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I read in Astral Projection and the Nature of Our Reality that when we AP, it is not an actual 'body' leaving our physical body as many think. It's just that your primary consciousness is being shifted or "projected" to another dimension.  Implying that our brain does in fact exist in all realms simultaneously, but the realm that you are "in" depends solely on which one has your attention at the time.  Pulling information from Astral Dynamics, it is possible to have your attention in multiple dimensions at one time, which explains the sense of duality that some projectors have, i.e. having 2 totally unrelated set of memories and experiences for a single time period.

So in my opinion (which is largely shaped by the materials that I read/things that I study) there are no separate "bodies" there are only separate levels of consciousness.  Astral Projection is simply the projection of your awareness to a dimension other than the one you are "native to".

There is a pawn shop near my house with a sign outside in the parking lot that reads "How are those 72 virgins working out for you, Bin Laden?"

Lulz.

I have no doubts that these items *can* work, but it is not necessary to pay $250 for them.  If you believe in something strongly enough, that's all it takes to make it effective for you.  Anyone can make a lucid dreaming/astral projection amulet.  Make it out of wood and toilet paper for all it matters.  Just believing that it will work will power it well enough.

Did they just refer to rogue scraps of feces as "an escapee"? Lololol

Well, I didn't have any breathing problems last night which was a first in a few weeks.  Hooray.  I instead woke up with agonizing pain in my teeth as though someone drove a nail into my gums.  I sat straight up in bed and immediately tasted blood and felt as thought I was missing a few teeth.  After I woke up a little more, I realized there was no pain, and that all my teeth were fine, and nothing was bleeding.  I don't remember what I was dreaming that might have caused this.

Later into the night I woke up in 0 gravity mode.  My arms were floating up above the bed by a few inches and I couldn't control them.  I felt tingly like when a body part falls asleep and you have to squeeze and rub it to get the blood flow back, but without discomfort.  When I looked at my arms, I was certain it was my actual physical arms, but I don't know why they would be floating about.  I thought "Oh I get it!  Astral projection! Weee!"  I tried a few exit techniques but nothing seemed to work.  I don't remember anything after that.

Why are these kind of things so expensive. Lucid dreaming masks are like 250 dollars, for what? Blinking LED lights, thats all they are, electronically simple.

Everything on that page seems overly expensive to me. bleh

The value of any product is not the sum of it's parts but rather what the market will pay for the intended result.  Example:  a Coach purse is worth about $60 in leather and thread.  The price tag reads nearly 10 times that amount, and people pay it gladly for the opportunity for others to see them with a $600 purse.

"Escaping reality" is a disgustingly profitable market.  People pay thousands of dollars a month for drugs and alcohol.   A blinking light soldered to a pair of sunglasses costs $5 to make, but the perceived promised result is priceless.

o.o

NONSENSE!

But on a more serious note I think both of your replies hold some merit.

@ Pauli, I like your theory the best and hope that that is the case.  That would indicate that there is some level of chakra activity going on that I don't have to do a whole lot of work for

@ Summer, I don't usually suffer from panic attacks so I don't really think that I would be subconsciously having any, especially at a time when I'm working towards a goal that excited the hell out of me (in a good way).  It does only occur when I wake in the middle of the night and realize that my mental state is ideal for OBEs.  And fortunately there is no head injury (that I know of )!  I do think that your thoughts on breath control may hold some merit.  I do sometimes feel as though the simple act of breathing is a disruptive physical activity.  Sometimes when I am trying to listen really carefully or concentrate on something, I find after a moment that I have been holding my breath, so that could be the cause right there. 

Thanks for both of your ideas!  This is pretty helpful.  Now I just need to figure out how to reverse a lifetime of regarding breathing as a disruptive occurrence.

Very thoughtful reply, Fourth, and thank you!

I get discouraged easily, which is probably another thing that needs 'reprogramming'

I started a dream journal a few weeks ago and it still only has one entry in it.  Since I've started paying more attention to dream recall, I have lost the ability to remember any of them.  Occasionally, during the day, I'll remember bits and pieces, i.e. when I see my teeth in the mirror I will remember looking at my teeth in a dream, but not enough to warrant an entire journal entry I don't believe.

I agree that keeping a journal not only for dreams, but any astral whatnottery, is imperative, if not for the sake of strengthening related abilities, then at least for the pleasure of documenting your spiritual growth (possibly for lolz at a later time).

So for the past week or so, I've been having a pretty serious little problem.  I go to sleep like I normally would, not attempting anything special, just sleep.  I wake up several times within the first 2 hours of falling asleep so I prefer to use those periods for attempts/exercises/etc. But here is what happens (in the real-time space of about 1 second):  I am sleeping > I wake up just enough to be consciously aware but not actually being fully awake > realize that I'm in the perfect mental state to try something > realize I can't breathe/haven't been breathing > Experience a sensation like I'm suffocating/drowning > become violently afraid of impending death > wake wide-the-f*-up > am sorely disappointed by another missed opportunity, also panting heavily.

My question is if anyone else experiences vivid feelings of suffocation or drowning when balancing between wake and sleep, and if anyone has any thoughts or ideas on how I can better understand whats happening and correct it?

I just started reading Astral Dynamics last night and Robert Bruce mentioned something along the lines of the physical body experiencing elevated heart rates and other physical symptoms while attempting conscious projection.  That's all fine and well, except that MY physical symptoms result in my subconscious preparing to fight for it's (my?) life, thereby ruining my progress.

Just thought I'd chime in and add another penny to the "OMG I GET THIS TOO" jar.  Any attempt at any act that I consider to be physically violent is just a complete waste of time in dreams.  I find that when I try to punch or kick someone/thing it's as if I'm just reaching my arm forward to touch it lightly.  The whole swing + impact is so light and ineffectual it's almost an affectionate gesture, lol.  I do however recall having one dream when I was in high school where I punched a kid in the face.  It was so raw and powerful; felt amazing. It was the dream equivalent to me (all 105 lbs of me, so, not very strong) punching an egg with all my strength in waking life.  Bones shattered, blood sprayed, etc.

Good times...

Yikes, and thanks for your thoughts Jarrod.  It does seem like I have a lot of calming down to do.

Sexual imagery is typically what I use as the center of my visualizations, which is probably the most counterproductive thing I can do.  It seems that even when I try to imagine something more innocent, it tends to spiral out of control into something more 'sinister' >.< 

Maybe I should move away from procedures that require visualization at all?  Hmm...

Thanks so much Xanth and NoY

Hello, Astral Pulse!

**** NOTE:  This is a very long post so I don't expect that anyone should read it through, and of course I don't expect anyone to come along and answer all of my problems!  I would just like some input from some of you more enlightened people Since this is my first post here I thought that the introductory forum was the best place to put it, however it does contain a lot of stuff other than introduction so if it needs to be moved I won't be offended ****

I stumbled upon this forum a few nights ago on my phone while laying in bed.  I've been lurking ever since, but decided it was time to dive in and soak up some of your guys' infinite knowledge first hand. 

When I was about 13 or 14, I discovered astral projection and other psychical phenomena and was completely stricken with utter amazement.  The only thing I could think about for months, even years was the unhindered ability to explore, have questions answered, learn, grow, etc.  I did all the research into the matter that I could, and practiced all the techniques I could find with an almost obsessive attitude. Never an ounce of luck.

Then 2 things happened:

One night, I 'dreamed' I was floating just above the rooftop of the house I grew up in.  I was holding my cat in my arms.  I though "This is it!  I'm free!  I can go anywhere now..."  I looked over to a distant part of the city from my ethereal perch and though "I should go visit my boyfriend!"  Then I suddenly dropped my cat and watched in horror as it fell to the Earth.  When it hit the street, I woke up.

On a separate occasion, I fell soundly asleep one night with the thought of astral travel vaguely lingering in the back of my mind.  At some point in the night, I woke up and when I opened my eyes, I found that the ceiling of my bedroom was no further than 3 to 4 inches in front of my face and a sick, heavy feeling of suspension.  I immediately felt nauseated and afraid and started to reach back for my bed.  With the force of 100 car wrecks, I was slammed back into bed and extreme nausea overtook me.  I scrambled out of my room and down the hall, diving towards the toilet in just enough time to vomit rather heavily into it.

After that, it seems that no amount of practice, exercise, research or any of that does any good.  I eventually gave up and only recently rekindled my desperate amazement with the astral.  I feel absolutely no fear when I practice, just extreme excitement and curiosity.  But still it seems that no amount of anything yields any results. 

I have been using a tricky method to explore the states between awake and asleep by tapping my finger while I fall asleep.  I suddenly realize that I am not tapping my finger anymore, and it's weird because that realization comes to me before the realization hat I have fallen asleep and woken back up.  It's as if my mind resumes focus on the activity I've tasked myself with rather than paying attention to the sleep states.  I use this small window of time to begin deep, engulfing visualizations in an effort to entertain my imagination while my body falls back asleep (while tapping my finger), but it seems that my powers of visualization are compromised.  I can only imagine things very vaguely, and my mind is very aggressive about ending my visualizations.  I find that the more detail I am able to muster, the harder it becomes to maintain, and that my mind will just black out and make it VERY difficult for me to return to the visualization.  The only way I am able to delay the breaking of my visualizations is to touch something, but even then it's only a matter of time before I black out and have to work very hard to get it back.

A few nights ago, I imagined myself wandering outside my house near where my car and truck are parked.  It was more vivid than I am used to (perhaps because of the location's close proximity to my physical location?), but still it kept fading a way.  I found that if I placed my hands on my car, I could maintain the visualization for longer, so I proceeded to wander around outside while keeping my hands firmly planted on my car, and only moving away from my car when I had something else to touch.  The visualization was completely uninfluenced by my creativity, and everything I saw out there was exactly as it would have been if I had physically walked outside and looked around.

I am also very sexually supercharged, and find that the visualizations that I can create in the greatest detail and hold for the longest are very strongly sexual in nature.

I guess I could go on typing for days but these things that I have presented here hold my most immediate curiosity.  I guess a part of me knows that I should take a step back and try other things like energy exercises, thought control, etc before trying to all out "leave" my body, but I just haven't the slightest idea where to start.

But the main thing I hope any reader takes away from this long and cumbersome post is that I'm Pharoah, and I'm very glad to meet you all and look forward to an enlightening experience here at AP!

<3