astral earth

My Free 60 Page Book, “My Astral Projection Truth”, What is Astral Projection and How to do it!

Direct Download Link – PDF Format
My Astral Projection Truth: What is Astral Projection and How to do it!

I just finished editing version three of my free Book! It’s now ready for downloading!

I’ve also re-branded it in honor of Frank Kepple, who put in so much time and effort into teaching others to experience the larger reality. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have progressed as much as I have.

It’s now “My Astral Projection Truth: What is Astral Projection and How to do it!

This Book represents everything I’ve learned over my life, but mostly the last 2 – 3 years of my practices in Projection and Phasing. It’s now a 60 page Book full of great information regarding how you can begin to explore the furthest reaches of reality on your own! All the information I provide in it was the same information that helped propel me towards the experiences I now enjoy.

Feel free to pass it around to where ever you wish, as long as the information remains intact and all credit is given where due.  I hope the information helps you as much as it has helped me.

Thanks for reading! Please leave me some feedback on how you like the Book, and if there was any parts of it that are unclear or confusing. I’m happy to re-write sections to make them easier to understand.

Astral Projection Facebook – Question Response

Someone on the Astral Projection facebook group asked the following question which I would like to address here.

When I am working on AP I lay down on back I usually don’t sleep on my back and I can’t fall a sleep in that position. I get vibrations very quick after 3-4 minutes, then I get numb and I wait for things to happen and only thing that happens is that I open my eyes and start to hallucinate and I see the light through the window and it all goes or sometimes I just wait and I can’t get my physical body to sleep and from the point of numbness and vibrations I don’t know what to do please

Well, what it boils down to here is what it is you’re doing when you’re “just waiting” for your physical body to fall asleep. If you’re just lying there waiting for something to happen, then you’re going to be lying there for a while. You need to give your mind something to do, something to focus on, while the rest of you drifts away.

Basically, what you need to do is focus your mind away from everything that is physical. All of those physical sensory inputs (sight, hearing, etc) need to be completely ignored. This is a lot harder for a most people to do than it sounds. This is the part where you need to “do something”… that something can literally be any technique available. Pick a technique that resonates well with you and use it.

You can focus on your breathing…
You can do the Noticing exercise…
You can do a Mental Rundown…
You can visualize a single object, like a geometric shape…

Whatever you do, you need to be able to focus on it 100% to the exclusion of all else. Now, that doesn’t mean if you get an itch you ignore it or fight against it. If you get a distraction of some kind, just gently and calmly take care of it. Scratch your itch, get a drink if you’re thisty, etc…

The point here is that to project, it’s more than just lying there waiting for something to happen. You have to actually engage your mind in an activity that diverts the attention away from everything physical. Once you do that, what you’ll find is that you’ll be in a void of sorts… it’s not that you won’t still “feel” or “sense” the physical, it will be that you’re just completely ignoring it instead.

Once you find yourself excluded from this physical reality and you’re experiencing the Void, you have projected! From here, you can ask questions of guides, or place your Intent to experience whatever you want. The limit is your imagination at this point. Although, the hardest part here is going to be holding this state for extended periods of time. This is where becoming really good at meditation will help… considering the fact that what you just did WAS a meditation, you’re probably doing pretty good.

The Path Documentary: Beyond the Physical

I finally received my copy of this documentary tonight in the mail, and I just finished watching it!
I must say that it is, without a doubt, THE BEST documentary on Projection that I have *EVER* seen.
I highly suggest you purchase a copy for your own viewing pleasure!

A big thanks to everyone at Path11 for making this, and to the experts who took the time to be interviewed.
You guys did a tremendous job! Many thanks to you all!

You can purchase the DVD (and the first one too!) from here: http://thepathseries.com/the-films/beyond-the-physical/dvd/

How to Project using a Focused Breathing Technique

I want to focus upon a usual technique that people like to use to Project with. Focusing upon your breathing.
The main action here is, well obviously, focusing upon your breathing, so let’s focus on that for a minute, because that’s going to be your make or break action.

Try this:
Don’t worry about vibrations, noises, heavy feelings, SP… NOTHING. Forget you even know all that stuff. Forget everything you’ve learned up until this point about astral projection. It’s useless knowledge. (This should be your first step with ANY projection technique, I’ll explain later in another article). Now, focus all your attention completely and utterly upon your breathing. Breathe in… feel the air passing through your nostrils, passing up your nose, down into your lungs… don’t just “feel” it though, completely ENGROSS YOURSELF in the sensations. Then when your lungs are comfortably full, begin to breathe out… completely engrossing yourself in every sensation associated with that biological movement. Each time you breathe in again, increase the depth of how completely engrossed in focus you are on those sensations…

The deeper you get, the more “lost” in the moment you’ll become… keeping the focus on the sensations will keep your mind active, just keep at it.

Focus… deeper… focus… deeper… focus… deeper… etc… eventually the physical reality will completely melt away. At one point you’ll notice it has melted away and you’ll notice that you’re not experiencing ANYTHING. It will be just YOU there, no physical anything. This alone will probably snap you back to reality, but then just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep teetering between “here” and “there”… and eventually you’ll notice yourself “there” and you’ll remain “there”.

The Key to Most Astral Projection Techniques/Methods

Someone posted a PDF on the Astral Pulse tonight showing 66 different Astral Projection techniques.

The thing is that they’re not 66 different techniques. They’re the same technique with 66 slight variations. Well, that is, the ones that you do while consciously awake. There are ones listed where you initiate them from a lucid awareness experience in the non-physical.

It’s a great write-up and all, but I think it’s more important for people to understand *WHY* each of those techniques work.

I’d encourage people to take a bunch of techniques they read about (here or wherever) and try to break them down into their base parts. Try to figure out makes the technique tick. Here’s a hint… they’re all asking you to do the *EXACT SAME THING* just in slightly different ways.

Ok that wasn’t so much of a hint as telling you. LoL

Just about every technique incorporates Visualization or Mental Concentration/Focus in some way as a method of fixating your awareness away from the Physical. That’s it… that’s the entire secret. That’s what took me over 10 years to figure. I use this concept to create my own visualizations and you can use this knowledge to further help yourself to project.

There’s nothing mystical or magical about any of this and most importantly: ANYONE CAN DO IT.

The Vigil Method & Fred’s New Book!

Fred (Major Tom from the Astral Pulse) from the Explorations-in-Consciousness website/forum released a chapter from his now released book, “Explorations in Consciousness”. It describes what the author calls “The Vigil Method”.

You can find the method at the following link: The Vigil Method

THE IMPORTANCE OF WAKEFULNESS

So you want to join the ranks of those who, in the words of the poet John Magee, have “…slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.” You won’t be flying an airplane, which inspired those words, but the rewards of learning how to project are even greater. So how do you make the OBE happen?

Clearly, the voluntary induction of the out-of-body state is associated with sleep. There are other situations in which the OBE occurs, such as during trauma or other extreme events, but the voluntary induction of the state is associated with the natural sleep rhythms of the physical body. In particular, Robert Monroe was the first to fully recognize the importance of being able to reach the MABA state (Mind Awake/Body Asleep) in order to effectuate the OBE.

Please do head over to Barnes and Noble or Amazon to purchase Fred’s new book! It’s promising to be an excellent read!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/explorations-in-consciousness-frederick-aardema/1110505574?ean=9780987911902&itm=1&usri=0987911902
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0987911902/

You can also find more information about his book here: Explorations in Consciousness

In Explorations in Consciousness, Frederick Aardema, a clinical researcher, provides a profound, in-depth account of the out-of-body experience, during which the explorer of consciousness is able to transcend the boundaries of time and space.

Congratulations Fred!

TMI Gateway Pointers

If you’re currently trying to learn to project using the Gateway CD’s purchased from TMI’s store, then I’ll give you a tip.

The counting that Monroe takes you through has a point and it’s not something that you just “listen” to. The point to the counting is to give the listener (you) something to focus upon. Each time Monroe counts up try to “listen for” the next number. Just like you’d sit at attention while trying to listen for a particular sound off in the distance, or waiting for a thunderclap to occur after you’ve seen the lightning. That’s the kind of focus you want to place upon “waiting” for the next number.

The numbers are very arbitrary too. He could have just as easily started listing fruits. The point is that “listening for” focus you want.

Give that a try the next time you listen to the Gateway CD’s.

Three Exercises For Specific Learning Types – Tom Campbell

Starting on page 174 of Tom’s book, MBT… he relates three exercises for learning to meditate.  Each method focuses upon one of our major methods of learning:  Auditory, Visually and by Touch.  He uses those as a means of quieting and focusing the mind away from the physical.

You can read the book and the associated pages here for free: My-Big-Toe
It’s a link that is fully endorsed by Tom himself… so feel free to read the whole thing should you choose to.  Smiley

The auditory exercise is about repeating a mantra.
The visual exercise is about allowing objects to appear before you in the blackness (sound familiar?) or creating a simple “scenario” and playing it out allowing yourself to perceive all the sensory input from it (also sounds familiar, eh?).
The touch exercise is about creating the sense of you touching something, like running your hands over a fur coat.

So yeah… you’re to keep doing the chosen exercise and bringing your attention back to it whenever you notice that it’s wandering.  However he mentions that when the image/sound/scenario begins to slip away (aka your mind begins to wander), but no extraneous thoughts appear, then just let the image/sound/scenario go and drift in the still oneness of your consciousness.  <– That’s the point consciousness state.

Once you’re in that state where you’re experiencing that “drifting oneness of consciousness” you have *ALREADY* phased.  It’s just a matter at that point to place your Intent towards what you want to do, and allow it to happen.

And this part is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE:

Be careful not to try too hard, and do not struggle with high resolution, image quality, or anything else.  Images may be felt as well as seen.  Struggling to make your meditation be how you think it should be is always counterproductive.  No expectations.  No struggle.  No demands.  The point is not to force your will on the process, but to let the process unfold naturally as it captivates your attention.

Xanth’s Phasing Method

I posted this in my last article I wrote where I focused on a couple posts from the Astral Pulse, but I thought that it’d be nice to get it down separately and with a bit more detail.  So, what follows is my current Phasing method which has been giving me a lot of success as of late.

What I’ve been doing lately has been a slight combination of a few methods, rolled up into something that has been really easy for me to do.  Doing this takes me, pretty quickly, through Focus 10 into Focus 12… my sticking point right now is the transition from Focus 12 to Focus 21.

Anyway, let’s get into what I do!
I’ll type up a quick overview, then go through each step in more detail.:

  1. Stretch your eyes out… close them really tightly for a few seconds.  Do this a few times.  Then rotate them around several times, making sure they’re completely stretched out… I’ll give them a good rub too.
  2. Close eyes, fixate upon a spot in the blackness directly in front of you and visualize something at the spot to help hold your focus there, I use a spinning vortex.
  3. Start your relaxation process.
  4. As you’re relaxing, move that spot you’re fixating on slowly upwards as high as you can comfortably go without straining your eyes.
  5. When your eyes have gone as upwards as they’ll go, you’ll hopefully also be fully relaxed at this point, you should be in Focus 10 at this point… to shift to Focus 12, begin the “Noticing” exercise.
  6. Should you begin to see floating, formless shapeless blobs in front where you’re fixated, this signifies you’re now in Focus 12.
  7. Keep “Noticing” the formless shapes floating around and eventually, without trying (just allow this next part to happen), you should find yourself engulfed within the 3D Blackness of Focus 21.

Ok, so let’s drop into more detail!
Lately, I’ve been listening to some hemi-sync MP3’s that I bought off the TMI webstore.  Stuff like “Dreamseed”, “Touching Grace” and “Voyage to the Other Side”.  Actually those are the only three I have, I cycle through them quite often.

The first thing I do is stretch out my eyes… this helps to relax them and allows them to stay closed easier.  I’ll do this by closing them tight for a few seconds, then release.  Do that a few times.  Then rotate your eyes around in whatever direction you wish.  But try to stretch them as far out in each direction as you can.

Now after my eyes are stretched out nicely (they should feel a lot more relaxed at this point), I close my eyes and fixate on a single point directly in front of me.  I visualize a small spinning vortex at that point to draw my gaze into it.  You can use whatever you want.  I use this time to begin to relax my body… I used to have to use a progressive relaxation technique, but lately I’ve been able to bypass that and start moving directly into a fully relaxed state.  So, if you can’t do this, feel free to use whatever method you want to achieve your relaxed state.

Now, throughout this relaxation phase, I’ll really slowly shift that point I’m fixated on upwards in small increments.  This has two effects… first it locks the eyelids shut and secondly, for some reason it assists the action of phasing (perhaps it’s just me, but try it anyway).  I find I have to find a new point to fixate upon which is slightly higher than the last one each time.  Just remember to continue your fixation visualization each time (in my case, the spinning vortex).

Try to coincide your finished relaxed state with your eyes reaching as comfortably high as they’ll go.  At this point, hopefully, you should be in Focus 10.  You’ll know by the greatly reduced bodily sensations and a general sense of relax and calmness about you.  I want to point out here that your body WILL NOT be asleep at this point… and really, it never will.  You’ll simply be disassociating your focus from everything physical.  I can put it this way… at this point, your focus will be roughly only 20% in the physical and 80% within the non-physical at this time.

From here, we’ll start Franks “Noticing” exercise.  You’re going to continue fixating on the point that you’ve been using… and you’re going to just “notice” and passively observe what’s going on in your field of view.  It’ll start with blackness, or you might, right away, start to see abstract shadows and areas within your field of view that will begin to shift and move around… keep “noticing” these things.  The more you “notice” this stuff occurring in front of you, the deeper you’ll shift your focus into it and the more you’ll remove your focus from the physical.  When this happens, you’ll roughly be 10% in the physical and 90% in the non-physical.

Now, there will come a point when you’ll feel a shift… and you might find yourself within a scene or some kind, or floating in what’s best described as a 3D Blackness.  When this happens, try to remain passively observing… you’re now in Focus 21.  Congrats, you’ve now phased your consciousness as close to 100% as you can go.  You still might retain some sensations of the physical, but that’s normal.  🙂

What are Astral Projections?

I’m ending this three-parter with my opinion on what Astral Projections are.

Astral Projections and Lucid Dreams are VERY similar, actually they’re the same experience with one difference:  You.  Sometimes it’s VERY HARD to determine which experience you are in because of it.  The difference is not the environment you’re in because the area of consciousness where the two (including normal dreams) take place is the same.  So, if the area of consciousness that these experiences happen in is the same, then what exactly IS that difference I mentioned?  I mentioned in the What are Lucid Dreams article that LD’s are when you recognize that you’re in the non-physical (dream).  That knowledge is really the ONLY requisite.  You probably won’t have any notion that you actually have a physical body somewhere else that is fast asleep.  Well, an Astral experience is when you recognize that you’re in the non-physical AND you retain all your waking faculties/awareness (or as close to it as possible).

Now, for me… this area you now find yourself in is, in essence, the same place where you dream.  This opens up a world of endless possibilities for you.  You’re limited, LITERALLY, only by your imagination.  If you want to fight demons or dragons?  Go right ahead!  If you want to talk to elven folk or perhaps visit some faeries?  You can do so!  You can also sift through every memory your physical senses have ever recorded… this is where it starts getting really interesting.  So yeah, whatever you want to do/experience, you’re able to do/experience.  This area, I call Focus 2 oC as per Frank Kepple’s model of reality.  It’s your own personal area of consciousness… sometimes referred to as your “imagination” or “subconscious”.

You can, however, use this area as a jumping board to Focus 3 oC (again F. Kepples Model), which is what I refer to as “Collective Consciousness” area.  Focus 3 oC is where you’ll meet other “people” who are either projecting, or even people who have already physically died and have no physical body anymore.  You may also call upon actual guides to come assist you.

To get to Focus 3 oC from your current Focus 2 oC area you need to clear your mind and stop your thoughts/emotions from fueling the Focus 2 scenario around you.  Doing this will cause the Focus 2 environment to fade away and you’ll start to see the Collective Focus 3 oC environment come into view.  From there, do what you want.  However, just remember that to remain in Focus 3 oC you need to always keep that tight grip on your thoughts and emotions, or you’ll start to get Focus 2/3 overlays happening.  Basically, this means that dream imagery will start to creep into your Focus 3 experience… and if you don’t stop it, you’ll be pulled back into Focus 2 oC until you can calm your mind down again.

Dream, Lucid and Astral Awareness… these three states of awareness are very important to understand if you care enough to define your experiences.  There are more than just these three levels though.  Between each state of awareness is a wide range.  Think of it as a spectrum with “Dream Awareness” on one end, “Astral Awareness” at the other end, and “Lucid Awareness” in the middle… your consciousness can be along that spectrum anywhere at any time and you can potentially go through the entire range within a single non-physical experience.

So happy traveling!  Enjoy every second of it!

Phasing – Mental Rundown in Greater Detail

I was reading some of Franks old posts, looking for more information on his “Mental Rundown” method and I came across this post (post #43 on page 3) which gave a much more detailed recount of what a mental rundown is and how to craft your own to suit yourself.

I’ve had a number of PM’s asking similar questions about my comments regarding the mental-rundown given on the monster-thread as being a kind of primer which kick-starts the natural Phasing process.

The questions relate to how you integrate the two and kick-start the process; how can you tell when the process has been kick-started, and what to do then, etc. So I thought I’d post a reply here as it pertains to the thread title.

What is the purpose of creating a mental rundown?

The rundown acts as a kind of mental primer which gets you in the mood and increases your anticipation and expectation levels (very important). The rundown is not what causes you to Phase to the Astral. Phasing is a natural process which comes about under certain mental conditions which I expand on later in this essay. It also gives a person practice in focusing their attention away from the physical body into the expanse of their mind. In other words, what you are basically doing is imagining you are Phasing to the Astral.

What shall I try, and for how long, and how often?

The mental-rundown exercise should be performed preferably at least once each day at around the same time. It does not really matter what kind of mental rundown you use. Simply do whatever feels right for you. Someone posted fairly recently they tried to work out their own but gave up and used the example I gave with a few changes here and there. Others have created their own from scratch. Like I say, it truly does not matter.

You don’t actually need the Wave-1 CD either – you can formulate a mental rundown to some relaxing music, or create something using Brainwave Generator, or use whatever suits you. All I would advise is for you to create something of around 30 to 45 minutes duration which you are basically happy with then stick with it. In other words, don’t make it too short, or too long, and no chopping and changing.

Okay, I’ve formulated a mental rundown so what next?

Once you have learnt your mental rundown you are ready to use it as a mental primer. First you go through it. Then simply remove the earphones (if you are using a CD or tape) and try Phasing for real.

In cases where you perhaps haven’t got all that much time to spare, what I would suggest is you create a short version of your rundown. Say, around half the duration. Then, every other time, listen to the short version after which you try for real. Once you get more competent then perhaps switch to the short version each morning. Or maybe try a regime of rundown one day and try it for real with no rundown the next. Again, it truly is a case of whatever suits each individual.

What do you mean by “Phasing for real?”

When you come to Phase for-real, you switch from perceiving metal imagery you are imagining as part of your rundown, i.e. where you are imagining you are Phasing to the Astral, to perceiving images that are being created as part of the normal Phasing process. In other words, you are not imagining anything, you are doing it!

After going through my rundown I try it for real and nothing happens, why?

Chances are, your physical-body is distracting you by capturing your attention.

One of the benefits of formulating a mental-rundown to some kind of audio recording, is it takes your mind off both the physical body and the Physical environment. Plus, you know exactly what imagery to perceive as it is you who is imagining it. Without these two mental props it can feel like you are right back at square one.

Main things you should avoid when trying for-real

Thinking about day-to-day Physical-realm matters.

Any kind of thinking about anything to do with the Physical-realm tends to put a *big* spoke in the works. In other words, you can’t really hope to kick-start the Phasing process if one part of you is thinking of your dental appointment next day; or whether you’ll get that pay-rise you requested; or your birthday next week, etc., etc.

To deal with this what you should do, right at the start of your practice, is imagine a large box and place all your Physical-realm concerns in that box. Then lock it securely and walk away. When you finish your mental-rundown, unlock the box and take them out again. This method is suggested by Monroe on the Wave-1 CD. It may sound a bit weird but it works!

Any kind of internally verbalised thought (even if it is to do with Phasing!).

What I mean here, is you need to switch your inner-thinking so it is working exclusively in a visual way. Speed-reading aside, when we read to ourselves we have this inner voice which reads the words. This voice is probably what you are listening to within your own mind, right now as you read this.

Also, when we think to ourselves in an everyday sense we tend to use this same inner voice. Like, you may think, “Hmm, I’ve got 30 minutes before I meet my next client, so I’ll go and fill the car with petrol and pick-up something to eat on the way back.” Thinking that way uses that same inner-voice… which must be silent.

Then you quietly and passively observe what happens next.

When I say “quietly” I mean observe without having that inner-voice comment on anything you may perceive.

When I say “passively” I mean avoid reacting in any way to anything you may perceive.

Both the above I realise are a tad tricky to do. The good news is it all comes good with practice. At first, what will probably happen is you might perceive some kind of vague, fleeting image. At which point your inner-voice will chirp-up saying, “What was that?” or it might make some other comment. Perhaps it may comment in recognition that you are making progress.

Problem is, as it does so, it tends to send you a step back each time. Unfortunately, you can get caught in a self-defeating loop: where you take one step forward, your inner voice recognises you just took a step forward and comments to that effect, and the act of it doing so takes you one step back to where you were before.

Or you might perceive something and react to it. You might get startled, or fearful, or such like. What used to happen to me all the time (which was most frustrating) is I’d perceive some image in mind and, the moment I did so, my physical eyes would try and snatch a glance at whatever it was. This, of course, zapped me right back to C1 each time.

Okay, so you are in a state where you are quietly and passively observing. Don’t worry if nothing comes about. Simply curtail the session after your normal time and try again next session. Hopefully, what will soon happen is you will begin to perceive what may seem like fairly weird, totally abstract mental imagery.

Say you perceive some fleeting kind of something or other. Chances are you’ll wonder if what you think you may have perceived is what you should be starting to perceive. Then you’ll realise your inner voice has just made a comment. But the realisation of that was yet another comment. By which time you’ll probably be right back where you started.

The key is to simply roll along with this mental imagery, without your inner voice commenting on it, or having your physical body reacting to it. This is the beginning of Phasing. You don’t need any particular “technique” in order to project. You just need to set it going. Once the process gets underway everything happens more or less automatically.

If you can just quietly and passively observe the process you will end up within the Astral as awake and alert as you normally are while within the Physical.

Yours,
Frank

Actually, that ENTIRE thread has a bunch of gems. I suggest reading all 6 pages of it. There are a few posts there by Bruce Moen as well.

🙂

Bedeekin’s Method

On the Astral Viewers, they have a really good administrator there by the name of Bedeekin.  This gentleman has, I believe, 25+ years of astral projection experience under his belt and has been assisting members of their community for a few years.

With his permission, I’m posting the method that he uses and has used with great success for many years now.

I believe you’ll have to register to read the method on the site, but I’m going to quote it here as well. I do suggest visiting the Astral Viewer forums too, as they have a wonderful array of forums and a great cast of members. 🙂

Bedeekin’s Method:

Failure to actually have an Out-Of-Body Experience seems to be the most common ‘experience’ among the massive group of people who wish to have one. This frustrates me as much as those who fail because of the wall I run into when trying to teach them. There are many reasons why people are unsuccessful at achieving the state.

One main reason is down to the ‘wealth’ of information one can pick up online and the paragraphs of most OOBE related books in general. I see many posts on sites that say something along the lines of ‘I’ve been researching Astral Projection for ages and now I’m ready to learn how to have one’. This is like saying ‘I have been researching UFOs for ages and now I’m ready to see one’. While they had their best interest at heart because to be fair it is a great idea to research a subject before heading into it head first, this isn’t sky diving. Also, if you wish to research sky diving because you have an interest in doing it, their aren’t many sources available that would profess to know about it and print blatant fabricated facts. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for OOBEs.

A common mistake that people make is a preconceived idea of what OOBES are because of the evident rubbish that is widely available. For instance they may have read that when they enter the Vibrational State (VS) they must call upon their spirit guide to help pull them out. This may fit in with their spiritual beliefs and so if they reach the VS and call upon this mythical guide he/she/it may not appear… which will then have a negative effect on their sense of success. I myself have never seen a spirit guide although I’m sure I could create one if I wished… emphasis on ‘create’.

What I am saying is that to enter the subject with a quasi-religious belief system will only get in the way of success because it just isn’t so.

The majority of the ‘wealth’ of knowledge that one may have acquired by trawling through the pile of information at hand, is as useful as a chocolate fireguard and should be cast off so that one can start afresh and learn from a first hand perspective. I had the advantage of self learning without any outside influences such as the internet and only a few books at hand that I mainly used as a checklist of affirmation that I wasn’t weird.  

Unlearn what you think you have learned.

So let’s get rid of a few misconceptions about OOBEs that often arise through New-age belief-centricity and blatant un-truths that get thrown about due to the writings of popular so-called AP gurus.

*you need to learn how to achieve transcendental meditation and control the energy flow of your chakras.

Not true. You just need to keep your mind passively active while your body relaxes into the sleep slate or be able to slip from a lucid dream into the trance state. Chakras are an eastern philosophy that were origionally intended for use during wake induced meditation and have nothing to do with OOBEs until they were pounced upon by the New-age movement during the early part of the 1900s by the Theosophical Society and integrated into ‘astral projection’. Involving chakra opening, long meditation practice is basically a waste of precious time. If you feel better practicing these semi-religious activities in order to success then go for it… the same can be said for taking your lucky teddy-bear into exams; if it makes you feel that it will make you perform better there’s no harm… but in the grand scheme of things there’s also no point.

*you need to learn protection so that you’re not attacked by lower astral negative entities and demons.

Rubbish. There are no lower entities or monsters waiting to attack you while you ‘leave your body’. I can attest to this because I’ve had over three thousand OOBEs over a 25 year period and I have never been attacked or harmed or indeed possessed by anyone or anything. When you enter the State you are merely consciously aware of an otherwise unconscious process you have gone through every night you’ve entered sleep since you were born.

*Your bed or body has to be facing a certain way/position.

No harm can be done by lying a certain way… if you think it will work then do it. Sleep on the floor… in the kitchen… on the sofa… with a pillow or without… on your back, front, side or head… if it’s the way you normally sleep… do it.

*You need to breath a certain way… in through the nose out through the mouth etc.

Not so… just breath as you normally do. Your breathing self regulates once you enter the state. Don’t pay any attention to your breathing.
I’m sure I’ll come across other misconceptions as I’m writing… I’ll bullet-point important things like that along the way.

There are three main ways to enter the ‘State’; before sleep, during REM dream sleep and upon waking from a nights sleep.

*Before sleep state induction. this requires a set up ‘pre-sleep’ that primes you biochemically and physiologically to enter the state.

*REM dream sleep induction requires a grasp of Lucid Dreaming and is a bit hit and miss for the newbie.

*Waking state induction requires the ability to recognize that you have woken up and at that very moment remembering not to move, roll over, scratch an itch or open the eyes… or even to start listening to the noises around you. It takes a bit of practice but it is a very successful way of entering the State.

There are two very different types of OOBE.

* Astral Projection. This is a whole body projection into an environment that is commonly referred to in new-age writings as the Astral Realm. A strange word to use because it conjures up pre-conceived images of a starry mythical realm filled with beings of astral energy etc. However upon entering it, it’s soon realized that it is more familiar as the landscape or world you encounter when dreaming. But you have entered through the back door, and can objectively investigate and explore it without suffering from the sub-conscious imagery you are normally blinded by or the story-line you are normally wrapped up in when dreaming. Within the ‘Astral’… not even the sky is the limit. This environment, however real it seems may be considered a virtual world that is created by the projector or an actual authentic realm. Upon experiencing it, believing that it is real or fabricated matters not because it is indistinguishable from reality… even surpassing normal reality in quality and ‘reality’.

* 1st Phase OOBE. This is seemingly a projection into this reality, often referred to in new-age philosophy as an ‘ethereal projection’. It is much more difficult to achieve because of the way it is entered; during Sleep Paralysis. Apart from the fact that it takes place in this time and reality, the main difference from AP is that instead of experiencing it in body, you are seemingly a free floating point of conscious awareness. This phase can lead on to 2nd Phase which is again experienced as a free floating consciousness but is not in this reality.

Both of these different OOBEs are experienced by entering the state in varied degrees of deepness.

PRE-SLEEP INDUCTION

This method is the main one I personally use. I have used the other methods but this one when done correctly does make for a strong experience. It’s also the one I predominantly teach or rather explain. The main key to achieving it is the pre-sleep or nap. I previously posted this method but soon realized that it was too specific about hours spent in the nap and between the nap and going to to bed to enter the state. And it needed more explanation and a detailed phenomenological breakdown.

The basic goal is to prime yourself by having an hour or an hour and a half of non-dream sleep in the evening. This nap can be taken at any time after 6pm providing that you are actually tired and that you attempt to induce the state within four hours at the most after waking.

For example:

if you decide to take an hour nap at 8pm and wake at 9pm make sure you attempt induction after 10 and before 1am.
however, if you wait till after midnight then it is possible to have an hour nap, wake up for about half an hour then attempt induction. I have used this many times when it’s been impossible to get a good nap during the evening.

All you have to remember is that you nap solidly and do not under any circumstances drift back off to sleep upon waking from it, otherwise you will dream and ruin your chance for state inducement.

There is a certain way of feeling between the nap and state inducement that indicates that you are primed… the physical symptoms that indicate that you are primed for the state are among other things; itchy eyed, borderline tired and alert, slightly hypertensive or having the mild sensation that you may be coming down with a cold and a slow steady heart rate.

Two things to note:

* the nap or a non-dream pre-sleep is very important and could be considered the ‘key’ to the whole experience.

* Do not force the nap. You need to be sleepy for it to work.

The only real way to make sure you are correctly primed is to induce the state and there are many effective ways to do this.

First of all you have to lay down on a comfortable surface; a bed, a couch, a hammock, the back seat of a car, whatever you find comfortable. Any position will work. I personally lie on my back or side. It doesn’t matter whether you use a pillow or not. You can have bed covers on or not. Just make sure you are comfortable.
Close your eyes… this sounds obvious, but some people actually ask ‘do I close my eyes?’
Let your mind do its own thing for a couple of minutes… then try to quieten your mind. Don’t worry too much about this. The main thing is to lie as still as possible.

A couple of things you should not pay any attention to because they are simply a waste of thought;

*any limb or body twitches

*the phosphorescent light show your eyes give off such as blobs of light etc

*subtle localized buzzing in your muscles or fingertips

*breathing

*the position of your head

All you need to think about at this point is to become calm and stay passively conscious. To let your body relax. This should take no more than 5 to 10 minutes.

It’s at this point that you can use different methods to bring on the state.

This is the one method I have used for 25 years and really can’t comment on others. I’m sure you may have one that you usually try inducing with… but for the sake of this guide try this one.

When you feel relaxed start to think of a sound, word, song or name… think of it as though you are expecting to here it. Roll it around in your head. Imagine it in your head clearly. Alternatively you can simply imagine a voice rambling, or talking, as though talking to you. This imagined sound will start to take on a life of it’s own and may amplify.

If you are trying to do this for more than ten minutes and nothing interesting happens, you probably aren’t primed for the occasion. I only say this because the state shift is quite rapid if the pre-sleep was done correctly. I will mention that ten minutes of just simply lying still can feel like a long time.

If you are primed, when the sound increases you may feel a rush of alert relaxation washing over your body coupled with a distinct shift in conscious awareness. It’s a very difficult feeling to describe other than it is a ‘switch over’. You should feel like your awareness has took on a new spatiality. It almost feels like your head clears, like a bunged up nostril does when it clears after being blocked during a cold. You should also instinctively feel that you are in the state either because you have felt this before or that it is something new. At this point you must try to stay passive, calm and try to not get excited. A sound like you have your ears to a conch-shell should be heard. you may experience little intermittent bursts of rumbling – like the rumbling you hear when you strain your inner ear muscles when you yawn. Your limbs will feel like they have been anesthetized by Nitrous Oxide…

Here’s a quick checklist of symptoms indicating successful entrance into the state:

* a sudden rush of relaxation

* a very distinct flip/shift/switch to a spatially different state of conscious awareness.

* instinctive knowing that you are in the state.

* auditory sensations like hissing, the sound of listening to a conch-shell and intermittent bursts of rumbling.

* a tingling numbed anesthetized sensation, most noticeably in the limbs.

At the point you realize you are in the state it is time to act quickly to enter an Astral Projection. Waiting for, or encouraging full vibrational sleep paralysis will make it possible to enter a 1st phase. For now we will walk before we can run and learn how to Astrally Project.

Astral Projection

Upon instant identification of entry into the state it is necessary to employ a swift separation technique to avoid becoming embroiled in full sleep paralysis. There are a multitude of separation methods such as, rolling out, dropping through the body, imagining a magnet pulling you out, imagining you are a balloon, picking a point in space to reach, imagining being propelled out like a rocket… and many many more. The one that is most effective for the purposes of this guide and because it is my most used method so far, is the ‘climbing the rope’ technique.

You may want to place a pillow or cushion across your lower abdomen or lay with your hands on top of the bed covers before you start to relax. This ensures a soft surface so as to ease the transition of losing sensation in them. It’s up to you.

Once you feel that you have shifted into the state you will have lost the tactile sensation of your hands but still retained the sensation of their relative position.. i.e. you will still know and feel that you have hands.

What you need to do at this point is to actually reach up and grab a rope. Don’t visualize the rope… expect it to be there. Don’t worry about how it should feel just do it. I can’t stress this enough.

* Do not ‘imagine’ yourself doing it.

* Just do it.

* Don’t think about it.

* just do it.

* The movement of your phantom limbs is instinctual.

There will be a rope there… not necessarily an actual rope, made of fibers or hemp… it is simply a leverage point for you to grasp. Give no time to thinking about the rope, what it is, why it is there, how it is there or how you should move to grab it.

JUST GRAB THE ROPE BECAUSE IT IS THERE ABOVE YOU READY TO BE GRABBED.

The instant you have it pull yourself up… hand over hand… like you would if you were pulling yourself up a rope. Do it with deliberation… do it aggressively, steadily and fast. Pull yourself up the rope. Don’t even consider that you may be pulling yourself out of your physical or because of how real it seems that you must be doing it physically. Don’t pay attention to any of the sensations. If there is resistance, put some struggle into it… pull hard. Eventually and quickly you should suddenly be ‘Free’.

Failure usually takes place because of thinking too much or over analyzing what is happening. Also paying too much heed to sensations leads to considerable failure to stay in the state and out of body. These analytical thoughts should be reserved for after the experience and marked down in your journal. When you are in the state everything should be done on impulse and with deliberate action.

failure to stay within the state will transpire if:

* Too much thought is given trying to visualize the rope or analyzing what is happening.

* Thinking about how the sensations feel.

* pausing or remaining still too long – this can be as less as 5 seconds.

* Believing that this can’t be happening or the disbelief that the rope is there.

* Merely imagining movement.

Success at staying within the state will transpire if:

* you instantly acknowledge that the rope is there.

* you get on with it.

* You keep moving.

* You take it for granted that you are doing it.

Staying still and waiting for something to happen after the state shift, is the most common mistake beginners make; to no fault of their own. It is after all an amazing experience that feels more real than reality yet something they may never have experienced before. The secret is to be actively engaged yet flippant and passive throughout the experience. You may say that’s two opposites, but keep in mind that you do this when playing a video game or when engaged in sport…. you don’t think about what you are doing but you are totally absorbed in the activity. This is part of the mindset of the state.
I chose the ‘climbing the rope’ technique because it consists of one very important thing… that of ‘action’ and vigorous ‘movement’, probably the most important aspect of staying within the state and Out of Body. Constant movement and observation is the key to ‘anchoring’ yourself in the ‘Astral’… any extended lapse in movement or doubt – which normally takes the form of thoughts of your actual physical body – will cause re-physicality and an end to the experience. You can however ‘rescue’ the experience by instantly realizing you are returning to the physical by anchoring yourself in the out of body state.

Anchoring yourself in the ‘Astral’ body and Environment.

Once you are out what now? If you think this for too long while staying still you will phase back into your physical. So, You literally have to anchor yourself in the experience. The main objective of anchoring is to keep you immersed in the experience by disassociating your conscious perception from your physical perception.
The first thing you will most probably experience is blindness. So you can kill two birds with one stone by rubbing your hands together in front of your face and blowing on them… the tactile sensation of doing this will absolutely astound you and by concentrating on feeling and seeing, your hands will start to develop in your field of vision – very much like a polaroid picture appears. Look at your hands… the creases the folds of skin, your fingernails. The more you engross yourself in the OOBE the more you will see and feel. Reach out and feel for a floor, a wall… furniture. Keep on the move, constantly looking, moving, taking in the richness and amazing detail of the World around you. Try to keep your eyes on nearby objects… if you look too far into the distance you may end up there in an instant. You must keep active and engaged to root yourself. The more you anchor yourself the more vivid the world will be around you
You can use the hand rubbing technique as a safety net at any point you feel yourself return to your physical.

Do’s

Be blatant and have intent

touch your surroundings

touch yourself, like your hands, your face etc

investigate everything

explore

Don’ts

Stay still

worry

doubt

think of your physical body

panic if you think you are losing clarity

Remember – thought and intent controls environment and actions.

I’ll be honest in that I haven’t actually found the time to try this method out personally, however, it has helped LOTS of people. I believe that the constant stream of success stories posted on their forum is proof enough.
I fully intend to give this method the attention that it deserves.

Phasing Method – Mental Rundowns

The “Mental Rundown” is the method that I like to use to do my Phasing attempts with.

This post by Frank really puts it all into perspective:

Jeff:

In addition to what the Major has said, you need to be a little bit careful that you do not begin merely entering into a kind of creative visualisation action. This, in Phasing Model terms, would be an F1/F2 overlay.

For example, I have an extremely vivid imagination. I can sit here now and imagine all manner of scenes “in my head” so to speak. But this is not making what I call “the switch”, which is the action of transitioning your focus of mental attention out of Focus 1 and into Focus 2 of consciousness.

Your imagination faculty is situated in Focus 2 of consciousness. This is the area of consciousness where most people dream and have their basic “astral projection” style experiences, lucid dream experiences, etc. Focus 2 of consciousness is also the region where people meet all their devils and demons, and whatever else besides.

Now, knowing that your imagination is situated in Focus 2 of consciousness, what we do is create a little mental rundown that engages our senses within the rundown to the extent where it captures our focus of attention. As it captures our focus of attention we make “the switch” and kind of, go to “meet” our imagination.

So the idea is not to just simply remain in the physical creating all manner of pretty pictures in our imagination. What we want to do is to actually “step into” our imagination. Not just lie back and view it as if from a distance.

Generally, if a person is losing concentration in their rundown then they need to make the rundown more engaging, more captivating. I mean, provided your physical body is fairly relaxed. You could make your rundown as captivating as you like, but if you were riding pillion on a motorbike then not much is going to happen in the way of making a transition. 🙂

That is why I tend to practice this only when my physical body is fairly relaxed anyway. After about 6 or 7 hours of sleep is my most common time and often I do it now about 2 hours before I would normally want to sleep.

If I want to be active, physically, then I get restless and give up. I can’t be bothered doing it, I’ll have a list of things to do and a full day and I want to get active and get on with it. So under those circumstances I would find it next to impossible because I simply want to be physically focused. But later on, when I’ve done all I can for the day, then that’s the time to lie back, relax, and take a trip over to the other place and see what’s what.

Yours,
Frank

So yeah, basically when you’re doing your rundown and you find that the scene is now all around you, then you’ve stepped into it. At that point, you’re IN Focus 2 oC.
This particular method is also great if you’re a big day dreamer. If you’ve ever been sitting there thinking about something and you become so focused on it that for a split second you find yourself IN whatever it is you’re day dreaming, then you’ll probably want to focus on this method.

Goodluck!

What is Phasing and “Noticing”

Before I get into methods that we use to Phase, I think it’s important to know what it is first.
This post, made by Frank, is a perfect description of what Phasing is:

Phasing describes a controlled process where you phase out of the mode of being open to the Physical world (or C1 consciousness as it’s generally termed) and allow your sense of conscious awareness to become open to other realms of reality. There are two basic schools of thought on this, the latest is the Moen-school, and I believe the idea was first touted by Monroe.

There is a technique which people call “WILDs” (Wake Induced Lucid Dreams).  These are, in effect, Phasing.  Anytime you switch your Focus of Awareness from one Focus to another Focus while remaining consciously awake and aware, that is Phasing.  In essence, it’s falling asleep into the non-physical and remaining consciously aware.  Through Phasing, you go to the same places as you would through more traditional OBE methods and you can do all the same things.

“Noticing” is a name given to a basic Phasing Exercise.  You can find the details in the Astral Pulses’ Frank Kepple Phasing Resource, found here.  It’s got lots of solid information written by Frank Kepple and compiled by one of the moderators, Gandalf, after Frank’s disappearance.

Noticing what?

Well, nothing at first, there’s not much to see really but blackness. But then, after a short while, I may see that perhaps one part of the blackness is not quite so black. Perhaps there was just a brief flash of something, then maybe a sensation of a movement somewhere else. Maybe I just heard someone call my name. Hmm, that’s interesting, I might think, I wonder where that came from. But I don’t get too curious I just keep noticing. I might see swirling areas of not quite so black as the rest. I might see flashes of this and that. As I am offering myself these images, my attention is steadily becoming more fixated within.

As my attention becomes fixated within, from the act of noticing, at this stage I am not aware of my physical body. Part of my awareness realises that somewhere in the background is a physical body, in bed, etc. but I have phased away from it. Before, the forefront of my awareness was my physical and 180 degrees turned around from that, in the background of my awareness, was the non-physical. But now there has been a “phase shift” i.e. a turning through 180 degrees. Now, my previous foreground (physical) is my background, and my previous background (non-physical) is my foreground.

Reading this particular link, The Phasing Resource, is what allowed me to progress further than I ever had during the previous years.
I hope it does the same for you.  🙂

My Most Recent Lucid Dream Conversion Experience

I’m hoping that talking about this will assist me in experiencing more Lucid Dreams… because lately I’ve been in quite the dry-spell.  I’ve been having Lucid Dreams for as long as I can remember.  I usually have a lucid dream, at least once every 1 – 2 weeks… but as I type this, my dry-spell has lasted the last 5 – 6 weeks now.  I’m going to relay to you the last Lucid Dream experience that I had.

Prior to being lucid, I simply remember flying around, but when lucidity hit me, I found myself hovering roughly 50 feet above my old high school.  I always find it fascinating that it didn’t hit me before hand… I mean, c’mon… flying… and it doesn’t set off triggers.  I don’t know WHY I “all of a sudden” became lucid.

Anyways, I was now lucid, so I focused on a spot on the ground below me and went into my usual questioning mode to bring forth my full conscious awareness.  Easy enough.  I remember having a bit of fun with the people staring up at me and I decided to dive bomb them a bit, because, well… it’s fun to fly!

Very shortly after that, I wanted to see if I could shift into Focus 1 oC… and I always wanted to visit England, so I visualized a friend of mine who lives there whom I wanted to see.  I began visualizing… then my vision went black… I remember feeling a “shift”… but then I found myself waking up in my bed.

The important part here was that I DEFINITELY felt the shift.  I was well on my way to where ever it was my subconscious intentions were taking me, but I ended up losing it and having my Protective Self wake me up due to, what I believe, was an unknown in regards to how the “shift” felt to me.

So anyways, that was my last projection… a short while ago.  I’m still trying and waiting patiently for another Lucid Dream.   In the meantime, I’m working on Phasing.

How I Convert a Lucid Dream into an Astral Projection

I’ll explain here how I go about converting my Lucid Dreams into full Astral Projections.

How you become Lucid to begin with is outside the scope of this entry and I’ll provide that information later.  So, your first step, obviously, is to become Lucid within your dream.  This means that you have the basic knowledge, during the dream, that you are indeed dreaming.  You know that the environment you’re in now is not part of the physical world, and that your physical body is actually in your bed, sleeping.

The next step is to bring forth your full waking conscious awareness.  There are a few methods for doing this, but I’ll just mention the one that I use and know is doable.  First, stop what you’re doing and focus on one aspect of the environment or yourself (a flower pot, your hands, etc… ) then begin the process of questioning yourself.

I have four main questions I like to use.

“Where am I?”
“Where am I going?”
“How did I get here?”
and “What am I doing?”

This act of questioning yourself and your surroundings brings forth your critical faculties and opens your full waking conscious awareness.

Congratulations, you’re now Astral Projecting.  🙂

My Current Methods

Right now, I have very little time during the day to get any good Phasing practice in.
So most of my current practice surrounds two exercises.

First one occurs as I’m waking up in the morning.  My alarm clock has 9 minute snooze alarms, I hit the snooze button and it gives me 9 more minutes of sleep.  Well, I try to use those 9 minutes constructively!  I’ll try to jump into what most people call a WILD (wake induced lucid dream), but I call it Phasing.  If you’re curious by what I mean when I say Phasing I suggest this article:  http://www.astralpulse.com/frankkepple.html

The benefit of using the snooze alarm is that if I do manage to get into the Lucid state, it’ll be short, as I only have nine minutes until the alarm goes off.  This means that I’ll have a much better chance at remembering all of my experiences upon waking… and there’s the side benefit that if I fall into an unconscious dream, then I know that in nine minutes my alarm will go off and I’ll be able to try again without wasting the rest of the morning.

I generally have 4 snooze periods in the morning before I officially get up for the day.

The other exercise I do, I generally get a chance to do at lunchtime while sitting at my desk.  I’ll sit, with my back straight, my feet flat on the floor and my arms on my desk, generally palms down… not that the position matters in even the slightest.  Anyways… this is an exercise in recognizing when and how I fall asleep.

I sit there meditating until I start to fall forward a bit, this signifies that I’m falling asleep.  Obviously, as my head falls forward, I catch it and this wakes me up.  I keep doing this until I can start to feel the precise moment I begin to fall asleep and I try to passively observe it.  That’s it really.  Just an exercise to passively watch how and when I fall asleep.  This is useful for learning how to skirt that fine line between being awake and being asleep.

So that’s it.  Those are the two exercises that I have the time to do mostly.  I hope they help you some.