and mental ones.
->> binaural beats work only if I have a strong intention (I used Condition D, Journeys Out of the Body)
->> after reading a response like yours, i feel much more motivated and this gives me the best results. Reading have the same result. It almost feels like, the increased energy level (excitement) translates into vibrations. I want to make one thing clear; this does not mean I stay exited during the process, it only applies to my motivation.

Good luck with further attempts:) Keep me posted and I do the same.

Happy projecting:)