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[experience]

I just had my first 'full separation' OOBE about half an hour ago, so I thought I'd document it all now while it's fresh in my mind.

I had trouble sleeping/relaxing last night, i went to bed at around 2am and lay in bed till 3 trying to project. It wasn't working so I went and sat on the computer for a while and generally just wasted some time. When I became tired again I just went to sleep, I lay on my right side and gave up trying to project for the night. I woke up this morning at about 9 or so, but was in the almost-awake state when completely unforced I began to visualise the room from another perspective. This was confusing because I had not often attempted to project in this way before (I was always attempting the rope method). However, I have (before I ever read about OOBEs) often just out of interest tried 'tricking' myself into thinking that I was lying on the wrong side of bed, and to view the world and be oriented from that angle. I don't find this easy, but I can do it with semi-regular success.

So, anyway..  completely unforced and with no conscious effort, I began to see myself from a view point of the middle of my room.. and I believe I was in the state of 'duality' that I have heard some people describe. I was split between two spaces of mental orientation. I knew I was lying on my right side facing away from the wall, yet I was also viewing myself asleep in bed from the middle of the room. When this happened the immediate thought that "some people use this visualisation method to project, I'll go with it.." came to mind. So I did.. and I kept re-affirming "I want to leave my body, I want to leave my body". At this point my sense of duality vanished and I was completely standing in my room. I saw myself lying in bed but didn't want to look at myself because I've read that focusing on the body can draw you back in. Since I've felt anchored so strongly to my body in my first attempt I decided to ignore my physical body this time since I had skipped the difficult separation stage and was instantly 'out'. Interestingly, I didn't feel any sort of 'pins and needles' or 'vibrations' this time, as I did when I exited via a lucid dream. Probably because my sleep paralysis had already worn off due to waking up naturally and not forced while in a lucid dream (?)

This is where my experiment comes into play. I had a friend write something on a piece of paper, and put it on top of my cupboard. Affirming "I will have clarity" allowed me to maintain where I was without the risk of 'tipping over'. I actually walked to the cupboard (no willpower, i used my physical limbs for movement which felt quite natural). Then (since I am not tall enough to see above it), I began to will myself to reach the ceiling.. I levitated up and looked at the piece of paper and tried to remember everything. It was written in green highlighter and blue pen. The green highlighter was used for the important details, and then outlined with blue to give the letters depth like they were an outlined font. There was a picture of a pretzel on it too.. which may have been used in place of a letter (for example, positioned sideways to represent a 'B'), but I can't remember this clearly.. but I did have the thought somewhere in my recollection. The piece of paper said "you, as a danish bartender, are entitled to one free per customer". I figured "okay, I'll remember that" and then walked towards my door. Not wanting to become disoriented, I stepped through my door in one fast step. I walked past my living room and kitchen and walked through the flyscreen doors and tried to fly. I had a goal in mind, I have talked to another friend and she had given me a 'target' that I didn't know about in her house.. saying that I should check it out if I am able to project to her house. So, I tried to fly.. and had some success, but at first it felt as though I was just making large jumps.. I was still very grounded. Eventually I made a long shallow jump and was able to keep from landing.. I felt as though my butt was attached to a missile and I would soon lose the connection to it and fall. I had a strong sense that even though I initiated the jump, something else was pulling me along. I even went to the extent of putting my hands behind me to hold this imaginary tether so I would remain in flight.

I went through a park area, up through a large tree when something caught my attention. Inside the tree, stuck in the branches was a video game controller.. I thought this was strange, but kept flying. I approached a pathway not too far from my house (maybe 2 or 3km) and there was a lady walking by. I put my hand through her face and out the back of her head. She stopped mid in her tracks with a strange shocked expression on her face. She couldn't see me.. shook off a bit, and then kept walking. The thought crossed my mind to see if I could jump inside some other body and see if I could control them, but I didn't come across anyone else walking. I tried again to fly.. this time higher, when I found myself instantly awake in bed. Again, i did not experience any sort of grogginess normally associated with waking; I was just instantly awake. So, I immediately took out my phone and wrote (in the form of an sms which I didn't send) what I saw on the piece of paper. I saved the message and immediately after went to have a look. The piece of paper had "AJAX 499" written on it in red texta.. NOTHING AT ALL like what I had seen.

I went back to bed and tried to call my friend who had written the message.. He didn't pick up. Before calling again I had a strange thought.. both messages I had seen on the paper were very real, and I began to doubt whether or not I had actually stood up and checked the paper to begin with! But, I checked my phone, saw the message that I wrote and then knew "yes, I definitely wrote the sms and then checked". So the physical proof of my message validated that I did actually get up and checked out the piece of paper. What this highlights is the extremely real experience that I had encountered. It was so real and completely indistiguishable from reality that I actually felt the need to prove to myself that my waking actions were real!

I think my experiment has proven to myself what I wanted it to. I don't believe that I am actually "leaving my body" or necessarily believe in a soul. The out of body experience is definitely the most amazing experience I have ever had, and I will continue to pursue such experiences. However, I believe that the experience is merely a testament to the mind. For me, it really shows that the human mind is capable of some incredible things, but I do not believe that the world encountered while projecting has any bearing or necessary significance with the real world. It seems likely to be a world completely reconstructed in the mind. Either way, for those who have not experienced it.. feel free to make your own experiments and prove to yourself what you will. At the very least, you will have a most profound experience.

From what I understand, sleep paralysis is a state that is ideal for an OOBE. Your body is asleep (more accurately, the part of your mind that controls your body), but your mind is still focused and awake. I believe this is the state you enter after the 'vibrations' stop. The 'vibrations' that people report seems to be when your body is falling asleep, although I have never been 'stuck' in the sleep paralysis stage.

For people who have experienced sleep paralysis, it is often a fearful experience because they are awake and wish to move but are unable. This often encourages paranoid thoughts such as "what if someone broke into my house?", "what if there was a fire?" etc.

I used to be in the same boat as you, but now I actually have the opposite problem to this - I have trouble maintaining focus when I try to project. Providing I have not recently slept, I can usually relax very well and within a short while I begin to see colours and shapes with the odd bright flash (hypnagogic state).

Very often I wake up several hours later with the immediate thought "damn it.. again!?" I used to have a lot of trouble relaxing; the reason I actually got into meditation was to cure my insomnia.

It takes a bit of discipline, but to empty my mind I try to think only of the black emptiness of space. Don't move your body AT ALL, literally lie there and let your whole body fall limp. If you need to concentrate on a body part that seems like it isn't relaxed, breathe in - then tell yourself that when you exhale you will valinquish control of your whole body with that particular area in mind. Make sure you are in a comfortable position because completely relaxing your body may cause you to snore.

Every time a stray thought enters your mind, ignore it.. it may continue on somewhere in the back of your mind but don't pay it any attention. Maintain your focus on the black emptiness in front of you.

Some Poster fell off the top of my drawer ... any thoughts what might it have been?

Sometimes things are precariously balanced and a slight upset (such as your breathing or a passing truck) can upset it. Maybe the poster was rolled unevenly so it had its weight distributed near the top of the roll and this slight upset pushed it past its tipping point which allowed its momentum to roll it off your drawer. My immediate thought is that you are -really- trying to find supernatural explanations for the mundane.

thanks for your help, i'll keep that in mind the next time i manage to project (hopefully in the not too distant future)

I say "I want to leave my body (or something), close my eyes, then fall backwards. Sometmes it wakes me up though. Sometmes i black out during the leaving part, then find myself in the astral.

I do something similar to this.. Except I lie down in my dream, and just say "I want to leave my body".
The next thing that happens, I'm in bed feeling vibrations all over my body and then I kept thinking "I want to leave my body", and then I was sitting up in a partial OBE.
I had trouble fully separating though, but I'm going to try to roll out next time.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Some other questions I have:
1. How do you -move- once seperated?
Do you make self affirmations like "I want to stand up and move towards the door"?
2. My OOBE was very dark, should I sleep with a small light on so I can see something when I project?

IMHO Lucid Dreams are Astral Projections.

The only difference is in the perception - if you think that you're in the astral - then you most probably are in the astral.
Thought = Reality  

Another interesting thread:how to go realtime?

For me, at least, there is a huge difference. I've had dreams that were lucid for as long as I can remember quite regularly.
My first OOBE was mindblowing.. and appeared to be completely in the physical world with a complete waking consciousness and sense of awareness and orientation.

I have experienced several lucid dreams. However, I have never managed to erase the dream imagery around me (to exit from my dream into the astral plane).

Does anyone have any suggestions how can I do it?

Should I just try to imagine a well-known phisicall location (a peculiar building in my hometown,...) and intend to go there? 

I've only been able to project through lucid dreams so far (been able to feel vibrations through meditation, but I never get further). I get out by doing the same thing as I do when awake,
I lie down in my dream, relax.. and say "I want to leave my body". This instantly got me to a state of vibrations (all over my body, which i've never felt before), and then I keep thinking about leaving my body then all od a sudden I'm sitting upright in my bed while my body remains asleep.

I replied in your thread..
I was meaning to ask a question to more experienced people..
do you project with the light on? ..because I projected in the dark and I couldn't see much

You're definitely on the right track..  your body is falling asleep and you are maintaining focus.
I used to have great difficulty relaxing, and now I've found that I tend to have difficulty maintaining my focus (I just wake up 8 hours later)

Next time.. try to concentrate on the thought that you are going to leave your body, be that floating up, sitting up out of your body or whatever.
You will feel the vibrations, but ignore them as a side effect of what you are doing.. and take them to be an indicator that you're on the right track.. the vibrations mean that your body is in the process of falling asleep.. concentrate on leaving your body (i have found affirming to myself "i want to leave my body" helped).

I have heard that the best way to improve your chances is to go to bed, then set your alarm for 4am. Wake up, go get a drink, if you're hungry have a quick snack, go to the toilet.. then go back to bed and try it out. When you have your experience, you will know it. My experience was with complete waking consciousness, sitting in bed as my body was still in bed.. the only things that made it seem unreal were the fact that I sat up so effortlessly (I willed myself up rather than ever having to use my stomach muscles), there was no sound, and I had little control over my body.. I felt like I was floating through a real world, and unable to control it properly.

Best of luck.

Hi, I just had my first (limited) experience.. and, as simple as it was, it felt incredible.
I'll explain this as thoroughly as i can in case it helps someone. I just joined this forum to share my experience

I have so far, only been able to project using a lucid dream (but I've only been trying for a month). And my one projection was very short, and I didn't have much control.

Via meditation, I tried the rope method. This involved me lying down, and completely relaxing my body. If I was not completely relaxed.. I would breathe in, then breathe out and relax more. If any body part felt like it was tense, I concentrated on relaxing it with my next exhalation. I was sure to be in a position where I could breathe properly when fully relaxed, and not snore / have difficulty breathing. Once relaxed, I concentrated on imagining that there was a rope above me and I was constantly pulling myself up, and the higher I would pull, the higher my relaxation and the further I would leave my body behind as it drifted asleep. I understand that the idea is to fall asleep as I already do most nights, but to keep my mind focused on this task of pulling out. I have not had much success with this method, as I believe (as with most forms of meditation that require a deep focus) this can be difficult.

In my best meditation attempt, I have felt the back of my neck start to vibrate, and heard some soft, distant, humming... high pitch, so it could almost be mistaken for singing. The first few times I have always become too excited when I hit this point and I was soon out of it. I haven't been able to encourage the vibrations to take over my body.

The second form is through a lucid dream, I've found that by practicing the rope method (having my mind focused while falling asleep), I have been able to lucid dream more often. When I realised I was in a dream, I lay down on the floor in my dream, and thought "i want to leave my body". I was suddenly in my bed with a strong vibrational energy all over consuming my body.. like when you sit in a strange position and your leg starts tingling, except it was a lighter sensation, and pleasant. I heard myself breathing, but then I noticed it was out of sync, and this caused me to wake up (I wasn't sleeping alone this night). The next time, i had a similar start.. I lay down in my dream, and willed myself out of my body. I felt the vibrations and then 'sat up' outside of my body. My viewpoint was as though I was sitting, however I had trouble controlling myself, I pivoted to stand up but then immediately fell down so that my head was were my feet were.. I sat up again, and saw myself sleeping as I sat up, then I tried again to stand.. but fell back down into my original position, and woke up. It was as though once I turned, my body had momentum that I couldn't stop or control.

Next time I get to this, I'm going to try to think about the command "I will leave my body.. and stand up".. since this worked very well for getting out, I think maybe these self-thoughts may be helpful to controlling the experience.

Can anyone offer some pointers as to how I can better meditate to this state?
Anyone have similar problems of becoming too excited by the fact that it might be working?

Many thanks in advance.