[Anaedilla]

Hey it's me, Guitarmaster72, and i'm back. after like a full year of not doing anything in this place, i kinda decided to come back. i'm not sure how many of you remember me, but i made some OBE attempts and posted my progress here and posted in other places asking questions and trying to experience this interesting world of dreams and OBE's. I might get involved in other areas and maybe even start a dream journal in the dream section, cuz many have told me the best way to have more dreams and lucid dreams is to start a journal.

Anyways, i haven't made a whole lot more progress in OBE's... or at least i don't believe i have. New things i've been experiencing (since last time anyways) is whenever i would attempt is it feels like i can open my eyes, and it only kind of feels like i can astral project... i can still never see anything, and whenever i do, i'm certain it's just a dream and not an OBE. And i believe the feeling of me astral projecting is only my imagination, cuz whenever i try to move around i can feel my physical body twitching as well. No significant progress has been made, but i hope to get a full blown vivid OBE in the near future after having been trying this for a loooong time now.

I'll continue to post progress with my OBE attempts (that is if anyone really cares lol), and questions i have about anything and really try hard this time around to make some progress with my dreaming and OBE's.

[dhYTvlAv]

Definitely start your journal because it'll keep your focus on your intention. Also, continue reading other peoples' OBES and lucid dreams. This magazine and its back issues will keep you busy http://www.dreaminglucid.com/ and there's plenty of inspiration here: http://www.kurtleland.com/astral-projection-log

You'll probably even get some insights on your dreams from forum members too.

[Eunatis]

I'm just gonna use this thread as my OBE journal, but i will make a seperate dream journal in the dreaming section.

So i tried to project today because i woke up earlier than i usually do. i was really getting into it and after awhile i started to have less and less feeling of my body. It's actually pretty easy for me to get to the point where it feels like i am opening my eyes without actually opening my eyes. i actually ended up feeling some heavy vibrations i normally dont get, which (i think?) is a good sign. After a long while of just lying still, I felt the strongest urge to turnover to lie on my side but i couldn't. when I was finally able to awaken, i had a quite forceful and strong jerk upon awakening that i couldn't stop shaking from for a few seconds... after this i went back to sleep and i think had a couple dreams afterward that i'm upset that i can't remember (i think one of em was based off of the video game Zelda)... does this happen to anyone else? I really still could not exit though... I felt as though i could and the conditions seemed right, but i just wasn't able to. what are good ways to exit? and how come the times that i feel as though i DO exit, i can never see anything, and it's never anything close to vivid?

[tinetttstation]

So i tried to project today because i woke up earlier than i usually do.

That's a good time to try because your body is already relaxed and the REM dreaming periods get longer towards the morning.

i was really getting into it and after awhile i started to have less and less feeling of my body. You're doing very well.

It's actually pretty easy for me to get to the point where it feels like i am opening my eyes without actually opening my eyes. i actually ended up feeling some heavy vibrations i normally dont get, which (i think?) is a good sign .

It can be but you can also project without vibrations and many people believe waiting for them to subside is a better way to project. I can't speak too much for the truth of this since I only had strong vibrations in my earliest attempted projections. After that, I just floated out and I can't actually say how I knew I was ready.

After a long while of just lying still, I felt the strongest urge to turnover to lie on my side but i couldn't. Great then - your body was asleep an in sleep paralysis.

when I was finally able to awaken, i had a quite forceful and strong jerk upon awakening that i couldn't stop shaking from for a few seconds... after this i went back to sleep and i think had a couple dreams afterward that i'm upset that i can't remember (i think one of em was based off of the video game Zelda)... does this happen to anyone else? The jerk? That could have been a reintegration of your astral body with a failure to "download" your experience. It happens fairly commonly.

I really still could not exit though... I felt as though i could and the conditions seemed right, but i just wasn't able to. what are good ways to exit? and how come the times that i feel as though i DO exit, i can never see anything, and it's never anything close to vivid? There are numerous exit techniques but the simplest seems to be just rolling out. Floating upwards, sinking downwards or rope are very popular techniques. You could try exteriorisation, that is, where you imagine yourself some place you know well with some distance from your sleeping body - maybe in a room at the other side of your house or outside your house in a nearby park. Some people like this method because it gets them out of range of the body's pull and usually they are more effective in their etheric or astral "vehicle" with full vision and better mobility.

[choollaBard]

today when i tried to project, it wasn't successful but something odd happened that i'm not sure i've ever experienced before. when i woke up (or rather broke out of sleep paralysis), i felt super heavy and could barely sit up or open my eyes... it was impossible for me to stay awake at all... but then when i would lay down again, i didn't even feel tired or sleepy. I put my head back on my pillow thinking "wow, so weird... I'm so awake, and i'm not even tired, yet i can't wake up" I was able to break through my sleep paralysis, but i guess even when you do this it has some lingering effects.

I know i mentioned this in my dream journal but i figured i'd put it here as well, y'know, why not eh?

[Inenuedbabnor]

I keep having that problem over and over, where whenever i attempt, i either can't exit, or i don't feel like I can... so then when I decide to give up and just roll over to go to sleep, I wake up with that really forceful jerking motion that i described earlier. This jerking motion isn't very painful, but it's just weird is all, and I wake up breathing heavily as if I've just went jogging. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it? I feel like there's something I'm missing here...

[sueplydup]

If you believe that you are done trying (that is, that for some reason you've lost the 'window of opportunity' do not roll over and go to sleep. Instead get up from bed and walk around, get some water, go to the bathroom, and then go back to sleep.
The jerking motion sounds like a hypnic jerk, which can be explained as abrupt reentry- that is, you did project a little and then 'fell' back in your body.
The reason I say don't roll over is because if you have projected and didn't notice, you will float away instead of getting up and walking with your physical body.

[BadbarmrapBef]

I think i may need a refresher on some exit techniques... cuz i think whenever I try to exit, I end up moving my physical self, or twitching slightly. Is it bad if your physical self is moving at all? If so, how do I exit without moving something physical? I need some help with exit techniques :/. It's hard to explain what I feel when I give it a go... if I finally succeed one time, how hard would it be to tell if I've really done it? I feel as if maybe I've done it before, but I'm not so sure...

[Rqvtwlfk]

I would say that if you are moving when trying an exit technique you are either not deeply enough in the trance (to where you should be almost paralyzed, unless you have a lot of experience) or you need to practice 'energy body movements' as part of your practice (not while you're actually doing the exit attempt)- this is where energy work helps, btw- Exit techs are not the issue, because there are many kinds that use different approaches (active, passive, mental, tactile, visual, bla bla).
So I think your trance must be deepened to almost asleep without loss of awareness. As to energy/ body control, there are various exercises that can help; for example:

Sit in a room and mentally walk around it. Walk to the wall, put your mental hands on the wall, feel the texture. "See" it in your head. "Walk" to the side on the right, trying to recreate how the place looks. This is harder than it sounds, you will find that you're fighting your urge to move, but it's good training.
An easier version of this: Sit comfortably in a chair, eyes closed; do light energy work on your arms and legs, to determine where your limbs are in terms of your awareness. Then move your mental arm up slowly and deliberately, making sure not to move your actual physical arm. Do this with both arms.
There is something that Moen teaches (I think it's Moen, it's been ages since I've read about it) called the 'Silly Little Finger' exercise. This doesn't exactly do what the previous exercises do, but it gets you in a 'ready' mode without moving anything physical and can be part of your practice if you assign a place for it and keep it consistent, like a ritual.

[Shootohoist]

So you believe that my problem isn't necessarily exit techniques, but becuase I'm not in deep enough trance? And also because my energy body isn't loosened enough? I find it weird... cuz sometimes I do feel as though I've exited (like just today i tried, and it kinda felt like I exited, but not so sure) but I couldn't see anything at all. I also get what i can only describe as "fake vision"... I'm imagining what I can see, but I can't ACTUALLY see anything. I get indescribable sensations throughout... they are weird in the sense that they aren't like vibrations, but they are different than me just laying there. Sometimes it feels like I exit, then it'll feel like i exit again, and a little while later it happens again.... so this is why I'm a little confused if I'm really exiting or not. Do you get what I mean or am I just weird?

[offinoNem]

So you believe that my problem isn't necessarily exit techniques, but becuase I'm not in deep enough trance?

Possibly, if you're moving while trying to exit, yes.
And also because my energy body isn't loosened enough? Not so much 'not loose enough', but there seems to be a need for more control, which is why I gave you the above exercises.

I find it weird... cuz sometimes I do feel as though I've exited (like just today i tried, and it kinda felt like I exited, but not so sure) but I couldn't see anything at all. Vision is irrelevant to projecting, it is common to have no sight at times when in the RTZ, because your energy body doesn't have 'eyes', interaction is information gathering, like radar. Especially if you're close to your physical body. If you exit and can't see, get away from your physical body, or leave the room if possible. If vision doesn't come back, request it forcefully.

I also get what i can only describe as "fake vision"... I'm imagining what I can see, but I can't ACTUALLY see anything. I'm not sure what you mean by this- it sounds like you're perceiving your environment with your energy body (like radar) which is normal. Sometimes you process them as vision, sometimes you don't.
I get indescribable sensations throughout... they are weird in the sense that they aren't like vibrations, but they are different than me just laying there. Sometimes it feels like I exit, then it'll feel like i exit again, and a little while later it happens again.... so this is why I'm a little confused if I'm really exiting or not. Do you get what I mean or am I just weird? Not weird, but you sound confused. If you're having multiple exits, it sounds like you're stuck in a loop, and it's a matter of time and practice, but you are projecting, it seems to me.

[MADwanker]

Today I tried projecting and I was in such a deep trance that I in fact drifted in and out of sleep like 2 or 3 times. When I projected, I think it was successful, but I could only feel myself standing... whenever i would try to move, I couldn't.... it's like I could feel my legs try to walk, but something was keeping my upper body in place preventing me from going anywhere. I've tried demanding sight and/or clarity, and even travelling far away from my physical body, but still nothing . even though it did feel like projection, it felt very unreal... I thought it felt like projection, but I'm unsure... I also couldn't feel much, I only thought I might've been standing in my astral body :/

[jeraveike]

Last night was amazing! I attempted to project, and about halfway into it, I felt that sensation where it's like you're spinning around or like doing numerous backflips or whatever, so I tried to intensify this sensation as much as i could. It was going well until it felt like I entered another dimension. I couldn't feel my body anymore, or rather, if I could, it was indescribably relaxed. Like this was a whole new level of relaxation. I know when people say they're super relaxed and said it was great, but this was far better than anything I ever experienced or could imagine. I'm not sure I necessarily wanna say it was relaxation, but more or less healing... to the point where it was tickling all over (not an uncomfortable tickle, if you know what i mean) and I felt almost sexually aroused. I would've remained in this state for like another half hour before growing tired of it and trying to sleep normally, if not for my insanely retarded cokatiel (spelled incorrectly, correct spelling thinks I'm trying to say something dirty lol) who thought it was a good idea to fly around my room in the dark at 4 AM and fall down behind my headboard... it took me what i think was like 5 or 10 minutes before i could awaken from this super deep trance of awesomely tastic comfort power. It also took me like 20 minutes just making sure he got out and was safe back in his cage.

This was just indescribably amazing and I hope i can get it to happen again and maybe perhaps get vivid AP/LD's

[VeniHemealm]

I hope you can too. Maybe the ####atiel was drawn to the energy.

[hexniks]

The ####@tiel thing made me laugh.

[Muhabsssa]

[AriaDesser]

Last night was odd... last night I stayed up later than I ever have all summer, and i tried to obe, and it was feelin good for awhile... but I grew tired of just lying there, so I turned over and tried to go to sleep, but I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. But I couldn't get fully out of SP either. There were times where I was able to move around for a few seconds but had to sit back down again and couldn't move afterwards... and I couldn't fall asleep after I fell back down. Is this normal or was this just a random case of insomnia? Do obe's like throw off your sleep pattern or no? aren't obe's basically sleeping anyways?

[zlopikanikanz]

Do obe's like throw off your sleep pattern or no? The practice of OBE cultivation does mess with your sleep cycle, and the long answer belongs in the second part of your question.

aren't obe's basically sleeping anyways? OBEs happen while you sleep, but you don't remember them, just like dreaming.
When we practice OBE induction, what we are basically training to do is
1-stay awake while our bodies fall asleep
2-remember the event.
When you go to sleep normally, your brain goes through a series of patterns, from alpha all the way to delta, and from there it wakes up slowly back to alpha- this last part of the cycle is when you remember whatever you were dreaming/experiencing, and where hypnopomps happen.
When you practice OBE, what you are training for is to remain in alpha even after you are in theta- what scientists call 'alpha intrusion'- that way your conscious mind experiences what is happening as you move from body awareness to nonphysical awareness- something that you don't do consciously while you sleep.
On top of that, when you are starting out you tend to stay awake as you train yourself to observe yourself falling asleep- something that messes with your sleep patterns.
The good news is that this 'traumatic' sleep interruption smoothes out as your psyche begins to get used to this practice, and you go back to 'normal'. But it is recommended that you get more sleep to begin with (after a while you don't need the extra time) or move your practice to the morning.

[NumsAmenniams]

I recently had another one of those nights where it was beyond your typical relaxation, but it wasn't really as intense as the first time. Eventually it got to the point where I started to feel something I could only describe as a headache, but it didn't hurt really... I eventually woke up to grab a snack but my head just had this really weird tense feeling to it that was almost like a headache, but it didn't hurt at all. I'm not sure how I get this thing to happen, but I enjoy it when I do, and it doesn't go unnoticed! all I do is just whenever I feel as though my astral body is spinning, I just try to intesify the feeling as much as possible and I go into a world of awesome pleasure!

[casinoboneerer]

I usually try to project every day after school (mostly cuz i go to bed real late and am tired throughout the day hehe). I don't typically do it after school to get more sleep, but mostly just to try and project (although in the end it does feel like i get more sleep). I think this daily practice is getting me better and better at it cuz today, when I thought I could exit, I tried, and I could feel my (non-physical) body moving and floating/drifting and I didn't get the usual physical body twitch I'd experience when trying to exit or move. Although I still can never see anything hehe. Sometimes I pretend that I can see, and it's almost like I can see things, but not really. (if you get what I'm sayin)... Sometimes if I just start drifting to sleep I'll see a random image or something that will spark my conscious mind to try and focus on it, but then it just disappears into the hazy blackish green blobs. If only they wouldn't go away when I actually realize they're there. I've also begun to notice it's incredibly hard to stay lucid while dreaming, cuz you just go "wow I know I'm dreaming" and I dunno, it must send some kind of trigger to the subconscious to wake your body up cuz it knows you're awake or somethin... I've never been able to have a really LONG lucid dream...