meditation - trance state

[sk_nh]

Hi all!   i have read countless techniques on how to AP, each one telling you after you have reach a trance state do this.....  anyway, i guess i could search the web and find different ways but i have found many of the people here are able to explain themselves in very good detail and in layman's terms, also there seems to be alto of experience within this forum.  so anyway, my goal is to find a way well suited to myself for achieving the focus 10 state that i have been reading about on this site.  any suggestions would be very much appreciated!  Thanks in advance.  on a side note,  a month or so ago i was able to reach a state where i would experience a state where i would feel like i was wobbling on a regular basis, i seemed to be pretty deep in trance, however , lately i haven't been able to get back to this state.  i think its cause somehow i have totally messed up my ability to meditate.

[astralspinner]

Sit down, close your eyes, and pay attention to how your mind feels.

Now, relax your mind as if you were trying to go to sleep. You'll feel a slight 'shift' in your mind, very hard to describe, as it relaxes.

Now be careful to keep your mind in that relaxed state, and just focus on staying relaxed and keeping your mind clear. If any thoughts intrude, just drop them and go back to staying clear.

Don't concentrate on how your body feels, ignore it altogether. In trance, your body is very distant: you anchor yourself to it by focussing on how it feels.

Most importantly: Do it every day without fail, even if only for ten minutes. Meditation requires a calm mind, and it calms the mind. The more often you do it, the calmer your mind will be and the easier to meditate it will be.

If I missed a day, I had to meditate 3-4 times before I got back on form. I had to take a week off a forthnight ago, I'm still stuggling to get back to where I was a month ago.

Oh, and as much as possible during the day, stay calm and relaxed. Don't let yourself get worked up. As above: Meditation requires a calm mind.

[sk_nh]

thanks astral, it was actually a post i read of yours that got me to ask this, you mentioned you were making good head way with your meditating - to the point where you felt you could phase. i have been doing everything form counting breaths to imagining climbing down a ladder-stairs, most of the time doing one after another.  i am going to give this a try right now (hopefully my boss will leave me alone for a half hour or so).  thanks again for taking the time.

[sk_nh]

well, i just gave it a shot.  it was quite a hard time trying to relax my mind, i mean out of nowhere my mind went on these tangents.  but after a while i got this wicked rush, and then i couldn't really feel my arms-legs.  i mean i could feel them but it was like they were faded.  anyway, after this my mind went crazy with what to do, should i try to AP, should i do some visualization, should i get back to work.  anyway the sensation faded a bit and i decided to get back to work.  it was quite fun.  even though my mind was not completely quiet think it may have been quiet enough.  i am very curious as to what will happen when i can control the excitement and i go deeper.  i guess the whole deal with me was i was trying to put my body to sleep yet keep my mind awake, after this experience it seems as this really isn't the case.  i really have no idea how to explain this though.  i look forward to giving it another try tonight.

[astralspinner]

out of nowhere my mind went on these tangents.

Infuriating, isn't it?

after this my mind went crazy with what to do, should i try to AP, should i do some visualization, should i get back to work. anyway the sensation faded a bit

Another piece of advice: Resolve NOT to project.

Make a resolution that you won't project until you've mastered entering & staying in a trance. Not even if you find yourself in a full trance. Not even if you get the vibrations. Decide that under no circumstances will you project.

Because nothing kills a trance quicker than getting excited, and you WILL get excited if you think "Trance! Yay! Now I must try to project!"

Wait until you're good at reaching trance, THEN start thinking about projecting.