How close am I

[Mystiquemushroom]

Okay so I lay on my bed, get as comfortable as possible, turn on binaural beats on my ipod, put my headphones in, relax, deep breathes, relax, close my eyes, focus on the black, focus on my third eye area, soon the fuzzy black becomes a much darker seemingly open space, I am no longer sensing my body, just focusing on the black, my eye lids start twitching like crazzzy, i try not to give them attention and just focus on the black..stuck at this point of focusing on the black for like 30 more mins, decide to go asleep and try again tonight.

Should I be doing anything else at this point?

[Szaxx]

You need to allow it all to happen by itself.
Focus on anything and it slows you down. Just keep enough awareness about you to stay awake. The rest will happen naturally.
The blackness and other things occuring are part of it, just notice then and no more. You'll be awake yourself in mind only as your body will shut down for the night. It dissapears slowly and you eventually will not feel anything from it.
This is where you need to get to. Do this and the rest will happen naturally.
This is an art and has to be carefully done. It can't be forced.
Mind awake body asleep is your initial goal.
Keep trying the above without any thought of success or even any expectation of it working.
It will in time.

[Mystiquemushroom]

Thanks Szaxx!

[Lionheart]

Should I be doing anything else at this point?

It sounds like you are just an "intent" away! 

[Mystiquemushroom]

Thanks Lionheart ; )

[roman67]

You just keep trying rest will happens with you automatically.

[Contenteo]

Don't forget to let your teeth to fall together. Another way to say that is to keep your top teeth rest on your bottom with the help of gravity. This is a tip I rarley see mentioned nowadays, but was my ace in the hole when I started. If you can get that body asleep(F10) feeling to creep all the way up to them, then you are in REALLY good shape. It'll feel like your whole lower half of your face just got novicained.

Around that point then kick in the metaphysical imagery. Usually any type of playing sports will do. Snap in and out as many times as you can. You'll lose track of reality because the visualizations will become weird*, and then next thing you know, you'll be in a AP state.

You are not going to get to witness the transition happens. Don't expect that.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Contenteo

*I mean it, If the visualizations don't get a little obscure because they are coming from your subconscious, then you are not relaxing enough. You have to divert your focus so the phase can 'sneak behind you'

[Mystiquemushroom]

Thanks guys!

I've been experiencing a relaxation problem with my upper back and my neck. I can't seem to get them to fully relax while laying on my back, while the rest of my body is in the mind awake/body asleep mode I can feel tension in these areas like I'm not 100% comfortable. Going to look into some stretches or something, any advice is much appreciated.

[Szaxx]

Get every pillow you can and try a more upright position. This usually works.
Get comfy and relax.
Thats pillow talk lol.

[Mystiquemushroom]

Lol thanks Szaxx, I was just meditating and I think I found my solution.
Just try to relax and when you feel any discomfort, stretch that area whether it be your neck, back etc for a few seconds then try to go back into the mind awake body asleep state.
Eventually these areas will relax.
I'm limited on pillows unfortunately, but I will try a more upright position when I get the chance ty!

[Szaxx]

You may have nailed it in one.
Do you do a full body muscle clenching exercise before meditation?
If not, you're missing out.
Start at your toes then work up your body slowly clenching and hold for one second then relaxing moving up to the next part.
A wash rinse and repeat action.

[Mystiquemushroom]

Ahh I will try that! Ty

[Lionheart]

You may have nailed it in one.
Do you do a full body muscle clenching exercise before meditation?
If not, you're missing out.
Start at your toes then work up your body slowly clenching and hold for one second then relaxing moving up to the next part.
A wash rinse and repeat action.

Ahh, Progressive Relaxation, I use that often.

It's so relaxing and gives you something to do while you await the shift to begin! 

After a while it becomes a sort of ritual that you perform every time you practice.

[Mystiquemushroom]

Ahh, Progressive Relaxation, I use that often.

It's so relaxing and gives you something to do while you await the shift to begin! 

After a while it becomes a sort of ritual that you perform every time you practice.

Don't you want to do this only once or twice then let your body fall asleep(mind awake/body asleep)? I imagine doing this continually would not allow your body to sleep?

[Lionheart]

Don't you want to do this only once or twice then let your body fall asleep(mind awake/body asleep)? I imagine doing this continually would not allow your body to sleep?

Once a Session or an attempt, yes.

The progressive Relaxation relaxes everything from your toes to your nose and can take anywhere from 2-20 minutes, depending on how long you spend with each.

You will also "notice" after a while, that when you focus on that area, you do indeed "feel" that specific area.

This becomes like a form of NEW which is an excellent technique taught by Robert Bruce.