I've started practicing phasing, but every time I practice it before bedtime I either A. fall asleep, or B. I experience a hypnagogic jerk which breaks my concentration.
Has anyone had this problem? Of course, I could practice during the day (I got to the point where I think I was in 3-D blackness), but I'm under the impression that its best to practice when you either first wake up or are sleepy?
I usually have my longer, more well-controlled experiences if I have time to practice in the daytime, especially mid-afternoon when I start to feel a bit draggy and feel like I could use nap. It might be worth trying :)
Yeah, I'd highly suggest practicing first thing in the morning. You don't want to be too sleepy, as it's harder to retain your conscious awareness... you're more than likely to just fall asleep as you've been doing.
However, even that might not get rid of the hypnagogic jerks... those should lessen naturally with time.
Congrats on experiencing the 3D Blackness too! :)
This happens to me when I am exhausted. It's like your body is trying to tell you to just to to sleep already!
Do it in the hypnopompic state for sure.
One thing I tried last night was to not put bed covers over my body-- that let me practice without any hypnagogic jerks-- until I got tired and wanted to go to bed. Then I put the covers on.
I'm not sure really how I was able to end up in 3-D blackness like I did one afternoon-- if it was. What happened is that I felt like I was floating inside my mind in a void.
The last few times I've practiced phasing, I've just focused on any weird floating things in the blackness, but then I'll start daydreaming. Shoul I attempt to "enter" the daydream scenes, or should I do nothing?
Just being annoying, but,
#hypnic jerk
#myoclonic jerk
:-D
Try doing some full body exercises before lying down. I had this same problem and found that doing 3-4 yoga sun salutations stopped it, they stretch you out without getting your blood pumping like crazy, so when you lie down your muscles aren't primed for spasms anymore.
If you don't know any yoga just giving your arms and legs a good stretch (a few minutes) will have the same effect.
What do u mean jerk? Like out of nowhere a shock that wakes u out of trance? Because ive experienced that a few times. And also sometimes if you haven't gotten enough rest while your trying to sleep you can experience a shock out of nowhere that'll wake you up
Someone correct me if I'm delusional
A good way to stop the jerk off-ing your chances is to practice breath counting.
The way that has been working for me is to first learn how you sleep breath by recording it one night. Lay down and mimic your sleep breath and on every exhale count and visualise the number. Do this up to number 5, then back down to 1 and repeat ensuring to visualise the number each time. You will find (or should find) that you will still get hypnogic imagery but because your mind is slightly more alert due to the focussing on counting and visualising that you wont be as shocked and therefore will be less likely to jerk.
Dont be tempted to go further than 5 up and 5 down as this will make you lose a vital thread of concentration and you'll most certainly fall asleep (at least I do!).