New Here. Some advice?

[bdam123]

Hey everyone, my name is Brian. I've been interested in AP for a while now but only started practicing a couple weeks ago due to my intense schedule (I'm a struggling musician).

I've been working out of the book Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce. I've read and thought about all the steps needed to achieve a projection and I feel I have a fairly good conceptual grasp on them.

I am able to successfully clear my surface mind and enter in what I believe is a light trance state without a problem ever time. I've also had mild success in placing my body awareness outside of my physical body. I can pretty easily place myself in other parts of my home and even floating above myself in my bedroom.

Last night I think I entered into the deepest trance state I have yet to to encounter. My body became somewhat tingly and began to feel almost numb. As that happened I tried using the rope, ladder, and rolling out technique described by Robert Bruce. I was in this state for about 15-20 minutes before I gave up. Needless to say the projection failed.

Was wondering if you guys could help guide in the right direction or maybe even suggest some literature for me. I understand I have a lot more practicing to do.

Also, I set up a playing card face up high above my dresser. In Astral Dynamics, Bruce suggest this so that during your first projection you can float up to the card, remember it and test if you actually projected or not. Has anyone successfully done this before?

Excited and hope to hear back from you guys. Thanks.

[AstralBlogger]

Using the card to prove it to yourself is a very good idea. In my blog I write something almost everyday to help people that need it and yes I have succeeded in this event and it is very encouraging its what kept me going at first!

hope this helps Brian welcome to the astral pulse



oh and before I forget here is my website

www.foreverether.com

[bdam123]

Hey AstralBlogger, thanks for the words of encouragements and I will def check out the website.

Anyone else?

[blis]

Just keep at it mate. Sounds like you're on the right track. It can take a while.

When you get bored and give up on the attempt try not to move back into you're normal sleeping position. Stop the techniques but just stay in the same position until you fall asleep or get out of body. You can achieve an obe without any techniques at all just by waiting it out for your body to fall asleep before you do.

[Summerlander]

This is the basis of how I do it and achieving the state is even easier than what it seems in this guide:

GET PRIMED FIRST BY...

Waking up earlier than usual. then have a nap in the evening when you are tired. Preferably, the nap should be dreamless. For example, you can nap for two hours in the evening and then stay awake for an hour and a half before induction, OR, you can go to bed late and sleep to wake up between 4am and 6am to induce. This doesn't have to be followed strictly. As long as you induced from a rested or refreshed condition you are likely to reap results! You can induce in the morning too, say if you wake up at 8am. A nap or sleep prior to induction should help you to reach what Monroe termed "Condition D" with ease...

INDUCTION:

Lie down comfortably and close your eyes. Your eyes are to remain closed throughout the induction. Relax as deeply as you can and take your time. Do breathing exercises and/or count for a while if it helps you to relax. Once you feel that you have reached a reasonable state of relaxation you can resume normal breathing and don't even focus on it. Forget about your physical body and focus on something in your head instead like a mantra or a familiar object (the latter does not have to be visualised to perfection). Do this as you sense that you are drifting off to sleep or when your mind starts to wander. Keep bringing your mind back to focus whenever it gets 'lost'. Keep still and relaxed and do not fall asleep!

Soon you may come across hypnagogic imagery. Being aware in this state is already an achievement. Just passively observe whatever you get. Do not get too excited. The trick is to let your body 'switch off' as your mind is still very much awake. Eventually you will lose all sensory input and only your thoughts will remain. The vibrational state usually ensues for me and it can be mild or strong. It can vary from mild tingling, warmth, and the sensation of low voltage electricity flowing through the body. Strange sounds are reported during this stage. The sensation of  paralysis alone may occur when cells at the pons send inhibitory signals to the motor neurons in the spinal cord eventuating muscle atonia. Muscle atonia is a natural mechanism thought to be necessary to prevent individuals from acting out their dreams. Being aware in this state can be scary but don't panic. Just go with the flow. You may play with vibrations flowing through your body before you employ partial or full method of separation.

There are many ways of achieving a successful disassociation from the physical body. Here's a couple of examples:
- Think that you are getting lighter and how nice it would be to float upwards. Alternatively, you can imagine that the ceiling above you is a huge magnet that counteracts gravity and pulls you upwards.
- You can slowly roll over and out of the body. Do this subtly and as though you are moving physically but without using muscles. It is best to start by rolling over from the head and the rest of the body will follow. This movement is not imagined, it is done with intent.

Once you are out, explore! Stay out for as long as you can and don't worry about getting back because you always do in the end. Feel free to carry out experiments of your own to try to determine the nature of your experiences for yourself. You may also make the following distinctions...

Mode 1 OOBE:

Your awareness seemingly remains in the physical realm, or what could be interpreted as an accurate simulation of the waking world upon separation, and, therefore, is able to see the physical body (autoscopy experienced). Sometimes the colours of the physical world will appear duller, as if the world is being observed through a faint mist, and other times the colours will be clear. Vision can be hard to describe here, almost mixed with a feel of the environment and appears somewhat different to vision in the waking state. You can obtain information in the physical realm which was previously unknown to you, or information of events which at the time you couldn't possibly have known about through your physical body. This statement, of course, has to be taken as conjecture if one considers the nature of coincidences and cryptomnesia. Nevertheless, in this type of experience you are usually a floating point of consciousness and movement seems constant and gradual as though one moves through 'frames of space' or "mouse-trails". At times, the experiencer may consciously or unconsciously manifest a transparent or shadowy body. One can phase into a more metaphysical type of experience from here. In other words, from Mode 1 you can shift into the realm of thoughts.

Mode 2 OOBE:

You may find yourself in what appears to be an inaccurate emulation of the real world. Familiar objects may be out of place or absent, sometimes unfamiliar objects are seen, and other structural anomalies may be observed. This is the metaphysical realm where dreamland and anything that the imagination can conceive can manifest. You can visualise an environment of your choosing as everything appears to be representations of thought, or even visit what appears to be the worlds of others, the latter being that which you believe you have not imagined. The environment can seem extremely real, sometimes displaying a crisp and bright hyper-real quality that outshines our waking reality. Some experiences here seem to indicate that one is also capable of perceiving what's on the minds of people who are awake, thus this type of experience would enable telepathy if the experiencer peruses the minds of the visited. One may also perceive an inaccurate replica of what the person is doing in the physical realm because, even as we think during the day, we are constantly projecting thought forms in that frequency. Mode 2 is easier to achieve than Mode 1. My experiences suggest so as well as indicating that there is a whole other reality or more appropriately, perhaps, more to reality than meets the eye.

Why "Mode"?

Mode 1 and Mode 2 are distinctions made from having experienced the OOBE-state over a period of time. Mode 1 isn't necessarily a projection into the physical realm as such experience could still be simulated regardless of whether it's connected to, or a direct 'translation' of, physical reality. Likewise, Mode 2 isn't necessarily always a projection to the metaphysical realm, but, perhaps more appropriately, the experience of that which is apparently not here. The application of the word "Mode" here is appropriate because of its implication that something is experienced in a certain way and subject to change. The word is also used to describe a pattern of vibration of an oscillating system and goes hand in hand with the theory that the OOBE-state is brought about by quantum fluctuations influenced by whatever it is that we really are. This is not to be taken as gospel as much as the statement that nobody knows what the OOBE-state is apart from the fact that it's a label and a property of consciousness.

I hope all of this helps and good luck!!!!

[personalreality]

Astral Dynamics wasn't enough for me.  I needed a different perspective on the state of mind necessary for projection.  I recommend Robert Peterson's "Out of Body Experiences".

I studied and practiced Astral Dynamics for 6 months or so, then I took a month or two off, read peterson's book and had my first conscious exit within a week of starting up again.