The precise moment of sleep

[SquanderPants]

Hi all,

I'm very new to this, and found out about AP through a search after finding I was able to see my room through closed eyelids a while back. After 4 attempts, I have so far felt vibrations and felt my legs rising out of my body, but not yet experienced a full projection.

I just have a questions regarding the moment that we fall asleep. Last night I awoke (about 3:00AM) and decided to try and project. I went to the toilet, splashed some water on my face, and went back to bed. From there I remained awake for perhaps 15 minutes or so, but then fell asleep. If I had realised I was about to fall asleep, what should I do to stop this fom happening? If i had managed to just stop my mind from falling asleep, would this be the point where I could then project?

Thanks

[Psan]

If I had realised I was about to fall asleep, what should I do to stop this fom happening? If i had managed to just stop my mind from falling asleep, would this be the point where I could then project?

Another good question !
Ya, you got it right. If you manage to keep your mind awake (and body asleep), you are almost there.
Now how to do this ? Well, there are so many techniques and if you read these forums, you would find something.

My preferred ones are to stop internal dialogue and concentrate gently on the ringing sound inside my head. The routine internal dialogue makes you unconscious and you fall asleep. So avoid it. This tech works best when you are not very sleepy or tired or have just finished sleep (best).
Second one works best when you are sleepy and dip in and out of sleep, in which, you set up a timer which goes every few minutes or lie in a position which is slightly less comfortable and prevents sleep.

Of course, these are shortcuts where you get a free ride on the natural process of sleep. The proper way is to learn to meditate and be in trance and go deeper from there. Refer the popular books mentioned here or on other websites.

[Vice]

I went to the toilet, splashed some water on my face, and went back to bed.

Love that qoute;

Many techniques involve you focusing in on your breathing.  Instead of just laying there having random thoughts focus on one thing.  Picture yourself climbing down an infinitely tall ladder in a pitch black environment.  Take a step down the ladder every time you breathe out, and hold on to the ladder when you breathe in. It is ok to be interrupted by thoughts, but go back and continue to descend the ladder

[SquanderPants]

Once I'm settled in bed, I count down from 50 to zero, going down by one number with each breath I exhale. I've found this pretty useful so far because
a) it aids relaxation and focus
and
b) it gives me clues as to when I'm nearing sleep. For example, if I start to miss out numbers, forget where I'm up to with my countdown, or start to have wandering thoughts, I know that I'm becoming sleepy, which is a good opportunity to mentally shake myself and focus more on the counting.

That said, i still haven't managed projection, but I can feel that I am on the right road.