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I kept progressing with the Gateway Experience, as recommended and it's definitely an experience My biggest problem is that no matter what I do, I keep getting distracted by my physical body every time I'm in Focus 10 or 12 (a bit less in 12). It is as though part of my attention is stubbornly stuck on the body and it won't let go - I'm continually aware of the state, sensations and everything going on with my body during the exercises - itches, hands and feet falling asleep (or feel like it - there is normal circulation and they don't go numb or anything like that, just feel weird) to the degree that I feel an urge to move them, etc.. I am pretty sure I'm in a state of "body asleep, mind awake", but I'm fully aware of the body being asleep and the sensation is distracting - I assume it is normal for one's hands and feet to fall asleep a little bit while the body is in normal sleep, but you are obviously not aware of how that feels if you are in regular sleep so the sensation is something new to me, and it's distracting. It's very frustrating as I have a hard time focusing on what I want to do... like the body is demanding my attention all the time - nothing wrong, it just won't let my attention move off of it.

I assumed that ideally one would not be consciously aware of the body while in Focus 10 and 12 - I've read all 3 of Robert Monroe's books by now and he seems to have had been completely out of contact with his physical body senses during his OBE "trips" except for "situation alerts" that required him to go "back" to the body when necessary.

Did anybody have the same problem and was able to solve it...? I'm patient but it doesn't seem to get better (I'm on Wave IV now), so I'm wondering if there is a good way of dealing with it.

Wow, I haven't visited in a while after I posted and I'm blown away by all the responses and discussion... great community here! Thanks to all of you who replied.

My advice is to follow the Gateway series fully and see where it takes you. Don't skip anything. If you have questions along the way, we will try and help.

There are no shortcuts...unless you are a natural...in which case, you would be figuring this out for yourself and have no need for our advice. 

Best of luck and Godspeed!

Thanks a lot for the advice EV! I have some experience but I'm open and humble enough to be VERY interested in what others think/suggest. I definitely do need advice, and I believe I'm pretty good at separating the wheat from the chaff - I don't follow any advice blindly, but consider everyone's views and opinions. I believe that's a great way to learn.

Maybe I didn't manage to express myself too clearly - I'm not looking for a shortcut, rather, I'm wondering if the entire Gateway Experience is THE best path to take me where I want to go, and if there is a better way to get there, what is it? To use an analogy, let's say I wanted to go to see a castle in a foreign country I'm not familiar with, and someone offers a 3-day tour that goes to that castle, but it stops at many other places along the way that I don't have any particular interest in - I'd rather spend as much time in and around the castle as I can. My question is kind of like is there a "tour" or means of transportation that takes me directly to the castle, instead of spending 3 days getting there and looking at other sites I'm not as interested in? Or, would I be making a mistake if I DIDN'T take the "3 day scenic route"? Maybe someone who has been down that road already will point out that the some things on the way to the castle may even be more interesting than the castle itself!

As an example of why I have my doubts/questions, I'm having trouble with the REBAL ("Resonant Energy Balloon") the way Monroe teaches it - I guess I might be resisting it because it feels too "gimmicky" to me. I can easily create a field of energy around my "non-physical body" (which I don't "see" in physical terms outside the physical - it is more like a concept for me than an object) at will. But I don't perceive myself outside the physical having a similar "body" - my non-physical body doesn't have a head or feet, so how am I supposed to create a fountain of energy that exits my non-existent head and enters back through my feet? I feel that this is an artificial construct that may help others but I don't feel I need it - actually, it distracts me. I'm concerned that if there are too many of these (like the Energy Bar Tool, which also feels like a construct I may or may not need in my exploration in the way it is described by Monroe) that the program keeps referring to and I'm expecting to "use", these may eventually become distractions from the real exploration I want to do. These are kinda too specific, too physical for me. E.g. there are an infinite number of ways to create, manipulate and use energy, the REBAL or the EBT feel like those pictures with a caption that say "an artist's impression of managing energy in the non-physical world" while it may look/work completely differently for me, and still serve the same purpose. I think that some of these kinds of concepts and "tools" have been created by someone else in their subjective world and "brought back" and described in physical terms for the next person to re-create the same thing in their own subjective world - but I'm not entirely convinced this is necessary or the best way to do certain things.

While I'm new to the Gateway and the concept of focuses, focus levels or levels of consciousness as they use them, concepts of non-physical/spiritual "activities" are not new to me. I am looking for answers and ways to effectively discover how this stuff is put together... I suspect that the biggest challenge for most people who embark on this path is to differentiate between "objective" realities in these subjective areas of exploration and their own constructs and the constructs of others. E.g. the existence  of "Gabriel Archangel whom you can call at any time and who will come to assist you" as many spiritual explorers matter-of factly assert, may be a completely subjective experience, or a "round trip creation" where someone asserts that that's the way it is, and as a result of that, people following the instructions of that person will subjectively create their own Gabriel Archangels, wings and all, and then will "confirm" with awe that "he" REALLY exists, and even looks exactly as described! Of course he does - you just created him to match the description you received from someone else.

Hope this makes sense

OK, I realize that this is an old thread, but apparently the only thread on this exact topic and I didn't want to start a new one.

I'm a relative beginner - started using the Monroe Gateway Experience CD set a few weeks ago and having some great experiences - I am at the beginning of Wave 3. I would say it is going well and I'm learning and discovering.

I'm very interested in exploring Focus 27 and beyond ("top" of Focus 3 and Focus 4 in Kepple's terminology). Here's my question: the Gateway Experience touches on a lot of different subjects and I'm not sure which parts are necessary, and which ones can be safely skipped if my main goal is to explore Focus 27+. Is it recommended to do the entire Gateway Experience first as intended (even though there are exercises in it that are no doubt useful or interesting, but I'm personally not that interested in them) or is it just as "safe" or doable to take a more direct route to explore Focus 27 and beyond?

Does anyone have recommendations as to how to proceed either after completing the Gateway Experience, or which parts of the Gateway Experience can be safely skipped on my way to a more direct path to Focus 27+ exploration? And, what's the best way to get there? What do I do after I'm done with the Gateway Experience? I can be patient, I'm not in a hurry, just trying to find the most direct route to my goal - I know... I'm not the "smell the roses" type, but if experience shows that the long road is the best one to this particular goal, I don't mind taking that either.