Looking for advice concerninng Focus 10 development.

[johnwes]

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my post.

I have been practicing achieving the Focus 10 state for some time and would like to share where I am in my development with the AP community.  I am looking for some insight or guidance from those individuals whose wisdom and experience is greater than or equal to my own. 

I practice about 3 times a week with and without the hemi-sync CD and have been for at least 8 months now.  I am able to achieve a F-10 state to the point where the depth of my mind's eye expands and takes shape into the 3D blackness as it is often referred to.  I can get to this stage fairly consistently and have gotten better at maintaining it.

From there shapes and images occur as brief flashes.  Other times images will form from the blackness itself which is different than seeing a quick picture (that's hard to explain).  For example a road might begin appear, or a man picking up garbage on the street.  Last night a thin wavy line made its way across the bottom of my field of vision.  Sometime I drift off and dream images begin to appear and other times I hold it together.

Any thoughts?

[Xanth]

Hypnagogic imagery.
To project there's a phase of falling asleep that one needs to go through first.
This is called the Hypnagogic phase... this is when your senses will be randomly bombarded with stuff.
You could see random scenes or objects... hear random things... sense stuff around you.
It's perfectly normal, just try not to get 'sucked into' the scene.  If that happens, you'll more than likely just end up in a dream. 

[Stookie]

I suggest trying without the hemi-sync for at least a few weeks. At this point your mind has gotten into a habit of the F10 process, and may be a reason why you don't get past that point (hemi-sync has done that to me). Kind of like a weightlifter that hits a plateau, you have to change up your process or take a break to push further. Maybe take a week off, and then hit back hard without the hemi-sync.

Not meaning you shouldn't use it anymore. It's always good to go back to.

[johnwes]

I suggest trying without the hemi-sync for at least a few weeks. At this point your mind has gotten into a habit of the F10 process, and may be a reason why you don't get past that point

Yes I think you're right.  I've gotten to the point now where I only use the CD about once a week and have noticed better results without it.  I've just recently made it a habit not to practice two days in a row.

[Xanth]

Hemi-sync and similar technologies are just tools.
Any tool can become a crutch if relied upon too long.
Always try to remove your tools once in a while to keep things fresh. 

[EscapeVelocity]

I'll add my 2 cents to Stookie's and Xanth's excellent advice.
Yes, sometimes you need to relax and "take a breather" in order to gather momentum for the next step, and these "steps" may be smaller or less obvious than you first thought.

Imho, you may need a greater degree of "intention" of what to do next; where do you want to go? Who do you want to see? What do you want to do next?...quite often, I'll find that I've expended all this energy and preparation to achieve an exit...and then I'll just float there with no real distinct purpose or intention in mind---and it just doesn't occur to you automatically, at least for me and probably most of the time for me. So I have to work at it step by small step, building in secondary and tertiary "intentions".
Sometimes this works and others I just head off in a random direction, not quite accomplishing what I had originally planned.

Seems to me you could just patiently wait for the hypnogogics to slow down to the point where the 3D blackness returns and then express an intent to visit this place or that person...or you could step into the vision screen at some point, knowing that it's likely a Lucid of some degree and change your circumstances from there. Myself, I usually get sucked into the Lucid and go from there. The initial energy and exhilaration of experiencing the vision screen can be overwhelming.

Great work, keep us posted!

[Xanth]

Intention!
Oh yes, definitely.
If you don't give yourself some kind of goal or intent towards your projection... you're most likely going to waste the time out and get sucked back into your body before you've had a chance to form an actual coherent thought.

My main goals, for instance, include meeting my spirit guide, visiting the akashic records and going to stonehenge. 
Now, my problem lies in what order to do those in!  LOL

[johnwes]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Here's another for you.  This has happened on a number of occasions but the latest experience was the most vivid.  When I'm in F-10 (or at least my version of  it) I'll see a hand and know that it is mine.  I just know because that's what I think it to be.  It's not a flash image or a glimpse.  A hand slowly comes into my field of vision, then slowly goes away leaving me that grain 3D effect in its wake before I lose it.  I must be thinking of my hand for some reason at the right time, causing this to happen.

Any input?

[Xanth]

Less input, but more a request...
Next time you 'see' the hand, turn around and look behind you. 

[johnwes]

Next time you 'see' the hand, turn around and look behind you. 

I'm not sure how I can do that yet.  If I make that effort it would probably break the trance. 

[Slix]

good old focus 10, by far the hardest part of projection (at least to me). unfortunately i rarely ever seem to get into this unless i've just woke up, and i'm sick of trying then as half the time i forget i'm so groggy...

when you see your hand can you move it? if you havent tried it i suggest that you do, it's not quite as much as turning your entire etheric body around so i'd assume it's less likely to break the trance. if it does dont panic about it or curse at yourself or anything, just stay relaxed and focused and it should be back in no time. experiment, try your arm, then see if you can raise your other one, or both at the same time, then try turning around.

PS, as there's already a thread open about F-10 i'd like to ask here, when i try AP any time other than 'as soon as i wake up' i always get so close to F-10 then a random limb thats not quite numb yet (usually the only one left to go) always starts to ache/itch for some reason, or something makes a loud noise, both of which obvioulsy upset my concentration... does anybody else have this sort of problem? and if you 'did' and don't any more could you spare any advice? as you can imagine this is quite annoying.

[Xanth]

PS, as there's already a thread open about F-10 i'd like to ask here, when i try AP any time other than 'as soon as i wake up' i always get so close to F-10 then a random limb thats not quite numb yet (usually the only one left to go) always starts to ache/itch for some reason, or something makes a loud noise, both of which obvioulsy upset my concentration... does anybody else have this sort of problem? and if you 'did' and don't any more could you spare any advice? as you can imagine this is quite annoying.

If you get an itch... scratch it.
If you get an ache... stretch it out.
How exactly do you fall asleep at night?  You take care of body-issues first... then fall asleep.
You should be able to move slightly and calmly without breaking your concentration. 

You could always try completely ignoring any body-issues... but they'll generally start to SCREAM at you until you do something about them anyways.  LoL

[johnwes]

You could always try completely ignoring any body-issues... but they'll generally start to SCREAM at you until you do something about them anyways.  LoL

I agree.  In the past I've tried to completely ignore itches and such but find it best to just take care of them.  I like how you compared it to falling asleep.

[netodude]

what exactly is f10?? i know what the hypnogogic state is, but ive wondered what f10 is   ...

[Stookie]

Focus 10 - mind awake, body asleep