Do I really need to reach a trance state?

[Tisha]

zEfn,

Some people trance more easily than others.  For instance, for the past several years I've been having (seemingly) instantaneous OBEs that might have caused me to believe that I was skipping the trance state, if I knew I was having OBEs in the first place.  

However, I know myself better:  I just trance real easily; I spend much of my life in a trance so it just feels normal.

Do you daydream a lot?  Spend a lot of time alone?  Get a little rhythm going with the music of your body?  Do you focus easily?  Are you a quiet soul? Do you listen to a lot of music and REALLY get into it?  Do people come up to you and snap their fingers in front of your face and say HEY WAKE UP!    If the answer is yes, you might be a little bit like me . . . consider yourself lucky, many folks on this forum spend years trying  to become still!

The trance you described was pretty light if you could move easily.  That's ok . . . if you go too deep you'll just fall asleep . . .  but you'll project easier if you allow yourself to go deep enough to feel heavy and motionless.

tisha

[Grenade01]

Who knows... anything is possible. Generally one would trance before AP (although its not neccisary for energy work with NEW)  or one would spontaneously wake up with exit symptoms or out of body.... thats not to say its not possible to project from a fully conscious state.. I think Robert mentioned before how he was experimenting with it at the time of writing his book....I wonder if he ever perfected it???


Lately the more I trance, the better I get at it.  I can actually feel a brain process which turns the trance on.  Im barely getting the feel for it, but I can usually get myself into a trance within a minute...sometimes in seconds.  I wish I could explain how i feel this process, But i cant seem to ..its just something I feel..then i reach for mentally, and get

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[justinh]

Grenade,

I was wondering, when you talk about trance, do you mean just a light trance or the real-deal?  What symptoms do you get?

Justin

[Grenade01]

Either or
Usually when Im in a good trance all of my body is numb and sometimes my neck and head as well (when my head gets numb I tend to slobber a bit haha)  and I reach a point where my mind is calm and absolutely no thoughts are going through my mind.

Then for a second I'll realize I'm not thinking anything, which is a weird feeling, and I'll have a sudden little surge of thoughts, then I bring myself back to the inner silence as best as I can.

When I start trancing, I may only get 10 second intervals of mind quiet...but the more I bring myself back to it the longer it lasts, until eventually I can hold on to it.
Sometimes you dont even need that much though...10 seconds of a quiet mind (if your body is asleep as well) can be enough to obe for me.

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[zEfn]

Tisha, you described me quite well... but yesterday I got to vibrations point
with my eyes open in a dark. Vibrations themselves weren't so strong but
I could see like strange colors mixing before my eyes. I'm still not sure if I can
reach trance for I usually tense up when vibrations start. Thanks anyway ---

[antagonist]

I am not sure if I have ever reached trance state.
I think so because after descending  and counting my breaths for about 20 minute I do not feel my body I cannot feel my legs or the position that they are in I also get very concentratet and silent I hardly have any surface thouhts at that point I only concentrate on my body and the odd feelings that I experience . It is great fun

[highflier]

Ok, I think Im bit confused...  when people talk about trance do they mean like deep meditaiton or is trance part of meditation or is it something completely different.

explanation would be greatly appreciated.
ilya



ilyatelnov

[Tisha]

If you are looking for a technical explanation of trance it's best to think of it in terms of brain waves.  Since you are asking the question on the OBE discussions page, you probably want to aim for THETA waves in your own practice.

Alpha - "lite" trance, turning the mind inward, drifting off
Beta - "ordinary" consciousness, linear thinking
Theta - deep trance, deep meditation, OBE, deep insight, dream states
Delta - deep sleep

What does light trance feel like?  You've probably done it many times and not realized it.  If you've ever spent time in "la-de-da" land in elaborate daydreams, you've probably reached the alpha state.  Also, many people go into Alpha when they listen to music.  Or even when driving their cars!  A lot of people are underwhelmed by the Alpha state because it is so familiar to them.  That's why you lay there for 20 minutes and don't think you're in a trance when you really are.

What does DEEP trance feel like?  Since people are different they might feel  different things.  People will probably post a few descriptions after I do, but I feel as though my body is heavy and my mind is vacant.  The world seems . . . thick.  It is extremely peaceful.  These states are usually followed immediately by an OBE or deep sleep, so they don't last very long for me.

I hope this helps a little bit . . .

tisha

[Frank]

Following on from the previous post, I would say that at the onset of "the switch" that is to say, the switch from conscious-awareness of the Physical to conscious-awareness of the Astral, my physical-body relaxation state is at the Alpha level. Anything deeper and I fall asleep for a while and obe from a Lucid Dream.

The state is very much like I was listening to a favourite classical piece. Only instead of tuning in to music, I'm tuning in to a particular sense of mental awareness. Following which, there is (what is now) a familiar kind of mental pulsating and it's like my whole sense of self becomes contained within my head. At this point "the switch" has been made and I am then not aware of the physical at all.

In terms of percentage importance, for a normally healthy person, between having the correct physical-state, in terms of physical relaxation; and having the correct mental state, in terms of ability to tune-in to the Astral: I would definitely say that the ability to relax the physical, into the required state would be about 10% of it (if that). The other 90-odd percent of the work is with the mental aspect.

In fact, later on you discover that if you can get the mental-aspect right the physical just falls into place. But in the beginning, to work on developing that correct mental aspect, you need to "push the physical aside". But, after a while, it learns to just get out of the way when required.

Note: When I say normal, healthy person, obviously if you have some physical problem that gives you pain, or whatever, then this will not help when it comes to learning how to perform conscious-exit projection.

Yours,
Frank

[zEfn]

Hello again guys. I found out I have yet another problem.
I usually sit comfortably or lie down on my back when I try to project / meditate. The broblem is that I tend to lose consciusnes very fast and fall "asleep". Actually not really asleep because I dont think I can fall asleep so quickly while lying on my back or sitting. Anyway, I just lose consciusness and kinda forget everything... where I am, who I am. If I listen to music it seems very slooow. Then surface thoughts start hitting me. I am in that state for few seconds and then i realize I fell "asleep" and try to concentrate again but I lose it.
1. Is there any connection between this and trance state?
2. Is there any way I can overrun this problem?
                                                                                 Thanks ---

[distant bell]

When I meditate it´s almoust like a clock work, after 10 minutes I always go into trance. The trance state feels like a heavyness and a falling sensation in the whole body. I usually don´t fall asleep by it- but If I am tired when meditating I feel it and just cann´t consentrate. Sleep deficit can be a real problem...

Felix

-- Love is the Law - Love under Will --

[zEfn]

Hello everyone.
I wonder is it really required to enter trance state to AP? I've been trying to
project for 2 months now and I believe I've been quite sucessful. However, I think I have never reached trance state. I have never actually projected but I usually feel strong vibrations and my heart chakra while trying the rope technique. I also get the floating feeling and finaly I see a bright light. I feel like I'm almost out, but I guess I need to practice on my concentration skills.

I dont actually know if I've reached trance state. I can move my body normally and dont feel so heavy but I do feel floating sensation.
I also have unplesant vibrations whole night if I try to project before sleep.

Does it make any sense?                                    --- Thanks ---