I Cant Even Get Close To AP. Please Help!

[BigRaider209]

Btw i know there are other posts to help out AP but they dont ever answer the questions i have. So i started my own.


Okay so i have been trying to Astral Project for quite some time now. Its been at least 6 months since i first attempted and i try at least once a week.

To Be Honest, if anyone was to get the award for least amount of progress its probably me.
I am nowhere close to AP.
I havent even once experienced the vibrational stage and i dont hear anything in my ears while attempting it.

I have watched every video on youtube. I have browsed the forums continuously but cant find success.
I feel like there might be some factors interrupting the process that im just not aware of.

I usually sleep with a fan blowing on my face because my room is so hot at night.
I dont think this would mess up AP so drastically because wouldnt it be considered white noise?

I have tried focusing on breathing but it becomes manual and i start forgetting to breathe lol.

Also i usually sleep on my stomach because its more comfortable for me, but i tried to AP that way once and fell asleep way to fast. It was a little too comfortable.

Also how long does it take of staying still and trying to make your body fall asleep until you reach sleep paralysis?  Because one time i laid completely still for an hour with not much thought in my head but still didnt even reach SP or any vibrations.

At this point i feel so discouraged. But I want to AP really badly.

[Szaxx]

http://www.astralacademy.com/

You can visit the link and have a read. If you choose to sign up, we can help you on a more personal level.

[Bluefirephoenix]

AP doens't have to happen at night. It's a matter of focusing on something to the point where you loose physical awareness and develop a three dimensional awareness of where your focus is. Meditation teaches your mind to be still. You cannot be thinking about your body and project. That is probably 90 % of the problem.  I know when they were working at the Monroe institute. Lyn Buchanan in 7th sense which is a really good bood to read regardless of  your interest said they worked about 5 times a day with it when they were training there. He was the second generation viewer to train at the institute. At that rate it took a couple months for someone who did not have the natural inclination under labratory controlled conditions.  It's something you have to work at sometimes.  Anyway focus is the key. And yours is on the heat which means it's still on your body. That has to be corrected.

[ingerul9]

Hi.

From reading your post it indicates to me that maybe your timing is not that good for AP. You can do it in the morning after at least 6 hours of sleep. You can do the WBTB method. If you don't know what it is search it on this forum.

And for you to experience any sensation to AP you need more than hour. That's because your brain gets into theta-delta state after at least 90 minutes. Read the book of Stephen Laberge - Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming - it shows that when we sleep we are going through cycles of 90 minutes after which we have a REM period (associated with the dream stage). So as you go towards the morning - meaning at least 4 cycles of 90 minutes - this would be 6 hours of sleep - your REM period duration increases (as opposed to one in the beginning) so you can trigger the LD more easier. That's why the WBTB method is the most effective.

[astralm]

Hello BigRaider,

There are many different styles and way to achieve the obe.  There are already some great ideas and responses in this thread.  One of the problems, as has been brought up, is that most of us suck at the whole empty mind thing.  You can try to get around this with using a state where your mind is already sort of in a quiet mood (morning/middle of night).  This works great for many people as a way to get around the empty mind block.  It does work very well for me.  I would recommend considering looking into the Frank Kepple phasing as well as William Buhlman's version of it.  I believe these are great for beginners because you are holding your focus outside your physical body, which is the important part, but also doing something (active imagination/visualization), which allows you to not lose 'interest' as quick.  For example you said since your breathing never changes you find yourself losing focus on it.

I personally combine the two.  I use the rundown scenario that Frank Kepple used (my own version, but his style) however I usually do it with the timing that William Buhlman suggests (at night before bed, not in the morning).  This is what works best for me, I believe everyone has their own 'magic hour'.

Frank Kepple used a Gateway tape from the Monroe institute to structure his rundown.  I created my own audio file.  If you have a microphone for your computer this is easy to do.  Simply find a quiet and relaxing mp3, could be binaural beats, white noise, or just ambient music.  Try to find something that is very mellow and doesn't have any dramatic noises in it.  Download audacity, it is free.  Then simply record your own prompts and load them at the markers you want in the mp3 (after importing the mp3 file).  I simply use very brief prompts at key changes, this keeps me on track or gets me back on track when I waiver but I find if I do audio for the whole rundown, or if I use the wave I cd (Monroe Gateway), it is too much talking and distracts me.  I do not do well if a full guided meditation, but again some do.

An example is I will start off with 'you are approaching a tropical island'  This prompts me to imagine myself coming up to a tropical island, then I go through my release of physical worries etc, and then the next audio on the mp3 is me saying 'you begin to relax' this prompts me to begin a full body relaxation and countdown to focus 10 (that is taken from Monroe).  I add another prompt which is just '5' halfway through the coundown.  This simply brings me back if I have drifted off.  etc., etc. you get the idea, hope it helps.

Another thing you may consider doing is William Buhlman has an audio course, which is not too bad and works on visualization a lot.  It is 40 dollars I believe, however, it is on audible so if you sign up for a free trial you get a free credit which you can use to get the download for free, not a bad deal.  I recommend it for beginners.  Just a side note, he does use what I feel is a pretty outdated model for the why of obe, so I personally don't give much credit to this explanation portion of the audio course.  However his how's are pretty solid, probably the best audio course for having an obe.  I have not read any of his full books so can't speak to them, I believe the audio course is based off the practical section in his second book though.

Good luck and keep at it!

[Xanth]

Hello BigRaider,

There are many different styles and way to achieve the obe.  There are already some great ideas and responses in this thread.  One of the problems, as has been brought up, is that most of us suck at the whole empty mind thing.  You can try to get around this with using a state where your mind is already sort of in a quiet mood (morning/middle of night).  This works great for many people as a way to get around the empty mind block.  It does work very well for me.  I would recommend considering looking into the Frank Kepple phasing as well as William Buhlman's version of it.  I believe these are great for beginners because you are holding your focus outside your physical body, which is the important part, but also doing something (active imagination/visualization), which allows you to not lose 'interest' as quick.  For example you said since your breathing never changes you find yourself losing focus on it.

Please allow me to make a few distinctions...
First, once you really get into Projection and begin to really analyze "methods" and "techniques"... you find that there really is only ONE way of projecting.  What confuses people is that while there is only ONE way of projecting, there is an infinite number of ways to perceive HOW you're projecting. 

Next, the "empty mind" thing... anyone who tells you that in order to project you must "empty your mind" is only parroting what they've heard and/or simply doesn't understand the process.  You might here people that you "shouldn't think" while projecting, but that's not the same as "emptying your mind".  At no point is your mind EVER "blank".  You're always doing "something" with your mind.  If you're ever doing "nothing", then you're not going to ever project, because to trigger the projection reflex you must do "something" to entice it to happen.

So what's that "something" you need to do?  You need to find your FOCUS.  You want to bring your awareness to that FOCUS and use it as your means for your awareness to stop experiencing this physical reality.  That's what *EVERY SINGLE PROJECTION METHOD* out there in our known universe is designed to do.  That's why people go from method to method trying to find that one method that works best *for them*, because they're trying to find the method/technique that provides them with the FOCUS that works *for them*.  Everyone has a FOCUS that is different.

Find that FOCUS that works best FOR YOU and you will have found your very personal, very unique key to access the non-physical.

http://www.unlimitedboundaries.ca/2015/01/21/design-effective-astral-projection-technique/  <-- hopefully this link will shed a bit more light on that aspect of projection methods. 

[Crocodilian123]

I've been having the same problem as you. I can't even get close.

[astralm]

@Xanth

First your quotes are all messed up, makes your message hard to read.

Second on your very own site under lesson 1 you have a very good video from Thomas Campbell.  His advice for getting into the larger reality?  Simple, "meditate to a point where you let everything go, there is nothing but you and your consciousness".  Pretty straight forward way to describe being in an empty mind state.  From here he recommends simply using your intent to go where you want to go.

You seem to be a little confused on the process since your own post which states your mind should never be not doing something is very different from the advice given in your own lesson video on your website.

Anyways I am done, hope you guys all find good luck and much success with all avenues of consciousness growth you embark on.

[Xanth]

@Xanth

First your quotes are all messed up, makes your message hard to read.

Ha!  You'd think that after over 6 years here I'd be able to figure this stuff out.  

All fixed!  

Second on your very own site under lesson 1 you have a very good video from Thomas Campbell.  His advice for getting into the larger reality?  Simple, "meditate to a point where you let everything go, there is nothing but you and your consciousness".  Pretty straight forward way to describe being in an empty mind state.  From here he recommends simply using your intent to go where you want to go.

It's actually not an empty mind state at all.  As I said, if you aim to "do nothing" and still project, it won't happen.  
What Tom's talking about here is the same thing I'm referring to above regarding finding a Focus.  

You seem to be a little confused on the process since your own post which states your mind should never be not doing something is very different from the advice given in your own lesson video on your website.

I can clarify if you provide an example?
It'll allow me to make further adjustments to articles to alleviate such further confusions later.  
If I have contradicted myself at some point, I'd like to know so I can make corrections.

[Astralsuzy]

i try at least once a week.
I havent even once experienced the vibrational stage and i dont hear anything in my ears while attempting it.
I have watched every video on youtube. I have browsed the forums continuously but cant find success.
I have tried focusing on breathing but it becomes manual and i start forgetting to breathe lol.
Also i usually sleep on my stomach because its more comfortable for me, but i tried to AP that way once and fell asleep way to fast. It was a little too comfortable.

You probably will not like my advice.  Trying to ap once a week is not enough.   The more you practice the more chances you are likely to succeed.
Watching youtube and forums is a waste of time.   I like to read forums for fun but you are better off practicing.   You would be better off spending the time meditating and getting used to relaxing.   The others are correct.   It usually takes longer than one hour to ap.   You can ap as little as ten minutes.   I did once but that is unusual.
If you did not notice you were breathing it could mean that you are able to ap.   Do an ap technique.
You have a very high chance of falling asleep when you are too comfortable.
You do not have to get vibrations to ap.   Sometimes I get vibrations and other times I do not. 

[Astralsuzy]

I should have said it in a nicer way.  Sorry about that.   There is nothing wrong with watching Y-tube, forums and reading about ap.   That is fine.    I would advise to practice more often, at least four times a week.   Keep persevering and you will get there.