Blessed be!

[cinnabar]

I have been interested in astral projection since I read Monroe's Journeys Out of the Body almost forty years ago, and most of the time I have been tossed between fascination and fear. My scientific background led me to believe that anything paranormal is a scam, a predisposition which finally was honed into the assumption that the bulk of what is nowadays sold as paranormal is a scam, an attempt to look interesting, a poor understanding of statistics or a mental disorder. However, I do believe there is a hard core of paranormal activity which is the real thing, and I am set to experience for myself what is real and what not.

I dabbled in magick, through Donald Kraig's Modern Magick, which never worked for me, lost interest in magick, and decided to pick up astral projection as a more direct way to experience the mechanics of magick. I worked my way through Robert Bruce's Mastering Astral Projection, with minimal success, just enough to conclude there is truth in astral projection I want to explore further.

So far, I experienced one OOBE I can be sure about, one that may have been a lucid dream and one state of altered consciousness that might have been an OOBE, or something else interesting. Currently, I think it is my noisy mind that keeps me from projecting, occasionally I feel I am close to another successful OOBE, so I keep searching and debugging myself. It would be great if people here could give me an eye opener, or at least motivate me to keep going.

[Nameless]

I totally sympathize with the noisy mind. Sometimes I'd pay good money to make mine shut up for a while, lol. What I have found though is that it doesn't hinder me at all. If this has held your interest this long then it's a sure bet you should probably pursue it, now might be the right time.

I can only speak for myself of course. Sometimes when my mind is way too noisy what helps is slowing down my breathing and listening. I just listen to my thoughts and let them go where they may. It can sometimes take a while. If I have a specific direction I want to go I just keep reminding myself of that but otherwise let my thoughts wonder. Eventually and sometimes rather quickly they will take off on their own and I'm out there in the NP almost before I even know I'm on my way.

Maybe trying something like that will work for you. I'm sure once others read your post you'll get even more input.

And Welcome to the forum.

[Lumaza]

 Greetings!

Magick, just as prayer are both forms of focused will and intent. So is Astral Projection. Once you learn to strengthen and hold that focus on one object, subject or destination, you will find that your "target" will be just as real and vivid as it is in this current physical reality here. To do that you need to have patience, practice often and you will persevere.

Check out the many stickies found in the Sub-Forums here. They are the threads in BOLD BLUE LETTERS. They are loaded with all kinds of great info accumulated here through the years.

[EscapeVelocity]

Welcome cinnabar!

I deal with 'noisy mind' also. For me, the best OBE times are in the middle of the night or early morning wake-ups, when a high degree of mental/physical relaxation has resulted. This is my ideal time to play with finding the right mental framework to explore. It's not always perfect, nor a guarantee of success, but somewhere in there you may find your opportunity.

You have already had many Non-Physical experiences beyond the OBE and LD you mentioned: Dreams and even daydreams fit into the NP category; simply put, they represent changes in the focus of your consciousness...the key difference is how much 'conscious presence' you can bring to each experience. You can work to increase that presence.

As Nameless pointed out- finding your particular method can be as simple as naturally following your thoughts as you relax. Your inner self can show you the way.

As Lumaza remarked- it is all about Will and Intent. Those words are capitalized for a reason. This fact will become ever more important over the years.

As to 'Stickies', the first Board and the third Board have some very good reads; you should take the time to read through the ones that catch your interest. We are all different and maybe fall somewhere within four or five categories of experience and expectation. Five techniques of a particular type may not resonate with you and be unworkable, whereas five techniques of a very different approach may prove productive for you. No one can decide for you except you. So do some reading; your technique IS here, somewhere, lol.

If your mind is noisy, like mine is, then you need to learn to 'set your Intent' (to remember your dreams, experience an OBE, a new experience, etc) and then simply relax and release control, even if you fall asleep...and see what you wake up remembering. Or, if you want to attempt a more conscious release method, set your alarm for a 4am wake-up and do a Wake, Back To Bed (WBTB) technique.

An over-riding part of this is your expectation: What are you expecting? An etheric type OBE where you literally feel your spirit-self floating up out of your physical body and floating around your house?  That is one type of experience.

Another is coming aware within a dream (LD) and you create your reality from there. You may revert to your physical and then get an etheric exit or you may go in a completely different direction.

You may be laying there, totally relaxed at the edge of sleep at 3 am and get vibrations and lift out, or you may get hypnogogic images, a continuing series of images, and finally 'phase' into them and into a NP environment.

Experienced travelers can experience any of these 'exits' at any various times. They are open to and aware of the various 'physical' sensations that indicate an energetic shift: floating, swaying, swinging, sinking feelings...expansion, contraction...just about any physical/mental sensation you can think of... these are signs of transition; just relax and go with the sensation, maybe with a little reinforced Intention of what you want to happen.

Hope that gives some additional ideas.