Shutting Out The World...

[danzarely]

well, i decided to try something new. I set my clock to wake me up at 4AM. After I had turned off the alarm I layed back down and started my relaxation exercises- almost immediately i was getting some vibrations. My hands even felt like they were getting bigger...if that makes any sense..but then I heard a dog barking all the way down the street, barely audible- but the more i listened the louder it got.  once i shut that out my dog (sleeps in the same bed with me) decided to scratch for a few minutes- OK- now i can finally focus, right? wrong. i started to hear my parents snore (both of them!)- i heard the TV on- even though the volume was set at like 2!

anyone have any suggestions on blocking out all the inevitable distractions?

[WarpedReality]

Put on some headphones and listen to binural beats/hemi-sync (which will emit focus altering frequencies). Or you can put ear plugs in if you don't want to listen to the music but still need to drown outside sounds.

[micko]

I have this problem too, living right next to the freeway! I bought an ipod and some big headphones (the ones that cover your ears not the plugs). I put on some binural beats as stated above and its great! Can hardly hear any of these distractions. Make sure the headphones are nice and big and are the ones that dont let much sound out.

[AndrewTheSinger]

Sometimes they are not real noises, in the sense that they are not really taking place in the physical world, you might hear the bell ring at 3 am and you're sure there's no one there, so these noises are just distractions, and even if they were real you should be able to use them in your advantage to achieve a deeper state.  

It's hard to explain how to do that but I will try. If you hear a dog barking, you can confuse yourself as you relax even more and loose the sense, imagine it's a person speaking. Car horns can be fantasized as an orchestra, loud bangs can be imagined as a distant drum sound... the aim is to delude your perception in order not to get disturbed by the interferences.

I've had experience of AP.ing with people constructing a 2 story building on the side of my house and actually hammering my room's wall, it was way too distressing, but when I focused enough I was able to do things I never thought were possible.

[Stookie]

With practice, you should be able to ignore ambient sounds like that. Or like with the hypnosis tracks, make you go even deeper. If you practice nightly with those sounds around, eventually your subconscious with get used to them and totally ignore them. Even though I can hear my phone ringing sometimes, it dosen't always pull me out of my state.

[french_hustler]

With practice, you should be able to ignore ambient sounds like that.

Like said above...  this was the hardest thing that I had to work on.  But I can now hear the sounds and sort of ignore them and stay in the state I wanna be in.  Earphones are cool, but you should still practice.  I've read a book on OBE (don't remember the name) and the author stated that he practiced so much on his concentration, that he was able to obe next to little kids playing around him.  Try meditating... that could help you a little.

[WarpedReality]

I have this problem too, living right next to the freeway! I bought an ipod and some big headphones (the ones that cover your ears not the plugs). I put on some binural beats as stated above and its great! Can hardly hear any of these distractions. Make sure the headphones are nice and big and are the ones that dont let much sound out.

Yeah just get those large comfy headphones (closed) and you wouldn't hear a jet taking off (maybe ). The only bad thing about listening to the binural beats is that you won't be able to hear any astral sounds that occur when you get near F10 or projection.

[tijuca]

I've read a book on OBE (don't remember the name) and the author stated that he practiced so much on his concentration, that he was able to obe next to little kids playing around him.  

That was Robert Bruce.  

[Stookie]

One night a few weeks ago I was listening to some music with a friend when he suddenly had to leave for about 45 minutes, so I decided to try the hypnosis CD and relax while he was gone. Without really thinking much about it, I left the music going. After getting in trance, the music not only sounded really good, but the lyrics became extremely soothing, making me relax deeper. And the real kicker, it was hip-hop. Not cheesy, tinkly meditation music.

[Cereal-N-Milk]

Put on some headphones and listen to binural beats/hemi-sync (which will emit focus altering frequencies). Or you can put ear plugs in if you don't want to listen to the music but still need to drown outside sounds.

thats what I do somtimes. If its to noisy/distracting, the binaural beats work great. I turn it up a little, and then thats all i hear

[Sepultura123]

Its weird hoe you often hear sound in the physical world that so tiny to you but come so big when you're on transe.