Alright so I've been trying to project for the past couple of weeks and have tried everything. I've listened to mp3 files that supposedly help induce AP's. I've charged my "astral vehicle" for a good 20 minutes, I've chanted "I fly" about a billion times.
It's funny because I will lay in bed willing myself to get out, and there is a point where my physical arms will start to go up against my will, fooling me into thinking that they are my astral arms. I'm reading a book on Astral Projection for Beginners by Edain McCoy. Basically done with the book.
Now I'm not afraid to project. I let the fear go. I've lost all hope and it's starting to affect my sleep cycle lol. What can I do? I empty my mind and nothing seems to happen. I cannot alter my state of conciousness!
It won't happen overnight, you just need to keep at it. I'd find something you're best at and then get into a routine of just practicing it. Changing your strategy after a single failure won't help - it's like starting from scratch.
Here's some suggestions (idk if you've tried them but you didn't seem to mention them):
- If you normally have a rigid sleep routine (10pm to 8am every day or something), break it. Get up for 30 minutes at 7am and then sleep in until 1am or something. Breaking the routine can trick you into becoming conscious at the wrong time.
- If you're already good at lucid dreams, project from one of those.
- If you're good at meditating and entering a deep trance state, then do that.
- Or if you're like me and wake up gradually, then immediately after waking, and before moving or otherwise showing you're awake, relax deeply and you can get to the vibrations / buzzing / hypnagogia in a couple of minutes.
It really is different for everyone, and people progress at different rates. Some people are lucky and get it first time they try, others have to try for months or years.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and make a (probably inaccurate) generalization: Most people who attempt regular OBE probably have no more than 3 or 4 purposeful, conscious projections their first year of trying. If that. It's an ongoing process that you incorporate into your life over a long period of time.
Relax and find a way to enjoy the practice, even if the outcome isn't what you desire. Imagine this as a journey through thousands of miles, where you'll have lots of things to see on the way to your final destination. Can you relax, can you remember your dreams? These are the sort of short term goals you should be setting.
Spy, I have those same problems. I just cannot get into an altered state of conciousness. I almost projected once from a lucid dream but I stopped because it was dark >.<