My first attempt at AP/OBE...did it work?

[PattyBakes]

Hey everyone!  As you can probably guess, I'm new here - I stumbled across this forum because I've been looking for a place to learn about projection and ask about an experience I just had.  Sorry in advance for the wall of text...this is still fresh in my mind, and I'd like to share details.

Anyway, I've been curious about astral projection for a little while.  I've had lucid dreams before (though not intentionally), and they were fascinating, and I have a lot of experience with meditation and deep relaxation.  Until tonight, however, I had never attempted to project.  For guidance, I followed an excerpt from a book (thanks Google) outlining the basics of Robert Monroe's method.  In all honesty, I decided to try as much out of curiosity as anything, but I approached it seriously, and the results were worth it.

First, I turned off the lights in my room, leaving my closet door barely ajar with only a sliver of light escaping.  I lay flat on my bed, legs extended, with my hands resting comfortably on my thighs.  I began to relax myself, breathing deeply and slowly.  I paired this with a sort of mantra, since I figured some reinforcement wouldn't hurt: in between each inhale and exhale I would repeat the thought, "I am going to astrally project."

I then began consciously relaxing each part of my body in addition to this.  I started with the first joint of my toes and moved bit by bit all the way up to the top of my head, willing peace and light into each spot.  After this, my body was as calm as it could be, to the point where I felt no urge to move or even think about it (I guess this is sleep paralysis?), but my mind remained alert and active.  I spent some time staring with my eyes closed, allowing myself to sink even further into this state while stilling my thoughts further.

I gradually became able to view my surroundings without opening my eyes.  Things were fuzzy, but my familiarity with my room helped to clarify my vision.  I can only assume this was my mind's eye beginning to open.  As recommended by Monroe's steps, I focused this my inner sight on a point on the ceiling directly above me.  I attempted to pull the energy of that point downward and spread it throughout my body.  Each time I tried, there seemed to be a time delay between my efforts and when the waves landed.  I could tell that this energy was making a longer journey than the short distance from the ceiling to my bed.

Eventually, I felt it cascading it through me in slow waves.  It felt cool and refreshing, and each wave seemed to lift me up for a moment.  After a period of time, I began to focus on making my body as light as could be, even lighter than air.  The more I did so, the more in tune I felt with the waves of energy passing through me. I continued this for what seemed like only a few minutes, and after a time, I watched the following with my mind's eye:

While staring up with closed eyes, I saw the darkness behind my eyelids change.  It shifted from the typical dark one would normally see to a complete blackness, void of all light, that seemed infinitely deep. Shortly after this, I watched as I lifted my forearm up in a way that can only be described as separating it from my body. I moved it slightly to the right and briefly grasped and tugged upon a bunched-up portion of cloth before setting it back down. Looking back, this amazes me, but at the time it was simply something I decided to do.  Next, I raised my right foot approximately one foot in the air, again watching it pass through the quilt as if there were no barrier.  I waved it around briefly and then lowered back down. It felt as though I had always had a second copy of my body, one made of something different and intended for a different use, and I was just now discovering that use.

The excerpt I read said that such actions are signs that one is ready to leave the body. Being curious to explore further, I attempted to apply the technique of "lightness" to my entire body, but to no avail.  Next I tried the "roll out" method as described in Monroe's steps, and what happened was unlike any feeling I've had before.  Though my physical body didn't move, I felt my astral body begin to rise as I rolled to the right.  I could perceive the sliver of light from my closet more clearly, as though I was facing it (which makes sense because my closet is to the right from where I lay in bed).

However, I almost instantly felt myself pulled back into my body.  After a short period of deep breathing and re-centering myself, I tried again, with the same result.  I made a third attempt, this time rolling left, but it was all the same.  Each time, I felt as though my left shoulder acted as an anchor, weighing me down and rendering me unable to completely leave my body.  I would have taken more time to relax and make further attempts, but (despite it not having physically moved at all) my shoulder began to ache.  It also became progressively harder with each attempt to bring back the "deep darkness" I had witnessed before.

I decided to break away and try again at a later time. The entire experience took place over the course of an hour and a half, but it didn't feel nearly that long.   Upon moving my physical body (particularly upon rising from bed), I felt very sluggish, as if I were moving a half-step behind the physical world.  This feeling persisted strongly for roughly 20 minutes and gradually lessened over the course of the next hour.  In addition, my shoulder continued to ache for about 5 minutes after I began to move again, and it remains a little stiff two hours later.

Put simply, my question is this: what exactly happened?  For lack of a better word, it feels like I had a "partial" out of body experience.  The fact that my shoulder ached despite not moving it seems like evidence to support that claim.  Next time, I'm going to spend more time relaxing and attempting small movements before trying to fully leave my body.  With that said, I'm pleasantly surprised by the results of this first attempt - it was amazing!  Thanks in advance for your thoughts.  If I seem like a newbie, forgive me...it's because I am.  

[personalreality]

That is a fantastic experience. 

You're on the right track.  Just keep doing it.

One thing I will say is that you did not experience sleep paralysis.  That is simply you unplugging your mind from your physical senses.  You become disassociated from your body.  In effect, you forget it's there and that is the idea.  Go for that.

Don't get hung up on "what to expect".  There are commonalities that people experience, but you can't generalize this experience.  It's a unique and subjective experience and you are the only one who can be sure. 

Just keep going, you're doing great.

[Lionheart]

Put simply, my question is this: what exactly happened?  For lack of a better word, it feels like I had a "partial" out of body experience.  

Hello and Welcome to the Astral Pulse. You answered your own question here, that sounds exactly what you did. Congratulations!   Keep practicing what you are doing, you are well on the path to success!  
Edit:
Oops, looks like we were posting at the same time here personalreality. But we both had the same thing to say which is, "Good Job!" 

[catmeow]

Hello PattyBakes and welcome. Yes that sounds like a typical early stage OOBE. By which I mean you experienced the early stages of an OOBE. It's very similar to experiences I have had. Moving your astral arm and leg are very good ways of "loosening" your astral body, prior to exit. You're most definitely on the right track. So like you, I have done this "loosening" and then tried to roll out, and like you, sometimes I get "stuck" and can't separate, due to part of my body being stuck. The way I get round this is to use an alternative exit technique. Here are a couple of very simple, but effective techniques, to "unstick" yourself:

1. Beam Out.

Focus your attention on a spot, about 6 feet away on the floor, and try to "beam" yourself over to this spot. If successful, there may be a sensation of movement, and the next thing you feel is the carpet or flooring beneath you, at that spot 6 feet away you focussed on. I am invariably kneeling on the floor at this point, and then feel the carpet with my hands to anchor myself there. Then I stand up and move towards the bedroom door. Usually I can see the room dimly, and when I leave my bedroom I bring in full vision.

2. Spin Out

Focus your attention on the ceiling above you. Imagine yourself floating upwards, but also try to initiate a spinning motion, as if you are spinning around a vertical axis passing through the bed. I don't spin very quickly, or very much, but do sometimes spin around the room a few times before moving away from my bed and landing on the floor. The spinning is a way of loosening your astral body, and also anchoring yourself in the astral.

Generally speaking, the Roll Out is the easiest way to exit your body, but if you become "stuck" then a Beam Out or a Spin Out exit is a useful way to overcome this. They work because when you are "stuck" you are actually obsessing about the part of your body which is stuck. Beaming or spinning takes your attention completely away from your physical body, and helps you focus on the astral instead.

A lot of APers don't like the idea of an astral body, and indeed there may not be one, other than as a mental construct we make use of. This doesn't lessen the validity or efficacy of these technique's.  These techniques work because of the way that they focus your attention away from the physical and towards the astral.