Trouble Getting to Sleep During "Mind Awake - Body Asleep" Method...

[Din]

Hello.

I am a very early novice at Astral Projecting (and by early, I mean I've only started attempting this six days ago) using the Mind Awake-Body Asleep Method.  During my most recent attempt, I had lost just about all sense of touch in my body.  The only thing I could actually FEEL, to be honest, was my heart.  However, during this same attempt, I had also lay in this state for about two hours before finally giving up.  I'm not attempting to succeed for... damn... many months if I'm lucky, but, a question I have is how I can lessen this time span.  I attempted this at 9:53 PM and gave up at about 11:53 PM.  Some other factors include the fact that I had some involuntary swallowing while attempting this, and the fact that I was burning up during this experience (to the point where some of my muscles twitched while I was trying to sleep and my body numbed).

Any suggestions?  Might I need to alter one of the factors above?  Might they have little bearing and I'll sleep easier with more practice?

[Lexy]

I think to shorten the time, you might try waking up after sleeping for like 4 hours, stay up for like 15 mins then try. Your body will be more likely to fall asleep faster but then it's a matter of keeping your focus.

[Astral316]

I also recommend attempting early morning after having slept a few, that way your body is craving REM sleep. I've been doing this lately and it's consistently got me into the pre-projection state or dreams that I quickly become lucid and aware in.

[Din]

Thanks for the replies!  I'll be sure to give it a shot.

[Xanth]

The early morning, right after waking up does tend to be best for what seems to be the majority of people. 
I actually find that I'm too tired in the morning, probably due to lack of sleep.  LoL
In which case, early afternoon (around lunch time) or just after work (5pm) I find are the optimal times for me to sit down and practice.

One benefit you'll find from practicing after waking up is that your body is in a more relaxed state than it would be during the day, so you can almost skip the "relax your body" part and move right into (or at least move a bit quicker) into the actual exercise you're doing.  Another benefit is that your mind will be not totally awake yet, which also helps because it kind of gives you a slight head start.  Where if you were to practice sometime in the middle of the day, you'd need to meditate towards that initial state first.