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I'm sorry that was so long.  I got carried away. 

You can try all or none of that.  It may not work for you at all this way.
But, maybe it will work.

I'm hoping that since I'm pretty new to successful projection (though I've been trying for a loooooong time) that the way I do it might be what you need.

I'll give you a "minute by minute" breakdown of what happens to me when I project.

1-10 minutes:  I stretch out my body and proceed to do a trance induction technique that doubles as a relaxation technique.  I used to do progressive relaxation, but after listening to the relaxation training in the Journeys Out of Body Hemi-Sync, I discovered that the way Monroe teaches relaxation is very similar to the sense memory I created for trance induction.  So two birds, one stone.  

10-30 minutes:  Once I reach the first detectable signs of trance (really about 5-8 minutes in), I step up the "falling sensation" and give extra attention to feeling it in my head.  It feels like my center of consciousness (which i feel in my head usually) is either shrinking or falling away and is now just floating around inside the huge cavernous space that is my skull.  Once I feel my hands and legs start to "float" or feel like they've expanded, I begin my energy work (about 15 minutes in).  I do hand and feet stimulation, arm and leg bounce, full body bounce and then a full body circuit.  I do all that for about 15 minutes.

IMPORTANT!!  The whole time I'm doing all of this I am doing my best to try to bring my focus down to a point, to a single minded focus.  I do this by focusing on either the ringing sound in my ears or on my third eye.  A warning though, if you're not already familiar with focusing on the third eye, the sensations can be disturbing to say the least.  I remember the first time I felt like a hand reached into my third eye, through my brain and up out the top of my head, I almost peed myself.  It was a bit freaky.  Now when I focus on the third eye, I feel a tingling pressure and sometimes temperature fluctuations.  

You want to slow down your mind while you're relaxing your body and bringing your energy up.  You should notice a reduction in the number of thoughts you have, the speed at which new thoughts come up, the amount of wandering from thought to thought (ie, the "imagination trap", when you're in trance your creative side awakens and it's really easy to have a thought snowball into this long train of nonsense.  Do your best to stop it.)  All of this can be done relatively easily once you've practiced and meditated independently of and during OBE practice.  Some people may disagree with me, but I find that it's a little easier for me to do this after I've been at work or school all day because my mind is tired and seems to wander less.  Though, this can make focusing a little harder, but I just supplant my fatigue with a crystal like optical calcite or lepidolite.  

30-60 minutes:  This is the hard part.  Now my body is relaxed, my energy is up, I am fairly dissociated from my body and my mind has slowed down a lot.  But, while my mind has slowed from the normal waking state, it's not enough yet.  This bit is tricky sometimes.  I have to focus my conscious awareness down to a point (which as I said, I do my focusing on the ringing or 3rd eye) but I also need to let it slip into almost sleep.  It can be hard to focus yet be uninterested at the same time.  It's a very subtle and delicate balance and it usually takes me a good 30 minutes to slip away enough.  Now, someone more experienced in projection and meditation can probably achieve this state in 15-30 minutes from start to finish.  But for someone like me, who hasn't spent the years training myself to have control over my mind like I should have, it can take a while.  

50-60 minutes:  At the end of this period, if I have achieved the state of mind that is needed, I will usually dose off.  I fall into a very light sleep maybe 2-5 times.  Each time I basically just gain awareness and realize that there is a gap in my memory.  I never know how long the gap was but I know it wasn't very deep because I can almost feel the memories of the moments drifting around just out of reach.  After one of these mini-naps I will gain my awareness and my body will be vibrating.  

60-90 minutes:  The whole mini-nap process can take up to a half hour depending on how alert I am.  This is one of those places where the mental fatigue can have an adverse effect.  If my mind is really tired, it could take the full half hour before I gain enough awareness to move on to dealing with the vibrations.  

Once I gain awareness and feel the vibrations, I increase them.  It's something that you'll instinctively know how to do when it happens, but I've spent some time thinking about what the actual mental action is that produces the increased vibrations.  It's something like flexing your astral muscles.  Literally.  Try to imagine you are separated already and floating inside your body.  All at once you flex every muscle in the body without actually moving anything.  So it's not like you curl your arm to flex your bicep, you just push on your astral muscles.  It's hard to explain, but I promise when it happens you'll know.  

As I flex my 'astral muscles' the vibrations increase in frequency and intensity to the point where it starts to create a bone deep tickling sensation.  The first couple times I barely made it through this point because the tickling was so intense it became almost uncomfortable.  But just as the feeling reaches my threshold of "I can't take this anymore!" I feel myself float up and dislodge from my physical body.  Not quite out of the woods yet though.  I'm still usually attached to my body so I have to perform some wiggly movements to get completely unattached.  Usually I roll to one side or the other, or I do a backwards somersault (which is one of the easier and more effective ways), or I just stand up, or the one I use most often, I just pivot, using my butt as the fulcrum point and put my feet on the ground just like I was getting out of bed in the morning.  And HUZZAH! I am free to roam.


A few notes on my setup and equipment:

I like to use a few things to assist the process.  

1. Mind Fold - This is basically a sleep mask with foam padding on one side with holes cut out for your eyes.  It lets you have total darkness, even with your eyes open if you really want.  it's a little better for me than a blindfold or bandanna because those tickle my eyelashes.  www.mindfold.com

2. Foam Ear Plugs - You can get these at any pharmacy.  I like the ones that are more rounded and smoother, as opposed to the cylindrical ones.  This not only shuts out disturbing external sounds, it also makes the ringing in your ears more noticeable.  However, it's good to practice without the ear plugs also because it conditions you to outside sounds so that they don't interrupt your trance state.  If you train without them, you will be able to project at times when perfect silence isn't an option.  But in the beginning they can be a big help.

3. Crystals - While our new friend Amezarak is very skeptical of the usefulness of crystals, I use them every time I project.  They aren't required at all, but they can help.  

Here are some of the ones I use:

Lapis Lazuli - For stimulating the 3rd eye and psychic experience/communication;  I will often use a flat piece of this directly on my third eye.  Not only does the sensation of the crystal on the skin and the crystal's energy itself stimulate the energy center, but it's also said that humans have minute bits of lodestone (magnetite) in our pineal gland and Lapis (Afghan, not Chilean) has bits of iron pyrite (fool's gold) in it which stimulates the lodestone.  You can feel a tingling in the middle of your brain, it's wild.

Optical Calcite - For focus and clarity; place it near your head or hands.

Lepidolite - For focus and clarity, as well as protection from EMF fields that some say can mess with your mental function, thereby preventing you from having the control needed to project; anywhere around your body.

Apophyllite - This little beauty carries the currents of the Akashic Records.  I use it because it is a stone of information and is very fluid, which to me represents the fluidity of the OBE state, both in consciousness and actual movement.  What it does for you during projection is enhance the connection to the physical body, thereby facilitating the download/transfer of information from the astral consciousness back to the physical brain.  What does that mean?  MEMORY!!  It helps you remember your experience.  I keep it either on my nightstand by my bed (all the time to help with not just OBE memory but also dream memory nightly)

Cavancite - This is the once stone I've ever found that is said to facilitate the actual conscious exit of the physical body in an OBE.  Lots of stones help you remember, or protect your while out of the body, or help you to meet guides, or do something specific while out of body.  But this one facilitates the actual conscious exit.  If you put it on your third eye it facilitates channeling and METAPHYSICAL AWARENESS! which can be thought of as various forms of your "6th sense", like intuition, mind sensing, astral sight, etc. etc.  But one of the most useful characteristics in my opinion is that it can stimulate the release of endorphins in the brain and give you a good case of the feel-goods.  For me this is invaluable when trying to AP because it helps me stay focused on the task and not be overcome by fear or worry.  Brain chemistry is a beautiful thing.  I will often put this on my heart chakra.

Ulexite - I love this stone.  One of it's nicknames is the TV Stone because it enhances visualization to the point that you feel like you're watching a TV or movie screen in your mind's eye.  By that I mean that the image becomes very stable with little conscious effort (which is what we want for OBE practice, lots of control with little conscious effort).  Place on your third eye.

Merlinite - This is a good one.  Inappropriately named Dendrite Opal by Melody (she writes crystal books if you don't know her, and Merlinite has no opal in it, though it is dendritic), this is a stone that holds the wisdom of shamans, alchemists and magician-priests and is very effective at accessing multi-dimensions and is a good companion for interdimensional journeying because it carries the wisdom of those before us who know those domains well.  (If you can find Mystic Merlinite, it is a higher resonance form of traditional Merlinite and can produce a strong effect)

Spectrolite - This is a higher resonance form of Labradorite.  This is one of three stones that I wear all the time.  This stone is like a protective cloak and it protects you in any realm.  Wearing it enfolds you in a protective cocoon through all dimensions where your consciousness exists.  This is also a highly mystical stone that raises your vibrations and thus facilitates other dimensional travel (OBE).  This is truly an amazing stone that does so much for you in so many ways.  It prepares you for ascension, it prevents energy leakage of vapirization, it filters the 3rd eye and deflects unwanted information away from your psychic perception so that you won't be inhibited or impeded, and my favorite, it removes the projections or thought forms of other people or entities that have hooked into your energy and are draining you or controlling you in some way.  

There are also a host of other OBE crystals, and also many generic crystals that can help with things like relaxing, calming, meditating.  There are a few basic ones that everyone should have around for energizing and cleansing,  like Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Kyanite, Citrine, Rose Quartz, etc.  

4.  I also recommend using some kind of essential oil (diluted if you put it on your skin).  If you do choose to use an essential oil, pick one and use that same one every time because you will create a sense memory program in your brain/mind so that every time you smell that scent in the meditative conditions, your brain will click into trance mode.  You condition your brain to react to this particular scent by going into a trance state faster.  And don't worry, if you're out and about and smell the same scent you won't just drop on the floor and go into a deep trance in the middle of starbucks or anything.  This technique relies heavily on not just the scent but the environment you use it in.  This is why it's better if you can project in the same place each time and try to find a position that you can replicate each time.  These become environmental cues that when combined with the fragrance of the oil can trigger you to enter a trance state.

5.  When I actually lay down to do the projection I usually wear some kind of loose pants and a loose t-shirt, sometimes socks depending on how cold my feet are feeling.  While socks can be constricting, cold feet can be even more distracting.  I like to cover myself with a blanket and I lay on one side of my bed next to the edge.  I usually pull the blanket up to my neck and put one arm under the blanket and uncover the other arm.  I uncover the other arm so that if I do get an itch that I can't ignore and it has to be scratched I can make my movements much slower, smoother, and without much fuss with the uncovered arm, which makes it much easier to get back to where I was in trance.

Along the way you will learn subtle variations and little techniques that make what you're doing easier for you.  Through trial and error you can really get a handle on the specifics of what works for you.  nevertheless, I hope this helps you.  I remember the first time I ever came to this forum like a year or so ago, I wanted so bad for someone to give me a step by step breakdown of how they APed.  

From what I understand Valkry, that's a really common explanation in many religious traditions.  Been around a long time.  Perhaps they were always right. 

By the way Valkry, you seem to be the victim of a lot of ill-wishing.  Either you pose a great threat, you have a very strong sense of the 'victim consciousness', or you have really ticked off a lot of beings.

'They' say that it can be difficult to study physical world phenomena from the "astral" or "etheric" planes.  Sometimes things aren't quite the same.  Nevertheless, I share your passion.  While I chose to major in psychology, I've always been a huge fan of anstronomy, astrophysics and my favorite cosmology.  When I was young I wanted to be Carl Sagan when I grew up.  That was one of the reasons I wanted to AP.  Contact (book) inspired me to find a way to travel to other worlds to see who I'd meet. 

Some photography from a walk around my fair city of Richmond (VA). 

I came out of the womb break dancing.  I had the dexterity and balance of an olympic figure skater.

Haven't ever experienced it in relation to OBEs.  Though I have woken up a few times in my life in the middle of the night paralyzed. 

Funny story, (not about me, but about sleep paralysis). 

I've mentioned it a bit, but I work in a metaphysical bookshop (only about 1/3 books, 2/3 metaphysical supplies, i.e herbs, candles, oils, crystals, feng shui items, statuary, etc. etc. etc.) and naturally I come across many characters from the whole spectrum of odd and hilarious people one could hope to meet in a lifetime.  One of my customers, a black lady who grew up in New Orleans in a Voodoo family (though she tells me she never cared to much for the religion, but she practices the magick side, Hoodoo), talks to me all the time about what it was like to grow up with Voodoo around all the time.  I wish I had a picture of her because you'd never believe that she practiced Hoodoo and was raised in Voodoo if you saw her.  Talking to her and seeing her, you'd think she was the most straight laced, conservative, mainstream, disciplined CEO type you've ever met.  Yet, she is a magick practitioner.  This is what I'm talking about.  In my job I get to meet the coolest people.  Anyway, that was a bunch of nonsense for a really short anecdote.

She told me that when she was growing up, every time she experienced sleep paralysis her grandma told her that a "witch was riding her".  Basically a witch has somehow pinned you down through some kind of spell work or the like paralyzed you.  It's an interesting "superstition" or a freaky bit of truth.

I've noticed as I've read through posts that (a lot) of people seem to have had a little bit of success doing this.  I'm happy.

I've mentioned several times that RB taught me everything I know about trance induction now.  And for that I will be ever grateful.  My only critique, and I don't know if this is lost in all my rambling, is that I feel like there wasn't enough focus on the state of mind needed to achieve an OBE.  Granted, what works for you is what works, but I still think there are some common threads among the various ways each of us achieves OBEs.  By that I mean that some of the sign posts along the way are the same, though our method of travel may be different.  So, for me, I couldn't find the last sign post before liftoff in AD (at first, I did find it recently, though not as in depth as I would have hoped).  I felt it was important to share that with others who are having trouble.  Otherwise I agree with everything you both have said, I would hope that it was obvious to most people that no one author has the answer.  Unfortunately I don't think that's always the case. 

It's also interesting that you mention the mind-split effect because I agree with you very much so grey.

And, I want to stress for anyone else reading this post,  I do not in any way mean to say that RB's AD isn't a useful book.  In fact its kind of my AP Bible.  It contains so much useful information in regards to all of the stuff building up to the actual OBE.  His trance training and energy work is invaluable and he presents the subject in a very easily understandable way that makes it easy for people with out much metaphysical background.

Not that all conspiracy research (notice I didn't say theories) is true, but I almost think it should be required reading.  It gives people perspective about the real motives behind the way our societies function.

Like, no wants to cure disease be treatment is more lucritive.  Or the same with free energy or interstellar travel.  We could be so much further as a civilization if it weren't for silliness like the dark ages, greed, and superstition.

I'll second that.  When I first get up right after I get out, I feel woozy and unbalanced and I can't see.  After a few moments of screaming some variation of "CLARITY NOW"! I can see and everything gets better

That's very clever.  Very clever indeed.
Relative to the way humans do things now, what you're doing seems to simple conceptually.  I mean, put fuel in rocket and make it go boom is easy, but what you're doing feels more appropriate for the task.

Magickal practice works EXACTLY the same way.  Take basic attraction visualizations.  The most effective way to attract something to yourself is to visualize yourself already having whatever it is, but more specifically FEELING how you would feel in that "future scenario".  All magickal practice is founded on that basic principle that emotional energy fuels the "manipulation or reality" (which I don't mean in any malevolent, take over the world kind of way).  If you can learn and "store" the emotional memory of a particular situation you can recreate it by re-feeling the emotional energy.  This is how all spellwork is done.  So what you're doing is essentially an electrified version of what magickal practitioners have been doing for ages. 

I mean, basic crystal work is done by cleansing the crystal and then programming it with what you want it to do.  And I'm sure you're aware of this, but the most effective way of programming a crystal is with emotional energy.  You are just taking the next step in your work and applying what humans have learned through their materially driven technological pursuits to the practices that shamans and witches have been doing for thousands upon thousands of years.  Sounds like you're doing stuff reminiscent of what you always think of the Atlanteans as having done. 

That is why I appreciate your work.  I think you're tapping into something that is the next generation of human technology, so long as we last long enough to see it and can get over ourselves a bit. 

Very true.  That's why, when you see and astrologer they will often tell you more about the kind of energies that effect you during particular times and how you might best handle them.  As opposed to what your full personality profile is. 

I work with psychics, and I have to make natal charts (not by hand, I have software) for people who come get readings from our astrologer and she's told me many times that the time is very important because it determines the house you were born in and that can have a HUGE difference.  When I have to input someone's info and they don't have the time, the astrologer basically says forget the whole thing, she'll just write it out because the one the computer makes won't really be accurate enough to matter. 

I'm more interested in the AP Device.  I'm not particularly fluent in any of those subjects, but I am slightly familiar with all of them except electrical engineering.  The orgonite bit is interesting but I'm far more interested in some of these other things. 

It's kind of funny to me, because I've got a customer that I've been talking to a lot lately who is a pagan (specifically a druid) and we've been talking a lot about magickal practice.  I told him I see spellworking and all that jazz as an understanding of basic natural laws that extend beyond the 3rd density and the subsequent "technological" application of those principles.  So the spellworking would be the technological "device".  (this came out of Arthur C. Clarke saying that "any sufficiently advanced technology appears as magic")  So to me, the workings of shamans and witches and the like are more advanced in reality manipulation than the way modern technology is applied en mass.  But it seems like with the proper application there is much more advanced "magick" going on in the stuff you're doing.  I really appreciate what you work on.

Kurt,

I semi-recently was introduced to my first orgone generator.  A customer at my store had one and let me hold it and I could feel a rush of energy just from holding it and it felt like my feet were stuck to the ground.  Anyway, I work in a metaphysical shop and work with crystals every day and was thus intrigued by the potential for increasing their effective proximity without having to learn reiki or some other traditional system.  I read educate-yourself and learned a lot about making basic devices and was all fired up and ready to go do it but I got a little distracted when finding proper metal and resin seemed to be more difficult that I expected.  I subsequently moved on to develop my AP skills, which I suppose paid off because I finally projected. 

Anyway, I am still very curious about these kind of energy devices and I want to get onboard and start making this kind of stuff for myself.  I have a few questions though.  What is the relationship between the stuff you build (on your website) and AP?  Do you usually order your magnets and metals?  (I have no problem getting crystals)  I had trouble finding the right kind of resin too.  How do you recommend getting your supplies?  Also, do you need to have a fair knowledge of engineering or electronics to do this or will basic smarts, a little bit of clever, and a lot of interest be enough?

Sorry for the barrage, but it's very interesting to me that I was very close to starting to make my own basic generators (nothing with electricity or magnets) but then I stopped and started playing around on this forum again, had my first projection, and now I'm getting hit with this orgone generator (and similar things) stuff again.  It seems relevant somehow. 

I like your work very much. 

I've found that the faster I induce trance, the faster I get over the urge to roll-over.  I have experienced it when I'm trying to go to sleep but not when I'm trying to AP.

If this is the same experience I had, it's not REM, it's not even really the eyes.  It's the eyelids. 

I've never really felt it but i know where you heard about it.  From the lucidology guy.  His youtube links were posted here a while back.  Nick Newport, that's his name.

1.Night or morning?

2.Age is a factor?

3.Current emotion yeilds success or failure?

4.Can't project if you're covered in a blanket?

5.Negative emotion attracts negative beings that'll block you from projecting.

6.Achieving AP takes an hour.

7.You have to lay down with palms facing up.

1. I have my best results in the afternoon around nap time (i.e. 2-4pm).  It's said that the morning, right after waking, is easiest because your body is already fully relaxed and your consciousness is already close to sleep.  However, some people have trouble here because they fall back asleep.  I've also heard before that projecting consciously at night (when you get in bed to go to sleep) is difficult because your serotonin is lowest at that point and these neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine facilitate OBEs.  It would also make sense that it would be harder to stay awake through the projection attempt at night because your levels of melatonin are at their highest, which makes it harder to maintain consciousness when your body is getting all these sleep signals.

2. I don't see why age would matter much.  Perhaps older people (and by that I mean like 70+) could have trouble if they don't have full mental faculties.  Even so, if it was an older person who had been doing it their whole life they could probably still handle it.  Aside from physiological differences (hormones, neurotransmitters, clarity, etc.) age shouldn't matter.  If I had to say one way or the other I would say that kids are more able to start projecting because as we get older we seem to drift away from the magickal and lose our connection to the unseen.  We can intellectualize metaphysics, but kids can much more easily feel metaphysics.  In that case, it may be harder for an adult to learn AP, but once the skill is learned there should be no difference.  Perhaps the meaning you derive from an AP experience is greater when you're older and can put it in more perspective for your life.

3. Emotion plays a huge role in my opinion.  When you're actually trying to project you should suspend all emotion.  When you get emotional you get to involved in the process and that inhibits your success.  However, I wouldn't say that the actual emotion makes a difference per se.  That happy means success and sad means failure.  But if you have a defeated attitude you may not be very successful.  

4.  I have never projected without a blanket.  When you project your metabolism drops and you get cold.  That can jerk you out of a projection.  

5.  Negative emotional energy attracts lower energy beings, but "negative" beings aren't bad, they just operate from a different perspective.  I don't know that any being can actually stop you from projecting by their efforts alone.  However, they could spook you into stopping it yourself.  I've never had any encounters like that though.

6.  The whole process takes me 1 & 1/2 HR on average.  From when I lay down to when I come back to my body.  However, most of that time flies by because I'm in such a deep trance.  it usually feels like 20 minutes at the most.  Some people can project within 15 minutes.  The more you practice the faster you will be able to exit.  Though there is something to be said for spending a lot of time raising energy and inducing trance.  It can help you project easier and sustain longer projections.

7.  I always lay on my back with palms facing down.  The position is irrelevant.  Some positions may be easier, but there is no right way.  I've known people to project while laying on their stomach with their legs twisted every which way, arms behind the back, head cocked to the side.  It doesn't really matter.  it's whatever position is easiest for YOU!


Have you tried to project yet?  Or are you getting questions out of the way before you try?  Because if you haven't tried yet, I imagine you ought to before you start worrying about all these details.  The details might distract you when it comes down to it.  

There is some ontological theory that says that rather than existing primarily in any one "dimension", we exist simultaneously in all dimensions at some level of consciousness.  So we don't "leave" our bodies, just shift perspective.  Chances are they do the same. 

But since we're on this topic I gotta ask, who they hell is talking to the greys like they're buddies.  Everything I've ever read or learned about the greys says that they are malevolent beings who feed on lower vibrational energy.  Granted I read a lot of conspiracy research, but still.  What I've learned is that they are subordinate to the Annunaki but still in league with them.  Perhaps if anyone is learning from them they ought to double check to make sure they're legit. 

I don't know.  I'm not talking to any other dimensional or other planetary beings, so I don't know what the experience some people are having is like.  Perhaps they have met some genuine beings.  I don't know.  So, don't take offense from my statement because i don't mean it to be.  Just saying.

There are a lot of OBEs methods out there and I've tried a lot of them.  But one of the things that I have noticed as I've tried different things is what the technique/method is really trying to do.  Here's what I mean...

The RB Rope Technique is an "indirect" method of shifting your attention outside of your body.  It's also a way to achieve a single-minded focus.  That's why RB does the awareness body stuff, it's so engaging to the mind that single-minded focus becomes easier. 

Robert Peterson spends a lot of time talking about "Swaying the Astral Body".  Essentially he's having us loosen our energy body, but I also think that what's happening in energy body loosening is kind of like a full body energy circuit.  (Not the one where you store energy in your abdomen, but rather when you just go feet to head, feet to head)  I think it's basically doing energy work.

I have cried the praise of Robert Peterson's Q-Mind (my nomenclature, not his; he calls it the quiescent state of mind).  The method most often recommended by him is to focus on the ringing sound in your years.  This is not an exit method, but a way to still the mind.  Again, this helps to create the perfect condition in your mind, that of single-minded focus.  He then recommends a method of visualizing a cube in front of your head that moves toward and away from you and ultimately generates a type of gravitational pull that pulls you when it come toward you and pushes you away when it moves away from you.  These two processes are combined in RB's Rope Method.  Single-Minded focus and focus of attention outside the body.

Does it make sense?  What have you all discovered about the mechanics behind all of these techniques we use?  For the longest time I thought that I was actually pulling my astral body out.  Now I think that I was just using the point-shift method in a novel and creative way.  Share the underlying mechanisms behind the techniques you know.  How do we REALLY achieve OBEs?

I like what omcasey said and I think it's good advice pyro.  I'm 24 now and I got into metaphysics when I was about 15 or 16 so I'm going on a decade of dealing with my parents (mom in particular) and how they react to what I do.  Let me share my experience to validate and give you a proper example of what omcasey is talking about. 

When I was 16 and started learning more about psychology and my interest in human behavior and philosophy increased, I could see a lot of flaws in modern culture.  I could see through a lot of the nonsense that was being pushed on me and it made me arrogant.  Not only was I smarter than most of the other 10th graders, but I was smarter than most of the adults I was around.  However, I didn't have the experiences that gave me a credible understanding of my situation.  What that means is that I went around showing off my knowledge, running my mouth all the time about Mayans this, conspiracy that, meditation this, materialism that, etc. etc. etc.  Needless to say, it ticked people off.  I thought I was big sh*t.  Granted, I understood reality from a bigger picture already, but I couldn't relate it to my experience yet.

So, after a lot of resistance, I reassessed my position.  What I learned wasn't that I was wrong, but that I was just slamming people with something they didn't understand and I didn't understand how to relate it to them.  After years of study, and more importantly after years of SOLIDIFYING/CRYSTALLIZING MY REALITY and understanding what that meant to me, I "came into my own" as they say.  Once I understood myself more (which comes through dedicated practice, whatever that may be for you) I could more easily and accurately (and confidently) articulate what I was interested in. 

Now, I can express to my mom what I'm doing in a way that she understands and approves of.  For example, I tell her that my trance work is essentially deep prayer.  I've actually taught her trance work and told her I was teaching her how to achieve a level of prayer that was more accurately prayer than what she does at night kneeling by her bed is.  This may not help you if your mom isn't religious, but usually that's the case when they ask if it's "evil".  If she just said it was fake then her religion of choice would just be science.  Since she dropped both bombs, I would say she's a scientific christian (or some other Judeo-Christian).  She's got the superstition of religion, (no offense meant, truly.  I say it as a matter of fact, not with any kind of bias.  Benign) but the skepticism of science.  This is the profile of most Westerners these days (though our metaphysically inclined type is growing).  So, for energy work, I told my mom that what I was learning to do was more fully align myself with the will of God.  Which, when you consider the way Christians and the like define God, that's not too far off.  They believe in the power of God, but they will often see it as more of a psychological thing and less of a literal energetic thing.  Nevertheless, I told her that I was learning to embrace the "power of God" in my life, so that I could more easily live a spiritual lifestyle in my day to day life.  And that is entirely true, when you increase your energy your perception of reality changes. 

Now that I'm a little older it is easier for me to express what I'm doing as a function of what other people believe.  People are scared of stuff they don't understand, and more importantly they are scared of things their God (be it Yahweh or the Scientific Method) don't approve of.  Since I have expanded my understanding of what I do and how that relates to other beliefs, I have a more "universal" comprehension.  I can see the equivalent of what I do in other traditions and can relate it as such. 

Just stick to it.  Keep talking to her, but try to relate it to something that is more comfortable to her.  Don't lie to her.  It may seem harmless but it hurts you in the end.  Either it will bite you somehow in the future or it will effect your conscience.  Trust me on that.  You can find a way to connect with her.  If she's more about science then tell her that it's a psychological practice to study the deeper parts of your psyche so that you can more fully understand who you are and why you behave how you do.  That is also the truth.  You can do it, just think about how what you do is like what she does.  It works I promise.

You present a good issue that I think i'm going to post a whole new topic about.

I just posted about this in the topic "The Resurrection of Robert Bruce".  WHen I get out I usually fall asleep a few times and wake up a few times (lightly of course) and it's at this point when I wake up that I feel the vibrations and exit.  I don't know if it's because I'm teetering so much on the edge of sleep or what, but the vibrations aren't very intense at all.  Though when I do intensify the vibrations they reach a point where it kind of starts to tickle down to the bone.  The first couple of times it was so intense that I almost had to quit.  But I've found that once I start the increase of vibration intensity there seems to be a threshold where once that point is crossed I don't have to hold my state of mind so delicately.  I just let go and the process works out on its own.  Keep it up.