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i always get the increased heart rate. it is as if everything in my body has shut down and my heart beats faster and louder until i panic and exit whatever state i'm in. a friend who is more experienced with OBEs told me to just let it happen. the problem is i can't tell if my heart rate is actually increasing to dangerous levels or if im just imagining it. hopefully it is the latter.

[Upon waking, just lie there for a few minutes... trying to bring to the surface whatever it was you were just experiencing.]

It has absolutely nothing, whatsoever to do with any kind of "shadow memory"...
Your non-physical memory really doesn't work any differently than your physical memory. 
It's the same stuff...

When you're trying to remember something here in the physical, you remember those things you have an association with easier... you need to do the same with your non-physical experiences.  Upon waking, just lie there for a few minutes... trying to bring to the surface whatever it was you were just experiencing. 

Do that over many months and you'll see progress. 

i usually write dream journals. but when i wake up now i don't remember a single thing, which isn't like me. someone mentioned before that it could be stress related, and i have been very stressed lately. so maybe that is it.

a friend of mine told me he takes a few supplements before sleeping to increase vividness and memory recall. he didn't tell me the name. it for sure wasn't melatonin. perhaps choline? does anyone know of any supplements that help?

For a while it was as if i was remembering all of my dreams vividly and even had a few LDs and brief OBEs. but for the past month or so, i can hardly even remember a normal uncontrolled dream.

has anyone else ever hit one of these "dry spots" where you don't experience anything for quite a while? i'm not quite sure what to do. i clear my mind and do all the steps i used to, but nothing seems to happen anymore.

complaining about the government on the internet isn't going to change anything. people are going to disapprove no matter who is president. there are reasons that this administration can not accomplish certain things and it has a lot to do with the republicans and democrats thinking about what is best for their party as opposed to what will benefit the country.

there's a film on Netflix right now called Beyond The Black Rainbow. i believe it is highly influenced by the nonphysical, and those who experience and study the non physical will definitely appreciate it more than those who do not have a clue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ertVYn750 (Trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKCHXpSEtOU (Clip)

i can't recommend it enough. fans of Lynch and Kubrick will see a lot of influence drawn from them as well.

if we don't leave our bodies, doesn't that debunk most things that people find appealing about AP to begin with? Exploring the universe and different dimensions, traveling through time, speaking to those who have died, etc.

if this is the case, it's kind of a bummer to know people like Robert Monroe put all that effort into researching "the truth" when it is all just in our minds

DJ Vishu's Meditation Series are the best Isochronic Tones I have used by far.

You can find them with a simple Google search.

You do have to give an email address to access them.

I'm sure this is for some kind of future advertsing or just to know who is using them for what purpose, according to copyrights. I downloaded them a couple of years ago and did not gt slammed by junk mail. So I think they are safe.

I did receive an email recently from them saying they had more free MP3 Isochronic Tones to offer. They do have a place to buy others they make as well.

They only had one free download for an AP tone, but i went ahead and bought the Meditation and Lucid Dreaming combination package for $9.50. I will try out one of the meditation tracks today. Thanks for this suggestion

EDIT: i ended up panicking during the first meditation track. about 25 minutes in it was as if my body completely shut down. it felt like the utmost force of gravity was pushing down on me. my pulse was continuously rising and getting much louder in a frightening way. a strange sensation began moving slowly from my shins upward.

i'd imagine that i'm idiot for abandoning this sensation and that it would have eventually allowed me to achieve an OBE. whatever happened just scared the hell out of me and i've never felt like that before.

[All those elements do not exist independently from our 5 senses. The fact that we see the world as 3-dimensional full-color surround-sound video is because we have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, tactile sense, and a brain that puts it all together and transform into a believable picture of reality]

i'm undecided on this topic, but i lean more toward the idea that we do leave our bodies. i haven't heard of many people dreaming the same exact dream, yet those who do "retrievals" are supposedly helping those who have recently died and escorting them to the same park described by Monroe in his book Ultimate Reality. Sure, one could mentally create this situation in their head alongside the makeup of the park. But what about those who experience this exact same thing and have not even read the book?

i'm not arguing, i'm literally looking for answers to those questions from those here who have more experience and knowledge

• The world as we know it (so called reality) consists of space, time, colors, shapes, sounds, etc. All those elements do not exist independently from our 5 senses. The fact that we see the world as 3-dimensional full-color surround-sound video is because we have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, tactile sense, and a brain that puts it all together and transform into a believable picture of reality. Hence, if we were to truly travel OUT of the body, we would probably see the world in a completely different way. There would be no shapes, no colors, no space, no sounds, no tactile sensations, etc. The fact, that during an OOBE we perceive the world as we normally would suggests that our experience has to do with a regular brain activity and brain memory. Given this is true, OOBE is really no proof for live after death, because traveling out of the body would not be possible without physical brain and all the memories contained in it.

I feel that William Buhlman approached this well in Adventures Beyond the Body. The human eye can only see between .00007cm. and .00004cm. of the electromagnetic wave spectrum. Because of this, our so-called "reality" is limited to what our five senses enable us to perceive. When out of body, we are gradually experiencing senses we are not capable of having in our physical vehicles. I'd imagine we don't see the world in an entirely different way because we still possess those five senses alongside the ones we do not normally have, which give (some of) us 360 degree vision and the ability to see and move through dimensions and different astral realms not perceivable by the human eye.

these are just my current understandings...or misunderstandings[/list]

this helped me a lot to my first OBE, I had my first intentional one 2-3 weeks after finishing it, but it is not solely on techniques, he also writes on his experiences (how he came to it) and some theories, still it was perfect for me to have success

http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Beyond-Body-Out---Body/dp/0062513710/

i can't recommend this book enough. it was the first one i ever read. Buhlman's writing is very informative, yet easy to read. He gets the reader very excited about OBEs, which i feel is important. a year after reading, i'm still not an expert or even an intermediate in AP; however, i started having interesting experiences as soon as i made it half way through this book.

i think beginners should avoid Robert Bruce's work. Though Astral Dynamics is very informative, it's kind of a mess and is a very dry read (like a college text book). in the revised version, i felt like he kept repeating himself and took every opportunity to shamelessly plug/promote another one of his books. he did not get me excited about OBEs, he actually made me more afraid to leave my body due to how many negatives situations and consequences he described.

just my opinion!

i've seen those all throughout my life. i'm not sure what they are, i usually just ignore them. an old friend of mine used to tell me that they were called Jinns

went into a local shop today and bought a really nice piece of moldavite, apophyllite, and a "spiritual journeys" package that the owners put together with a dalmation jasper, howlite, kyanite, labradorite, and quartz.

i flew in an LD for the first time ever this morning; however, it was short lived.

I had to wake up for work by 6:45am, and naturally woke around 5:43am. I decided to sleep that extra hour. During that time I had a dream where I was chasing a man in a black suit with a hat into an office building. I lost him inside and then found myself in the parking lot. For some reason I couldn't leave the parking lot. Invisible barriers or walls prevented me form doing so, like in a video when you can not go outside of the map. I voiced that such a thing was stupid and ran and jumped in the air. I was floating upward. Finally. I struggled for a bit, even flapped my arms like an idiot to maintain balance. Once I got the hang of it, I was flying over houses. I wanted to see my own house, but thinking about it caused me to experience false awakening and I then entered a regular dream.

I'm about to take an afternoon nap and hopefully do it again.

That sounds amazing. I am jealous. Hopefully some day I can experience something this great for myself.

I'll give it a read. thanks!

I tried doing a search to see if any topics existed about this, but could not find anything. If one already exists that I am not aware of, I apologize.

Anyway, I thought I would create a topic where we can post forms of art or media that may have been inspired by astral projection. Every now and then I come across pictures, music, movies, etc and think that the creator must have been influenced by an OBE in some way.

Here are a few that I have been thinking about recently:


I found this one on tumblr with a paragraph under it that had absolutely nothing to do with AP; however, I feel like there's no other explanation for this one.


This is the album art for an album called Dreamless Sleep by Evan Caminiti. I think It was released back in the fall. It was easily one of my favorite releases of the year. For those wondering, this isn't an album of binaural beats or anything like that. It's more along the lines of ambient dark wave/drone. With song titles like "Leaving the Island," "Becoming Pure Light," and "Bright Midnight" alongside this album art, I also believe this may have been inspired by AP.

Aside from those two, I always thought the anime series Dragon Ball Z shared a lot similarities with AP as well. Everything from the planets, meditation scenes, characters using their third eyes, etc.

Also, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, a film by David Lynch, may have many references to AP. Lynch practices Transcendental Meditation; however has never mentioned astral projection. But this film has so many similarities. The concept of beings from another place trying to take away a certain energy which can only be produced by humans (I believe this was mentioned in one of Monroe's books) and the idea of "The Black Lodge" and entering new dimensions through pictures on the wall.

What other art and media have you guys seen?

This one is kind of long, but I really feel that I need to share this with someone. Since I am still very new to AP, OBEs, and LDs, I have a hard time distinguishing all of them.

--
To quickly sum up how I was feeling before sleeping last night, I felt very flu-like and had a pretty bad case of chills. It didn't take me long to fall asleep, as I was sick. I went to sleep around 1:00am, which is slightly early for me on the weekends. I usually wake up several times between 8:00am-11:00am, and it is during these times that most of my experiences occur. I can not remember if what happened occurred earlier in the night or after waking and falling asleep yet again during the times mentioned.

It started as a normal dream with bizarre events that could have led me to have a LD. One moment I'm on vacation with my cousin in a weird boardwalk cottage, then I am in a very uncomfortable situation with my girlfriend in my basement, which is still bothering me hours later. During this situation, I gained the will to stop whatever was happening. It was at this time that I began to flash in and out of the dream. I was in my bed experiencing SP; however I feel as if i were experiencing SP during a False Awakening (if that's possible). It was as if myself in my bed were communicating with myself in the dream (in the basement). I kept telling my dream-self that I was experiencing SP; although, I was not scared. More so just really irritated with the fact that it was happening. Whenever I perceive myself to be in SP it is as if my eyes are on my forehead and I can only look up and down, It usually starts with my vision focused on the top of my nose for whatever reason.

I could move my fingers and I vigorously kept trying to jerk myself left and right to end the SP. At this time, various manifestations of random humanoid beings would appear standing on my bed and quickly disappear. While this was happening, I would describe the beings to my dream self, who was still in the basement. One of these beings appeared to be a younger version of myself. Once I saw this, I tried sitting up and jumping into this body, assuming that it would help me end the SP. Still, nothing happened. Once the manifestations stopped, I yet again jerked my body vigorously to the left and managed to get out. Everything was moving quickly and I recall leaving my bedroom, which was missing the door, and headed to my bathroom. On my way there I pinched my arm to make sure I was awake (Cliché, I know). I did in fact feel it, so I assumed I was awake. Once I entered my bathroom I was not myself. My thoughts, movements, appearance, etc were simply not me. I looked more pale, thin, and had less physical features on my face. This also really disturbed me, mostly the way I was acting, and I was not okay with it.

I do not remember much after, only quickly moving to a hotel somewhere in what I believed to be southern Florida. I was meeting someone I was vacationing with for breakfast out by the pool. I did not see their face. I just remember sitting down and staring up at what was supposedly the window of our room and I complained that was stuck in SP. I believe this was my way of telling this individual why I was late for this meeting. I then woke up (for real) feeling dehydrated and had a irritating headache.
--

So, that's it. Now that I typed it all out, it seems less disturbing. But overall, very strange for me. I don't suppose anyone here could truly explain what the hell happened or if there were certain meanings behind all of this, but I'd appreciate any feedback!

i can only afford a less expensive one but most others looks so cheap (and not worth the price) in comparison to the laxman

So, when I experienced that numbness/floating sensation I should have just relaxed and let whatever was happening happen as opposed to immediately trying to think about OBEs and Astral Sight? I'll work on this. It can be difficult not to get excited or scared when your heart starts racing during these occurrences as well.

Is there a distinct difference between numbness and vibrations? Before I casually sleep, whether it be at night or prior to naps, I never experience full body numbness. Occasionally (rarely), when I clear my mind and solely focus on having an OBE, my entire body will go totally numb.

I don't ever recall having vibrations, so I am unable to know the difference between the two sensations. However, last night, I had a brief strange experience. As mentioned before, I cleared my mind and focused on having an OBE. I would occasionally try to manifest images while staring into the darkness of my eyelids. After a few moments, my body went numb. This time, it was very different for me because the feeling was a bit more intense and I could slowly (very slowly) feel part of my self floating upward. I tried to see through closed eyes, but did not have any luck. After a while nothing was happening. So, I suppose fear came over me and I moved my physical body and opened my physical eyes.

So I'm stuck here wondering if I experienced vibrations, or if I somehow caused my body to go completely numb and simply imagined the floating sensations.

Are these feelings totally different? or do they ultimately result in the same desired experience, an OBE?

can anyone recommend a good online store for crystals? i've found several but prices vary like crazy and i'd rather buy from somewhere with a good reputation and easy navigation.

I've been thinking about buying a few crystals, but they can get pretty expensive. Does the size of the crystal matter in regards to what effects they have?

Its only recommended to not listen to while driving, so anytime before driving is perfectly safe. In my experience I have felt various effects of it afterwards, but only for about 30 minutes or so. There have been a certain drowsiness after some sessions, as if my mind was still in a meditative state somehow. But as I said, it goes away after a while.

awesome, thank you.

Sorry for bumping such an old post. I'm about half way through this book. I really enjoyed it at first, and I prefer his writing style over most authors of OBE books. But, where I'm at right now is causing me to lose interest. A lot of his "Dreams of Knowledge" appear really bland to me and do not increase my excitement in the same way Monroe's experiences did. After seeing so many positives reviews in here, I suppose it will get better toward the end.

Well I personally don't believe there is a "top" or an end of the line to some sort of hierarchy of worlds and beings; however, I think it's totally possible that the astral world is yet another creation. I'd assume the universe is unlimited and nearly every thing is a creator which has also been created.

Does anyone know if it's safe to use Hemi-Sync during an afternoon meditation/OBE attempt a few hours before driving to work? I've never tried listening to these before and I have a copy of The Gateway Experience - Wave I: Exploration that I want to use but simply do not have time to at night.