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Hey everyone.

So like the subject says, I'm having a problem with becoming uncomfortable and my mind "flooding" while trying to AP. Let me explain.. I'll lay on my back, take some deep breaths and become very relaxed. I'll do my thing (either concentrate on a single thought or nothing at all). Eventually my hands will begin to tingle and go numb, then my arms. After about 30-45 min of laying like this, I'll start to feel this urge to roll over to my side, which I hear is pretty common. Then the urge grows to the point where it's almost painful and I'd rather just stop trying to AP and roll in order to get comfortable again. If I resist further, my mind suddenly becomes FLOODED with thoughts. It's almost like I'm thinking about everything but nothing in particular. My mind becomes overwhelmed and it seems impossible to find a single thought and focus on that. I'll mentally tell myself something to think of and when I try thinking of it, all the background thoughts get louder and I lose that focal thought. (I hope this is making some sense lol).

Anyway, any suggestions? I should note that I'm not a back sleeper if that matters.

Thanks,
John

I'm the same way. I feel signposts every time but once I do I have no idea where to go from there. I tried your way last night but ended up falling asleep. Do I "row" the whole time, or once I start to get really relaxed and begin to feel the signs?

I don't really know what I think at night. My mind goes everywhere. That technique sounds helpful, that's exactly what I was looking for. I'll try it out tonight and let you know how it goes!

Thanks 

Thanks for the info, it's a great help!

I don't know if this is possible to answer, but what should mentally be going on? Not as in "relax" or anything, but what do you mentally do/feel before you AP? There's so much talk on techniques but there's not much in depth info on what your mind should go through.
This is actually probably more difficult for me to put into words to ask.. What is your mental routine once you close your eyes? What do you think/focus on?

Just pretend like you know what I'm asking   

Is having an urge to move common? Lately I'll feel as though I'm close to projecting (who the hell knows) but then I feel like moving or doing something and I have to almost force myself to stay still, ultimately messing up my state of mind. Is there any advice on making this easier? Does it mean I'm close?

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After relaxing for a while, my mind will go into this type of dream mode where I'll doze off and randomly think of something and usually visualize it. Then after about a second I'll catch myself doing it and snap right back. However, that's not the point. The point is, after this happens a few times, I'll snap back to it but my mind will be somewhere else. It's like I'll have a million thoughts going through my head but my mind will be blank at the same time. I'll try to think of something to focus my mind on but I can't think of anything at all. It almost feels like my head is in an empty space with everything yet nothing flying by at once. I'll feel like I'm ready to sepperate but when I try I just move and ruin the whole thing.
Any ideas?

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I seem to get phantom limbs quite a bit but I don't know how to control them.. Suggestions?

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Do I have to experience vibrations or loud noises to AP? I never feel vibrations and the ringing in my ear never gets loud. In fact the ringing usually becomes silent after a while.
How do I bring them on or intensify?

Thanks,
John

Everyone is giving you very good advice. I will offer one alternative that worked for me and should only compliment the current work you are doing. You can try it tonight.

The Wake, Back To Bed technique (WBTB)

Go to bed at your normal time and set your alarm to gently awaken you after approximately 3-4 hours of sleep. Then get up and hit the bathroom, wash your face, have a small drink of water and sit and read your favorite OBE book for thirty minutes. Then go back to bed and attempt one of your exit techniques or just observe yourself as your body falls back to sleep.

The key is finding the proper relationship where your body is partly rested but still tired enough to slide off into sleep, but not strong enough to drag your awareness along with it.

I like to prop myself up with 3 or 4 pillows. This can also be good for waking an hour or two earlier than you normally wake-up.

You can also prep your subconscious with a couple affirmations:
- I will have an out of body experience tonight
- I give myself permission to project

You are close...

Thanks for the tip! I've tried that before but only when I wake up naturally or after my alarm accidentally goes off. I'll try setting my alarm earlier. Once I wake up I'm usually too tired to move and fall back to sleep without caring much, but I'll push myself to do it. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks

How do you know it's your "physical arms" and not your "etheric arms" that are moving? That's why I gave you the link to that post. Many times others including myself have had the sensations of movement, be it the arms, legs, chest rising. etc. But even though it felt like it was my physical arms, it wasn't it was my "etheric arms" that were. The feeling is exactly the same and the only way you will know which one it is, is by opening your eyes and looking. Which in turn ends your attempt. Kind of a "Catch 22" there!   

My arms end up bumping each other. I've opened my eyes and looked before and I saw my arms.. I don't know if they'd look the same or if the "etheric arms" would appear different? I don't know if it happens because I put so much focus on my arms once they start to move or what. I don't try to lift them, they just go haha

These are all symptoms/signposts of an approaching exit. I gave you a link to that thread on Exit Symptoms, did you read it?

One question I have for you is "What do you EXPECT to happen here?"  Your experience above shows a exit occurring and yet you come back here and question it again. Stay the course, see the whole thing through.

I think you are pressuring yourself way too much right now. I can tell by the fact that you are attempting to AP 2 or 3 times day right now. Take a break. You are waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too anxious right now.

The question was about my arms physically moving on their own.. The problem was never addressed in my previous post. The link you gave me didn't have any suggestion for what I should do if my physical arms start moving by themselves. I'm practicing the advice I was given, but advice doesn't always solve the problem. I question it because that's what I expect noobs do. If it's not working, they ask for advice from someone who may have had the same experience and resolved it. Isn't that what forums are for?

So does anyone have any advice pertaining to the question asked?

Thanks,
John

(@ Lumaza, sorryI didn't mean to sound so passive aggressive).

"Go stare at grass growing..."

Hey all,

So I made a topic the other day (right below this one) and brushed on this subject a bit, but I feel like this needs it's own topic..

When I get nice and comfy/relaxed when laying on my back, the very first thing that happens to me is my hands go numb. From there the numbness climbs up my hands to about my elbows, then my feet and legs lose feeling. Every now and again my whole arm/leg will lose all feeling. The "numbness" only happens to my extremities and I never lose feeling in my core. Anyway, that's not the problem. The problem is movement once my arms go numb. Whenever this happens to me, my arms seem to try raising on their own. I've gone with this a few times, assuming they were my astral arms. I'll let them raise and eventually they will touch in mid air, only to find out that they're my physical arms (making me look like a damn mummy). They try to move every time this happens and I have to stop them, which messes up my focus. They always try to lift up, never anywhere else. I can't even attempt the rope method because my arms forbid it.

Every so often my arms will go phantom, feeling like they're in a cross position or trying to cover my manhood even tho they're at my sides. I assume those are my astral arms but don't know because I don't look.

Does anyone else ever experience this problem with their arms trying to move on their own? How do you control it without losing focus? Does it actually mean anything in regards to projecting, or is it just an annoyance? Some help/advice would be super duper (yeah, I said super duper).

Thanks a lot,
John

I've been trying all the tips you all have been giving me. Some seem to work. Every time I try (which is about 2-3 times a day) I seem to have a different reaction and get (I hope) a bit closer. I tried just now and repeated a mantra the whole time. This time my arms lost all feeling and felt separated, I think. My biggest problem is focusing too much on my arms, but this time I was able to concentrate on my thoughts much more. However, this time I had another problem. It was like a phantom movement. Usually my arms will start to raise without me trying. I'll let them, thinking it's my astral arms only to have them touch in the air and they end up being my actual arms. This time, tho, it was different. My shoulders began to shrug, giving me a tingly sensation in my arms. I let it happen because I never had this happen to me. It felt like my chest wanted to start raising, as if I was trying to hover. Eventually my shoulders moved so close it began to give me back spasms, so I pushed them back. Anyone ever experience that before?

I seem to always feel this pressure in the middle of my forehead (3rd eye) and trying to "look" at or focus on it adds more. Is that something, or am I just straining my eyes? I still have yet to feel any "vibrations."

I swear one day soon I'll make a reply with a bunch of !!!!!! telling everyone how excited I am that I had my first OBE. Putting a lot of work into this, so it'll be a beautiful day 

When you loose feeling in your hands, legs etc. you are ready to ap.    Do an ap technique to get out of your body.   If you feel yourself spinning or turning, legs or arms in different positions and it is not your physical parts, spiritually move away from your body.   There are times when your physical arms or legs move or jerk and that wakes you up.   That is disappointing when that happens but that is the way it is. 

If losing feeling is a sign I'm ready then I'm usually ready within 20 min. I assumed it was more than just that. I only had the spinning feeling once, I don't know how to bring it on. I also don't know how to control my astral arms. I try to imagine them moving but then my real arms (just my hands 90% of the time) will start moving. It's like I can't control my hands moving.

What techniques do you recommend? I usually try the rope but that obviously hasn't done much.

As an update; last night I once again got close. This time I felt my leg move. I'm sure it was my astral leg because it suddenly felt bent even tho my legs were straight. I was afraid to put my focus there so I just let it be. There was a moment when I could see a very dull white/yellow light in front of me, almost like a white shadow of my face. Either way, nothing more happened because my mind became active. I notice my mind becomes over active once I feel close. More active when I first begin.

Ugh

Thanks for the reply's. I checked out those articles and I'll try to put some of the stuff I learned to work. Do you remember what meditation you used, Enigmatik? I'll look one up before I try again in a few minutes. Listening to something definitely helps my focus and relaxes me. It actually helps me visualize much easier.
Everything I've read so far has led me to believe that laying on the back is most common.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll post some good news 

Thanks

Hey everyone,

I'm new to this site (got approved yesterday new) so I'm sorry if this a constantly asked question by people, but this is my personal set of difficulties so I'm asking anyway.

So I feel like I'm getting very close to having an OBE, but I keep running into this problem; after getting my mind and body relaxed, for the most part (I'll go more into that in a bit) my hands and feet will lose feeling and my arms and legs will begin to lose feeling, maybe half way. Once I lose feeling in my arms, I'll start to notice how they feel like they're out as if in a cross position even tho they're right next to my legs. I'll continue to lay like this for however long I can until I ultimately move or roll over. 2 days ago when I was at my "plateau," I began having this very intense feeling of spinning (horizontally, like a Frisbee  ) and flipping. I wouldn't flip completely, instead it felt like I was being stood up then turned upside down in a half circle motion back and forth. It made me feel a bit queezy but I stuck it out and it eventually stopped. That's as far as I got 2 days ago. Then last night I got to the same point where everything lost feeling and I even got a slight ringing in my ears. I was listening to some binaural beats because I feel like I get way too much ADHD (I have ADHD by the way) and it seems to help listening to something. Anyway, I could still hear the slight ringing through my headphones. Eventually the beats stopped and it became quiet once again. This time I was able to calm my thoughts a bit more. I felt like it was getting pretty intense until my arm preformed the mother of all twitches and lifted up in the air, waking me up and frustrating me.
Now lets fast forward to about 20 min ago. The same thing that always happens happened. Arms and legs went numb, but this time I was able to hold this position for about 1.5 hours, which is a record for my fidgety self. No music, just the sound of my heart beat getting louder and louder. This time, my arms were completely numb and felt very heavy and even my legs lost feeling up to my hip. Only my core and head weren't numb. My core and neck have never lost any feeling, not even slightly.
I believe I have a serious mental block that I don't know how to control. Every time I lose feeling of my extremities, my mind immediately starts focusing on that. Even if I try focusing on the darkness, or listening to the buzz in my ears my attention only focuses on that for a few seconds then jumps back to my arms and legs. My attention span makes a goldfish seem boss. Every so often I'll drift off a bit and my hands will begin tingling then I snap right back to it. It's like I get excited then can't control myself and it keeps me from progressing. I've never felt any vibrations or loud buzzing. It always stays dark and numb (that should be the name of a song). I've tried doing this at all times of the day, multiple times but still nothing.

Any suggestions on calming my mind and staying focused on not staying focused?
Anything I seem to be doing wrong or that I should be doing?
Am I getting close?
How do I bring the vibrations/ringing on?
Does any other laying position work? I don't normally sleep on my back so it's a bit weird for me. I have to lay at attention.
Is every part of my body supposed to lose feeling, or just the extremities?

Any advice you have for me would help and be greatly appreciated. I'd like to hear from noobs and vets. I know what works for some doesn't work for others but I want to try everything I can. This is something I've been attempting for quite a while, so frustration is beginning to build.

Thanks a lot in advance. And if you read through this whole post, you the real MVP 

John