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Hi All, its been a while since I posted due to work and other things, however my practices have not stopped, although reduced somewhat over the last 6 months or so.

Anyway, I can project fairly easily now when the conditions are correct (which, because I am not consciously trying to project may be a week or so in between).  However something which I still struggle with is prolonging the experience.  Projections I would say last up to 5 minutes (perceived time) which is not enough for me to do what I want.

I have tried the many exercises I have read about to prolong (rubbing hands, meditating whilst projecting etc) however none seem to work.  In fact the thought of prolonging once I am projecting often shortens the experience further.

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Hello, I am currently exploring dream re-entry.

I have read the methods of Robert Moss but have had little success. I am just wondering if anyone has had success with this and what your methods are?

Hi all, I had a weird nights sleep last night in that I didnt actually sleep much at all!  I was pretty much constantly drifting into hypnogogia and then waking the entire night.  In the early hours of the morning I started seeing one, and only one, image during hypnogogia.  It was a black and white scene of a countryside.  It was very static and very solid.  It didnt change through 6 or 7 spells of hypogogia.  At one point I phased into the image and it started becoming less static, but still black and white.  Then I got this feeling of something chasing me, so I ran away.  Then I realised that if something was chasing me I didnt need to run.  Now I dont remember what happened but I know I stopped and confronted it.  I then remember feeling amazing joy and then the scenery went from B&W to colour and it was vibrant and alive.  I then had a false awakening still full of joy knowing that I had accomplished something.  Then I felt something tugging at my feet in bed and I just laughed at it and told it to get off, as if it was a playful child. I then woke up.  I remembered everything, including what I had accomplished and the reason for it, but I never wrote it down.  Now this is all I can remember   I hope the reason comes back to me because I really feel I did something worthwhile.

So until a couple of weeks ago I had never heard of Galantamine.  In fact I never knew supplements such as this existed.  Since I first heard of it, it kept appearing randomly to me.  So, taking this as a sign I bought some along with some Choline.  It arrived yesterday but I have a massive 13 hour photoshoot today (starting in like 2 hours time!) so I wasn't going to try it.  Anyway, I woke at 3am and felt that I was ready to phase so I decided I would see what the supplements would do.  I took them and lay in bed for probably 30 mins until I fell asleep.  During this time I wasn't attempting to phase.  Almost immediately I started dreaming and I became lucid within seconds.  What followed is what I can only describe as an orgy of projections which had me questioning reality on many occasions.  I had countless RTZ projections - every time I "woke up" (although most of them were false awakenings) all I had to do was focus on blackness and remaining still and I would literally SLIP into the RTZ.  I couldn't remain "in" my body, I would just flop out onto the floor.  One thing about the RTZ projections was that they were very dark and I had trouble moving, which never happened to me before.  On one occasion I was crawling around trying to stand up and someone grabbed my arm.  I said "get the f*** off" and I woke up immediately.  Then I heard a voice which sounded like the Sugar Puffs Honey Monster saying "fingers fingers gimme fingers" haha. 

I wont go into details about all the experience as I would be here all day.  After that I heard countless voices, babies crying, popping and fizzing noises every single time my consciousness shifted even the tiniest bit and experienced phasing into my hypnogics many times.  Also many times heard my sleeping wife talking. For the first time ever I experienced sleep paralysis.  During it I was merged between physical and RTZ and honestly, why people try to get it I will never know. Its a pain in the arse.  You don't need SP to project and to me experiencing it was akin to being stuck in a traffic jam when you need to pee.  I felt like I was stuck in slow motion!  During one of the SPs I kept drifting between physical reality, SP and RTZ.  I was trying to talk to my wife in one coherent sentence and she literally only heard the parts when I was drifting into the physical.  It was a complete sentence to me, but she only got the parts when I was physical.
 
Towards the end of the experience (which was about 30 mins ago!) I was freely and at will phasing into any locale I envisioned and when I was there it was 100% real but for some reason the reality kept fading after about 20 seconds, however I would immediately wake up and go right back.  Often times I was false awakening (I know because it wasn't my room for example) and then phasing straight from a false awakening.  It was truly bizarre.

I read alot about these supplements before I tried them.  Basically all they do is stimulate the creation of the chemical which is naturally produced during REM, essentially giving you more REM which means more chance for projection.  They are both perfectly legal supplements bought over the counter.  Good info can be found here if anyone is interested http://lucidallnight.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/galantamine-and-choline-a-guide/

I will say it isnt for the faint of heart as it was pretty intense, but I will also say that it does work!

Hey All,

I just want to share a really great experience I had last night and this morning.  

Ok so about 6 months ago I completed a Reiki course up to Level 3 in Usui Reiki (Master Level).  Ive been using it on and off since then with mixed results (bear with me, this is not just about Reiki!).  Lately I have had pretty bad eye strain likely caused by excessive computer use.  Anyway, i've found that performing self healing when I go to bed has massively helped to the point of the pain completely disappearing within minutes.  Last night I was listening to TMI Out of Body Condition B as I lay in bed whilst also performing Self Healing Reiki.  I entered a pretty deep trance while doing this.  When I came back to normal consciousness after about 30 minutes my hands (which were still performing Reiki) were literally buzzing - I could hear and feel it, it was the most intense energetic reaction ive ever had doing Reiki.  During the trance I was absorbed in extremely detailed hypnogic imagery.  When I regained full normal consciousness and my hands were buzzing I decided to do it again.  This time I fell asleep.  

During the night I kept waking, tossing and turning unable to sleep.  On one occasion I put ear plugs in because I could hear the A/C which was keeping me awake.  At this point I kept slipping into dreams.  In one dream I was at my previous place of work as an IT Service Desk Manager and I had forgotten my laptop.  I was a bit pee'd off but then I realised "wait there, I dont do IT anymore im a photographer!  Why am I pee'd off?"  Then I became lucid.  It was the most real lucid experience ever.  I shifted location to a hotel.  I was walking around the hotel in real time and every step was 100% real.  During this time my lucidity, or should I say the solidness of my lucidity kept slipping (I was still 100% lucid but the reality of it kept getting less).  I woke up physically a few times but then kept phasing back into my dream.  I did this probably around 10 times and by the 10th time I was getting the knack of waking up and managing to phase back into my hypnogic imagery back into my "dream".  It was truly amazing.  Every time the world around me was slipping, I learned how to bring it back to a solid reality.  I have never had this skill before - lucid dreams usually lasted a few seconds and when ever I have phased into hypnogic imagery I have almost immediately popped back to physical reality, however this time I nailed it.  I was conversing with my "dream" characters in a very real way.  I was even telling them "listen, my reality keeps slipping, what can I do to regain it?" - and they helped me do so.  They told me to rub my hands, focus on objects and keep talking. It worked!!  The individuality of the characters personalities in my dream was unbelievable - they seemed to be fully conscious, although this is speculation.  

I mentioned the Reiki because I am wondering if the Reiki energy helped elevate me somehow to another level of consciousness.

Overall, it was an amazing experience and for some reason I really feel like I can do the same again - it was like riding a bike, falling off then getting back on with each time getting better at it.  

Anyway, ive noticed in my last few posts I have maybe gone on too much, but it was excellent!!

EDIT TO ADD: One other thing, when I woke up fully this morning, I did not have ear plugs in - which leads me to think that maybe all the tossing and turning during the night were false awakenings.

Hello All,

I have just woken up from a very strange lucid-ish dream.  I say lucid-ish because I was 100% aware I was dreaming but my vision was as if I was underwater!

In the dream, I woke up in my parents house back in England (I often dream about being there, which is odd....) I knew I was dreaming immediately because my vision was messed up.  It was like I was underwater sort of - everything was shimmering and wobbling.  I tried to focus on individual items and this stablised my vision but then when I stopped focusing my vision went nuts again.  I then walked into the bathroom.  My movements felt sluggish and heavy.  I got to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and my face was constantly changing.  Kinda moving and distorting, if you know what I mean?  I was 100% aware of this and could think perfectly clear.  I even remembered techniques to gain more clarity and prolong the dream.  I requested clarity - nothing!  I rubbed my hands together - every physical sensation was exactly how it would feel in the physical.   I also tried willing myself to another location - no joy.

Except from my vision being messed, and the fact I was in a house I now live 4000miles away from - the rules to this dream felt very physical.  Normally in LD's I can float, fly and do all manner of things - this was different. 

Can anyone offer a possible suggestion as to why this dream seemed bound by physical rules?  And why my vision was messed?! This is the very first time ive had issues with my vision when non-physical.

As I hoped, reading Astral Pulse triggered some strange experiences last night.  Its weird how reading and writing about projection seems to help trigger them!

So last night, after spending alot of time yesterday reading stuff on here, I went to bed and put on Xanths 4hz binaural track for the first time.  I have to say it brought me from an irritated state of mind down to a light trance very nicely.  I didnt check the BWgen profile but after a while it started to bring me back up, I assume it is designed to go down to 4hz then back up?  Anyway I then put on Condition B from TMI which I normally use to get to sleep of late.  I fell asleep.

I recall dreaming about some guy who was teaching me skills.  I remembered thinking this was like Don Juan Matus, at which point I became slightly lucid.  In this lucid "dream" I was in a one on one session with this person who was taking me through a checklist of needed skills. I dont recall what they were - I wasnt 100% lucid. 

Then I woke up - I woke my wife to tell her how happy I was about what happened.  She congratulated me.  Then I realised I was still not really awake.  The reality felt like the one I had just woken up from.  I then tried to wake up properly but went back into the "dream" with this guy teaching me stuff. He seemed to be continuing from where we left off just before I "woke".

I woke up again and picked up my iphone and sent myself an email about my false awakening and the teacher so I wouldnt forget.  Once I had sent the email I realised I was STILL not awake because my iphone screen was configured very differently and I still didnt feel fully awake (or fully lucid for that matter).  Once again I lay back and re-entered the dream of the teacher.  Finally I really woke up with my head spinning and a need to use the bathroom! 

There may have been another false awakening in there too as I recall multiple occurrences of seeing the teacher type dude but I cant remember specifically. 

I have no clue what all this means but it was my first strange experience since practically Christmas when I last Phased.  I was never fully lucid, but lucid enough to realise it was not physical reality.

Hello all,

Over the last year or so my AP practices have waned due to setting up a business, working on it and also being too distracted in other areas of my life (unfortunately).

Anyway, now that my business is becoming stable I want desperately to begin...hopefully where I had left off...however that is not the case.

Let me explain what I concluded about AP when I was practicing last time (fairly successfully)....

To me, projection is more than a set of instructions and methods, much like ANYTHING we learn.  For example, the first time we drive a car (I drive only manual cars) we are told how to operate the clutch in order to engage the gears at the correct time (sorry if this analogy is lost on those who drive automatics!).  These are simple instructions and are 100% correct.  But until you get a FEEL for how the clutch works and the gears engage, it is not as simple as the actual words used to describe it.  You may manage to do it partially correct and you can drive, but its normally jerky at first.  To use a more universal analogy, it is the same as playing the guitar.  You are shown the chords and the order in which they need to be played, but while I knew chords almost immediately, it took a while to get the FEEL and play a passable song.

For me it was the same with projection.  I was given methods and the methods are correct, but at first nothing worked.  It all came down to getting that FEEL for it.

Now I have restarted my practices, that FEELING has gone.  I am doing exactly the same technique as I used to, but its not working.  The feelings I obtained last time have vanished and I feel I am at square one again.  Now when I try to project I keep hitting road blocks.  For example, previously when I hit a certain stage (lets use noticing for example) I had the feelings required to stop myself from bouncing myself back to physical reality.  I could notice the state I was in in a passive manner and progress to the next stage, now I just bounce back. 

After re-reading this I cant recall the purpose of this post, however I would like to point out to people trying to project for the first time, or indeed repeat their sporadic projections, that the secret lies not in performing the technique(s) correctly, but reaching the point where you put it all together as a feeling.  I see alot of posts along the lines of "I am lying there, breathing correctly, relaxed, mind awake body asleep but nothing happens" etc.  I would say to these people, stop focusing on the act of DOING, but to change your way of thinking to the act of feeling.  Now when I drive my car I do EVERYTHING that was was told to do when I started, yet now I dont DO it, I just feel it.

I remember once when I asked my dad when he was driving "why did you just press the clutch just there?" and he replied "I dont know, I didnt realise I did".  Now I do the same thing when driving - I dont DO the technique of driving, I just do it as instinct, as a feeling.  The same applies to projection (in my opinion). 

I find experienced projectors try to explain the steps they take (which are correct) but often they dont convey the feeling aspect, because they dont even notice they are doing it, much like my dad when he was driving.  I personally felt the same, I didnt realise I had simply merged the technique into a ball of feeling, rather than steps in a process.  It is only now that I cannot project anymore that I realise the missing link is simply that I have lost the merging of the technique into a feeling and have been doing it as a process.

I recall the posts of Frank Kepple when he states that he doesnt DO any technique, it just happens (or something along those lines) - I think this is the key!

Anyway, sorry to go on, I just wanted to share my observations in this respect and I hope that this can help people trying to succeed (me included!).

Last night I had 2 very powerful and realistic dreams.  In one of them I had a ritual performed on me.  Here is an excerpt of part of the dream:

He then started the ritual on me.  I knelt down and closed my eyes.  I felt his hands move around some how then he put them on the side of my face.  Some more movement from him then he touched his lips to mine and blew in my mouth.  In that instant I felt so different.  I could barely feel my body and sounds were muted.  The outside world seemed to disappear and I felt myself float to the ground, still in my body.  I kept telling myself to remain focussed so as not to let the "spell" take over and for around 5 minutes I did this.  I managed to get movement back in my arm and I pried my eye lids open and all I could see was a black and white rotating kind of spirograph thing.  It ws circular with black and white squares making up rows of circles.  Anyway, next I knew I was running away.

Yesterday I received my Level 1 Reiki Attunement and it was fairly powerful.  I have a feeling the dream is linked to that, but I would also like to check if this is sounds like any magickal ritual that anyone knows of? 

If you want to see my full dream and my possible interpretation you can click http://www.dreamjournal.net/journal/index.cfm?username=AstralBeginnings&dream_id=162424

Hi all,

I have had a minor case of psoriasus for about 10 years now I would say.  Its nothing major (bits on elbows and knees) and overall is not impacting my life at all.  But of course I want it gone!  I have creams and stuff from the doctor which do work but because of the fact this is minor (at the moment) I would like to use my psoriasus as an experiment in self healing and not use the creams.

I firmly beleive conditions such as these originate 100% in the mind and as such can be resolved by the mind. 

The problem is, I have no idea where to start!  Can anyone suggest some steps I could take? 

Many Thanks!

Happy New Year Astral Pulse!

Ok so lately I have been practicing visualisations alot as I feel this is one area which can massively help with alot of things, projecting included.  I think there is a huge amount of confusion surrounding visualisations and I hope my observations and the replies of others can help clear this up.

When I started reading about people visualising my immediate response was that there was no way I could visualise!  They describe their "visions" as very real looking, almost tangible things very similar to what you see with your physical eyes.  Again, this kind of thing seemed WAY beyond my ability.  I guess most new comers also feel this way.  The word "visualisation" I think is misleading, because the process (as far as I can tell) is not visual at all, its perceptive.  Let me explain what has been happening to me...

I started trying to visualise by imagining myself walking around my home and picking up stuff, which of course is very familiar to me so should be an easy start.  But I STILL couldnt get any strong VISUALS or anything that resembled physical existence.  Anyway I kept practicing and moving on to more detailed visualisations.  I often walk along a cliff, feel the grass and smell the air, then jump off (I am a skydiver) and freefall to the ground below, performing aerial stunts with my canopy etc - but STILL I dont get strong life-like imagery.  Then I noticed something recently, the visualisations are having an impact on me and I feel like I have another world in my head.  I can visualise anything now (although I still have trouble simulating motion) and while at the time, the imagery is not rock solid, when I think back to the visualisation it feels like a memory of something I have actually done.  I had to double take earlier today on whether a MEMORY of me riding a kayak was a dream or a visualisation - in my mind there feels no difference unless I analyse.

I personally think the key to this is realising that visualisations are NOT life like imagery, they are more like perceptions or memories of something.  When I visualise, even though I am doing it there and then, the imagery I "see" or more acurately perceive feels exactly like the imagery I get when I remember an actual event that took place. 

Is this how it is for other people also?  The active visualisation appearing in perception like a memory of a real event? 

I dont know if I have articulated myself properly here but I thought I would try!

I see a few posts from a while ago talking about an AstralPulse newsletter.  Is this still active or has Adrian binned AP for his new forum?

I have read somewhere that when visualizing, to visualize to the right, left, above or below the black space in front of the eyes and not directly ahead.  I dont recall why this is, but I guess its something to do with using your visualization abilities as opposed to your actual vision.

Anyway, whenever ive tried this, I always have trouble maintaining the visualization.  The other day I thought about what would happen if instead of visualizing in these areas, I actually put my point of view there instead.  So I tried this.  I started a visualization off to my right, then I swapped places with the visualization, so I was now off to the right of my field of view, watching the visualization from this point and looking back towards where my field of view would be, if you know what I mean.  Within a few seconds I lost all body awareness and was actually "in" my new location off to the right of where my eyes would be looking.  Im not sure if im explaining this well, but it certainly seemed to be the most powerful visualization method ive tried.  Because I was taken aback at this very sudden shift of view point, I jerked back to my normal perspective very quickly, as is normally the case with me, however I think with more practice this could become a great way for me to lose body awareness.

Just wondering if anyone has done anything similar to this and what the results were etc?

It seems from my own experience that my body position is a huge factor in whether I will project, so just wondering if there is a common preference?

Hey, I havent spotted the customary Forum Thread about Twitter on AP yet so..

Are any of you on Twitter?  Do you say anything interesting?

If so, post your twitter name here!

Hi all,

I started researching OBE's etc after a strange occurrence at the beginning of April - I started around 5th April.  By 10th April I had my first OBE(s) and by 24th id had 4 (on 3 separate occasions).  If you want details you can see my blog which is linked in my signature.  Since then I have upped my NEW Energy Work and read much much more about various methods and techniques.  Since the 24th ive had very little success in the way of OBE's.

At the beginning, all I had read was the Vehram Method and some of Lucidology.  These methods worked!  Now I have absorbed more information from differing sources and started energy work I think I have my fingers in too many pies and as such, im not sticking to one set way to achieve an OBE. 

Has anyone else experienced this?  Would it be better to cut off all the slack and go back to basics?  Also, has anyone else experienced issues when introducing Energy Work?

I know im still new to this but I had what I would call relatively good success in my first month attempting OBE's and I expect myself to progress, not stagnate. Frustration is beginning to kick in and I know that will only hinder things more! 

Maybe im just impatient...!

Hi All,

Im relatively new to OOBE's etc but ive had a comparatively successful beginning, managing 3 OOBE's in less than 2 weeks since I started trying.  However all successes have happened when following the Vehram method (waking up then immediately inducing an OBE). The problem with this is that i cant replicate this whenever I want (at the moment). 

I have read the info on Franks phasing method and I know I can do this because I get the same visuals when closing my eyes.  I can get these visuals within 15-20 minutes anytime I want.  My HUGE problem though, is when I start getting the visuals, I notice myself getting them and I quickly get snapped back to full consciousness.  I cannot maintain concentration enough to see them through.

I can also normally get to the point of mild vibrations when relaxing but again, my concentration gets a slap in the face and I again get shook back to full consciousness.

I know I need to become more passive etc with regards to the experience, but how??  Just now, I have tried for around 1 hour and every time the visuals or vibrations appear the same thing happens.  I even tell myself to prepare and relax for the next time but again, I snap back to full waking consciousness.  Its getting a bit frustrating.  I feel I am on the edge of managing to phase but I cannot keep my concentration (or I guess lack of it) focussed.

Can anyone offer any advice on maintaining the visuals without jerking back to normal?