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[Most recent attempt]

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.

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.

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.

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!

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. 

[Last night's attempt]

Your words above show that you are already disheartened and are setting yourself up for failure. It's good to read books and Forums on Astral Projection. But just remember the info is being found from the Author's own perspective of what's occurring.

I came out of reading Fred's book with the exact opposite viewpoint of yours. I thought it was an excellent book. Fred was and still is looking at this from a completely scientific point of view, which is good. His verification analysis shows this to be true. But once again he sees it through his eyes. Books are a great way to educate yourself on the topic. They are a great blueprint, but in the end it's only your perception that counts to you.

My view is if a person is really serious and I mean they have their heart and soul in this this, that they will find the time to practice often. They won't succumb to failure. They will find success, just like they find success in other aspects of their lives. This isn't just something you try to see what happens. AP leads to a complete change in your mindset. So, the question you should be asking yourself is "are you ready for this change?" Many people aren't at this point in their lives.

I agree that it probably helps to believe strongly in one's capacity to have an OBE, and also to repeat affirmations that the next attempt will be successful. I will try to be positive about my prospects.

In fact, I also thought his book was excellent. I had just tired of reading such kinds of books. I highly recommend it. In particular, he mentions some exit techniques which interested me that I've yet to properly try out. I'm hoping to put them to use and describe how I get on in this thread.

Remaining open to the experience of projection itself is a challenge for me. I haven't given much thought to how I might be changed by a successful projection or series of them. I don't think I've got much apprehension around that. If anything, I feel I would welcome the discovery that there is life before and after death. I do try to practise being open and welcoming to every experience, as per Chogyam Trungpa's advise to "always turn towards, never turn away". I have sometimes felt a little anxious when the signs of projection start to ramp up. I want to be able to lose myself in the projection experience, rather than turning away from it on some level out of anxiety.

Last night's attempt
This attempt I have to put down as just me getting back into the swing of projecting. I didn't try to apply any technique, which I should have done. I will try again soon hopefully with a better plan in mind.

I haven't tried to project in about 6 months... but I still want to. Having just read the OBE VERIFICATIONS page (da-lai.lima-city.de), I'm feeling inspired to try again.

Since my last post, I've used Robert Monroe's 'Hemi-sync: Support for Journey's Out of the Body' a few times, and may give that another few tries.

I also read parts of Frederick Aardema's Explorations in Consciousness. Despite the part where he achieves a statistically significant result in his attempts to verify the OBE as more than a purely imagined experience, I was pretty disheartened to read that he isn't convinced himself that it is. I found myself getting bored reading his book having read so much similar content in the past. Between this and my life getting much busier I fell out of the habit of trying to project.

Anyway, I now have a schedule that can allow for the odd night of interrupted sleep. I will try to keep plugging away with the OBE attempts.

In hindsight, this log has probably been of more good to me than not, and so I'll try to record my attempts again.

I appreciate the many comments that I've received in this thread. I probably fear at the back of my mind that I'll just be discouraging people and wasting their time with pages and pages of failed attempts. I've never felt like a natural at the OBE like I sometimes do with meditation. In fact I can't rule out the possibility that I have below average potential in this regard. I may have blocked energy channels that are causing my energy body to get caught on its way out.

I've always liked the aphorism credited to Woody Allen that "80% of success is showing up". I'm going to try to keep doing that and hope for the best.

I recently emailed Kurt Leland inquiring about purchasing PDF's of Otherwhere and The Multidimensional Human from him. In his reply he wrote:

"I am currently in the process of reprinting The Multidimensional Human in book form. That should be ready in June. I also plan to bring out an ebook version later this year. I am in the final stages of preparing Otherwhere for publication in revised and expanded form. I don't have a date for that yet, bu probably fall this year. I'll be simultaneously releasing print and ebook versions. As these products become available, I'll announce them on my website."

So for anyone thinking of splashing out on copies of these books, perhaps it would be best to wait a few weeks/months.

I think I can relate. It sounds like you're feeling alienated due to your greater interest in spirituality & ethics in comparison to others in your life. It can be a lonely path, at least until you have gained greater independence and can meet up with those who share your interest in person.

One way of looking at my situation that at least gives me comfort is according to the theory of "soul ages" explained here, which aligns with many of the theories of the wider reality developed by OBE authors. It could be that you're simply an old soul who's drawing on a greater subconscious store of wisdom than most others on this planet, which is considered to be dominated by young and mature souls.

I too found myself being drawn towards spiritual practice. I also found that I had all sorts of inexplicable intuitive convictions about things that often clashed with the commonly held worldview and values of the community I was raised in. Fortunately, I had the courage to "follow my heart", as it were, and I haven't regretted it for a second.

Another interesting theory to check out is Dabrowski's theory of Positive Disintegration, which could give encouragement to stick it out through all the questioning and inevitable disillusionment.

One thing I'd just like to point out is that "spiritual awakening" is generally used to refer to a permanent breakdown of some or all of the sense of a separate self - which is within everyone's grasp, but it doesn't seem to be what has occurred in your case. Like the stages of Positive Disintegration, there's generally a set path that one walks to get there, involving a lot of meditation practice and questioning of your perception. In Theravada Buddhism it's referred as the Progress of Insight. In Christian mysticism you have Saint John of the Cross's Dark Night of the Soul, referring to "the journey of the soul from its bodily home to its union with God".

but what are these demons?

and what is the ultimate evil alchemy that the Illuminati use?

I don't have the answers to these questions. I'd just like to ask, where are you getting this information about demons and the Illuminati? Do you really believe in the existence of the Illuminati, and that they are practicing alchemy? If so, what convinced you of this?

I've taken a look at conspiracy theory sites like montalk.net, and they're fun to read, but they fall very far short of being convincing for me. Where is the evidence for all of these theories? How do we know they are not all just made up stories, like H.P. Lovecraft's work? He's famous for having invented all sorts of secret histories after all, and the 'Necronomicon', which many people were convinced was actually a real book.

Aliens - UFOs - spirits - Satan - Secret societies - The ancient Pyramid civilizations - Atlantes.....  on and on just gives me a Headache after not being able to connect all of these together

If it is causing you stress, then perhaps it's time to reconsider whether they can be connected together in the first place. Keep in mind that human beings have a tendency to see patterns where there are none. Is there some underlying desire or anxiety causing you to seek out and believe in a deeper meaning to things than is justified by the evidence--or lack of it--for these theories? If such a drive for greater meaning is there, maybe you need to look for a more constructive outlet for it?

I made about 5 attempts since my last post, all of which were botched because I kept falling back asleep, even after repeating an affirmation and trying to mentally ready myself. This seems to have come completely out of the blue, as I wouldn't say I've been feeling particularly bored with trying to project lately or anything, and before I was having trouble with not being able to get back to sleep.

I might try biting my lip or lightly holding a muscle clenched to keep myself awake next time. Alternatively, I could try getting out of bed and pottering around for a while.

I did come across something fascinating recently that I must share in a book called "Quantum Buddhism: Dancing in Emptiness" by Graham Smetham, which over 650 pages examines the extensive parallels between quantum physics and the teachings of the later schools of Buddhism. What I've been noticing is that the consciousness-centered interpretation of quantum physics he puts forth (and that's advocated by many eminent physicists) is also very much in line with many of the observations of non-physical planes made by OBE writers like Robert Bruce, Luis Minero and Jurgen Ziewe. Basically, he concludes that the universe, including all of its physical laws, was collectively constructed by observer-participant consiousnesses over vast stretches of time, much the same as the non-physical planes are said to be. This was a revelation to me as I had always assumed this plane was the exception to the rule. Apparently, who no-one is observing an object, even one as large as the moon, it will begin to spread out and return to a state of quantum superposition (although for the moon this would take billions of years). It only takes the shape of the moon due to our collective karma and our habitual assenting over billions of years to its appearance and the rules which govern it.

Last night's attempt: tried to ignore sensations as planned, just focusing on keeping the mind empty and relaxed. Got to sleep paralysis. Didn't actively try to get out of the body. Didn't notice further signs of projection.

Resolution for next attempt: once in SP, gently start trying to project through focusing on one particular sensation or willing the energy body to separate.

Made 3 attempts this week. Last night's was the most positive, but I can't remember it well. None were as positive as the one described in my November 28th post. I wasn't tired enough during the other 2 for much to start happening.

Interestingly, I was more tired going to bed last night, which would support my theory. Maybe I should start systematically taking notes of my tiredness levels going to bed along with my success levels during attempts. Has anyone else noticed a correlation there?

[Account]

any update op?

Hi Mr. PumperNickle,

Yes, I made another attempt last night. I think I got pretty close this time.

Account
There were 3 onsets of stronger signs of projection in total. I went for a passive approach this time, just noticing the vibrations, feelings of separation, etc., and focusing on staying relaxed. The first onset was probably the closest I got (all the signs were there, including tunnel sensations and whirring noises, although the noises weren't prominent or loud), but unfortunately was spoiled by my eyes beginning to open just as I felt like I was transitioning to energy body sight. I had to tilt my head up further after that to let my eyes stay shut by themselves. (As mentioned in my original post, I try to lie with my head at a 100 degree angle from my body. I've experimented with other positions such as those suggested by Robert Bruce, but there's always this issue of not being able to keep my eyes relaxed yet shut at the same time.)

The second onset was almost as successful, but was spoiled by tensions creeping into the muscles in my arms. Even though I was focusing on staying relaxed, there was probably too much anticipation and eagerness to get out. After things seemed to stop progressing I suddenly became aware of all this tension and could just drop it straight away.

I found this quite frustrating, but decided to try projecting again. I can't remember the next onset as clearly, but I think there was more difficulty with bodily tensions, and so I eventually gave up.

Review
Besides the tensions and my eyes opening, I was also for the first time imagining writing this post, describing the sensations, etc., during the attempt, which I realized afterwards is due to a pretty irrational feeling of needing to be accurate in my descriptions. So from now on I'm giving myself permission to be vague and inaccurate, and not try to take note of what's happening during the event.

The other two difficulties though are quite serious as I've encountered them many times before. I guess all I can do as regards the tension is just try to be super-passive and equanimous. I've already quit using the more active techniques due to this, so all that's left to drop is this eagerness and excitement about projecting. I do worry though that just leaving my attention with the body is going to be a hindrance. At least the idea of holding it outside the body to aid projection makes a lot more sense to me.

Edit: Plan for next attempt
Re-reading NewOldSoul's advice, I'm thinking that's exactly the direction I need to be heading in: just ignoring sensations, yet staying relaxed, calm, and equanimous, then allowing myself to flow with the momentum of the projection and finding some sensation to passively take me out of the body.

Made another attempt last night that went a little better than the previous two attempts. My memory of it is foggy, but I'm pretty sure there was some SP, vibrations, and loss of awakeness, but no noises or feelings of separation. Also, I was more tired going to sleep than the previous two attempts, but not really exhausted. It'll be interesting to see if my theory (described in my previous post) holds up when I am exhausted, in which case the circumstances should be even more conducive to projection.

[Tweaks to technique for future attempts]

Made another two attempts on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night's attempt didn't go anywhere as I wasn't tired enough to start falling back to sleep quickly, and last night's attempt was similar, except I did start to feel some vibrations. I did realize though that these kinds of attempts aren't just chance occurrences, but probably have a lot to do with the kind of day I had leading up to them: whether I got a full night's sleep the previous night, whether I did any exercise that day, etc. The problem was I wasn't going to bed feeling particularly tired, and so upon being woken up by my alarm in the middle of the night, I didn't feel the need to go straight back to sleep, which seems to be the kind of situation that works best for me.

Tweaks to technique for future attempts
Only try to have OBE's after busy, tiring days - especially if I've built up a bit of a sleep deficit.

[Account of last night's attempt]

Account of last night's attempt
After the usual set-up (woken up by alarm, relaxed the body, etc.), I began drifting out of awakeness. The signs seemed to be good, though my memory is a little foggy (possibly a good sign?). I found myself trying to phase again, even though I hadn't planned on doing so. One thing I remember clearly is a kind of swirling of light for a few seconds on the backs of my eyelids, almost like a video wipe. There were also some other visuals coming up that I was trying to ignore. Like other previous attempts, there were several periods of losing awakeness/getting closer to an OBE.

Review
I could add a judgement here about how successful/promising the overall attempt was, and what I should have done differently, but what I'd really like to do is just maintain as equanimous an attitude as possible towards this and not get caught up in a cycle of: trying hard to have an OBE > failing to get out > feeling disappointed about not getting out > feeling frustrated due to the length of time it's taking me (relative to the estimates made by Michael Raduga for his technique, and, IIRC, Luis Minero) > making unnecessary changes to technique or changing the technique entirely in an attempt to get out sooner > trying even harder during attempts with all sorts of unconscious investments in my ability to do this, only to shoot myself in the foot with over-exertion. As with meditation, there's a sweet spot between over-exertion and resigning yourself to the same old boring sits where nothing happens. Another parallel with meditation actually (concentration meditation, anyway), is that nothing much happens until things start REALLY happening. So I just need to keep plugging away, giving myself permission to fail (preferably without even thinking of it as failure), giving myself permission to bore you all to death with the same posts over and over again, yet retaining the qualities needed for success, and slowly but surely refining my technique.

I made two attempts this week, and nothing much happened in either of them: no vibrations, SP, or anything except a slight drifting into the "mind=awake body=asleep" state. I used my regular technique of waking up after two sleep cycles, not the phasing technique. I suppose I wasn't feeling as enthusiastic as I didn't bother repeating an affirmation and I noticed a general drop in interest and assurance in my ability to eventually get out. However, I don't believe this attitude change will be long-lived; it's more like just a short breather after the recent weeks of greater effort put into this.

[Account]

I suppose I had better report my latest attempt.

Account
This was my first attempt at phasing. I awoke after ~180 minutes. After relaxing laying on my back as usual, I began passively focusing on the back of my eyelids. SP and vibrations arose quickly enough that I knew the conditions were good, as opposed to that other kind of attempt where nothing much happens. Eventually, I began to drift back to sleep after 5-10 minutes of varying levels of success with ignoring the images arising. SP increased, more minutes passed. To be honest, I have no recollection of how vivid the imagery was, or how regularly it arose. At some point there seemed to be a shift in consciousness and I recall wondering whether this was the theta state FireFly9 wrote about in her log. I have no idea! I'm aware I have much reading to do on that and on the phasing technique in general (thanks Xanth for the links). There was also a good deal of various noises at times, though no loud or long-lasting ones. No voices either.

Review
As alluded to in my introductory post, I don't intend to spend more than 30 minutes on any one attempt, so if phasing is likely to require longer than that for my first success to arise, I may have to reconsider it. Though at this point I have no real understanding of how phasing compares to RTZ projection in terms of the time it generally takes for a beginner to be successful with it - just a suspicion based on FireFly9 describing a 120+ minute attempt. Any opinions on that guys? I fear I would burn out and give up if I was to make too many 30+ minute failed attempts.

@FireFly9
Thank you for taking the time to comment. It's wonderful to have a forum where people can support each other with this.

OK, just read The Astral Blueprint and Frank Kepple's explanation of phasing in the FAQ, and now I'm thinking I might just ditch the visualizing and make the passive looking-into the blackness in front of the eyes my primary technique for at least a few weeks. The reasons for this being: (1) I already have experience with a kind of tuning of my mind/phasing from my meditation practice; (2) passive techniques seem to be more appropriate for me; (3) over the years I've noticed faint images arising out of the TV static-like blackness behind my eyes on the rare occasions when I've paid attention to it, so I know I can reach that point easily; (4) I've already tried visualizing in various ways a number of times, but to no avail; (5) and it allows me to focus on maintaining just a thread of awareness, as I've actually been having trouble with not being able to fall back asleep easily, and I suspect I'm being held back by over-awakeness.

Thanks Szaxx!

[Account]

Alright, made another attempt last night.

Account
Awoke after about 160 minutes. Spent a few seconds relaxing the body. Within another few seconds I could tell that my state was less conducive to projection than the previous attempt, due to the delay in entering SP and in experiencing other signs of projection. As per Szaxx's suggestion, I began visualizing an imaginary idyll (as might be used for stress relief). I tried to incorporate as many senses as possible without much success. Within about a minute, I began to slowly drift back to sleep (and/or perhaps just 'lose myself' to the process, which is also a big help in meditation). Mild projection signs arose, including a far-off whooshing-type noise. Nothing terribly promising though. There were no feelings of separation either. I also lost what signs I did notice soon after they began, then continued visualizing, along with brief attempts at other projection techniques such as the rope technique. IIRC, there were another 2 build-ups to a projection before I gave up. I got no further than the first with either of them.

I also spent longer than usual repeating an affirmation before going to sleep - I repeated it about a dozen times, including out loud.

Review
I'll try again with visualizing somewhere appealing, as I'd say I should have enough ability to make it work - at least I've always had an artistic ability, a visual way of thinking, fairly vivid dreams, etc. I really can't say much about the effectiveness of any technique, especially after one of these attempts where right from the start it seemed un-promising/unlikely that I would get out (not that I was writing it off when it had barely begun; I think I am giving each attempt my best shot).

I will continue to repeat the affirmation 10 times or more in future, as I think this really helped it sink in.

I think the less physical activity-based projection techniques are more suitable for me as I have little to no trouble with over-exerting myself during them and creating bodily tensions - though this may be just increased experience showing.

@Projector4life
Hahaha, more like the creaking of an old radiator! It's woolly jumpers and scarves weather here in Ireland.

[Review]

I made a very promising attempt last night that played out very similarly to the attempt described in my October 23rd post (with vibrations, noises, a tunnel effect, etc.), except I possibly got a little farther. The method was also similar in that I loosened up about holding awareness away from the body and spent a few seconds making sure I was fully relaxed before trying to project. It felt very encouraging because I noticed myself becoming more at ease with the phenomena due to familiarity. What stopped me in my tracks was my eyes opening slightly as my energy body started separating from the head, which again I felt the need to address.

Review
I realized that I'm in need of finding something to take as the object of awareness while I hold it outside of the body, because at the moment I'm struggling to place it anywhere, and so I usually end up just visualizing something briefly and having the locus of awareness snap back to the body.

Tweaks to experiment with

• Focusing more on feeling the locus of awareness outside of the body as vividly as possible, yet keeping this in relation to the body/mind currently lying in bed and not allowing it to just become a separate exercise (I suspect this was what was holding me back when I tried this before). Also, making sure to stay equanimous and avoid creating mental strain that could result in physical tension while doing this.
• One thing I've just noticed is that I've been setting my alarm to wake me up after 120 minutes, not 180 minutes! Maybe I've been shooting myself in the foot, maybe it's made very little difference. I will make sure to try 180 minutes next week anyway.

[Account]

Made another attempt last night.

Account
Once I turned off the alarm I focused on keeping my locus of awareness held away from the body and bodily sensations, mainly at the opposite corner of the room. I spent only a second or two relaxing the body before this (and getting into my usual position laying on my back with arms and legs spread out a little). There were no real signs of projection, except, IIRC, a brief tunnel-type experience at one point. But the impression I came away with was that nothing much seemed to be happening. I did notice some SP at least.

Eventually, I turned over to my side to go back to sleep, and within no more than a minute, SP had set in strongly. I then experienced a sudden jerk onto my stomach, completely involuntary, and much stronger than any other such phenomena that I've had before. For one thing, this was a whole-body twist, whereas before I've had no more than small muscle twitches. I presume this was due to some sort of energy build up caused by the paralysis. I'm not going to read too much into it anyway.

Also, before going to sleep I tried projecting and actually started experiencing signs of projection straight away. I didn't persist though due to not having spent any time on relaxing the body fully, so I assumed that was preventing separation.

Review
Perhaps I should have spent more time ensuring the body was as relaxed as possible, but then that would seem to necessitate a greater level of awareness/awakeness, and one of my main obstacles seems to be difficulty with falling back into the "mind=awake, body=asleep" state. Another balancing act! I will try to try again this week before deciding on any tweaks to make.

[Account]

Thanks so much for the advice, guys. I'm thrilled to be receiving so many useful points and perspectives. I know already it's invigorated my endeavors towards an OBE.

Last night I made my second proper attempt of the week after two attempts that were abandoned due to over-tiredness. I tried drawing this one out to see what would happen.

Account
Woke up after about 2 sleep cycles (180 minutes). Switched off my alarm and tried unsatisfactorily to keep awareness away from my body and surroundings. Relaxed as much as possible while facing up. Bodily vibrations arose, but at no point were there any aural signs of projection (I don't think my initial state upon waking was as conducive to projection as the last attempt I wrote about.) I tried several techniques: rolling backwards feet-first (inspired by Projector4life's post), floating up, and using the rope technique to come out head-first. At one point I found my physical eyes had opened, causing enough discomfort that I felt I had to bring awareness back to the body and re-focus on relaxation. There was little in the way of sensations of separation, but it was encouraging at least to find I could sustain the vibrational state pretty easily.

Also, I should mention I've been achieving what seems to be a light SP - that seems to come hand-in-hand with the vibrations, once a certain threshold of relaxation and stillness is reached. There's a definite second or two between the intention to break out of it and the actual movement.

Review
These OBE attempts have really been hitting home the mind-body connection that also becomes apparent during meditation: in order to keep the body relaxed you learn to focus on the mind, and on making sure it's as close to a blank slate as possible, because once the mind starts straining to achieve something, tensions are sure to arise in the body. What's interesting is that I read in The Phase that you should strongly desire to leave the body during the projection process. E.g. one of the Four Principles of Success in that book is "be aggressive":

Put all of your enthusiasm and desire into the techniques. The desire to get the techniques to work should be coupled with full aggression in achieving that result.

I can't see how that could work without corresponding tensions arising in the body.

I read somewhere (I think it was in a William Buhlman book) that keeping the focal point of awareness away from the body is crucial, and I feel I really need to start prioritizing that. Too often I've concentrated on a projection technique just for a few seconds, then decided it wasn't working (possibly by bringing awareness back to the body to check) before my awareness had really stabilized outside of the body. And with many of the techniques I'm using, it feels like my body is still nearby or partly in awareness.

Tweaks to experiment with

• Prioritize ignoring vibrations and other signs of projection
• Focus on keeping awareness well away from the body as much as possible
• Try to evoke a sense of being pulled out of the body rather than being the one doing the pulling or other actions, and keep the mind free of strong desire/strain
• As per EscapeVelocity's advice, give yourself permission to have an OBE, as well as repeating affirmations.

@FireFly9

Have you read 'Frank's Post' which Xanth compiled and which is available from his website?

No, but I now have that link bookmarked, along with the 'Frank Kepple Resource', and will give it a look. I might get Multidimensional Human too. Cheers!

[An account as best I can recall]

I got possibly the furthest I've ever been on my first attempt of the week 2 nights ago. Unfortunately I was unable to write about it yesterday so my memory may be a little foggy by now.

An account as best I can recall
I awoke after a little over 2 sleep cycles. As usual I lay face up, as Robert Bruce recommends, and tried to relax as much as possible. Vibrations and a background din came on straight away. Within no more than 2 minutes I seemed to lose awareness of my body and there was a feeling of moving through a tunnel, which I've never had so strongly before. Once I came out, IIRC, my body felt different (perhaps now it was my energy body I was feeling) and I noticed I could separate from the physical more easily. I then tried to do so using the rope technique, but never got out.

Tweaks made to the method I use

• Following justin35ll's excellent advice, I tried to avoid becoming aware of my surroundings upon waking up.
• I kept my handheld alarm in bed with me just within reach so I wouldn't have to reach into the drawer of my bedside locker for it when it goes off (I find the ticking a little irritating).

I'll make another attempt this week with these tweaks and try to jot down my memories of it ASAP. Then I'll review both attempts and see if I can improve my general approach/method or if it's simply a matter of gaining more experience.

Thank you justin35ll!