Am I doing this right? Help please!

[Konkey Dong]

Hey everybody, I just registered a couple days ago, but I've often used this forum for searching for techniques and advice and just obsorbing as much info as possible. I've been trying to project for some weeks now and I wanted to see if I was going about it the right way.

I try around 4pm and at night before bed. 
I lie on my back facing the ceiling with my arms to the side and legs straight. I keep myself completely still and relaxed.  
I start with focusing on my breathing.
After About 10 min. I'll start using the pause-breathing technique(pause after exhale for 3 seconds every few minutes) which seems to make me get to the point of sleep faster,or where my mind starts wandering off on some thought, I didn't think of.

Some other tehniques i use are, focusing on the blackness in the eyelids, feeling the energy in my body and moving it around, visualizing myself climb up the rope, and picturing a friends house in full detail.. I alternate these things all in one sessions time, I'm not sure if that will help, or if focusing on just one might be better.

So what I feel after a while is,I think, partial paralysis-where it takes slightly more effort to move my limbs if I wanted to. A numbness over the body, sometimes it feels like certain body parts have that 'getting impaled with thousands of needles' feeling(this comes after a long while).  is this good? The blackness will have orbs of light in different colors and halos that seem to open up at the third eye and expand, as if getting closer to me.
I am able to spin around in what direction I want, i guess in my mind..(it feels like when you get the spins from
Drinking too much liquor, but without sensation of throwing up or the bad feeling)i also have that falling effect.
I thought this might have meant I was out, and have ruined this state by opening my eyes.
I have tried to pull myself out of my body, by feeling the energy lift up. It seems I tense up slightly when I do this which, I think, takes you back to square one. 

A friend had told me I might be overly focusing and that I might be too aware..I do feel aware during all of this. And also, it seems like right after my mind starts to wander through random thoughts and feeling like it's dozing off, I will snap back to consciousness and it will be hard to get it to doze off again. it's hard to explain this feeling. If you have any questions to help better understand what I am saying and asking,please ask!!!!  

So my questions are
1. Will focusing on just one technique be better than focusing on multiple?
2. Pricked by pins and needles feeling on limbs and body...is that a good sign?
3. if what I'm doing seems like the right way, what should I expect?
4. When you hear voices, is it something scary as if something is talking near you? I'm not sure but i think I heard something like news broadcasting type voices, but they didn't seem to be near me.  

I'd appreciate if Anyone can give me advice on techniques, let me know if I am even getting the right sensations...etc.
 I know this is not something you get good at in a day, but rather practice over time. That's why I'd like some guidance and assurance that I am doing something right or be told I'm going about it wrongly.

Thank you.

[CFTraveler]

Hey everybody, I just registered a couple days ago, but I've often used this forum for searching for techniques and advice and just obsorbing as much info as possible. I've been trying to project for some weeks now and I wanted to see if I was going about it the right way.

I try around 4pm and at night before bed. 

I don't recommend you try every day, or that you try twice a day.  I would recommend every two or three days in the morning (4 if you like that) and do the other stuff except the exit attempt on the other days- do a practice to observe what happens.

I lie on my back facing the ceiling with my arms to the side and legs straight. I keep myself completely still and relaxed.

If this is how you sleep then I don't recommend this- If you have to do it in bed due to logistics, I'd recommend you prop yourself up with pillows (as comfortable as you can) so you're not exactly in the same position as sleeping.

I start with focusing on my breathing.
After About 10 min. I'll start using the pause-breathing technique(pause after exhale for 3 seconds every few minutes) which seems to make me get to the point of sleep faster,or where my mind starts wandering off on some thought, I didn't think of.

Some other tehniques i use are, focusing on the blackness in the eyelids, feeling the energy in my body and moving it around, visualizing myself climb up the rope, and picturing a friends house in full detail.. I alternate these things all in one sessions time, I'm not sure if that will help, or if focusing on just one might be better.

So what I feel after a while is,I think, partial paralysis-where it takes slightly more effort to move my limbs if I wanted to. A numbness over the body, sometimes it feels like certain body parts have that 'getting impaled with thousands of needles' feeling(this comes after a long while).  is this good? The blackness will have orbs of light in different colors and halos that seem to open up at the third eye and expand, as if getting closer to me.
I am able to spin around in what direction I want, i guess in my mind..(it feels like when you get the spins from
Drinking too much liquor, but without sensation of throwing up or the bad feeling)i also have that falling effect.
I thought this might have meant I was out, and have ruined this state by opening my eyes.

These are trance symptoms, and it shows you're in the right track.  However, don't open your eyes- wait 'til you can see with eyes closed.  Then do an exit attempt.

I have tried to pull myself out of my body, by feeling the energy lift up. It seems I tense up slightly when I do this which, I think, takes you back to square one. 

A friend had told me I might be overly focusing and that I might be too aware..I do feel aware during all of this.

You can never be too aware.  If you are less aware you might fall asleep.  However I feel like you're jumping the gun- wait for visual symptoms before you attempt an exit technique, and have more than one exit tech., so that you don't always try the same thing.  Also, some techs are more dynamic than others, so that sometimes you can do one without fearing you will move and break the trance.  The techniques section has lists of things to try.

And also, it seems like right after my mind starts to wander through random thoughts and feeling like it's dozing off, I will snap back to consciousness and it will be hard to get it to doze off again. it's hard to explain this feeling. If you have any questions to help better understand what I am saying and asking,please ask!!!!  

This is good.  It means you are on the verge.

So my questions are
1. Will focusing on just one technique be better than focusing on multiple?

I'm not sure, but I think you should know a few, and try them one by one.  I don't mean multiple types of practices though, I mean multiple exit techniques.  Your practice or routine seem good enough as it is.  It's just a matter of hitting that 'sweet spot'.

2. Pricked by pins and needles feeling on limbs and body...is that a good sign?

It is irrelevant.  Even though you want to get to the 'mind awake body asleep' phase, you don't want to focus on physical sensations to gauge your level of trance.  You should be familiar with the sensations so that they don't scare or surprise you, but you should cultivate an attitude of detachment from whatever body sensations you get, regardless of intensity or lack thereof.

3. if what I'm doing seems like the right way, what should I expect?

What you are getting, and possibly more.

4. When you hear voices, is it something scary as if something is talking near you? I'm not sure but i think I heard something like news broadcasting type voices, but they didn't seem to be near me.  

Sometimes they sound as if you're listening to the radio, sometimes as if someone is having a conversation from far away.  This means your trance is medium to light.  If you hear voices as if someone were whispering in your ear, your trance is deeper, and more symptoms may come your way.
Like vibrations, strobing, seeing vision screens, seeing though the eyelids, hearing loud noises, hearing really loud noises, and other stuff that I forgot about.  Or none of it- sometimes projections are smooth and you just 'pop' out. 

[Konkey Dong]

Thank you soo much, CFTraveler!! I guess I just needed to be reassured. I just wanted to know if it sounded like Im on the right track. Ill take your advice and practice every few days, probably at 4p, it's the best time for me. Also, Im going to go through that technique section, thanks.

[AlanRK]

I disagree profusely with the suggestion to cut down how often you practise. I don't see any logic in this and every source I've ever come across, including my own and others' experience, suggests practising as much as possible. It's also simple maths; the more time you do it, the more your chances. I even think your current strategy of practising in the evening and before bed is perfect since it trains you when you're wide awake and on the verge of sleep.

[Xanth]

Konkey Dong and AlanRK,

Welcome, both of you, to the Astral Pulse.  

KD,
How are you at visualization?  Would you consider your ability to visualize above average?
If so, I'd like to point you towards a type of projection called Phasing.  
You can read about it here: http://www.astralpulse.com/frankkepple.html

Using the "Noticing" method, one can astral project.  It's great for people who are more "visual" as it entails you to 'see' things.

If you're interested, let me know an I'll hook you up with some more information.  

Alan,
As for "how often" one practices.  There are many reason for and against the argument of "over practicing".
Personally speaking, I think once a day is enough... anymore than that and you risk burning yourself over.  Especially if you end up stopping... because, honestly, there's no faster way to fail at projection than quitting. 

[CFTraveler]

I disagree profusely with the suggestion to cut down how often you practise. I don't see any logic in this and every source I've ever come across, including my own and others' experience, suggests practising as much as possible. It's also simple maths; the more time you do it, the more your chances. I even think your current strategy of practising in the evening and before bed is perfect since it trains you when you're wide awake and on the verge of sleep.

I didn't tell the OP to practice less, I said continue to practice every day and attempt to project every 3d or 4th time.  There is a world of difference.  The reason for not attempting  a projection before bedtime is because it interrupts normal sleep patterns- if you now get used to trying to project instead of going to sleep normally, you train yourself to not sleep, or start to form an association with not projecting after the practice, which are both bad.
If you use your bed (or bedtime) to sleep only, and practice at other times, you don't confuse one with the other and avoid exhaustion issues, which if you look around forums you will see are pretty common in projectors that are first starting out.

[Xanth]

Humans are nasty creatures of habit after all. 

[Konkey Dong]

Hello Xanth and thank you for welcoming me.
Also thank you for that phasing information page. I actually just read that yesterday.
So I just lay there and create a scene with as much detail as possible while only focusing on that and nothing else?
Because if so, I tried that and I felt myself slipping away and snapping back to awareness.

[Xanth]

Well, the main exercise Frank speaks about in that link is what he called "Noticing".
Your entire job with noticing is to just sit back and passively observe that which you're seeing.

So you're sitting there, and you're "passively observing" and you eventually might see something moving off into the blackness in front of you.
Then you might see some light patches of 'something' and they're moving in sync with something else.  Then you might notice some colours happening in the mix.

A lot of what you'll see with be formless shapes just slowly floating around in front of your eyes... just keep observing to get your attention more and more into what you're seeing... and eventually you'll just CLICK and you'll be engulfed by the blackness.   

Work on that until you can get into the blackness.

[Konkey Dong]

Thanks alot Xanth!
After reading Franks phasing tehnique, I tried a search for something more in depth like what to look for. What you wrote is what I wanted to know. I will try this.
One more thing...by engulfed in the blackness, do you mean the 3d blackness?
Thank you again, I'll work on this until I'm able to get to that point

[Xanth]

Here's something I compiled as well that might be of help to you.

http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2010/09/06/what-is-phasing-and-noticing/

Before I get into methods that we use to Phase, I think it's important to know what it is first.
This post, made by Frank, is a perfect description of what Phasing is:

   

Phasing describes a controlled process where you phase out of the mode of being open to the Physical world (or C1 consciousness as it's generally termed) and allow your sense of conscious awareness to become open to other realms of reality. There are two basic schools of thought on this, the latest is the Moen-school, and I believe the idea was first touted by Monroe.

There is a technique which people call "WILDs" (Wake Induced Lucid Dreams).  These are, in effect, Phasing.  Anytime you switch your Focus of Awareness from one Focus to another Focus while remaining consciously awake and aware, that is Phasing.  In essence, it's falling asleep into the non-physical and remaining consciously aware.  Through Phasing, you go to the same places as you would through more traditional OBE methods and you can do all the same things.

"Noticing" is a name given to a basic Phasing Exercise.  You can find the details in the Astral Pulses' Frank Kepple Phasing Resource, found here.  It's got lots of solid information written by Frank Kepple and compiled by one of the moderators, Gandalf, after Frank's disappearance.

   

Noticing what?

    Well, nothing at first, there's not much to see really but blackness. But then, after a short while, I may see that perhaps one part of the blackness is not quite so black. Perhaps there was just a brief flash of something, then maybe a sensation of a movement somewhere else. Maybe I just heard someone call my name. Hmm, that's interesting, I might think, I wonder where that came from. But I don't get too curious I just keep noticing. I might see swirling areas of not quite so black as the rest. I might see flashes of this and that. As I am offering myself these images, my attention is steadily becoming more fixated within.

    As my attention becomes fixated within, from the act of noticing, at this stage I am not aware of my physical body. Part of my awareness realises that somewhere in the background is a physical body, in bed, etc. but I have phased away from it. Before, the forefront of my awareness was my physical and 180 degrees turned around from that, in the background of my awareness, was the non-physical. But now there has been a "phase shift" i.e. a turning through 180 degrees. Now, my previous foreground (physical) is my background, and my previous background (non-physical) is my foreground.

Reading this particular link, The Phasing Resource, is what allowed me to progress further than I ever had during the previous years.
I hope it does the same for you.