Getting frustrated, any help is appreciated!

[Equinox]

Hey everyone, Equinox here and I'm new to this site but not to astral projection. I've been attempting to AP for at least eight months now, and have had little luck. I've tried a number of different techniques and have spent countless hours browsing forums such as this one to try and dig up a method I can use to have an out of body experience. I am seriously beginning to feel that all of my efforts have been in vain, and that I might never be able to AP. I'm nearly positive my problem is that I can never seem to induce sleep paralysis, no matter how clear my mind is or how relaxed I am. I've had a few experiences where I was almost certain that I was paralyzed, only to attempt to leave my body and find that I could move my physical body effortlessly. Two nights ago I believe I came the closest I've ever been to having an OBE, and even experienced a feeling that is very difficult to describe, but I haven't felt it for a great number of years. I'm not sure what triggers it or why I suddenly began experiencing it again, but it felt like my entire consciousness had shifted to a point somewhere above my body and had been contained in a swirling sphere of some sort, if that makes any sense... Suddenly, something happened to me that had never happened when I was younger. The sphere that I had now apparently become grew at an alarming rate, until it was absolutely massive, and shot upwards at impossible speeds, far away from... well, everything. I felt like I was no longer even in our universe. At this point I thought I might have somehow done it, and decided to try and leave my body, which I could still clearly feel. I slowly sat up, and.... I was still in my body.

I'm going to be completely honest here, after this I just felt so defeated and unmotivated, and couldn't go to sleep the rest of the night. I felt like I had been so, so close... I guess not. Can someone please explain to me why my body is refusing to enter a state of paralysis, even when I am totally relaxed, clear minded and even feeling the supposed "tingles" that everyone feels when they are paralyzed? Also, can someone please explain to me the shifted consciousness feeling? As stated above, any help is greatly appreciated, and thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

[LightBeam]

Hey Equinox, have you read William Buhlman's books? I suggest to give the visualization/motion technique a try, or an early morning technique. Very rarely one can project from a meditative state. That's why I see so many new people coming to this board with the same problem. It is not as simple as getting relaxed and tingled to project. Otherwise projection would have been discovered by many and widely used by now. Feeling your body numb and experiencing mild tingles is not a sleep paralysis or the vibrational state. Your brain waves need to be at least theta, best in delta state. Your physical senses must be totally shut down, and that means you need to be asleep, or in a state of falling asleep. When I first started with the visualization/motion technique, it took me about three weeks to achieve AP. But I was doing the technique AS I was falling asleep. Not during the day, not during meditation. That did not work for me for a long time and I had it wrong. So, one night, in the middle of the night, I was awaken by a very loud noise inside my head, like a train running through me. Yes, that is the vibrational state. And my body was completely paralyzed. From that point, I was prepared from what I have read to expect. I did not waste time, imagined myself standing by the door, and there I was fully in the astral. But you have to understand that through these various techniques, while you are falling asleep, your awareness remains awake while your body and brain fall asleep, so it usually takes three to four weeks and you must be patient. But you need to be consistent and do this every night at the right time.
You can also do that if you briefly wake up during the night, then as you are falling back to sleep, start to imagining your bed as a swing and start swaying from side to side. Do this internal motion for just few minutes and in 80% of the time, I had achieved strong vibrations ride away. But this is because at that time of the night, your brain waves are rapidly going from theta to delta and at the same time you are keeping your awareness active my internal motion simulation.

[Equinox]

Wow, thanks for the speedy response! I have not read William Buhlman's books, but I have heard of him, and now I'm definitely going to check him out. And I'll keep what you said about waking up in the middle of the night in mind, as I find myself being woken up quite often. I guess I'll just have to keep experimenting with different methods and be more persistent than I have been lately.

[EscapeVelocity]

LightBeam is giving you some excellent advice; I wll add a few other ideas to consider.

1 -We all start off thinking about this from a strictly PHYSICAL perspective; that thinking has to be re-considered every step of the way, especially early on; sometimes discarded completely. Spend some time thinking about this concept. As you progress you will also need to return to the relationship of Physical versus Non-Physical thinking.

2 -Forget the idea that Sleep Paralysis must be achieved. It's a convenient position to find yourself in but has its own problems to deal with. If a person naturally finds themself prone to SP, then great, we can work from there, but don't beat your head trying to induce the condition!

3 -LightBeam is making the salient point that trying to achieve an obe is quite difficult/nearly impossible for most from an evening, pre-bedtime routine. Your physical body is simply too tired not to drag down your consciousness with it into sleep. Therefore, middle of the night, early morning, afternoon naps...these are naturally better times to try. Your first successes will be almost accidental as you try different times and find what works better for you.

4 -Understand that most of us probably don't just make a simple decision to go explore the universe without our Physical body. There are internal processes that need to take place; I define it as an internal permission-giving process. It's a process of asking our subconscious and our Higher Self permission and cooperation to do this. You should reinforce this process with an affirmation stating your intention and asking for their assistance. Certainly couldn't hurt lol! You need to realize that these processes are at work within you. This is part of learning a higher level of communication.

5 -Maybe dreams work better for you? Is your recall good? You can program yourself to come aware within a dream. This is a great secondary method that often gives me a second experience after a good obe.

EV

[Equinox]

I have actually tried the dream approach, and haven't been very successful at it, so I just quit trying. I will reconsider attempting that method though, because it seems to be working for a fair amount of people. And wow, I was completely under the impression that inducing sleep paralysis was a must if I wanted to experience an OBE. Oops! Guess I don't know quite as much as I thought I did...

I used to try to AP at about 3 or 4 in the morning but wasn't having much luck there, so now I usually try just before I would usually go to bed, so that's another thing I've been doing wrong. I often find myself waking up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, so hopefully that happens tonight and I can try to start myself down the path to success. I've been with this site for such a short amount of time and already I find myself better educated on this topic, you guys are very helpful! Again, thank you!

[EscapeVelocity]

You are very welcome!

We live, we learn; the Internet over the last ten years has been a great benefit to the sharing of knowledge; as a group, we are finally getting somewhere! I have learned SO much in just the last few years!

Stay open to the "many approaches theory" lol

[EscapeVelocity]

Waking up at 3 or 4am for "no apparent reason" can often be a sign that your inner self is presenting you with an opportunity to project. The trick is figuring out from there how to do it! Do you try right then and there? Do you read a book for 20 minutes, or do laundry for 40 minutes? The answer is unique to you; my only advice is accept the fact that it is an imperfect process and try different routines; finding a kind of balance is the trick.

Set your intention and then let go; if you fall asleep, fine, just let go anyway. The process will work when you are ready. Trust in this.

[Bluefirephoenix]

When I work I don't work from my sleep but instead I work on trance during the day.  Learning to trance without falling asleep is very important when attempting a conscious astral projection. My trance work is done in a comfortable chair.( actually a recliner) Sometimes I recline but I've had trouble falling asleep when reclined so I've gone back to sitting upright.  Projection or phasing can be done from a chair and it lends itself to greater control. If you work at night it's important to be in a position where you cannot fall asleep. If I wake up at night and cannot get back to sleep right away, I get into the chair and work. There are times when I do project and I'm in bed. This is fairly rare though and happens a few days out of a month.  The ability to do this at night appears to be related to my monthly hormonal cycle.

The second thing I have is spiritual guidance from the other side. In my case prayer and focus on the divine is very important in my work. I personally believe this ability is given to us to be able to do spiritual exploration without the hinderance of the physical body.. a way to return home when walking the paths of our incarnations here.

[Astralsuzy]

I can understand how frustrated you feel.   The more you think you cannot ap the harder ap will get.   When I think I cannot ap, I just lie there for a long time and nothing happens.    When I put my mind to it and think I can do it.   Ap always happens.   Keep telling yourself everyday that you can ap even if you do not succeed.   You need to believe that you can do it.    You may have been relaxed but not relaxed enough to ap.    Your mind has to be relaxed as well.    Practice relaxing, meditating and if ap does not work (it usually does happen) then do an ap technique.   That is the key to success.   Forget about sp as it is not a requirement to ap.   It will only make you more frustrated.   You can do it.   I can ap and I am not anything special.   If you do not ap it does not mean you cannot ap.  Try a different time.    The more often you try the more chances you will succeed.   Keep practicing and ap will happen.