Paralysis fading question?

[AstralCody]

Hey!

I never had this happen before...

I was in sleep paralysis and felt the vibrations hit mostly in my legs. I knew I was close. What happened is that the paralysis faded and the vibrations stopped. Usually it's the exact opposite and I can't stop the paralysis. Now it seems that the paralysis goes away...

Does anybody know what could be causing this? I have no fear of the paralysis. It seems I have hit a roadblock in OBE's. The Astral Academy looks interesting and I think I may just give it a go!

Safe travels everybody.

[personalreality]

I've only had sleep paralysis a few times in my life and I don't use it for projection purposes (and don't really like people being taught to try to achieve sleep paralysis, but that's an old argument and if it works for you, it works).  So I can't speak to the paralysis much from personal experience.

Are you unable to project now?

Do the vibrations not come at all for you now? (if they used to)

This is the problem with relying on "signposts" like paralysis and vibrations to achieve projection.  If they stop for some unknown reason, you stop projecting.  (I use them too though, so I'm not saying don't do it, just that this is the downside) 

I would try a new technique before I spent money or anything.

[AstralCody]

Hey, thanks for the quick reply personalreality! The sleep paralysis wasn't really something I tried to induce. It kinda happens natural for me. I have been having sleep paralysis since I was a little kid. (scared me to death back then) but now that I know what it is I kind of just go with it.

I am unable to project now. I seem to not be able to do a whole lot but get my third eye chakra pulsating quite often. I do get falling sensations, and sudden changes in breathing and all of that. I also get what feels like sudden energy bursts but then it subsides. Perhaps I am not in a deep enough state? I sometimes get the vibrations... Not too much though. I have woken up to them before. Usually I get an intense falling sensation and my ears start to ring. I then get a huge buzz of energy throughout my body. That's my ticket right there. I really miss that feeling...

Edit: I thought I would add that I do see 11:11 and 1:11 about everyday now. I will just randomly look at the clock for no reason and see those numbers often. If you are familiar with that I don't know. Just thought I would add that in here. Guides maybe?

[personalreality]

Try this.

Get up at 6:00-7:00am on a day you have free time, flexibility.  Get up and go about your day.  Try to do something physical that will use up a little energy in mind and body.  It could be anything from running some errands to working a shift at work.  Just something that will get you moving around and will tire both your mind and body, but just a little.  Have a light lunch.  You want to be full, but not stuffed and bloated.  You just don't want your stomach grumbling or any kind of weakness or anything from not having enough sugar or something. 

Relax a little, maybe have some hot tea, chamomile, something caffeine free.  Wait until you feel just the tiniest bit sleepy, like you could take an afternoon nap.  For me, the best time seems to be around 4:00pm.  But as long as you feel a little sleepy, like you could take a power nap, that's good enough.

Lay down somewhere comfortable.  I use my bed, but a cushy recliner or couch is fine.  I wouldn't recommend the floor, you tend to be sore when you're done.  I use a MindFold to block out the light, but if it doesn't bother you, you can just tie a bandana loosely around your head or lay a thick cloth over your eyes, anything to block the light.  Have a good stretch, just like you would do when you're going to bed or waking up.  Take about 10 deep breaths and just calm yourself down, relax and let the tension in your muscles go.  Now you want to do some kind of progressive relaxation.  If you don't any, just focus on each major muscle group in your body and tense then release, slowly.  Start with your toes, then ankles, calves, thighs, butt, back, fingers, hands, arms, neck, then your face (mouth, eyes, forehead).  Tense slowly (but not too tight so you don't get a cramp), hold for a few seconds then slowly release.  I like to count to 5 while i'm tensing, hold for 5, then count to 5 as i release.  After that, take a few more deep breaths and visualize relaxing energy coming into your whole body on the inhale and chaotic stressful energy leaving your body on exhale (some people will say visualize white for relaxing energy and black for tension, i don't teach that because i find black or deep purple energy more relaxing when i visualize.  i just let the exhale color be whatever it's gonna be.  its usually like a dirt color or like a putrid yellow or green.) and see the stress leaving your whole body as you relax deeper and deeper.  Now I'll usually replicate that falling feeling with my mind.  You want to try to really feel the sensation in your body.  Since you're familiar with it, it shouldn't be too hard with a little practice and experimentation to find the right mental action that brings about the feeling.  While you do this, focus your mind either on an external object (like the sound of a fan or a visualized object above your body, like a simple white block or something) or on the space directly behind your mind's eye and in between your ears.  Now just continue doing that and "act like you're going to sleep".  Let yourself go like you're going to sleep, but keep the slightest bit of awareness.  I find that just the strong intention to project, or just knowing that's what you're trying to do is all I need to keep from actually falling asleep.  You might nod off a bit here or there, and that's ok, just don't let yourself fall too deeply asleep.  Before long you'll feel your energy sensations, tingles, buzzing, ears ringing.  And you know what to do from there, normal projection stuff.

Give something like that a try, it might help.

11:11 or 1:11 shouldn't have anything to do with this.  1, is the number of the individual and represents the higher self.  11 is considered a master number in numerology and represents your higher self or spirit guide or whatever you call your self.  if it pops up a lot, it could mean that your self is telling you something.  but you'll have to figure out the specifics.

[AstralCody]

Thank you so much for the reply personalreality.

I am going to give this a shot. I really appreciate it.

Last night I believe I projected two times. It was very strange... My awareness level of having them is low, but I indeed remember rolling out of my body two times last night. (and feeling it) I don't remember much after that though. Then I had a lot of dreams. Normally they are bad dreams, but these dreams were actually pleasant.

Thanks again personalreality. Hopefully I will be back on track to this stuff in no time.

-Cody

[Contenteo]

Last night I believe I projected two times.

We always project when we sleep. It is a matter of do we actively remember it or not.

personal is right on with this. stop doing it before you go to bed. the 'sleep paralysis you are experiencing during this stage has a more specific name(there are different types of 'sleep paralysis'). You are either in an F10 or F12 state. Understanding what I mean by this will help give context, sequence, and strategy to you going forward.

Best.

Cheers,
Contenteo

[AstralCody]

We always project when we sleep. It is a matter of do we actively remember it or not.

Very true.
In fact, almost all of my projections have been during a nap in the day time. (The ones with the best recall)

[personalreality]

in regards to recall, that's kind of where i am in my projection practices now.  my projections are weak, i lack control and they fade quickly.  while i do remember them well (as long as i don't fall asleep afterward), i don't accomplish much in them.

so the remedy to that is to strengthen your focus.  incidentally, inception was on tv yesterday and i watched the last half of it and leo said something that stood out at one point.  he was talking to the guy they were trying to do the inception on in the second level of the dream and he was trying to get him to remember what was happening in the first level of the dream like it was reality.  he said that remembering a dream is difficult and takes years of practice.

Years of practice.  I think that is an important thing to remember.  It takes time to train yourself to not only remember your dreams and projections clearly, but also to have full clarity and perceptual ability while in that state.  It's all about your ability to remain fully focused on what you're doing and where you are.  You have to be able to fully immerse yourself in the environment you're in with the exclusion of everything else, even the fact that you're not in waking reality. 

I think a regular meditative practice is your best bet for this.  Whether it's sitting on the floor in full lotus chanting some mantra, christian prayer, or my personal favorite, walking.  There is a walking technique that Don Juan teaches in the Castaneda books in which you find an open area and just walk.  The trick is to not focus on any one thing in particular.  Let your gaze wander.  Inhibit yourself from focusing on your external world and just walk.  It sounds strange, but you're really just practicing tuning out everything expect for the action that you're doing, which is walking.  It's best to do it in an open area like a park or on a straight track where you will be safe, since you're not paying much attention to your environment.  This is like a zen walking exercise.  I like it.  But do whatever you like.  Something that will allow you to practice excluding everything except for one thought, one action, for an extended amount of time. 

[AstralCody]

in regards to recall, that's kind of where i am in my projection practices now.  my projections are weak, i lack control and they fade quickly.  while i do remember them well (as long as i don't fall asleep afterward), i don't accomplish much in them.

This is the exact same as me. The very first OBE I ever had was indeed very real, and I was super aware. I had another not too long after that where I was very aware and had an amazing verification with it. Now my OBE's are dreamy and sluggish. I have hardly any control. I ask for my guides at times... and always end up just kinda walking around. It is fun to walk through doors and stuff like that. Flying is very tricky and I tend to lose focus very fast. I remember I had a place I mind I wanted to go when I got out. I walked around my neighborhood. (things were very dream like but had an OBE feel to them. Like when I jumped I could feel myself float etc. I also knew I was in an OBE.) I met up with an entity. Talking was tough. He looked frustrated after the conversation was over. I am not sure if I was dreaming at that point or what. My location was not too far away maybe a mile. I literally remember hopping all the way there and I never made it. Everytime I wanted to just appear there nothing happened. I tried the awareness now technique and looked at my hands etc. Nothing really helped.

I ended up in a very weird office like place. There were a bunch of people in line. There was a lady at a desk and she said I was ten minutes late. A lightning bolt struck the building behind her and the building crashed down. I asked where I was and she said New York City. At this point it felt like a dream. A very vivid dream. I remember seeing the building fall and the next thing I knew everyone around me was frustrated by my presence. I remember saying "I got to get the he** out of here!" and I found myself back in my physical body that instant.

I guess it all depends on awareness levels.

[Contenteo]

Dream journals are a phenomenal way to expand dream awareness.

I use that with a couple minute affirmation before sleep. That right before, practice delving deep into an F12.

Works like a charm. Usual dreams are lush 21 states with the occasional blips into F23s or above if I am lucky. Unless I am really well rested, no control, but I remember most to all of at least the latter part of the dream.

Cheers,
Contenteo

[Bedeekin]

I've only had sleep paralysis a few times in my life and I don't use it for projection purposes (and don't really like people being taught to try to achieve sleep paralysis, but that's an old argument and if it works for you, it works).  So I can't speak to the paralysis much from personal experience.

Well then it looks like my advice will be contradicted then... not only my advice but my original method.

Where to go from here then eh?

[personalreality]

Well then it looks like my advice will be contradicted then... not only my advice but my original method.

Where to go from here then eh?

If you intend to give recommendation regarding sleep paralysis, don't let me stop you.  Like I said, I rarely experience it and my argument against teaching people to try to achieve SP is based on theoretical knowledge and semantics. 

That's how AstralCody typically does it, so if you've got the experience, your advice could certainly "mesh" better with AstralCody's experience with projection and might work a lot better than my advice.

But whatever your intention, I say advise!  Advise away!  Different perspectives are always useful in one way or another.

[Bedeekin]

I was sort of half joking. I should have emoted a wink. I meant it tongue in cheek.

I have been back on other forums over the last few days after not being active for a year... all I found were people telling me that SP was a redundant method... or that my method was dangerous because of me not using chakra exercises. I nearly got into a negative discussion and had to just drop it.

I felt comfortable enough here to sort of finally say something when I read your post.

That probably explains my reaction to it.

anyway... hello personalreality.

[personalreality]

I was sort of half joking. I should have emoted a wink. I meant it tongue in cheek.

I have been back on other forums over the last few days after not being active for a year... all I found were people telling me that SP was a redundant method... or that my method was dangerous because of me not using chakra exercises. I nearly got into a negative discussion and had to just drop it.

I felt comfortable enough here to sort of finally say something when I read your post.

That probably explains my reaction to it.

anyway... hello personalreality.

I assumed there was winking involved.

I just returned as well from a fairly long sabbatical.

People are stupid and superstitious.

They like to think that they have everything figured out, you know?  They find one tiny foothold of an argument and hang on for dear life because they've got nothing else to criticize, and they lack the creativity to produce a solution to the criticisms they find.  They like to argue about semantics and far too often miss the point.

I say people ought to take their chakras and shove them up their bums!   

A bunch of westerners trying to force themselves to understand reality through the mind of a culture they've never been to, let alone lived in, grew up in, learned to exist in....ridiculous. 

But hey, people are gullible and lack imagination, what can you do?

anyway... hello Bedeekin.

But if this guy uses SP to project and it stopped and he doesn't know what to do, then I fully expect you to offer him a solution.  Because you know about SP and projection.   

[AstralCody]

Not every projection I have had involves sleep paralysis. I would say the majority of them do though. Pretty much every OBE I have had has been spontaneous as well. I never intended to have one, but when I feel the paralysis kick in I can get out easily then. Other times I just get a rapid falling sensation and I literally "pop" out. It's a super quick phenomena and I love the feeling. I basically just roll out from there. I wish I wasn't on this dry spell... 

[personalreality]

Bedeekin may be able to help more than me then. 

I've never had a spontaneous projection that I remembered.

[Bedeekin]

Ha... ok.

I am a stuck record when it comes to telling peeps this but I never grow tired of it... aaanyway

AstralCody... I imagine when they were 'good' the SP gripped you in it's beautiful vice-like grip and it came in waves...

you say they come naturally to you and that may be the case... but you need to know why they happen naturally... then you can optimise them so they are deep state episodes.

If you do this at night before going to sleep you need to have a little nap a few hours before to getting yourself in state. The nap or pre-sleep is important. I wonder if you were napping when you were having deep state SP but didn't make the connection.

Sometimes the nap can be a 'nod off' while driving... or while watching tv of an evening... but what is important is that it is a real nap.

If I want a good deep OOBE... then I try to grab a short nap anywhere between 6 and 10pm. Sometimes the nap can be 5 mins sometimes 2 hours.

The 2 hour nap can be dodgy because you can oversleep or enter REM which basically ruins your chances of SP. The idea is to have a non-dream nap.

Again... the nap must be natural. If you try to nap but can't then wait until you feel like you need one.

When you wake from the nap... do not turn over and go to sleep. You will dream and spoil it all.

Get up and be normally active until you wish to go to bed. You can try to induce SP an hour after the nap but I would wait for a little while.. maybe 1 and a half to 2 hours.

You will feel the right time I think. Tired and awake... you could stay awake all night or go to bed.

You know how to induce it naturally so I won't bore you with that bit.

anyway... a few things...

If you smoke weed.... DONT DO IT THAT NIGHT. It will make them fuddy and almost nonexistent. If you realise I have hit the nail on the head because you do... regularly... then I'm afraid if you want your OOBEs back... knock the weed on the head. Seriously.

Alcohol also deadens the experience.

If not the above then you probably changed your sleep habits... or you have a new job... something you do that you didn't when you were having great OOBEs has happened. Can you think what?

[AstralCody]

Ha... ok.

I am a stuck record when it comes to telling peeps this but I never grow tired of it... aaanyway

AstralCody... I imagine when they were 'good' the SP gripped you in it's beautiful vice-like grip and it came in waves...

you say they come naturally to you and that may be the case... but you need to know why they happen naturally... then you can optimise them so they are deep state episodes.

If you do this at night before going to sleep you need to have a little nap a few hours before to getting yourself in state. The nap or pre-sleep is important. I wonder if you were napping when you were having deep state SP but didn't make the connection.

Sometimes the nap can be a 'nod off' while driving... or while watching tv of an evening... but what is important is that it is a real nap.

If I want a good deep OOBE... then I try to grab a short nap anywhere between 6 and 10pm. Sometimes the nap can be 5 mins sometimes 2 hours.

The 2 hour nap can be dodgy because you can oversleep or enter REM which basically ruins your chances of SP. The idea is to have a non-dream nap.

Again... the nap must be natural. If you try to nap but can't then wait until you feel like you need one.

When you wake from the nap... do not turn over and go to sleep. You will dream and spoil it all.

Get up and be normally active until you wish to go to bed. You can try to induce SP an hour after the nap but I would wait for a little while.. maybe 1 and a half to 2 hours.

You will feel the right time I think. Tired and awake... you could stay awake all night or go to bed.

You know how to induce it naturally so I won't bore you with that bit.

anyway... a few things...

If you smoke weed.... DONT DO IT THAT NIGHT. It will make them fuddy and almost nonexistent. If you realise I have hit the nail on the head because you do... regularly... then I'm afraid if you want your OOBEs back... knock the weed on the head. Seriously.

Alcohol also deadens the experience.

If not the above then you probably changed your sleep habits... or you have a new job... something you do that you didn't when you were having great OOBEs has happened. Can you think what?

Hey thanks for the reply Bedeekin! I don't smoke, and I don't drink regularly. Just on special occasions and even then I would prefer a diet coke which isn't all that great for me. (Especially with my acid reflex) My schedule of sleep is absolutely horrible. I usually go to bed around 4:00 am and wake up at 10:30 am. This changes everyday though. I take 3 hour naps during the day and sometimes wake up at midnight and then cannot go back to sleep until 6 AM or when the sun comes out. My sleep schedule is absolutely hectic.

My anxiety is horrible in the daytime usually and I think this tires me out beyond belief. I am on Klonopin but I know for fact that hasn't altered my OBE's because there was a time where I was on Klonopin and a bunch of other anti depressants. I would get off medicine completely, but if I do this I have panic attacks that happen very sudden and my heart rate goes up to about 130 and ruins the rest of my day. It's weird... I had three panic attacks in a day not too long ago. I had to leave my moms work and go lay down at her house. I couldn't make it home. I had a meltdown but after the meltdown I had three OBE's in a row. High stress like that seems to give me OBE's? I wasn't very aware but I remember flying in one. Paralysis hit me like a ton of bricks that day.

I used to get out and do things, but my anxiety has progressively gotten worse over the years. It's why I quit the career I was aiming for. I am so much better now but my sleep schedule is the worst. It's different everyday. Some days I sleep in until 2pm. It's quite ridiculous. It must be my sleep schedule... I was going through depression and stuff at the time I was having them though too so I am not sure what had stopped my OBE's.

Maybe my diet? I eat a lot of fried foods etc. I don't know if that can effect anything. I am a very spiritual person, I try to meditate at least once a day and do affirmations before bed etc.

PS: My dreams are absolute chaos. They make no sense and can be extremely violent. I have dreams every night.

[Bedeekin]

You aren't alone with the panic attacks. Horrible. I suffered with them in my early 20s. I used to tell mates (who were older than me) and they would be like "yeah... I had panic attacks when I hit 20".... Why wasn't' I warned about this? lol

Can you trust me if I say that they will go away. In time... you will grow out of them. I did. I used to suffer evil ones. I used to vacate the room so I could die without bothering anyone. They create a rut and are created because we are in a rut.

Don't worry about diet and OOBEs. obviously do for health reasons... but I used to eat meat and now I don't... my experiences haven't been effected numerically by the drastic change in diet. I do have more clear experiences now I'm a veggie. I have been on junk food binges before... didn't really effect it.

My OOBEs do get effected by my sleep pattern... and when I am just stressed in general.. although that hasn't been for a long time.

When I work I find it easier to keep regular evening naps because I am shattered when I get home. I just need to sit down and I will nod of for half an hour... perfect nap for later on.

When I'm not working on a contract job I am at home and then I become nocturnal. This creates a lack of OOBEs in general. I have to plan ahead if I grow OOBEless and needing some experience or answers.

When I started to get over myself and my anxiety I already had 9 years of OOBE practice... and it was then that they started getting strange.

I spent the next 5 years practically locked in my bedroom. Experimenting with OOBEs... trying to prolong Sleep Paralysis... getting deep. I used to draw, eat, smoke cigarettes. Things happened and the panic subsided.

[AstralCody]

I sure hope they go away Bedeekin. I have had them since I was a little kid. They are horrible indeed. I am 21 now and they are getting better... I wonder if it's the Klonopin? It does wonders for me. They have indeed gotten better through time though so I will trust you on that one!

How do you get yourself to the sleep paralysis stage? They have come natural for me before. Especially as a little kid... Scared the living dog crap out of me back then because I didn't know what it was lol.

I was meditating before bed last night and actually heard some astral noise. That's probably the most common phenomena for me. After about an hour I have to change positions though. Sleep paralysis doesn't kick in and I end up falling asleep. Even during my daytime attempts I can get astral noise, and sometimes see things in front of me like "moving pictures" but then it all subsides. Sleep paralysis happens when I am not expecting it. The good thing is though when it does hit I know exactly what to do. I just wish I could learn how to induce it!

[piyal_14]

I do think that every OBE does not necessarily involve sleep paralysis.
Though i've just had 2 OBE's till now, i would say that my first OBE involved sleep paralysis during which i wasn't even able to fully separate from my physical body and i was very scared too.
Let me tell you that i've had many sleep paralysises before but then I had never really given much thought to a OBE. Each time i had been scared.
But when the 2nd one happened, i was more prepared and deliberately wanted an OBE and succeeded too. I feel i was even a little more relaxed than the last time and so did not feel the paralysing effect much.
I know it's too early to conclude anything but still i would say that sleep paralysis could be felt only when the subconcious mind is not prepared for the OBE.
Maybe when you get more used to the concept you would not feel the paralysis anymore! Good luck!   

[AstralCody]

I do think that every OBE does not necessarily involve sleep paralysis.
Though i've just had 2 OBE's till now, i would say that my first OBE involved sleep paralysis during which i wasn't even able to fully separate from my physical body and i was very scared too.
Let me tell you that i've had many sleep paralysises before but then I had never really given much thought to a OBE. Each time i had been scared.
But when the 2nd one happened, i was more prepared and deliberately wanted an OBE and succeeded too. I feel i was even a little more relaxed than the last time and so did not feel the paralysing effect much.
I know it's too early to conclude anything but still i would say that sleep paralysis could be felt only when the subconcious mind is not prepared for the OBE.
Maybe when you get more used to the concept you would not feel the paralysis anymore! Good luck!   

Hey thanks Piyal! Yeah quite a few of my OBE's (most of them) happen when I just get a sudden falling sensation. I really don't even need to be in sleep paralysis. It's just when I am in paralysis it becomes really easy for me. Either way though I am working on both ways. Thanks for the reply, and good luck to you as well!

[Bedeekin]

I do think that every OBE does not necessarily involve sleep paralysis.
Though i've just had 2 OBE's till now, i would say that my first OBE involved sleep paralysis during which i wasn't even able to fully separate from my physical body and i was very scared too.
Let me tell you that i've had many sleep paralysises before but then I had never really given much thought to a OBE. Each time i had been scared.
But when the 2nd one happened, i was more prepared and deliberately wanted an OBE and succeeded too. I feel i was even a little more relaxed than the last time and so did not feel the paralysing effect much.
I know it's too early to conclude anything but still i would say that sleep paralysis could be felt only when the subconcious mind is not prepared for the OBE.
Maybe when you get more used to the concept you would not feel the paralysis anymore! Good luck!   

I've been used to the concept for 27 years... and SP has always played a part.

It's got nothing to do with the subconscious. SP is the cognitive awareness of a process that happens to everyone, every night they sleep. Since ever.

It is the state everyone eventually gets into whether they are aware of it or not.

Sometimes it precedes OOBE... sometimes it is more evident when returning from an OOBE... and sometimes, as is the case with Phasing it goes unnoticed like it does when we dream. Every well known OOBE proponent... Sylvan Muldoon... Albert Taylor... Robert Monroe... Oliver Fox... Mrs X... Robert Bruce... Emanuel Swedenborg...  Hereward Carrington and William Buhlman all actively used an altered state to enter the experience that under varied descriptive names is essentially Sleep Paralysis; that being just the common modern term. The medical term being REM atonia.

Astral Cody...

It happened to me when I was 11 after a really bad fever. I was afraid to go to sleep because of the nasty head screwing fever dreams that seemed to linger afterwards. I called them Miacrogogic dreams... some call them geometric fever dreams... (that would be a good thread). I was getting SP 4 to 5 times a week... just before falling asleep for the night. They went on for about 5 months... until my mum took me to the doctors. I had TLE tests (Temporal Lobe Epilepsy) and a few other sleep related tests and was diagnosed with suffering from acute RISP (recurrent isolated sleep paralysis). A short time after this... I had my first OOBE. then many more. Once it had a name... and part of its scary mystery was peeled away by a medical term, I figured out what was causing the SP.

Which was this...

Because I was afraid to go to sleep I would hold off going to bed. This forced me to be marginally tired during the day at school. I would get home... have a bite to eat.. sit on the sofa to watch kids TV, do my homework for a few hours... then go to the front room of the house (which was mine and my sisters play room ) and eventually nod off for an hour or so. That night I would hold off going to bed because I was afraid the SP would start. This would make me tired the next day... after school I would get home... have a bite to eat... do my homework... then have a nap... and so on and so forth.

It was actually the break in this OOBE propagating sleep cycle that helped me figure out why they were happening. The fact hey hardly ever happened on a weekend was the first thing that used to confuse me.

The other thing that helped me figure it all out... was that after my first few OOBEs I suddenly wanted the SP. So I was excited for them rather than scared. So instead of napping.. I would just wait tentatively to go to bed... NOTHING. 

What was I doing that was causing the experiences?

NAPPING!!!!!