Not successful

[chombunath]

Hello to all the folks here.
I have been trying for several years now - off and on to experience an OBE. The longer I go on, the more I want to experience it. Are there folks out there who never experience one? I dont want to sound pessimistic but if there are some folks who can never exit to an astral plane, I will feel better about it. I have tried music, meditation, some home brews, entrainment and even meditative exercise. All of these make me a very calm and focused person and I feel great. However, I yearn for the experience to travel to astral planes. Any one else have experiences to share that I could use? I have tried many things posted here already. I reach a stage where I feel sensations (root chakra) and feel an ascending wave and occasionally in the crown chakra but somewhere along the way it does not last and I break out of it.
Thank you.

[CFTraveler]

If you remember your dreams you've experienced the astral plane.  You haven't exited into the astral plane, but you've 'been there', in a subconscious state.
One way many people that haven't experienced that exit find success is by staying up half the night, and then trying while reclined (not laying down completely, because they'd fall asleep.
It's not an optimal thing (lack of sleep isn't good for you) and the projection will more than likely be short and dreamlike, but it will give you that conscious exit you're looking for and then you'll know it can be done.

[Lionheart]

 Yes there are people that cannot consciously aware Astral Travel. They have a subconscious block that is keeping them from this. It could be something that has to do with your current belief system. Some people practice for years to achieve only a glimpse of it. I became aware of Astral Projection last February because I awoke in it. I had many involuntary OBE's in my past, but the one in February was too powerful to ignore. I then studied everything I could find on the subject everyday. I watched videos, read books, PDF's etc. I made it a welcome part of my life. After awhile I learned then honed my own technique and today I now Phase twice a day. This came with 100% focus on my goal though. I would not take no as an answer. People Astral Travel every night, but they forget the experience. If you really want something, nothing can stop you from achieving it. Where there's a will, there's a way!
Good Luck! 

[NoY]

using your imagination is a form of     OBE ,because your mind is a giant sphere that covers all of life, everything that exists, exists within your mind, using your imagination can synchronise you with the reality where it is fact, some call it active meditation, using rundowns, as apposed to passive meditation

if you close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting on the roof with angel wings, how real it is determined by what you concider to be fact, my advice to you is to practice guessing

you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right
when you are used to changing your focus to a location that's not "in" your body
you will find it easier to leave your body behind

all anybody is doing is thinking, you just need to Have the right thoughts
good luck

:NoY:

[nickspry]

Without knowing everything you've already tried it's hard to offer any meaningful advice, but I would encourage you to keep trying. I personally don't believe this is impossible for anyone and there are always new things you can try which may just give you that breakthrough experience.
Is what you have listed above everything you've tried?

[chombunath]

Thank you all for the input and suggestions.
I remember my dreams when I wake up (almost every night). The imagery is not fantastic (Meaning, when I recollect my dreams, they are set in a very plausible world with few extraordinary issues - personal flight is a rare occurrence). When I try to meditate using binaural beats, I get into a trance like state and actually get dream recall from years and months ago. I have rapid eye movement, and body feels heavy but thats pretty much it. I do not feel vibrations. I do feel sensations (muscle twitches - fasciculations) around my chakras (root, sacral and brow).  If I am sitting, my face/head involuntarily usually turns to the left (Hemispheric dominance?) by 20-30 degrees.

Things I have tried so far
1. Meditation on breathing
2. Meditation to music
3. Meditation to music with binaural beats
4. Meditation to binaural beats
5. Auto-suggestion
6. Chanting a mantra
7. Tratak gaze meditation
8. Exercise meditation
9. Sensory deprivation
10. Home brew (This was an experimental potion I made with super concentrated alcohol extract of green tea, - stimulant, caused few palpitations and feeling of dissociatedness (?placebo) but thats about it.

Other than the potion method, I have been doing one or the other of 1-9 for the last 14 years. And a few other techniques here and there. I am very pleased with the spiritual and mental progress I have made with the techniques mentioned above but would be nice to experience an 'exit' and have an OBE. Appreciate the words of encouragement and insightful advice.

[Lionheart]

 The only thing you have left out is what I find to be the most important. Have you tried asking your higher self why you can't Astral Travel? I know it sounds strange to do, but I lately I have been using the process of telling myself "I release all control over my physical body, take me to your desired destination. Show me what I need to see, teach me what I need to learn". Then I lay back and relax and allow it to happen. Sometimes trying to force it is counterproductive.
Good Luck! 

[nickspry]

Given that you've been doing this for a long while, you should try something more akin to brute force methods. I think you need to forget everything you've been doing so far, and put all your effort into just practicing mastering the mind awake/body asleep state by using a timer. The method works by forcing the body/mind into the right state, is really effective and can often work when everything else has failed. One downside to this is that it can disrupt your sleeping pattern somewhat, but if you really want to succeed it's worth it.  Don't put too much pressure on yourself to succeed, just spend some time learning the process perfectly, and the results will happen of their own accord.  Also, if you haven't watched the Lucidology 101 videos. I'd strongly suggest you watch them all, as the advice they give is perfect for your situation. They may seem slightly gimmicky, but the information is the best you'll find anywhere, in terms of getting an OBE fast. Lucidology 101 part 7 explains the timer method, better than I can and I'd watch that one first. (you can find it on Youtube). You should only use this method after you've been asleep for 5/6 hours. If you deviate from this it will be much less effective. The method is most effective if you stay awake for 40 mins after the 5/6 hour sleep period, but if you find it impossible to get back to sleep after being awake for this long, omit this waking period at first and see if it works without it (it often does).
I think if you practice only this method for a while it will work for you. In fact it often works the first time you try it, but it can take a little while to adjust to it.


Indirect methods (used on waking) are also excellent, and worth learning. For many people they are much more effective than  meditative/visualisation techniques and tend to work faster. There is  a free ebook at the site OBE4U.com which teaches these, and is well worth a read.

Another thing you could consider is buying a NovaDreamer or similar device. They are great at helping you achieve your first lucid dreaming/obe experiences, and well worth the (rather steep) price tag in that respect alone. Using external devices like timers and Novadreamers isn't a great thing to do long term, but for kickstarting the process they are extremely useful.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do, and keep us posted.

[AJDIN]

Try some psychoactive drugs, maybe you need that little push too open up your awareness and perception


I would suggest psilocybin mushrooms as they are natural and from the earth, do some research on it before you try it

Drugs have such a negative context associated with it, but it doesn't have too be bad if you do it in a controlled environment and in controlled doses