Altered States, Lack of Notice

[Tisha]

If this happens while driving PULL OVER THE CAR!!!

I trance easy. Sometimes it's as immediate as a finger-snap. However, I find that I trance at inopportune times (while driving, while talking to people) when I've gone too long without an OBE or lucid dream.  It's almost as if the Astral is calling me "home."

I spoke with my so-called teacher about this so-called "problem" and he used to have it too.  The answer, ironically, is to do more deliberate trance work.  Set up boundaries (smell, sense of place, music, etc.,) so that your body knows when it's OK to trance and when it's not OK.

As for your inability (so far) to launch into your OBE from your trancy-state, it's all about Will.  Something about you doesn't really want to "go."  It's not about "technique" at all; if the deep desire isn't there, no technique in the book will help you . . . so work first on the deep desire!  Do you REALLY want to "go?"

[Leviiathan]

It's interesting to witness your body fall asleep. You become heavy, then your mind begins to feel like it's been tranquilized. You're still aware of your surroundings. You can hear noises, you're still aware of your body. Even though your focus falls off of these things, they're still there, and you're still aware of them. The mind begins to wander, and soon you find yourself contemplating various scenarios. Thoughts become daydreams, though the daydreams do not become dreams. I suppose at this point, the hypnogogic imagery has begun.

I've noticed that I can fall into states of a certain level of deepness and feel entirely awake and alert, yet when I actually fall out of the state and reflect back, I really notice that I wasn't awake at all. It reminds me of the stories I've read where people who drink alcohol become increasingly impaired without realizing that they're impaired at all.

One only has to fall out of this state of impairment (like being under the influence of alcohol) to realize how impaired they were in the first place.

I haven't been very active for a few months (in practice), but I find that I increasingly fall asleep / black out without realizing it and that my focus has improved considerably.

Using breathe awareness, I was able to black out within . . . 10 minutes? Seven? I'm not sure.

Sometimes when I'm meditating/practicing, I lose track of the time, and when I stop practicing, I find that an hour and a half has gone by when it's really felt like 1/2 hour to me.

I'm just voicing myself to hear people's second opinions -- where I am, so forth.

And if one hits states of lower consciousness without realizing it at all, how does one know when to try and project in the first place? And I've tried doing it from these half-awake, half-asleep, body relaxed states only to find that my body either tenses up (anyway) or that I can't get out anyway. Very frustrating.

~Joseph Levii