'Thread' of consciousness

[Jisei]

Any tips for how to hold on to minimal consciousness required for OOBE without succumbing to sleep?

For me my attempts over the last months have either resulted in my drifting off to sleep or simply not being able to reach the body asleep stage....

sometimes i'm almost sure my body has drifted off to sleep due to the 'lead blanket' sensation... but unfortunately it was not so... my body still responds to any impluse to move.

[Jisei]

In short.. i find it too easy to 'snap out of it'... cos my consciousness is still to overwhelming.. but when i let go, i drift to sleep too easily.

[KarmicTruthSeeker]

The trick with OBE is "mind awake, body asleep". There are several methods that help, but none are guaranteed. Monroe says raise your forarm, and as you enter sleep paralysis your arm will fall down and force you to wake up a little. It takes people between 10 and 45 minuets to go to sleep! The thing I recommend is setting your cell phone to vibrate 30 mins after you go to bed. When you enter that hypnopomic sleep state, the cell will vibrate and wake you up; make notes of exactly what this pre sleep state feels like. Make affirmations stating that you will retain alertness to this state. After a few days of this, it should not be a problem! One other method to retain alertness is to go to bed before you usually do! your body can fall asleep even when your mind is not tired! try it at different times during the day. Also I take  natural supplement at night sometimes, although this is not advise! I take a 3 mg. supplement of melatonin (a natural brain chemical that is released during sleep), this in my experience helps relax me and clear my negative thinking; and speeds up process of going to sleep, thus helping me stay conscious of the transition into the hypnopomic state! it the next part thats hard for me (getting and staying out) so far the longest conscious oobe i have had lasted about 30 seconds followed by a quick drop and a sudden shock!

[astral traveler]

Any tips for how to hold on to minimal consciousness required for OOBE without succumbing to sleep?

you have to cause your psyche to be awake while your body is fully asleep.  in astral projection, the body (as opposed to the psyche) must fall right below the sleep threshold versus remaining right above the sleep threshold.  it's essentially the opposite of meditation where a person tries to stay physically awake while relaxing the psyche.

sleep deprivation and/or fasting may be the most effective method to get your psyche into a wake-dreaming state (ideally coupled with sensory deprivation for amplification purposes), afterwhich the body will eventually fall into a very deep sleep.  it's okay to physically fall asleep if your psyche remains very active.  you want your psyche as active as possible with your body as passive as possible.  again, it's the exact opposite of meditation where people try to relax the psyche but stay physically awake.

[Th13rteen]

In short.. i find it too easy to 'snap out of it'... cos my consciousness is still to overwhelming.. but when i let go, i drift to sleep too easily.

I seem to have the same problem as well. I dont seem to have a problem falling asleep at all. Very seldom do I ever have problems sleeping or stating asleep.. I try to listen to Hemi Sync while lying on my back but what usually happens is my body starts twitching and I lose consciousness (mind falling asleep) and wake myself up after about 5 minutes snoring. It is so uncomfortable that I ultimately end up saying screw it and taking the earphones off and turning over on my side or stomach and going to sleep. I dont have problems dreaming, just staying awake until vibrations hit me. Cant seem to get to the dissociative state either. Oh well, in due time I suppose.. /sigh!

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