short time in the astral -normal for beginners?

[tweed]

Several days a week now, I am leaving my body. I either find myself in a "black void" or I'm in my bedroom. Mostly it's the latter. But I am only there for a few seconds.

I know about techniques which help me stay in the astral/phase longer, like sensory amplification or spinning on an axis. But it seems no matter what, I am always going back to my body only after 10 seconds (or less). Is that normal for a beginner? If I keep practicing, will I eventually stay longer?

[Pauli2]

yes

you could try to move 6 meters away from your physical body. And request awareness: "I want to be fully aware."

[Naykid]

Several days a week now, I am leaving my body. I either find myself in a "black void" or I'm in my bedroom. Mostly it's the latter. But I am only there for a few seconds.

I know about techniques which help me stay in the astral/phase longer, like sensory amplification or spinning on an axis. But it seems no matter what, I am always going back to my body only after 10 seconds (or less). Is that normal for a beginner? If I keep practicing, will I eventually stay longer?

It seems common, that's for sure.  I find myself in a black void when I fly through things for a few seconds, but I always find myself some where else and it's not always the location I had in mind.  You need to think of a location while in the void, that might help you.

[Xanth]

If I keep practicing, will I eventually stay longer?

Well, there are actually a few things you can do.

First, yes, practice definitely makes perfect here.  Keep practicing. 
Secondly, try to keep a firm grip of your thoughts and emotions.  This, I feel, is the absolute basic necessity to astral projection.  If you can't control your thoughts, you're going to be fluttering about the astral very randomly.  Remember, this is a place where what you think LITERALLY becomes real right in front of your eyes.

I made a post about this very thing on my website that I feel illustrates this point:  http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2010/09/13/why-you-need-to-control-your-thoughts/

I just started to read William Buhlman's book, "Adventures Beyond The Body", and I wanted to share a passage in it which illustrates beautifully why one needs to learn to control their thoughts and keep a focused, goal-oriented mind, when astral projecting.

Buhlman writes:

    "Each experience increased my realization that my nonphysical state of consciousness was extremely sensitive and responsive to the slightest thought. My prevailing conscious and subconscious thoughts would instantly propel me in a specific direction. I quickly learned that my subconscious mind exerts much more influence and control over my actions than I ever imagined. Often, a completely spontaneous thought would create an immediate reaction. For example, if I thought about flying, which I often did, I would immediately fly through the ceiling or wall and glide over my neighborhood."

This is probably the best paragraph I've ever read that shows perfectly why we need complete control.

This is what I believe to be the cause behind the experience which some people refer to as the "Astral Wind".  Whereby you'll be in one location, then some kind of wind or supposed "pushing" effect will happen upon you, where you'll end up somewhere else unknowingly.  Well, this is why.

People don't realize it and they try to externalize the sensation, which will cause it to appear as something external, such as a "wind" that uncontrollably blows you elsewhere.

[Unabomber]

several days a week? Most people will envy you for that.

Now, would you mind telling us what you focus on most? (like relaxation or visualization or whut)


Thank u

[tweed]

Thanks for the responses!

I shouldn't have written 'several' lol. Few is more like it. 3 a week, but sometimes I go in and out 2-3x in one session. It just happens on its own after I wake up from sleep, no visualizations. I keep my eyes closed, stay still and expect/wait for a sign. Sometimes I feel a wind or that I'm swaying and then once it becomes realistic, I just jump out of my body. I found the technique in a book on OBE by Michael Raduga.

This had all began happening in a sort of frequent way in November. I usually don't get experiences. Interesting thing I noticed, same month (Nov) but last year was when I had my first conscious OBE, along with other weird experiences. Didn't know what was going on, however. All spontaneous. I spoke with a frequent OBE-er (he'd been doing it since he was a child) and he said it seemed to work in waves and that it was July for him when he had the most OBEs.

Xanth, I had a feeling it might be that. It's funny that I seem to be forced to stay in my room. Last time I tried to leave, there were many chairs in front of the door. And at the time I didn't know how to walk through the wall.
I will try to work on that. My thoughts are actually a nuisance lately and I've trouble sleeping. Binaural beats are helping me with that (I don't think they are intended for sleep but they work for me lol!)... Also want to mention that it's only in the void so far where my thoughts turn into commands. I do use the area for teleportation. If I phase into my room, once the lights were off (I OBE-ed just when the sun set, the time of day was the same) and I couldn't see. I tried to command the lights to turn on but it didn't work. But perhaps when I control my thoughts better, I will start to be able to use thoughts as commands.

[Xanth]

Xanth, I had a feeling it might be that. It's funny that I seem to be forced to stay in my room. Last time I tried to leave, there were many chairs in front of the door. And at the time I didn't know how to walk through the wall.
I will try to work on that. My thoughts are actually a nuisance lately and I've trouble sleeping. Binaural beats are helping me with that (I don't think they are intended for sleep but they work for me lol!)... Also want to mention that it's only in the void so far where my thoughts turn into commands. I do use the area for teleportation. If I phase into my room, once the lights were off (I OBE-ed just when the sun set, the time of day was the same) and I couldn't see. I tried to command the lights to turn on but it didn't work. But perhaps when I control my thoughts better, I will start to be able to use thoughts as commands.

You might have phased into Focus 21, the 3D Blackness... but if you actually "felt" like you were in your bedroom, then maybe not.
In any case, whatever helps you to remove your surface thoughts will actually help you fall asleep too.  Instead of holding onto that thread of consciousness... just let it go.  Let yourself fall asleep.