satsujin wrote:You say SP is not not a requirement. What about hypnagogic imagery? I have never been able to experience that though I have watched the darkness behind my eyes during meditation and sleep time.
satsujin wrote:Strange. I've read that you cna experience HI during meditation as well but I've seen nothing like that, not even a difference in the blackness, during my 20 min med sequences.
satsujin wrote:Thanks Xanth. I currently meditate lying on my back as I find the lotus posture uncomfortable. I'll try for longer periods but in that position longer sessions lead me into sleep. Also, in the past couple of days since I decided to try and experience LDs or OBEs, while meditating, I mentally repeat the question "Am I dreaming?" continously while visualizing me doing the nostril breathing reality check. Will this prevent me from abandoning the physical sense or is focusing on a mental construct a good way to leave the physical senses?
satsujin wrote:I already read that article on this site which I why I realized it didn't matter what I focused on as long as it helped me come into the non physical at the exclusion of the physical. The reason I decided to focus on repeating "Am I dreaming?" while mentally visualizing me holding my nostrils was that I hoped this would help trigger a reality check once I came into the dream.
You may have guessed that my real goal is a lucid dream than astral projection since I believe it is more plausible and also since I've read one can physically project once one is conscious in the dream state. I should state while this a goal close to my heart, I am in no rush to achieve it. It will come when it will come though I strongly believe it will come given enough time. I have a personal issue with patience but since like I said this is close to my heart I can overcome the issue. I have only just started but believe I now need to practice and refine the technique of lying still in bed and building my focus.
Xanth wrote:satsujin wrote:I already read that article on this site which I why I realized it didn't matter what I focused on as long as it helped me come into the non physical at the exclusion of the physical. The reason I decided to focus on repeating "Am I dreaming?" while mentally visualizing me holding my nostrils was that I hoped this would help trigger a reality check once I came into the dream.
You misunderstand.
It DOES matter what you focus on. Everyone will have a different KIND of focus.
You need to find the appropriate focus which will work "for you".
if you find it's not working or if it's not holding your awareness, then you'll need to move on to something else.
A lucid dream and an astral projection are the same thing. What you're aiming for is to simply become consciously aware while you're non-physical.
Once you're consciously aware in a "dream state", you're ALREADY projecting. You're getting stuck, as most people do, on the labels.
There are no dreams
There are no lucid dreams
There are no astral projections
There's only you experiencing the non-physical with varying levels of awareness.
http://www.unlimitedboundaries.ca/2012/ ... -physical/
Give that article a read and see if you can take into yourself what I'm trying to say above.
satsujin wrote:What do you mean by "holding my awareness"? Does it mean I should stay awake while practicing holding this focus? Or is it okay to go to sleep while holding this focus? Obviously the goal is to stay awake mentally while going to sleep physically but this may take some time to achieve.
Does this mean I won't have to learn a technique to project into the physical reality from the dream reality? That from within the dream, I can create a representation of the physical reality through intent? On this site, you mention a technique of questioning the present, past and future to become astrally aware from a lucid state. This seems simple enough once you are lucid but I ask if it will bring you into a representation of the real world from the dream world. One of the tests I would like to try once I am lucid, is place some information in the real world that i dont know and discover it by traversing the dream/astral world.
satsujin wrote:Thanks for the clarification there, Xanth.
Just to give you a clearer picture of how my focus technique is currently working:
-I am currently just verbally repeating the question "Am I dreaming?" in my head. I used to also at the same time visualize me pinching my nose like in the reality check but decided to drop this so I could have a clearer focus.
-Currently I lose sense of my body but get drawn back to it when I feel a change in my heartbeat for example. Or there is an itch somewhere. Does that mean my focus is not complex enough to hold my awareness or only that I need more practice?
Don't I NEED to fall asleep while repeating my question to have a lucid dream?? Or do I go straight from my focused state to the lucid state? If that's the case then is a verbal focus sufficient? Wouldn't a visual focus be more important for a dream scene? Or would I become lucid while dreaming about a black scene where I hear the question being repeated?
satsujin wrote:Also, if I am unable to achieve lucidity within a month, would you recommend the following change in my technique?
Instead of mentally repeating the words "Am I dreaming?" while I go to sleep, have them playing out loud(but not too loud) in bedroom so that is the last thing I hear when I doze off?
satsujin wrote:I've also heard foods like almonds and bananas can be helpful. Is this true? Oh well, maybe even the placebo effect will help. And they are healthy foods!
satsujin wrote:Hmmm, well I've only been doing this 5 days so gotta give it time. But most of the time, unless I'm fully refreshed when I wake up, I go back to sleep pretty quick while repeating my focus phrase. And when I DO wake up in the middle of the night, I dont move at all. Most times I dont even open my eyes. I just become conscious and start repeating the question. Do you think I should get up for a few mins? Also, I am lying in my normal sleeping position. Maybe I should lie on my back? A position in which I find it harder to sleep.
By the way, my dream recall is pretty good. I can always recall one dream well and usually another dream vaguely.
Also, I've managed to move my meditation time upto 30 mins without falling asleep on my back but still no HI.
And you have any knowledge of the LD experience of epileptics? I'm one and a lot of the meds I'm on are meant to reduce brain activity and are also sedative in effect. Hmmm, just did a little Google research and it turns out the meds I'm actually on tend to INCREASE lucid dreaming or dream vividness ---- I certainly experience vivid dreams.
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