Maintaining Awareness While Sleeping

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TKnoob

umm..... I was gonna ask are there any other methods for AP except hypnogotic stage induction?

astralpwka

I'm sure some people don't need them at all. There are many many techniques out there, and it seems like many writers need very little effort.

I personally have become fascinated by the hypnogogic stuff, and I see it as evidence that I am very relaxed and I'm losing touch with my body.

The practice of achieving this has also led me to begin studying mediation. While budhism isn't my thing, I've found myself drawn to much of its philosophy concerning meditation, and find thinking on zen stories and koans give me the proper mindset for meditation.

mactombs

This is an encouraging post for me, because I am traveling something of the same path. I get some imagery, but I usually just fall asleep. Keeping the arm up to make sure and then go with it is something I must try. I'm also pleased to hear that you aren't in too much of a hurry to rush to the goal, but enjoy where you're at. I'm sure that's helpful in the long-run as well.

Would you mind describing more of this process and the imagery you get?
A certain degree of neurosis is of inestimable value as a drive, especially to a psychologist - Sigmund Freud

astralpwka

Sure! The process is fairly straight forward and similar to mediation, with more of a risk of falling asleep. That is why I prop my arm up at the elbow (a technique in Astral Dynamics and in a few other astral books I've com across).

I get myself into a relaxed state by counting breaths, but usually only to a set number, like 21. Through this period I'm clearing the mind, convincing myself of my goal instead of letting my mind wander, and quieting the voices. To relax further, I'll focus on each part of my body, sometimes doing the energy work of NEW, or other times just feeling the energy that's already there. If I feel like it, I'll open chakras as well. Usually I'll be deeply relaxed within 5 minutes.

Once fully relaxed, and the only awareness of my body is what I want to be aware of, I focus more on being conscious that my mind is not tied to my body, that my sense of self is not tied to the physical form.

At this point it's possible I'll begin having exit symptoms (such as strong energy, hypnogogic images, etc), but its not always the case. Sometimes my arm will be falling over and waking me up every 30 sec. However, as soon as I have any exit symptoms at all, I lower my arm (which is like moving in slow motion at this point.).

Hypnogogic imagery for me is like looking at a movie screen, and slowly sinking into it. Sometimes it'll appear as a movie being played very rapidly, or strange fractal-like patterns. The imagery is usually something from a game or movie, or sometimes weird things like a face appearing and saying "Boo". [:O] Sound is not always connected, but once in a great while, there will be auditory sounds as well.

I hope I made all of this clear. [:D] If not, I'll try to clarify some of it.

19

astralpwka

the best time to play a recording to incorporate into your dream state is early in the morning, get up like 4 am stay up for 30 mins reading something to sharpen your mind then go back to sleep and play an recording saying your lucid dreaming or something similar.

It's very effective. Early morning are best time for lucidity.

ralphm

quote:

've reached a point where I don't care about reaching my goal immediately. The pushing of the mind to maintain awareness and meditation has been very rewarding in growth toward states of mind I've been unfamiliar with, and I'm sure there's more coming up in the future to learn and discover. Besides, eventually my defenses are going to eventually have to screw up and let me out of body


Maybe this forum could use this as a standard reply to the perpetual question about I think I had vibes but I didn't project and really how close was I?
Could you lower volumne on the tape? Maybe say I am asleep and aware? You know if it wakes you up you could try the interupted sleep technique.
In the world in general and in this nation
May not even the names disease, famine, war, and suffering be heard.
May virtuous qualities, merit, and prosperity greatly increase
And may continuous good fortune and subline well-being perfectly arise.

astralpwka

19 - I totally agree, morning would be ideal, and this is the time when I have lucid dreams and am capable of astral projecting. But I'm curious if I can induce it when my body doesn't want me to. [:D]

ralphm - I tried different volumes as well, but I'm not sure if I'm going to go back to that method. I'd be very interested in hearing the reports of others. It would be easier if I had some way of actually only triggering the recording of my voice at a point where REM is detected, and not at a constant pace, but it was my goal to maybe be able to have the sound overlap a point where I was actually dreaming. If it happened, it was enough of an interruption for me to lose the dream. The asleep and aware voice change might be something to consider...

iadr

Excellent post astralpwka,

I've been trying to consciously project also for about 3 months and have encountered many of the same obstacles you have.  

Although I have developed a keen sense of concentration that allows me to remain awake for hours after going to bed and enter some very deep states of relaxation I have only consciously projected one time by doing this, and have always ended up being really tired the next day from having slept only 2 or 3 hours.  Although I thought I could replace my sleep time with meditating, it just doesn't seem to rest me as much.

And since even the one time I did project consciously felt just like being aware in a dream, I finally decided to just approach astral projection by becoming aware in a dream, as I feel it is probably easier to achieve this way, and I am much more rested the next day from having slept the proper amount.

Good luck

PsiKick

Good - When you reach the hypnogogic stage you are very close to the astral, in fact they are visual perceptions of the astral, when you go slightly further you may percieve all kinds of strange sounds. These sensations occur as your physical body counterparts are dropping off to sleep - what happens when you are transitioning to the astral is your body falls to sleep while your mind stays awake, but because you are not used to percieving with the astral senses it can take a little to get used to these new sensations and until you train your mind to get used to them you will keep being 'drawn' back to the physical ie, body waking up.
The good part is that if you can train your mind to objectivly percieve the phenomena as it comes and goes it will become more and more real until you find yourself in the lower regions of the astral (normally F22 in phasing terms). This will feel very similar to your lucid dream experinces but you will have a hightened degree of awareness when you arrive in the astral, compared to coming to awarness by emerging from a dream - unless of course you have developed techneques for raising your awareness to the level of your waking awareness through that method, which is also quite possible if you know how, as well as learning to 'astral project' directly from a lucid dream.
Phasing is also another method to transition to the astral that requires a slightly different technique.
One method that i used when i first leart the technique that you are trying to master is as follows.
arange to sleep where you can be watching a video.
for the hour leading up to when you plan to go to sleep, watch a cartoon that has no advertisements and is about an hour and a half duration.
for the first 3/4 of an hour watch the movie and get emotionally involved as possible ie laugh at the funny bits.
ensure the volume is quiet enought that it wont startle you as you are drifting off to sleep.
then roll over where you have been sitting (preferably in some sort of bed) and let yourself drift off to the hypnogogic state, just listening pasively to the sound of the movie in the background.
you will find a similarity between the type of imagery you percieve and the cartoon you have been watching, albit in a warped sort of way.
keep this up until the hypnogogic imagery forms all around you.
Try not to panic when you realize you are in the astral as this will usually abort you back to physical or you will flick to various astral locations and normally loose awareness, ie fall asleep.
Hope this helps.


Laggy

Nice post Astralpwka, good luck with your attempts. Your progress seems to mirror mine somewhat.  I have been attempting conscious projection for about 8-9 months now.  From all the descriptions of focus levels, I feel I can reach focus 10 approx. 90% of the time and the beginnings of focus 12 rarely (which includes hypnogogic imagery and noises).  The images are not as prominant as the noises are (whacked stuff!)  Anyway....
quote:
I've reached a point where I don't care about reaching my goal immediately. The pushing of the mind to maintain awareness and meditation has been very rewarding in growth toward states of mind I've been unfamiliar with, and I'm sure there's more coming up in the future to learn and discover. Besides, eventually my defenses are going to eventually have to screw up and let me out of body.

Couldn't agree with you more. After 9 months of attempts, I have not consciously projected, but have had experiences that have changed my view of reality. The projection attempts I now make have become part of my spiritual unfoldment which is now the more important of the two. Something in the back of my head tells me to be patient because changes are around the corner (bet you haven't heard that before[:O]?!?!)and these practices will play a part (whatever that means!).
Again, good luck, your post has been an inspiration!

astralpwka

First a disclaimer: I am not familiar with the process of phasing except for what I've read on these boards, so I have no idea how it applies to the below. I wouldn't mind insight into it, however.

For the past two months, my goal has been to consciously AP, instead of through lucid dreaming. To do this, I've been practicing every night when I go to bed to maintain consciousness as my body falls asleep.

Lying in a prone position on my back, I've used an elevated arm to make sure I can't fall asleep prematurely. Once I reach hypnogogic imagery, I lower my arm and go with it. Value: High.

I tried a recording of my voice, which would play every hour, telling me that I was dreaming. All it did was wake me up. Every time. Value: Low.

For a short period, I used a brainwave cd (the free mp3 from these forums). I have mixed feelings about this. It felt the lazy way for me. I feel the only way I'll ever succeed is through willpower, so I eventually quit using the brainwave cd. I can reach the same relaxed state through meditation and breathing excercises just as fast. Value: Mid.

At this point, I'm able to keep awareness for an hour or two, experiencing hypnogogic imagery and exit symptoms. I still cannot consciously AP at this point, but I get swept up in the hypnogogic imagery. In some ways, this altered state of consciousness has been as fun as lucid dreaming and my astral projections, but still isn't my goal. The rope technique isn't working for me (or any other method other than lucid dreaming to induce).

I've reached a point where I don't care about reaching my goal immediately. The pushing of the mind to maintain awareness and meditation has been very rewarding in growth toward states of mind I've been unfamiliar with, and I'm sure there's more coming up in the future to learn and discover. Besides, eventually my defenses are going to eventually have to screw up and let me out of body. [:D]