[VemyhemiHef]

a) As ridiculous as it may sound, I have to ask: When we are relaxing in an effort to achieve a projection, should we have our eyelids shut or open? Shut, because you want to redirect your attention away from the physical.
From what I have read around here I should imply shut. But at those old days I was reading about some directions, which among other things they were saying something like: "visualize your astral body ... ...it doesn't matter that it's in your imagination, it's there! .... concentrate .. " Some old techniques (such as the 'body of light', a classic) have you visualize a body like an object and then move you to the object. I personally don't teach it this way, because I think it's a waste of energy and it sometimes defeats the purpose of projection, which is to move your awareness away from your body. So I use 'consciousness-centric' exit techniques that place your point of view where you are and then move your point of view away- your projected body will naturally move with you, there's no need to 'artificially' make it.
Even if you did do a visualization (that is, 'see' something in your imagination) you still are not using your eyes- and whatever you 'see' in meditation doesn't involve the eyes either. Images seen in meditation are usually formed by the pineal gland, and happen at the level of the optical nerve, if even, probably in the imaging center of the brain.

I can't get to let myself TOO relaxed! I always have a feeling I want to go to pee . Well, yeah. Sometimes I even go two or three times to the bathroom while trying to relax. That could clearly come from psychological reasons, but it's there, hindering me from completely relaxing. Thats why whenever I achieved something was during sleep. My body takes care all this stuff automatically . And it's what we call in my language a "foul cycle" because this blows off my attempt to relax and then I get anxious about this happening again and being anxious might tend to incur it and so on... I always end up thinking how do you ppl get to relax anyway! I'm a 53 year old woman who has given birth and I have to pee in the middle of the night (I know, TMI) but usually every three to four hours is ok. So how long are you trying to stay relaxed?


PS Lucid dreaming: At that time I was wondering whether I was not lucid dreaming but APing or if I could transform my LD to AP by traveling from where I was to my bed and watch my self sleeping. Of course, I never even went close to succeed, not even that once I ordered a person in my dream to take me, on his bike, to my home and then, while driving, the scene changed to a completely different city! As if my subconsciousness was saying "nah-ah-ah!" Ok, let me clarify terms:
OBE- the experience of leaving your body and usually seeing your room- aka etheric projection or RTZ OBE. An OBE is a type of projection of your awareness.
Astral Projection- A projection into the astral plane. Dreams, both lucid and non, are astral projections, but into your subconscious 'field'. An 'official' astral projection (or a lucid projection into the astral plane) is a projection, that can happen from the waking state (like a WILD) or from the dreamstate, into the astral plane.
The projection to the astral can begin as an OBE, but will usually involve movement into an area of consciousness which is not 'very' realistic, as in, dreamlike, but with archetypal characteristics, because it takes place in a collective area *ie. the astral plane, etc*. To convert a LD into an astral projection you simply consciously decide to go out of your subjective area, into a collective area. Some movement has to happen (possibly symbolic) such as flying away, usually up and fast, and a shift may be felt, and you will find yourself somewhere 'else', usually populated. There still will be some (or a lot of) subjective content, depending on what brainstate you're at, but you will also see and possibly communicate with 'others', that is, other projectors, astral dwellers, and possibly deceased people also.
*whew*.