I have a hard time getting deep enough into "Focus 10/mind awake body asleep" state. I mostly can get to a point where my legs and arms feels very paralysed and extremely heavy.
But then I can use a lot of time not getting any deeper.
I can recognize the truth in this tekst from the "Focus 10/mind awake body" article in this forum:
I suspect that most will be able to reach these early markers of focus 10 (including the mild sensory reduction in the cutaneous senses) in a fairly consistent manner with relative ease in the course of, let's say, anything ranging from one to twenty hours of practice. Hence, when you read reports on the focus 10 state, these preliminary markers are most frequently mentioned. However, you are only at the beginning of a full-fledged focus 10 state at this stage, and the subsequent stages tend to require a lot more practice.
In fact, I can't overemphasize the following enough:
Each time you think you can't possibly go deeper into the focus 10 state, and yet you continue your practice, you will be proven wrong over and over again.
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_permanent_astral_topics/focus_10_mind_awakebody_asleep-t24783.0.html
I believe that I can easily reach the "early markers". But I have a hard time getting further.
And I can see that many beginners in this forum have a hard time getting deep enough into "Focus 10/mind awake body asleep".
It would be nice to hear suggestions (practices, techniques and methods to get deep into "Focus 10/mind awake body asleep") from the more experienced members and maybe several suggestions, so as many as possible would benefit from it, because something may work for one and not another.
Many thanks for your help.
Regards DanishGuy
It's interesting how you mention the feel of the physical body. This is an observation of it, a thought. If you are thinking of the physical you are still being conciously tied to it. This will prevent you from getting further.
A far better thought would be to look where you are going , an attempt to get into the NP, to a local safe place you think about going to each day.
Imagine how far you'd actually get if you were to look behind you whilst driving. Can you see a fault now?
You are dissasociating your concious self from the physical body. You don't need a physical body to exit into the NP. It has to be ignored. Not one thought of it at all. You will find that the heavy feel just dissapears and you are on your own in a sort of blackness. It may even be a dream like environment but you will resurface from it a few times. When this happens it's natural to feel the body again, it's trained or programmed into you. This is where your intent to stay in the dream state has to be strong. Should you feel a return to the physical you need to do your best to return to that blackness or dream state.
Have a place local fixed in your mind of getting there in any way at all, even unconciously but getting there. This has to be a strong intent and it should be as strong as if your life depended on it.
Do this and drop the physical by not feeling the heaviness, just the intent of going to sleep and getting to your chosen location.
Be strong and ignore the noises, the floaty feel and anything to do with the body.
It will work eventually. It could work first time too.
Try this for at least 3 weeks, you'll program your subconcious to think you do need to be at this location while your body is sleeping.
In your statement it says " However, you are only at the beginning of a full-fledged focus 10 state at this stage, and the subsequent stages tend to require a lot more practice." This statement is correct, it does get better with a lot of practice. Practice, Patience and Perseverance! If you listen to Tom Campbell's video (who is very accomplished with this), he states that it can take years for people to learn how to do this at will.
Here's Tom's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_q5CDE2Nko
I don't know what can be added to what is already said in the tutorials Stickies found here on this Forum. You could also go to someone that you think is accomplished and start reading all of their posts from the very beginning of their time on the Astral Pulse. That way you can read and see how they progressed with AP themselves.
Xanth has amassed all of Frank Kepple's posts in this way. Frank was a very accomplished APer: http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/franks_posts_pdf-t31449.0.html
You are correct, many beginners have a hard time with this. But, approach this as you do learning any other new skill. You can't just sit down at a piano or pick up a guitar for the first time and know how to play. It takes practice, patience and perseverance to learn how to do those things as well.
Most of this entire practice, if not all, has to do with your mindset. I always say, change your mindset, change your reality, because in it's essence, that is the truth! :wink:
Quote from: Szaxx on September 23, 2013, 17:28:20
You are dissasociating your concious self from the physical body. You don't need a physical body to exit into the NP.
Tom states this in his video near the beginning. He says because of the wording and books around on OBE, you have thousands of people lying down trying to wiggle themselves physically out of their body. Then he says' You are consciousness, you are already out of your body". This statement was made at around the 8 minute mark of the video.
For me, once the process has begun, the only thing that can stop it is an over active mind.--just thinking too many thoughts. If I start to feel the paralyzed (heavy) feeling in my body, and I get a little too excited and start thinking 'Ok, Im going to go here--and do this--and God protect me from creepy stuff--and...' I'll ruin it every time. I have to think all those thoughts and have those intentions before the trance begins and then totally drop them after.
From many years of experience, I now rarely feel that heaviness. It's relax and start the visualisation sequence. Build a picture or wait for a few seconds and one appears. Let it develop just noticing it being there. It develops further into a HD quality and IF I'm not disturbed it surrounds me completely with synchronized sounds. This can take just 1min on a good night. Longer if not so good. I'm very busy most days and the tiredness typically wins. The dreamstate kicks in and the scene then becomes a dream.
It's getting familiar with the feel of it. Sometimes it's crystal clear and others I relax and sleep takes over immediately.
Quote from: soarin12 on September 23, 2013, 17:55:48
If I start to feel the paralyzed (heavy) feeling in my body, and I get a little too excited and start thinking 'Ok, Im going to go here--and do this--and God protect me from creepy stuff--and...' I'll ruin it every time. I have to think all those thoughts and have those intentions before the trance begins and then totally drop them after.
Thinking about this beforehand is a great plan. In life in general I have learned some different sayings that I live by now. One of them is "solve a problem, before it becomes a problem". By having your conversation beforehand, you are doing just this. You have a inner conversation stating your intentions and the fact that you are ready to do this now. You allow all of your thoughts to come and go, then as your mind quiets, you begin. Meditation isn't about shutting down completely, it's about allowing things to flow. Just like you need to allow what happens to happen and passively observe it. This is much easier to say, this is where practice is so important.
We were all new to this at one time as well. We got to where we were by realizing that this is what needs to be done. Myself, I read books everyday at first. At one time I had 3 ebooks open on my computer. I watched countless videos on Youtbe.com. I drilled myself with every bit of info I could find. Then I bought a program for $200.00. I did this because I knew myself and I knew that spending that money was a way of showing myself how serious I was about this practice. I then took what I had learned and devised my own technique. I created a model that would work for me. I have over 4 books full of info on things that worked and things that didn't since I started and I still log my results today. My adventure began in February 2011, but I had had involuntary APs and SPs throughout much of my life. Like most other people, I just dismissed them as weird/strange Dreams/Nightmares, etc.
Thanks for the great answers.
I believe I have some work to do in removing my focus form the physical. I must work on my meditation skill to "just be".
I will look into the advices and information you suggested.
@Szaxx: You advice me to focus on a place and the intention to go there. It sounds much as the "target" technique, that William Buhlman also has described.
I have a maybe stupid question about that technique. Is it repeatable? - If it leads to a OOBE and you continue doing it, will possibly more OOBE's follow?
Regards
DanishGuy
Most definately. I had one in my back garden I went to when I first started this nocturnal adventureing. I was around 4 years old. I did this several times a week for years. Once there everything cleared up and I had full memory of who I was and what I wanted to see.
From here flying around the woods or a trip to the park was far easier than going to different destinations from floating up into my room.
It works well and really helped my learning proceed.
I learned to get away from the sleeping body as a closeness caused many wierd things to happen that killed the trip out.
@Szaxx:
I did the target technique 2 months ago when I stumbled over the AP subject.
I imagined myself walking from a cabin to the stone beach and further to a river outlet on the beach, where I would stand and observe the river and sounds and touch the water.
I have emotions from my childhood where we visited this place in Norway many times, so I think it's a good target place even though is in another country.
I did this imaginated walk for maybe 14. days, and aborted it not because of impatience, but because I felt I was not ready for an OOBE because of fear.
Since then I have practiced fear reducing techniques and my current fear level is very low, because of these amazing techniques ( And no ghost hunter series ;-) ).
But what I did notice in the 14. days that I did the technique is the following:
- In the 2nd week my dream recall increased as described by William Buhlman in his first book.
- In the end of the 2nd week I would start to sink into the ground or shoot up in the sky as I did the last part (standing and watching the river), Strange!
- In one of the last exercises I did of the technique, a portal suddenly opened up out of nowhere as I was starting the imaginated walk. I was able to force myself into the portal (visualize), but nothing happened further maybe because I was awake.
So it sounds that I was on the right way, wouldn't you agree?
I have started on this again today.
Regards
DanishGuy
Keep at it, the portal would send you on a fantastic journey had you been non physical.
The fact that you CAN be yourself outside of your body in some unknown land is a great feeling. This is how the experience seems to be.
You keep up your work and soon you will be experiencing this for real.