Messages

I can relax with it and be one with it at that point, like my awareness is there with it in that space, but I can't seem to let it expand. It just feels like it wants to, like I'm on the cusp of something, like every part of me screams to just be free. My heavy, numb physical body feels like an anchor, and I just can't seem to shed it and expand and be free. Any thoughts on how to let that progress? I imagine it's some tactile sensation equivalent of the visual phasing approach and that expansion is moving into an F12 or even F21 state of awareness. But I can't seem to get that switch to occur.

Like the others said, "That is exactly where you want to be". You are doing fine! 

To further help you I need to know, "are you looking for a "exit", as in a OBE? Phasing doesn't normally lead to a OBE (Out of Body Experience), as in the meaning of that term. Very rarely do I actually feel any kind of physical exit while I Phase. I do feel "etheric motion" though. I use that "etheric motion" to propel my myself deeper into the process at hand.

When ! was new, I listened to a Gateway walkthrough on youtube. I never really fully understood the levels. I have targeted Doorways with the Focus levels just to see what is there. I had a easier time understanding Frank Kepple's 4 Focus levels, (which you can find on this Forum in the Stickies). From there I formulated my own Focus levels. I brought it down to 3 easy to understand sections.
#1, Physical focus: I just started my session and am closing my eyes to the blackness behind them. At this point, I can feel my body and especially the direction of my physical eyes.
#2 Almost there: This is when I am starting to feel depth. the blackness is taking on more a flat screen design and once in awhile I see very brief Hypnagogic Imagery. I have lost feeling of my body though, especially because I am not focused on it, lol. Then something happens and I reach the next Focus level. This something could be a drop in the eyes, the "exploding head syndrome", a bright light or just a message (from who, I don't know)  that I am almost "there". Many times while using my techniques in my Doorway thread, I will just all of a sudden realize that the shift is about to or has already occurred and that now it is time to move on and explore.
#3 There: Success. I have crossed the veil/border and now am experiencing the expanse that lies beyond it. If I wish, this is the chance to see a direct intent. Any imagery will normally blossom to become a full blown experience or I can just bask in the expanse and "be".

Get in the mindset of seeing the darkness as a Cave/Hall/Cavern, etc.. Something that you can enter. You will find that that really pay off.  It's a mental conditioning of sorts! 

 Excellent reply EV! 

I was just logging in here to say that he should check out my Doorway thread because this exactly what I was talking about there. Teaching how to move forward into that "welcoming" darkness. I even describe the sensations that you are dealing with when you talk about "head or 3rd eye" pressure. I call it the "exploding head syndrome". It can get quite intense, but once you get past it, you are "there". You will find that you are no longer seeing, like with the eyes, you seem to be experiencing and are amid a vast expanse all around you.
Here is a link to my Doorway thread. You can read the whole thing if you wish. But it has become much more simplified in the last 3 pages or so. The first pages of the thread were basically all about technique. After that I went more into what to do when you found yourself "there", using my own experiences for reference.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/the_doorway-t46013.225.html

How do you proceed with the visuals in a way that allows Focus 10 to progress naturally to the Focus 12 state? This transition is really sticking it to me!

Welcome! I'm glad you stepped out of the shadows and decided to join us! 

Start your session with a mental affirmation stating that "you release your focus over your physical body". Then move into Focus 10. Next, allow your curiosity to draw you deeper into the purple haze. Many times I find that haze will begin to spin, kind of like a "Vortex". When you see it, keep your focus on it and only it. Remember, you already stated that you had released your focus over your physical body, so it should no longer be a issue. Only return your focus back to your physical body when you are ready to conclude the session.

Sitting back and "observing" like you are, without moving forward, shows that you haven't quite handled your "fear" yet. I go into "observer mode" when I first find myself in a actual full blown scene. It has nothing to do with fear though. I do that to fully take in what I am seeing before I engage it further.

Just know, all of this gets better with time and practice!  

Hey Folks,

Bored?
Got the doldrums?
Need something to clear your head?
Could you use a laugh or two or three?
A new idea, come creative enlightenment?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTvS9lvRxZ8

LOL. Someone had waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much time on their hands. I wish him well with his Creative Course teachings! 

So far I've only gotten past the "overload" 2 times. The first time (the one in my journal) lead to a calm silent blackness. The second time I didn't "go" anywhere but saw a golden yellow blob/field floating around in the dark like the wax mixture inside a lava lamp, at times it covered the entire field of view.

To me, both of those seem like invites to explore further. You had a number of options there, a couple of them being, stay where you were and bask in that calm silent darkness or move forward into it and see where that would lead. I mentioned above that I see that darkness as a Cave/Cavern/Hallway that is waiting to be explored. As I slowly move forward into it, I see little blips of light along the "walls". I then have a choice to move back and explore that little blip or continue to move forward and await a full blown scenario to appear. It may seem like this is time consuming, but it really isn't. A full blown scenario can reveal itself at any moment. The trick then is to allow your curiosity to drive you further into, while not totally losing your consciousness and falling asleep. I do that by keeping in the back of my mind what I am doing here. I know that I am Phasing or LDing at the time, but I keep that thought way in the back of my mind. To become too aware of that fact, seems to end the experience then and there. I have purposely aborted a experience because it was getting too deep with a lot of moving parts and I knew that I would likely lose my memory recall of it. So, I stopped so I could return and log what I had seen, learned or experienced. It really is a balancing act of sorts.

One trick I have used to keep that memory is to build a mental compartment of sorts. This is a place that I number and put the events or teachings of the experience in so that I bring that recall back with me and access it after my Phase session. This compartment seems to be just another one of the many Doorways that can be accessed there. Examples of this. While in a experience I halt it for a minute and visualize a door/room with the number, let's say, #78 written on it. While back in the physical and wanting to mentally revive that memory, I close my eyes and access that Doorway. I was taught that little trick in the NPR a few years back.

 Last night I logged in here to the Astral Pulse Forums and went right to the "User's online" section of the Forum to get some good reading material. You will always find some Member or Guest reading some of the many interesting threads of the past here. This Guest was looking at book review of Robert Peterson's. I haven't been to Robert's website for years, so I clicked on the link and it led me to Robert's book reviews of all the many books on OBEs, Astral Projections and Lucid Dreaming he has reviewed through the years. Robert's view has always been that they are all separate entities. That's the way he perceives it and that's fine. Everyone is allowed to have and form their own opinion.

There I came across a new book by a couple of fun loving, like-minded, good natured ladies named Barbara Mango and Lynn Miller. Robert gave their book a 4/5 and had a great write-up review on it. You can find that review at Robert's website here:
https://obeoutlook.blogspot.com/2021/04/convergence.html

After I read the review, I did what I normally do and I googled the book and the names of the Authors. I came across their website, but was looking for video interviews with them, which is what many Authors do these days. Sure enough I came across a recent Podcast they did a few days ago. The quality of the Podcast was not the best and the Host was kind of "awkward" in his attempts at jocularity. But you could see he had a good heart and also good intuition because the two ladies, Barbara and Lynn, really knocked it out of the park. I nodded in agreement so much that today my neck is stiff, lol!   Here is a link to that interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av--t-coNG8&t=17s

It seems their book is more targeted at the more skeptical Professionals, like the Medical and Psychiatric communities. It is not based on "application" or "technique". It's not a "how to" book. It's based on research that has been done on the the subjects at hand. They delve into OBEs, Astral Projection, Spontaneous Healing, NDEs, UAPs, formerly known as UFOs and what I thought was fascinating, the talk of the "Anamalously Sensitive Person". The ASPs as they call it are people like us here on the this Forum that share the same traits, per se.
Here is a link to their website as well. I do not know these ladies personally, neither am I getting paid to say anything here. I just thought they deserved the kudos and respect for such a well done job.
https://www.extraordinaryexperiences.org/

Now that I am done with that, it's on to today's Phase session. I did what I do, my daily rituals and primed the pump then moved onto just noticing. I did not use any visuals at all. My sole intent was to  "observe" the process at hand. I did not put my focus on my eyes. But I found that just looking into the darkness and noticing actually had me more aware of my eyes then I wanted to be. At this point I seemed to still be "looking". I then felt my eyes drooping lower, but then a blink of light occurred (hypnagogic imagery) and my eyes went back to chasing it again. This happened a few more times, then I aborted the session for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes of just looking at the tiled wall of the bathtub area I close my eyes and restarted the session. This time I used imagery. I began with a simple "Yo-Yo". Just watching it go up and down. Soon I changed to tossing a Frisbee. After about the 3rd toss, I found myself on a beautiful beach loaded with people. The water was that beautiful Aqua color and the beach sand solid white. The people or "Beings" seemed to be of a "cartoon kind of look". They weren't fully cartoon, like Technicolor. They seemed to be somewhere in between. They were having a great time on the beach though. They were playing all kinds of games. I then started being more aware of the my surroundings, like a 360 degree point of view. I did that to ground myself there, since I felt my awareness fading. I stayed with this scenario as long as I could and when I returned back to my physical focus I found myself somewhat "energized" by the entire experience.

What did I learn during this? I learned that I am still not a fan of just "noticing" the darkness itself. I need to fire things up to get things going. While firing things up, the natural shift is occurring. I also noticed more about that eye thing. I had a few times where my physical eyes and my "Mind's eye" seemed to be split. I could sense both of them at the same time. It was very strange and as usual, hard to describe.

 Just curious Bob, what do you experience after you have that "system overload"? I ask that because you sound like you are ready to learn more about the Doorways that await you there. If that is the case, we can proceed with that conversation here.

Just out of curiosity, do you also experience a series of small "overloads" leading up to the "big one" ?

While in my Phase soak session that "overload" goes from 0 - 60 in about 10 seconds. The only time it is a series of smaller overloads is if I interrupt the process or have to abort because of the intensity. Then it's like a game of cat and mouse, where I seem to be "teetering" on the borderline.

Lumaza, this is what's yelling at me right now and I am grateful you are persistent with your guidance!
"By my act of will, I release my focus over my physical body."

That is beautiful! I hope I can do the same. 

It's so simple, But it does work. If you are having problems visualizing, use William Buhlman's command of "Clarity now". That works in Phasing as well! That command shows strong intent! 

 Today's Phase soak session seemed to once again focus on the "physical eyes" and their direction

The session began the same with me mentally stating "By my act of will, I release my focus over my physical body". I use the exact opener every single night when I go to sleep. At bedtime though, I also mentally affirm that I am consciously aware in my "sleep", knowing I am "asleep". I used to use the word Dream. I still use that here on this Forum, but I am not convinced that all that we experience in our nocturnal sleep is all just a Dream or should I say "in the head". I believe, as I have been shown, that the beginning stages are in the head. As you get deeper though, that seems to change.

Next, I went into my mental stated Healing Mantra, then just began noticing. First I noticed I noticed that I was "looking". I could feel my physical eyes still moving around. I then went into the mental zone and began thinking about the eyes a bit further. Next thing I knew, I wasn't looking anymore. Now I was experiencing the "expanse". That seems to be the best way to describe it. It seems like your vision has not only taken on a new depth, but also a expanse as well. At that point there is no longer to "look" any further. Right now, there are no physical eyes.

Then the NP tutoring began. A few people have asked me, "when I get the "tutoring", is it spoken? How does it come through? What I see, is that it begins with "observing". I would just be observing the expansive darkness and then thoughts not created by me would begin to appear. I say not created by me because at the time, the only thing I am focused on is observing. At that time, I can ask mentally questions and many times the questions begin to be answered before I can fully get them out. I guess the only way to explain it is saying that they are "Telepathic in nature".

So, back to the tutoring session, I am shown that what I said earlier in this thread about "memory" having it's own location was true and that if someone wants to experience the expanse, that they can do this simple exercise.
Close your eyes, Do what ever opening ritual that you do, whether that be a brief progressive relaxation exercise or whatever you do to "prime your pump" for a few minutes to unwind. Now just be aware of the darkness before your closed eyes. Are you looking and chasing it? At this point you normally would be.

Now I want to put all of your focus into thinking back to what you did last Monday. Start with when you woke up in the morning and what you did during the day. At least what you can remember. Use whatever method of remembering is normal to you. You can remember the visual, you can remember the emotion, even the tactile feel of it. Normally when i remember back I will see a visual representation of the experience. So much so that I may see me in 3rd person view there as well. Once you have worked through Monday, go to Tuesday and continue all the way to Friday. Do not take any breaks between the days or events. Do not put your focus back on your physical body. Stay the course here.

As soon as you hit Friday, slowly become aware again of the darkness before your eyes. Has it changed? Is there depth or expanse to it? If there is, you are well on your way to achieving a shift in consciousness while fully aware of it. You may feel some kind of "system overload" approaching. I used to call it the "exploding head syndrome". It is extremely intense, but very brief. Once you get through that, you are ready to move down the hall or Cave in front of you and open some Doorways,. They are everywhere upon that path. I experience that weird system overload often in my Phase sessions. It makes me think that I crossed some kind of "veil" or "border point". That's at least the way I personally perceive it. With you, it may be something completely different. But you will "know" when it happens.

When I was shown this technique today, as I finished up on the focus of Friday, I felt that my physical eyes were turned upwards and to the right. I take it that that is what happens when we utilize the memory compartment of our brain. I was then aware as they slowly fell until they were looking or had dropped downwards and that's when all that was left was a expanded field of semi-darkness right in front of me. There seemed to be a glowing wall of white ahead There is way to tell if you are "there". Once you become aware of this expanded field of darkness or as I see many times, not so dark area, you can slowly shift your awareness to the left/right/front/back/up or down. Find what direction seems to respond to what are doing and go explore it.

Do this for a few days and report back with your findings. I am sure this will create more questions. Everything I experience in the NPR creates more questions! 

On the visuals I have found the very best way (for me at least) is to find out what my eyes want to do on their own and go with that. I find my eyes (eyeballs that is) naturally tend to drift downwards and slightly to the left as my body relaxes. So once my eyes have settled into their own most natural relaxed state I let them stay there. I know some say look upward toward the third eye, that actually makes my eyes hurt a great deal so then not only am I trying to focus I'm also trying to ignore the discomfort so I find it best to go with whatever positioning my eyes choose.

A few days ago, while in a Phase soak session, a few minutes after I did my Healing Mantra and began to just "notice", I felt my physical eyes actually sink down. I have not experienced that sensation so strongly in the past. I was very apparent this time. It was like they just fell down and "clunked". That's how "heavy" it felt.

As far as all those bodily distractions I find it best to just do what I need to do and with as little fuss as possible. If I itch I scratch, if I sneeze I wipe, bathroom no problem, I just get up and go without creating more disturbance than necessary. It's easier doing this as it allows you to fall right back into where you need to be if you aren't constantly fighting your own body.

Ditto. Nowadays, I fix whatever issue it is and stay the course! It's really a miniscule interruption and if you don't think it will hinder your progress, it won't!  

But first and foremost always always always let it be known that you will only accept guidance from your highest intuition (God/guides/masters - whoever) with your best interest at heart. The last thing you want is to be led around the mulberry bush by a jokester or someone who absolutely cannot do anything for you. In short be careful WHO you give authority to. (That's a discussion for a different thread).

I trust quite a bit. But, if the info doesn't "feel" right, I don't listen to it. I need to know that even a seemingly negative action, will still have positive results. Example of this" Directing "tough Love" when you know it's for the better good of the person, group and or situation involved. Sometimes you have to step in. This is very apparent in "Retrievals". You do what is necessary to help, but you can not make the decision for the Soul at hand.

I just let the new experiences come, on the hope that eventually, one day, things will start to make sense!

You are not alone in this. We need to always trust that we will "know" what it is we need to know, when we need to know it! 

You're definitely not Bat$hit crazy!! Appreciate all you've said in this thread.

You're so right that creating a "port" for "astral mode" can be very important and helpful. You're describing making a ritual, so I'd like to share some things I've learned through my shamanism courses, picking a few that I think are relevant.

1) The Container - you start by creating a sacred space that will "contain" the practice, demarcate that here and now we are doing this special thing, i.e., it's "time", and keep you surrounded by good energy. You can do something to bless or clear the room/area if you want, you can incorporate special/sacred objects, you can do an invocation, calling in helping spirits - like Lumaza says, his container is the bath, his mantra, and the time of day. You may want to use crystals, a specific place (like a recliner) you may want to listen to certain music (even just before you start, to signal to you we're in "sacred" mode now!), "wake up" the space and its energies using a rattle, drumming, clapping, etc, create an altar with power objects, etc. Basically, how do you carve out/demarcate THIS special place and THIS special time? Imagine creating that space means surrounding your "area" with good energy on all sides, above and below you - bluish white, or gold, or whatever color works for you. What do you need to do to create that? Any of the above things could do that for you. Objects to represent the elements, the directions, a simple invocation and acknowledgement of your "workspace" -Whatever works for you.

2) Intention - clearly stating the goal or purpose of what you're doing. Can be very general/open-ended or specific.

Afterwards, 3) Grounding - after you come back, it can help to engage in a grounding practice - I remember that time that Lumaza said he got out of the bath too quickly and hadn't really "grounded" yet and got dizzy! This can also include acknowledgment of and commitment to what you've learned/received on your journey/projection, and writing out everything can be a good way to integrate/ground/acknowledge.

4) Dispersing - this is closing the ritual and the space. You dissolve the container you've created that you built at the beginning of the ritual. This may involve thanking your spirit guides, saying goodbye for now, bowing in the 4 directions to express gratitude, and in general dispersing the energies you've called in and created during your process.


The "after effects of images" suggestion is interesting - one way to create that for yourself without starting at a candle (not sure if that's good for the retinas!) is to take a white sheet of computer paper, and then cut a smaller square of black construction paper and glue/tape that in the center. So you have something of high contrast - black on white - or you can do the reverse, white on black! Stare at that for a while and you'll see the reverse image when you close your eyes. That is, if you do black on white, the image you see when you close your eyes will be the opposite: instead of dark on light, it will be light on dark. No bigs, that's just how our brains work, but the high contrast and strong shape are shoe-ins to make this happen. (I see after effects of things all the time without staring at them for long because I just have visual disturbances as part of my chronic illness, so I'm usually trying to *not* see those things! haha LOL)

Thank you for the share Grumpy. You have saved me from some typing, lol! I like your idea of the "Container". Robert Monroe used a box that you used to store all your pressing thoughts in so you would be "clear" to proceed. He called it a "Conversion Box".

Setting a intent is very important. Even mentally stating to be shown what you need to see and taught what you need to learn, then observing, is a intent.

Grounding definitely is important as well. It takes you awhile to get into a good NP state of being. You should spend some time walking yourself back as well. There is definitely a brain wave altering going on here. When we Dream and are in REM sleep there is a release of DMT from the Pineal Gland. I have a very strong feeling that during Phasing, there is a release of DMT as well.

Earlier in my own work, I did look into this "imprint/after effect" thing and began playing around with mental imagery mixing geometric shapes with colors. Example: A red square with a yellow triangle in it. After a while, I could change those mental images on the go or just observe as they morphed into whatever they wished to next. That's where "Mandalas" can be useful. They seem to have a habit of "rotating" or "spiraling" when I  focus on them.

I had frequented a few websites that spoke of all these kind of "mind tricks". I found there is a number of focus targets that actually have residual effects. Like for instance, slowly mentally running through the Alphabet and seeing how each letter had it's own mental association to go with it. That technique really helped when I was having problems visualizing. I would kind of "trick" the visual into appearing.

One of the things I continue to harp on is the importance I have found in introducing "motion" into your focus target. That is really what gets the ball rolling, literally and metaphorically!

One last thing. When I close my eyes and see/notice that darkness, I always view it as a dark hallway or cave like structure and what do you do when you come to the entrance to a cave or hallway? You proceed forward into it. That's another one of the many "tricks" that you can use to Phase. Like I always say, "change your mindset, changes your reality!  

Good stuff Lumaza!

Ah yes the excess saliva and the need to swallow, that was a big hurdle to overcome in the beginning for me. I guess it's like the 'don't think of a pink elephant' and all you can think about is a pink elephant LOL.

Ah, the Pink Elephant, don't get me started on that, lol!   Just kidding!  Thanks for the reply!  

Tried the noticing thing too, but that lead to my eyes moving and focusing every time something would appear, and as you say it gets boring quick.

At first it's the same as trying not to focus on the Pink Elephant. The more you focus on not moving your eyes, the more they move. This gets better in time too. You start to see that the physical eyes, as we know them, aren't necessary there. You open up to the entire scene, even getting into a 360% view of it all. When that happens if feels like some kind of profound expanse just occurred.

What works best for me now is "going to sleep" but staying awake. I mean when I go to bed I'm not focusing on looking at the back of the eyelids or focusing on the eyes at all, I'm just somewhere in my head/mind's eye drifting away. So I (try to) recreate that state while keeping a little focus on staying conscious, so far it's the most efficient way I've found and gets me to the hypnagogic imagery the fastest. Still struggling with actually phasing though, but it feels like I'm getting close

The problem I had with this is I stayed awake many nights because every time I closed my eyes, even to go to sleep, noticing would kick in whether I liked it or not. I couldn't turn it off. Sometimes you just want to go to sleep like normal. I had to learn to rewire that. Once I had made my own Astral port or mode that didn't happen again.
It sounds like it works for you though, so you have found your "niche"!   Now is the time to "perfect" it, as much as you can that is. But don't be surprised if you find that you are forced to find a new way. For some reason that seems to be part of the teachings. Just when you get comfortable with a certain technique you find yourself blocked and have to find a way around that block, that's if you you want to continue down this path.

 Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water, lol! For those of you that don't understand my meaning there, I call my Phase sessions, "Phase  soak sessions" because when I do them, I cram my body into my bathtub while quickly releasing my focus over my physical being.
I thought I was done posting in this thread for awhile, but the NP teachers seem to have a way to bring you back.

A few days back, I got into my tub, did my healing Mantra ritual and began just enjoying "being". But that didn't last for long. A ghostly image of apple appeared before my closed eyes. As fast as it appeared, it disappeared again, but then came back again even more vivid. Now I could see a colored, in this case red, outline of the apple. Once again it disappeared, then came back even stronger again. This really ramped my curiosity. Then the telepathic thought/question entered my mind, "did you see the bruise"? I thought, wow, where did that come from, but soon the apple revealed itself again and yes, there was a bruise on it. Now I could see though that a background was becoming evident. This appearing and disappearing went on for a while until I was in a full blown scenario. I then heard another telepathic thought that said, "this here is what you need to teach". "You need to help people understand more" and that much of what we teach seems to be taken for granted, in the sense that there is a expectation that everyone is on the same page. Which we are not.

When the session was done, I wrote a bunch of footnotes down so I wouldn't forget. I also pondered what was said. Lastly I was told just before the session ended that "I was once new to this practice as well". Now I understood the message.

My first OBEs were of the spontaneous Sleep Paralysis nature. I remember having times in my life where I thought I was just having a Dam, yet it seemed so real, as in, right in my physical bedroom. Then I had a 3 day OBEathon that left a impression. Not only on my mind, but a physical one as well. For some reason I had woken the 3rd morning with my right eye swollen almost shut. Then there were the 3 months of inner vibrations. That all led me to this Forum and practice here.

I became a sponge, trying to soak up all the info on the subject that I could. I soon came across a "Candle string" video on youtube and that night, I had my first fully conscious OBE. Even though my physical body was reclining in my chair, my "etheric body" seemed to be up and exploring my home.
After my first experience I kind of forgot what go me my first success. For some reason, I moved right in Phasing. I say for some reason, it must have had something to do with Frank Kepple's fantastic PDF sticky that can be found here on the Pulse.  I read the entire thing. I wanted to learn everything I could.

So, I ventured into noticing. I put on a long track Binaural Beat video, reclined in my Recliner and began what is known as "Noticing". I soon found that Noticing was boring, lol. I would sit in my chair for an hour to an hour and half just looking at the darkness there. I always read you are supposed to lose your focus on your physical body as well. Well I soon found that that is way easier to say than it is to do. The more I attempted to leave my physical focus, the more I focused on my physical body, lol. I was constantly in a one step forward two steps back cycle. I never realized that there were so many ways for you to keep physically focused while having your eyes shut. Everything interrupted me. Sometimes it was a itch. Other times a problem with excess saliva and the need to swallow all the time. Then it got to the point where I could even feel my skin and that was a hinderance.

It was hard to stay focused on "unfocusing", lol. I have read watch videos that showed many techniques to acquire a good non local state of consciousness. Not one of them though explained the things that would hinder or completely kill any success you were going to have. They just said, close your eyes and notice the darkness that you see there. Await for things to appear and so on. On the OBE side of things, they the books and videos said to wait until your body is vibrating, then climb out of it. That's fine and dandy for a person that has practiced for while, but for someone new to this, it didn't necessarily go into how to handle the hinderances of this practice.

I then realized it was time to find another way. So, when I sat in my Recliner to do a session, I first kind of memorized my immediate location. Where the walls were. The staircase, the kitchen, etc. I then closed my eyes and began visually reproducing what I had seen. For some reason, I then began pinballing my focus back and forth between my wall, the kitchen, stairs, doorway, basically everything in my vicinity. Then it happened, I was "out". No bells, no whistles, no saliva problem, itching, none of that. I was so busy focusing and pinballing my focus that I didn't even notice the shift was occurring. I say "out" because like many others, I still had a purely "physical body mindset". That soon changed though. That change came after a NP Mentor, in the form of my deceased Brother-in-law Charlie taught me some valuable NP things like depth perception and overall navigation in the NP realms. That soon enabled my ability or should I said led to me learning how to experience the NPR as purely a point of consciousness. That means that I would not experience any limitations at all. That was really useful while speeding in the side of a mountain, bracing for impact and having nothing bad happen. I just kept going through it.

I talk about "priming the pump" quite a bit. You can do it any way you wish to. When you are new, it's better to learn how to project from a similar spot, like the same chair, the same couch, etc. Do not attempt in bed. You sleep in your bed. Your mind knows that when you lie down, it's to go to sleep. That's why we have people here constantly saying, they started to notice and then fell asleep.
Now I am going to say something that you might think is bizarre, but stay with me here. If you are serious in learning how to "consciously shift", not just once to as a joyride, but are serious in "repeatability", like Lightbeam and I talked about above then you need to create a Astral Port" or "mode" of sorts. I am using the word port as it's used in a computer port. A input. You already have a mode to sleep and mode to be awake. We are going to add another to that. What do you do before you go to sleep? People will normally undress, brush their teeth, then close your eyes and go to sleep. How many years have you been doing that? Quite a few. Because of your nightly "ritual", your mind is already preparing for sleep before your head even hit the pillow. Now your "sleep mode" is engaged.

Then you wake up in the morning and what do you do? You get out of bed, use the bathroom, make a coffee, breakfast, etc, things that are showing that you are physically awake. Your 'brain waves" are responding to this too. You are fully in "awake mode".

So, for continued success in this practice, you need to somehow create your Astral mode or port. Something that you choose to do as preparation for your Phase session. Mine is the use of my bathtub and my Mantra. The time of my session plays into it as well. Before I even close my eyes to Phase a mental preparation of sorts has already started the Phasing process in motion. That's why it doesn't take the hour/hour and half that it used to. Now, it can be just a few minutes and I either feel the shift approaching or have already shifted. That mental prep has payed off in spades!

I started this Doorway thread because I wanted people to have something "proactive" to do while they awaited the shift to occur. Through the years that I posted in it, I have added all kinds of tips to it.

My goal in creating this new post here was to go more into the explanation behind the techniques that I use here. I stated earlier in this post how my first success came after a "candle staring" technique" I had used. Throughout this entire Forum I have constantly mentioned that. Very rarely do I hear a response on it though. It is a very good success and why did it work? I will say it in one word "imprint". It left something for me to focus on. Remember how I talked earlier here in this post about sitting for hours "noticing" the darkness before my closed eyes while fighting off every physical  distraction my body could muster. Well, while using the imprint of the candle as a focus immediately after I closed my eyes there was no distractions at all. I didn't need to imagine anything either. All I had to was close my eyes and that visual imprint was there. How many times have you got into a good movie at night with the lights off, then closed your eyes afterwards and a "imprint" of the framing of your TV is still there. It works with a computer screen as well. You didn't have to do anything. It was just there. But, it soon faded. That imprint was a great focus mechanism if you would have stayed with it. The only thing is, a imprint like a TV or computer screen can be very transparent. Whereas a candle flame, you see in full color. It's much easier to bring it back again.

I liked the thought of the imprint and that led me to creating things that I could "image/imagine" that I could bring back again and again. First I used a apple and simple geometric shapes. Then I messed around with colors. I noticed that geometric shapes were great. They seemed to create their own "automatic suggestions". In that I mean those shapes all had tons of mental associations attached to them. Soon I found that those simple shapes would morph into something new. As they were morphing, they were taking on "motion" as well. That showed me how valuable the use of a moving target would be. So, I began experimenting with a simple "Yo-Yo' imagery. Soon I changed to throwing Frisbees, shooting hoops" and one that became a real favorite of mine, a "child's toy top". I saw that focus being used in the movie "Inception" and found it a great morphing target.

At first when the focus targets began to morph, it was just a ghostly/outlined image. Next a background began to occur and soon a full blown scenario was there in front of me. It was amazing how quickly it grew. All of this beginning with a simple focus on a focal target of my choice.

You noticed how I haven't mentioned anything about a physical body in the last paragraphs above. That is because at the moment when I am locked in, to me, it is just "being". There is no physical body at that moment in time.

There are countless areas or should I say "layers" that you can experience there. Not all of them are based on a Human like physical focus. You can find yourself in areas of just pure thought and contemplation. You can find yourself in areas of darkness where your thoughts don't feel like yours anymore. That's a hard one to explain. But I know there are people here that understand what I just said.

It took me years to find my "niche". I used techniques from other people until I could finally create something personal. Recently I was talking to a friend and I mentioned that people can visualize, it's just they can't always visualize on demand. I said look at memory. When we remember a brief image normally accompanies said memory. He said, that's not necessarily true. When he remembers something, he senses the emotional feeling more than viewing a image. That's why I said above "find your niche". Take bits and pieces from other techniques and use them to create a personal plan. Experiment. Are you more "visual" or "tactile" focused? Find your strengths and weaknesses here. Everyone perceives things in a their own way. Our minds have their own ways of mentally associating" with things. Take a bird. Close your eyes and visualize a bird. Some people may choose a Eagle, others a Blue Bird, still others a Humming bird, etc.. Each one is a bird, but we chose the first one that came to mind. You see what I mean?

Once you can get into a good NP focus, we can move onto exploring and opening some of the many "doorways" that await us. I chose "Doorway" for the name of this thread because of what Doorways represent. Every time you pass through a doorway there is a new reality/visual waiting on the other side. Example of this. Pass through your bedroom door, you are now in the hallway. The hallway is not the bedroom and looks different. keep gong down the hall, now you walk into the kitchen. You may have had to enter that through a doorway/separation and it too looks different then bedroom or even the hall. Now leave the kitchen and go outside. Once you pass through that door everything has really changed. In a way, every doorway brought you to a new reality. That happens in the NPRs as well.

Okay, that's it for now. I think my fingers are going to fall off, lol!   Feel free to ask questions or share your views, even if it's to say "you are Batsht crazy Man!  

210513 (phasing sensation)
When practicing phasing up until now it's gone like this:

After 5-15 minutes the usual white/dark purple swirling patterns starts to appear, then some small white flashes in the
peripheral "vision". Eventually a big flash that turns everything white and one of two things happen: either I get "knocked
out" of the meditative state or I click out(fall asleep).

But this time was different. I finally managed to stay conscious through it while relaxed in a meditative state. As the white
faded away I felt a single pulse of tingling sensation running from head down to lower torso, kinda like a mix of the feeling
of getting the chills and the buzzing sensation of e.g. hands being asleep, but more rough and electric. Then total darkness
with some 3d feeling to it, tried to go from there but with no luck. Felt pretty good being in the darkness, total relaxation
and not a care in the world  

It sounds like you did indeed pass the veil/invisible barrier between here and there. I will be speaking more on this in depth in my Doorway thread later tonight. I love that "3D void" too. It is so peaceful.  It's a great place to contemplate life in general or you could just "be" and enjoy the silence. There is no "electrical" interference there at all.

 Before I continue down this path, I wish to use this post to respond to all of the replies that i received since my last post.

Thank You Tides, Nofarewell and Grumpy for your kind words.

Lightbeam, you got pretty deep in your reply, but that's what i wanted to hear. I want to open up conversations on those "layers". But first I wanted to help people get to the same page that we are currently on. That means going back to where it all started.

Those "happy moments" you speak of make you come back for more. Many people that have had NDE's or experienced other non local states of consciousness return back with those "happy moments" and it will normally have a profound effect on them. In the most positive ways though. They don't fear death anymore and because of that they can "live". Your statement "That KNOWING gives me great comfort going about my life and helps me live in the moment, to not be sad when things change and we seem to loose something or someone precious, or even never achieving what we desire here." shows that that is true. Your mindset seems to be altered.

EV, you said "A really insightful reply LB! What makes Lu's thread such a treasure for people to continually learn from, is also some of the comments it generates. " I agree 100% with both points there. Lightbeam's reply was very insightful and I always enjoy the fantastic comments by our fellow Members that are generated not only in this thread, but on the Astral Pulse Forums in general.  

i was going to add a whole new lengthy post here last night. But then I logged in and saw all these great replies, plus I talked to a very good friend that really made me ponder things again. So, I shall make that post tonight. Just as you are saying "gee, I wonder, lol". Well you wondered right. I keep saying I didn't want to write a book. I really don't like typing, lol. But when I finally gave in and updated my post above, some kind of "flood gates" of info/downloads began pouring in to me.  I will share that info later in my post tonight.

Thank you for all of your replies!  

It's a short 3 breath exercise. I wouldn't worry about it. None. Any. Perhaps it would be more helpful to release the  feeling you have to do it a particular way.

I would have answered the same way "none/any" just about sums it up!

 It has been quite a while since I updated this thread. Not that I haven't wanted to. But for some reason the timing didn't quite seem right. I have maintained my daily soak Phase almost every single day. I missed a couple of them due to life happening.

Lately, well, for about the past year, many of the Radio show interviews and interesting topics around have cycled around the talk of "consciousness". Even in the current UFO vernacular, where "They" come from is beginning to shift to more of a "portal/consciousness travelling" talk. In June, the Gov't is supposed to be releasing some kind of report on what the Gov't really knows about ET's. Don't get your hopes up, I won't. I know there are a a lot of things they won't reveal. But it seems like some in the Gov't believe that these Beings seem to be crossing dimensions to get here. Well, I have news for you, two can play at that game. We can do that too. We just have to "remember" how to do it again. That's where all the techniques on Astral Projection/Lucid Dreaming/OBEs/Phasing/Remote Viewing, whatever your fancy is, all those techniques have the same goal and come into play. That goal is being to achieve some form of non local state of consciousness. We just need to learn to hone down and target particular areas, portals, dimensions and or locations. Not once though. It's not like having a very brief experience and then it's gone forever.  We need to learn how to make it more of a stable environment to us.  To find some kind of "anchor" that gives us "repeatability".

I never did realize that their were other sources and factions that were indeed interested in this "repeatability" concept until recently when a good friend that is very knowledgeable in this field of study confirmed it for me. I had just seen after countless Phase soak sessions of my own and how many Doorways that i have opened, that it was really difficult to find those Doorways again. It seemed every Phase session led to some new experience instead of learning more about the previous experience from the day before. Even places like my "Happy Place" that I had frequented so many times for years now has become unattainable. New experiences have taken over and filled that void. The old ways seem to have served their purpose and now a new environment or "layer" seems to have taken over. This layer seems to be so much deeper. It feels like it actually leading to somewhere, something that I have never experienced as of yet.

I use the work "layer" above for the people that are still in the mindset that all of this is in the head or the brain. Even if you don't subscribe to the Astral idea, doing things like my Doorway technique and many other techniques will lead you to what you could only describe as layer of your self. Kind of like you are moving in towards your own personal "psyche".

Lately I have been studying up on Archaeoaccoustics. From Wiki:
"Archaeoacoustics is the use of acoustical study as a methodological approach within the field of archaeology. Archaeoacoustics examines the acoustics of archaeological sites and artifacts. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes archaeology, ethnomusicology, acoustics and digital modelling, and is part of the wider field of music archaeology, with a particular interest in prehistoric music."

it all makes perfect sense to me. The fact that they built their "Temples" to resonate at certain Frequencies shows just how advanced our Ancient Ancestors really were. They knew the benefits of frequency and sound. Recently I heard a interview with a Ancient Egypt Historian named David Elkington that was fascinating. They have been experimenting with sound and the sacred sites like the Pyramid at Giza. In their experiment they took a device/speaker into the Pyramid, then they set a Membrane up so they could watch it's interaction with certain frequencies of sound. They used a Membrane instead of using water crystals, like Dr. Emoto did in his own experiments with sound a vibration of water. So, they put the Membrane on top of the speaker and started the Schuman frequency. To their amazement, the sand design on the Membrane began to change into the appearance of Hieroglyphics. They did that same experiment at a known Archaeoaccoustic site there and now the sand design changed to the appearance of a Celtic symbol. For some reason, the designs seemed to be some how "linked" to that area. Irish/Celtic, Egypt/Hieroglyphics. You have to hear him describe it for himself. I heard the initial interview on Coast to Coast AM. The problem is their youtube channel won't play new videos interviews. You normally have to wait about 3 months until it comes on there. The Coast site makes you pay for repeats too. But, I did find a video interview that David was on and just happened to be by the same host from Coast to Coast Am. It was on his own show though. But it almost the same as the Coast AM version. So, for those that wish to hear it, enjoy! 
http://conspiracy-unlimited.libsyn.com/558-the-ancient-language-of-sacred-sound

Why did I tell you all of that stuff? I told you it because I wanted to show you that "consciousness" has become an "acceptable" hot topic. In the coming months, it will even become hotter and get more people interested and we know the more people that notice it, the more people will begin searching for conversations and even ways to achieve a non local state of consciousness for themselves. Hopefully that will lead to their own "sneak peek" and we will see where it goes from there. But it will also enlist a whole gambit of serious practitioners.

The most important thing I see in Phasing is that you must learn to disassociate your focus from your physical being. Throughout my thread here, I have shared a number of ways to that. Lately though, I have been working in my own experiences in "targeting " areas for "repeatability". In other words, creating a mental "anchor" that seems to bring me back again. In this field of practice, we hear often abut the Focus levels, the other dimensions, the "layers", the levels, as described by Kurt Leland. Each one seems to a semblance to the other. That most likely has to deal with perception. Robert Monroe was the Focus levels. Frank Kepple then cut those levels down to 4 primary levels. Kurt Leland has 7 levels. The Buddhists have their own levels too. Each one of these people/cultures sees it their own way, but when push comes to shove, it's all the same.

The thing is, each time you have people accessing these areas, another "energy signature" gets left there. My Mantra that I use during my Phase soak is ancient. Many of the Mantras used today are ancient. They all have energy signatures. So many people have used the same ones that the words take on a energy of sorts. How do I know my Mantra is doing anything? I know because it makes me feel good inside when I use it. It makes me happy. That in itself shows it's worth!  The same goes with the Monroe Gateway tapes and the programs the Monroe Institute uses. Every time someone use one of Robert's "Walkthroughs", the energy signature of that target becomes enhanced even more.

A few days ago, during a Phase soak session of my own, I came across a lit Doorway and entered it. I had no intent other then going through the door to see what was on the other side. There I saw a bridge in the distance. This bridge seemed to be made of cobblestone and for some reason, during this portion of the experience I had to be somewhat "physical" to advance over it. Normally I will experience the "Otherwhere", as Kurt calls it, from a simple point of consciousness, devoid of any physical attributes. That removes any limitations. Learning how to do that has become very valuable in my explorations in the NPRs.

I crossed the bridge, feeling the bridge under my feet as I was walking over it. When I came to the end of the bridge I could see a park. There was a slide, a swing set, little sand box area, beautifully landscaped and on the outer limits was a path. It was like a black tar path. Along the side of the path was park benches. I was thinking, "this seems familiar". But at this moment, I wanted to learn more about it. So, I began walking along the path. But what was weird was no matter how far I got down the path, when I looked back at the park, it was exactly the same as it was when I first saw it. The slide, the swings, the sand box, all in the same place, even though I had walked down the path. So, I decided to walk further. Once again, I turned back and saw the exact same park scene as before. This perplexed me. I then thought I would challenge this and the the thought of flying above it became a thought = action almost immediately. I looked down and once again saw the same park scene, even from the air. I began getting dizzy then and had to abort the session all together.

For the last I have wanted to update this thread but like I said it just didn't seem like the right time. For the past week in many of my Phase soak sessions, other than the one above, I have been working in the NPR in more of mental zone. That's the void area that is perfectly quiet and all you can hear are your thoughts. It's the area that you can work on Creativity, Spirituality and also contemplate things. My sessions seemed to be more on helping me help you with the teaching moments I receive. Once again, it was on techniques to make this practice easier for you to achieve. Still, I can't do it for you though.

When you close your eyes, what do you see? Darkness yes. Sometimes a imprint of the last thing your focus was on. This could be a computer screen, television, all kinds of things. These imprints are very brief. You can prolong them if you wish to though. Still with your eyes closed, you in a few moments, you may see a brief flash of light. This is cause by the Neurons in the brain still firing signals. 3-5 minutes eyes still closed, you are either asleep, lol, or starting to see very faint shapes in the darkness in front of you. You may start feeling a slight body vibration as well. You are becoming more in tune with your body and it's functions now. You have closed down your visual sense and now it's almost all tactile. If you had used a disassociation technique beforehand, you would be perfectly primed to go further. But that tactile hold seems to be thinking otherwise and can now start fighting back for it's control. This may come in the form of itch or pang. There's all kinds of ways for the body to fight back.

As your focus stays on the darkness a brief image may present itself. These are normally very faint and are there and gone in a flash. If you wanted to, you could keep your focus totally on that flash and see where tit leads to. But at this moment, it's better to just let it go and await the next one or the next occurrence. This next occurrence may come in the form of a image that seems to present itself a bit clearer. Demand "Clarity now" and see where that goes. What happened? Did it disappear? or did you lock on and hone right in on it? If you did lock on, see where it leads you. Don't go back to the starting point until it fades away again. One thing you will notice though is that if it did fade away again, when you go back to noticing the darkness, now a new depth seems to be felt. It's like you are solely in the middle of the darkness. You can feel all around as well.
This is when It is time to begin experimenting. Try rolling a ball in front of you and follow it into the darkness there. Don't look for the ball, it's already in your hands. The ball can be a metaphor. You can see it as moving your focus inside of you or to another level of self. You are crossing the veil Create a intent and be off or you could start targeting Doorways.

Back in 2012, under the name of Lionheart I created this thread here. The thread started after a Phase session I had back then and taught me quite a bit about navigating the NPRs that I found myself in.
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/anchored_in_the_astral-t37323.0.html

The "anchor" didn't have to be a physical thing. It could be seen as "metaphorical" too. It could be a mental anchor, a strong intent. Nonetheless, it's a anchor that we can learn to use to access and hone in on certain "Doorways" and portals. Many of my own Phase soak experiences lead to hallways. These hallways are filled with Doorways. For awhile, I was actually targeting, setting my anchor, on certain Doorways. I numbered them based on possible energy signatures that may have been left there. I used titles like Focus 27 or any of the other Focus areas. I used simple things like "Beach". I did all kinds of things. I wanted to keep it all like "KISS", keep it simple stupid". All I did was target the door. What I found inside those Doors wasn't exactly what the door was supposed to signify. I allowed what was going to happen to happen. I didn't have expectations, just total curiosity. The deeper I got into this Doorway focus, the more I learned that this formula works and can be accessed by others. The only problem was, as I soon learned, other people seemed uninterested in joining this Journey. I have created other threads here that were basically nudges in this general direction, yet they even failed.

So, if you are seriously interested in taking this further or have a desire to learn more about it, I will answer what I can to help you. Once in awhile, it's good to see someone else show the initiative to further this discussion. I think I have gone as far as I can here in this thread. All the techniques to get you there are here n this thread and many of the Stickies found here on the Astral Pulse Forums. The "Doorways" are ready to be opened! 
    Thank You! 

 Shineling, I think that's the first time you ever mentioned that you had wrote a book before. I read the free intro at the link you provided. Great work. I love your take on the Nature spirits. I was impressed with what I read there! Very well done! 

Was your work based on recorded research that has been done or did it come from a result of your NPR experiences?

Ah, thunderstorms, how I miss them, as California hardly gets any. But they have a mind of their own and immense power. However, they are too influenced by consciousness, especially a strong one, and maybe Lu, when you and MJ are home, you stray it away from your home. When there is no observation with intentions or just neutral observation by other people, the storm follows its formed path. And sometimes if the fear of the observers is too great, the storm will get worse and crash on them, as fears also manifest.

I remember about two years ago I was in Oklahoma City on business. My hotel had a spectacular view with large windows from the bottom of the room, so basically the entire wall was all glass. I was sitting in the late afternoon in front of my glass wall, sipping tea and observing the beautiful view of the skyline. Suddenly, the sky became so dark and in the distance thick clouds started forming and lightening started shooting. I got so excited and the familiar energy charge feeling ran through my body. The clouds were moving so fast, getting lower and lower. I felt like they were enclosing on me and will crush the hotel. The feeling was amazement of the power of nature but at the same time I started feeling a little frightened. Then I remembered that the possibility of a tornado in these conditions forming was a big possibility and all of a sudden I felt exposed with my glass wall if a tornado should run through the hotel. I even called the front desk to ask where should we hide if a tornado forms lol. And just as about the storm to hit my area, it took another turn and I watched it move west. I got a good amount of thunder, lightening and rain for my thrill, but the heart of the storm did not pass over me and changed direction suddenly.

We had one time a few years back when the sky went purple first, then a pea green. Green means hail. All of a sudden the Tornado sirens started going off south of us. I was outside so I could hear them in the distance. Then the Tornado sirens went off to the North of us. As this was happening a hole formed in the clouds and the sun shone through it. After the storm was done, I went to the internet to find out how that could happen. The term used to describe it was the "sweet spot" of the storm. It seems to appear at the heart/core of the storm. None the less, it was very cool to see.

I did question whether MJ and or I could have had anything to do with the constant veering off of the most brutal parts of storms. She can't be near me as a storm approaches. My own energy seems to ramp up to overload. She once told me that she thought I was sucking the intensity into me and that's why the storms went around us. Who knows? It definitely makes you question it, especially when it happens so often. A one of. I wouldn't give it another thought. But 21 years here in Minnesota and it happens all the time. Yes, you have to question that! 

Nameless, I too LOVE feeling the rain and the sun on my skin, but when the temperature outside is not too extreme  

I love the sensation of the rain on my skin too. But what I really love is the energy of a approaching storm. I can feel it miles before it arrives. The lightning, the booming thunder. The overall intensity of it all. Even the visuals of the rolling clouds can be a spectacle in themselves. The thing is, for some reason the really strong/severe storms seem to split away from us as they approach. It's the weirdest thing. We can see them coming from a distance. Then the worst of it will either veer north or south of us. That only happens when MJ and I are home though. There was a few times while MJ and I were away doing a Renaissance Faires that we came home to trees down and visual storm damage all around.  

Love her hair   and yes, what she said is very true. Not many people really understand what it is to be in the present and soak up every moment especially when in nature. many people don't even go out in nature, they stay in their houses, apartments, looking at their phones every 20 minutes and their minds get severely congested. We have to find nature and be in it, FEEL its heart beat. There are beautiful nature spots everywhere on Earth, no matter how big the cities we live in are congested. A nature spot is always a bus ride away, we just have to WANT to find it and let ourselves rejuvenate.

Sounds like my backyard. We don't have curtains on any windows in our home. That means that nature is everywhere we look here. ...and I still don't use or even own a cellphone.

It used to drive me nuts when I would see people taking photos with their phones of nature or a sunset, instead of enjoying the moment then and there. You can look at all the photos you wish to. But nothing compares to you absorbing the essence of nature live in person.  

 I was listening to a interview on Coast to Coast AM a few nights ago. The Guest was a man named Paul Wallis. He was talking about his new book "Scars of Eden", which is following the lines of his first book "Escaping Eden". I went to his website to learn more and lo and behold and I found this video there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTIDNa2WVkA

For anyone interested, here is link to Paul's website. There is some other interesting videos there as well.
https://paulanthonywallis.com/2016/10/12/blog-post-title-2/

Hypothetically, you are his teacher helping him join the spiritual path, you are trying to "wake him up", but he doesn't know about it. At what point would you have to let him go, in order to not violate his free will, if he wouldn't show any kind of progress? You sure can't take him by force...can you? Because I'm sure he would be so grateful...

The adage "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink" comes into play here. We see that played out constantly on this Forum. A new member shows interest. Members here will attempt to help them and then the person will just disappear, never to post again.