Hello, this is my first post on this forum. I've been reading about and practising various astral projection techniques off and on (mostly off) for years now. While over the years I've had many experiences with the paralysis, the vibrations/waves, the rushing sound, even that point at which you hear a bunch of voices like you're in a crowded airport terminal or something, I have had very few actual out-of-body experiences, and only one in which I was fully conscious and up over my physical body. That experience was truly amazing though. The best part about that one, for my analytical brain, was that when I opened my eyes immediately after, the lighting in the room (early morning on a clear day with the sun light casting various shadows) and everything were exactly as I had just seen while out of the body, so it was a great confirmation.
My problem is that regardless of how disciplined and consistent I get about doing the various techniques (I had been doing the rope technique religiously for about two months when that last experience occurred), every experience that I've ever had (all of those described above) has always occurred after drifting off to sleep, or at least briefly losing consciousness. In other words, it's as though I wake up into those experiences. The vast majority of the time, that's as far as it goes. I'll be laying there feeling like my entire body is doing a big wave, or listening to what sounds like a crowded room while feeling that weightless/floating feeling - until it just sort of goes away, and I find myself laying there in bed... again. I've learned, mostly through lucid dreaming, that I need to focus my attention on the moment, or it will change or turn into something else. I'm good at this now while dreaming, but I still cannot seem to get from the preliminary phases to an actual OBE with any consistency.
From reading this forum, it sounds like many of you have moved way past the "how to get out" phase, hah. I am wondering what your experiences are like the moment you go from here to there, or "get out" as it were. Do any of you remain conscious and "awake" from laying down to being out of your body? Do any of you use the classic techniques, and if so, at what point? Any advice, or comments of any kind really, would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
My problem is that regardless of how disciplined and consistent I get about doing the various techniques (I had been doing the rope technique religiously for about two months when that last experience occurred), every experience that I've ever had (all of those described above) has always occurred after drifting off to sleep, or at least briefly losing consciousness. In other words, it's as though I wake up into those experiences. The vast majority of the time, that's as far as it goes. I'll be laying there feeling like my entire body is doing a big wave, or listening to what sounds like a crowded room while feeling that weightless/floating feeling - until it just sort of goes away, and I find myself laying there in bed... again. I've learned, mostly through lucid dreaming, that I need to focus my attention on the moment, or it will change or turn into something else. I'm good at this now while dreaming, but I still cannot seem to get from the preliminary phases to an actual OBE with any consistency.
From reading this forum, it sounds like many of you have moved way past the "how to get out" phase, hah. I am wondering what your experiences are like the moment you go from here to there, or "get out" as it were. Do any of you remain conscious and "awake" from laying down to being out of your body? Do any of you use the classic techniques, and if so, at what point? Any advice, or comments of any kind really, would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.