Hey everyone.
So like the subject says, I'm having a problem with becoming uncomfortable and my mind "flooding" while trying to AP. Let me explain.. I'll lay on my back, take some deep breaths and become very relaxed. I'll do my thing (either concentrate on a single thought or nothing at all). Eventually my hands will begin to tingle and go numb, then my arms. After about 30-45 min of laying like this, I'll start to feel this urge to roll over to my side, which I hear is pretty common. Then the urge grows to the point where it's almost painful and I'd rather just stop trying to AP and roll in order to get comfortable again. If I resist further, my mind suddenly becomes FLOODED with thoughts. It's almost like I'm thinking about everything but nothing in particular. My mind becomes overwhelmed and it seems impossible to find a single thought and focus on that. I'll mentally tell myself something to think of and when I try thinking of it, all the background thoughts get louder and I lose that focal thought. (I hope this is making some sense lol).
Anyway, any suggestions? I should note that I'm not a back sleeper if that matters.
Thanks,
John
Has nothing to do with what position you lay in so as long as you are comfortable. My closest experiences have been from laying on my side and back, I normally sleep on my stomach so if I lay on my stomach I have a greater urge to go to sleep. But mentally it is about focus, focusing away from the physical body to an astral place if you have been there before or to some place else. That is why a popular exercise is to pick a room in your house and memorize every detail of it and when you go to attempt a projection you visualize walking around this room noting all the colors, sounds, smells, textures and everything, making the visualization as real as possible it gets you enveloped into the scene and away from you body.
As for mental clutter it is something I am getting past also. Best I can say is practice meditation, can be for 5 minutes or an hour doesn't matter so long as it is of quality meaning if you can only hold you mind for 5 minutes and after that thoughts begin to flood in, practice 5 minutes at a time and after a bit try to hold your mind for say 10mins, but the goal isn't an empty mind, its proper focus.
It's kind of funny... you're going through all the processes most people tell you to do.
I'll tell you this: Stop fighting against yourself.
I agree with Phalanx to practice meditation, it will help you learn to keep your mind calm. I also have struggled with your problem many times. I usually end up rolling over and giving up at that point too, because you have already lost your focus if you are that agitated. But I also stopped trying to OBE during the day or evening because it has never worked for me, so I only try in the morning upon wakening when my body is already relaxed and can easily slip back into sleep
Also agree with Xanth, stop trying so hard. If you have to tell yourself to "stop having thoughts", or "focus, focus, relax" because your mind is having thoughts, then you are actually working against your body and mind relaxing. Meditation will for sure help you with that
Quote from: JABuna on January 24, 2017, 07:43:30
I'll start to feel this urge to roll over to my side, which I hear is pretty common.
I struggle with that too. I don't have a solution (yet), but I've a theory on why that happens. Perhaps knowing the cause will bring up some good solution.
IMO, Changing postures is a natural action that happens while sleeping. If you have seen those sleep research videos where they video people when they are sleeping, you will see that sleep is not an inert and passive process, both mind and body are highly active. Its not like waking action, more like automated actions. The sleepers change postures every few minutes (can't recall, but I guess 20-40 mins). Why does the body do that? To keep blood circulating around. Some muscles and parts of the body get pressed against the bed and circulation is lowered there. So brain has evolved this mechanism to keep flipping the body like a burger to keep it from getting damaged while sleeping. (You think you have a soft bed, but imagine the scene a million years ago, humans slept probably on ground or rock, naked !).
So the urge to flip over is natural and if you resist it, you are fighting mother nature. In other words, resistance mostly fails. Body prefers survival not oobes :D
What do I do? I move, and then in 2-3 mins, I move back to oobe position (on back with hands on side, legs uncrossed). This relieves the urge but spoils the relaxed state, but I've seen that it only takes a few seconds to go back to the relaxed state. Just forget that you moved, and continue as if nothing unusual happened.
Monkey mind or babbler . Yea it does get in the way .