My personal discoveries about pre-sleep-OBEs

[Phazonxl]

Hello.  I'm relatively new here, but I had some info to share in case anyone could use it.  Maybe the info could help somebody out there?

I'd like to explain some things I've discovered about my own personal experiences.  I have some theories and I hope someone can benefit from it.  So here goes.

Opening eyes at the edge of sleep

So several times when going to sleep(both while trying to AP and while not trying), I'd resume waking state mildly right as my body is going to sleep.  It's a very strange feeling I get.  I wake up slightly, but feel super relaxed and loved.  It's like I'm asleep with my eyes open, but not actually dreaming or anything.  It feels only slightly less-relaxed than when having an actual sleep-based OBE.  I'd wake up in this state for no reason at all.  i guess it's just luck when it happens.  Could trying to sleep and somehow being awoken gently right as we are passing over to sleep be helpful?  I usually feel right on the edge of sleep.  Like I'd fall asleep suddenly if I wasn't awaken first.  My mini fridge will cycle on and off, and I think that's what's bringing my awareness back.  Can we create an "awareness" method using a computer or audio file and some un-worn headphones attached playing a sound gently?  This I'd be willing to test.  I believe sleep is the best tool for a beginner like me and others.

After waking in this state, I close my eyes again, simply enjoying the floating feeling I have and the relaxing feeling and try to get to sleep again.  Most of the time after having these things occur, I'll end up being awaken by the vibrations and some noises that may or may not go with it.  Lot's of times, I'm pretty un-prepared for it.  It usually startles me because it came on so sudden, and I'll ruin the potential lucid dream/AP.  I'm posting this because I'd like some feedback as to why I'm frequently awaken by the vibrations after having had that half-sleep experience prior to it.  I believe this "awareness device"  would be very easy for people to implement in to their nightly routines.


Seeing through eyelids?


This is something I actually have frequently.  On some nights while going to sleep, I'll be made aware of things again by "seeing through my eyelids".  I'll see through them and into my room from what appears to be from a location not aligned with my eyes, but sometimes it's right at my head.  It can vary.  This would also occur in school.  If I had little sleep the prior night, and I tried to rest my head on the desk for a little bit, I'd start seeing through the desk to the floor within a few minutes. 

While seeing this way, I can only describe it as an ultra clear, not bright or dark, and not harsh on the eyes.  It's very clear, requires no focusing, and is mildly glowing and colorless.  It's like wearing the perfect set of eyes.  What exactly is happening here and why almost every other night?

After having 2 actual OBEs that I could experience for longer than 3 seconds, I realized that this eyelid vision is actually the same exact thing I see when in my OBE.  This is a very strange thing to me.  Why will this happen so often when I'm in a noisy environment?  At school, there's tons of noise going on.  In my room, there's some low level machine noise going on once in awhile.  Does this all line up with the other things I wrote here?  occasional gentle sounds aiding in bringing me back just enough to consciously be aware of some sort of astral transition?  I feel like this information is something we could all use. 

I'd like to hear what you have to say.  I've had this seeing through eyelids for many years now, before even knowing about OBE.  And it's all been supposedly due to the same occasional distracting noises.

[Re]

The "seeing through eyelids" thing is pretty common.
I've have altered states of consciousness triggered by ambient noise while I'm falling asleep many times in the past. Not so much lately (maybe it fades with age?). In my case it was the humming of a crappy CPU fan I had installed on my computer.

I suggest you explore these phenomenons and use them to your advantage. They're great tools to explore your consciousness.

[Phazonxl]

The "seeing through eyelids" thing is pretty common.
I've have altered states of consciousness triggered by ambient noise while I'm falling asleep many times in the past. Not so much lately (maybe it fades with age?). In my case it was the humming of a crappy CPU fan I had installed on my computer.

I suggest you explore these phenomenons and use them to your advantage. They're great tools to explore your consciousness.

Glad to hear it's more common than I thought.  This is the only place I can learn about this and hear the same experience from other people.  Do friends/family think it's too weird to explain to others?  or is it just not that common?

Anyway, I'd like to make a device to measure breathing sounds that will make a small noise when it detects your breathing relaxing as you fall into sleep.  I work mildly in electronics and circuits.  I'll work on a design and test it and let this thread know.  It might be a really good idea if it works.

Anyone know if you can use "seeing through eyelids" in a useful way to make OBE easier?  I'd love to hear some tips on that, cause I experience it often.

[Lionheart]

Anyone know if you can use "seeing through eyelids" in a useful way to make OBE easier?  I'd love to hear some tips on that, cause I experience it often.

if you are "seeing through your eyelids", you are already well into the shift. Just create an intent and be off! 

[ArkPhoenix]

I have fairly limited experience in that field, but from my experiences in meditation, it's that it is really hard to stay focused when you have a change in the stimuli it receives (5 senses). Exemple, if I put some beats to meditate, when it ends, I won't keep my focus and snap out. It's kind of the same thing when I start "seeing things" with eyes closed in meditation, I have a hard time keeping the focus, or my eyes will start hyper-activating:twitching, opening and closing, which is impossible to keep the focus there. Same thing if something gets itchy or I get cold, I would assume the same would happen with all 5 senses.

For me, while I have it easy to concentrate or block my thought, I'm extremely sensitive of any change in what my 5 senses perceives. For exemple, if I hear a noise, Ill have to take a look or listen carefully to know what it is, more than most people I've known. It is very annoying while trying to meditate, but I account that as being unexperienced in that activity, practice should make me go through that flaw. We are not used too to vibrations and I guess getting them more often will make me accustomed to that feeling and will help me to not stop focusing while I experience those.  Anyhow, as a whole, I find that to begin with, meditating with repetitive beats (no lyrics) or sound help me focusing since my body doesnt need to analyze changes in what I perceive.  However, I believe practice and experience makes this less important on a long stretch.

The only stimulus that I can't "control" since its part of the process is when I see things eyes closed and they start to move all around wildly, opening, closing, like they are having a seizure if I can say. While I believe I can get used to not "look" controlling the twitches and all isn't of my resort. However, last time when it happened, I told myself inside that I wasnt seeing those things with my eyes, but with my brain and I've putted alot of intent towards that and I don't know if its luck, but my eyes eventually calmed down and I could proceed.

As you can see from the end of last paragraph, I really start to think that intent can be extremely important and powerful when trying to reach higher levels of awareness. That story with my eyes and when I experienced what is the most incredible experience that I personally had, push me strongly towards that intent is a very powerful tool for OBE. Considering that seeing through eyelids isnt typical, maybe all you lack is a strong intent to OBE with no fear in your heart and your mind.

It's pretty much the body of knowledge I have and that I believe is true for now. Like science this will most likely  change as I "train" toward OBE experience. However, more and more, I'm starting to realize that this relates on alot of concepts I've read from this forum, but explained and lived differently. I grasp more some things Ive read here that I found cryptic at first.

[Lionheart]

I have fairly limited experience in that field, but from my experiences in meditation, it's that it is really hard to stay focused when you have a change in the stimuli it receives (5 senses). Exemple, if I put some beats to meditate, when it ends, I won't keep my focus and snap out. It's kind of the same thing when I start "seeing things" with eyes closed in meditation, I have a hard time keeping the focus, or my eyes will start hyper-activating:twitching, opening and closing, which is impossible to keep the focus there. Same thing if something gets itchy or I get cold, I would assume the same would happen with all 5 senses.

For me, while I have it easy to concentrate or block my thought, I'm extremely sensitive of any change in what my 5 senses perceives. For exemple, if I hear a noise, Ill have to take a look or listen carefully to know what it is, more than most people I've known. It is very annoying while trying to meditate, but I account that as being unexperienced in that activity, practice should make me go through that flaw. We are not used too to vibrations and I guess getting them more often will make me accustomed to that feeling and will help me to not stop focusing while I experience those.  Anyhow, as a whole, I find that to begin with, meditating with repetitive beats (no lyrics) or sound help me focusing since my body doesnt need to analyze changes in what I perceive.  However, I believe practice and experience makes this less important on a long stretch.

You have already masterfully solved your own problem here. You are correct, it does get better with practice.

I learned to meditate while listening to a Coast to Coast radio show or my Television on. Initially this was very hard to do, but in the end it paid off immensely.

Practice is the key here. The more you practice the better you will get.

I still get the twitches, itches and other annoyances. My worst one being for some reason I always have to take a deep breath. But it's strange because after I do take that deep breath, I find that shifting is no problem. As for the twitches, itches etc., if you ALLOW them to heed your progress, they will. Scratch an itch, open your eyes for a second, whatever you need to do, but then get back to what you are doing. I found that many of these annoyances was your bodies last ditch effort to see if you were still awake.

I also solved the twitching/opening eye thing by wearing a Blindfold. I use one called the "Mindfold" and works very good. You can do a Google search on Mindfold to find out more about it if you are interested.