Lucid Dream/Astral Travel

[Temp]

I have taught my self to fall asleep in about two minutes, but I only stay asleep for about five to ten minutes and in this time I have very realistic dreams where I usually become lucid. My problem is once I become lucid I can hear what's going on in the outside world and the dream realm/world the the two become a bit mixed up. I want to stay in the dream world/realm but after I becom lucid it takes about thirty seconds for me to wake up. Does anyone know a way to stay lucid? And once I can stay lucid for extended periods of time how can I start astral traveling?
Thanks in advance for any replies!

[kurtykurt42]

I don't understand, you only sleep for 10 minutes at a time?

[Temp]

No, sorry I should have made myself clearer- this is just during my spare time at first I tried meditation but became interested in lucid dreaming so I just modified my meditating a little so I fall asleep to try and lucid dream. The dreams take about ten minutes on average before I realize I truly am dreaming. When I realize that it takes very little time for me to wake up. My question is how can prolong my lucid dreaming and eventually be able to astral travel from it? Hope that clears up my question :p

[Xanth]

I have taught my self to fall asleep in about two minutes, but I only stay asleep for about five to ten minutes and in this time I have very realistic dreams where I usually become lucid. My problem is once I become lucid I can hear what's going on in the outside world and the dream realm/world the the two become a bit mixed up. I want to stay in the dream world/realm but after I becom lucid it takes about thirty seconds for me to wake up. Does anyone know a way to stay lucid? And once I can stay lucid for extended periods of time how can I start astral traveling?
Thanks in advance for any replies!

The reason for this is that 2 minutes isn't long enough to fall into a deep sleep... this is also the reason why you seem to get more lucid dreams during this time.  It's almost like you're at the end of your sleep cycle during the morning when you're waking up.  You probably don't even hit REM.

In any case, a trick I use to stay in the dreamscape and lucid is to just spin!  Spin like a top.  For some reason this grounds you into the dream and keeps you lucid.  You won't get dizzy though, because you're obviously not *REALLY* spinning. 

[Stookie]

To me, it sounds similar to phasing. You don't necessarily have to go into a deep sleep to have very vivid experiences. If this is the easiest method, I would suggest to just keep practicing at it.

In the mornings I sometimes have some very vivid experiences while my body is physically awake, and like Temp, sometimes the physical draws me away from it. But if my awareness and concentration is in the right place, I can "hold" onto it for a good period. I'm still practicing it... it's HARD! I really like this method, but probably wouldn't suggest it to a newbie.

[T.L.]

I've verified for myself spinning works, it also works if you are in the mind awake body asleep state as well that is if you want to dream you concentrate of the idea of spinning and dream imagery starts to form (at least for me). My main focus is projection though not forcing a dream. However like he said spinning helps ground you. Another thing you can try if you can't get spinning to work is to focus your awareness to another part of your body (dream body). For instance in your dream you experience yourself as existing somewhere in your head (even in waking life), try to focus your awareness to somewhere near your stomach or chest (of your dream body). I know this sounds weird, I thought so to until I gave it a try... works rather well but do not focus on it too hard as you will see weird sensations emerge from doing so. If done right however, it does wonders to cement you into your new reality. Good luck.