Sunday, April 10, 2016

How to Astral Project #4 - The Indirect Method


We have spent the last few posts talking about the direct method, or techniques where there's no lapse in consciousness between the waking state and your projection. Those techniques require quite a bit of practice due to their use of the void state and the requirement of putting your body to sleep while keeping your mind awake. The indirect method is significantly easier to achieve because you can eliminate all of that pre-work. It does, however, require its own type of practice because there is still a new skill that you're going to have to develop; a new reflex you are going to have to ingrain in your subconscious mind. Overall, however, I find that they are far easier to achieve and they are a great approach to start with. 

The idea with indirect techniques is that they are performed immediately upon awakening, or ideally, during the process of awakening. The moment you begin the transition to wakefulness, the goal is to remain completely still and immediately turn your attention to your projection attempt. If you grab hold of this transition soon enough, you can actually roll right out of your body or appear at some predetermined target without any further effort. It's almost as if the door to the astral is open while we are asleep and that door closes slowly as we regain consciousness. That transition back to wakefulness is your chance to catch that door part way open and to squeeze your way through it.

Training

The challenging part of this method is building that reflex to immediately attempt projection upon awakening, and if unsuccessful, immediately begin cycling through techniques. Ideally, this should become a habit to the point that this process is instinctually performed during the transition out of sleep. This should be your very first thought prior to moving and prior to any other thought.

This is the most difficult part of the indirect method. I personally had such a struggle ingraining this immediate plan of action into my subconscious, I ended up recording my voice, reminding me to project and then used that audio file to create an alarm that would go off periodically throughout the night. Hearing that instruction to remain still and project every time I awoke, over and over and over again eventually helped me turn that action into a reflex that will now naturally come as my first waking thought.

Second Chance

If by chance you miss that split second and the door is closed, don't fret.  You will now attempt to push it back open. This can be done by cycling through a series of techniques that you will decide upon beforehand. This list of that I provide are a somewhat modified version of the techniques originally created by Michael Raduga. I have made changes or expanded on Michael's techniques where I have found that for me, changes needed to be implemented to provide a higher level of success. I have also found personally it is beneficial to branch out and experiment with different techniques from time to time. There will be days when a technique that has never provided solid results in the past suddenly begins to bring on the phase. Select three or four of the techniques below or even come up with one of your own that resonates with you and run through them in your mind before going to sleep. One thing I would suggest is to select a technique from more than one category so you have the best chance of finding something that your unique state will respond too. If you were not able to immediately leave your body during that transition back to the waking state, begin cycling through your list of techniques. Spend three to five seconds on one, if no results occur, move to the next one, and repeat. If at any time you start to get any sort of phase related sensations, continue with the technique that brought about those sensations. Do at least four cycles even if it doesn't feel like it is working. I have often thought I was either two awake or just not in the right state of mind, only to have a later cycle produce results.

Visual Techniques

Observing Images
Immediately begin searching the backs of your closed eyelids for imagery. Perform this action for three to five seconds.  If you begin to see images or anything else of a visual, non-physical nature, continue this process.  Examples I have personally experienced are seeing remote locations as if looking through a window and more commonly, seeing through my closed eyelids and sleep mask into the room around me.

Visualization
Immediately implement the target technique.  Put yourself in a location you are familiar with and start to scrutinize the objects in that room.  Take in your surroundings and try to engage all your five senses.  Alternately, you can just visualize a specific object that you are extremely familiar with.  It could be a cell phone, your car keys, or anything else that will help you engage your senses.  I like using my ring of house and car keys because it is something I handle every day and very easy to imagine.  Feel all the details of each key.  Shake them and hear the sound of the metal as it jingles.  

Movement Based Techniques

Phantom Wiggling
For three to five seconds, begin trying to move body parts without moving a physical muscle. Wiggle a finger, move a hand, reach for a wall that is much too far to physically touch. If you begin to get the sensation of movement, continue this action past the three to five-second mark.  Personally, I have found that the more intent you put into these imagined movements, the more effective they are.  Don't just halfheartedly wiggle a finger.  Direct all your effort and concentration into feeling this movement.  There have been times where I have pictured myself violently swinging my arms side to side and withing just a few moments, I was overcome by the actual physical feeling that I was performing this action. I have reached a hand down far beyond my normal range of reach and run my fingers through the carpet on the floor and even pushed my hand through the floor, into the room below.

Imagined Movement
Try to imagine the sense of movement. As I have mentioned in previous posts, for me, the feeling of going through loops on a roller coaster is very effective. Others have reported that rotation in bed is effective. Imagine yourself rotating from head to foot over and over, or use the technique I mentioned in one of my other posts and watch an imaginary dot cross the ceiling and slowly go under you, forcing your body, while in its flat board-like position to do sort of a summer salt in order to continue watching its progression around the room. Make this movement as strong and fast as you possibly can.  Feel the wind in your face, feel the asphalt under your bare feet as you run, feel the seat of the car pressing into your back as you slam on the gas.  As with phantom wiggling, this cannot be a halfhearted action. Put everything you can into this action for three to five seconds, and as with the other methods, continue after that time if you begin to get any inkling of phase related sensations.

Auditory Techniques

Intense Listening
Most of us are familiar with the ringing sound we occasionally experience in our ears. This technique can make use of that sound. Immediately upon waking, begin to listen intensely to the sound inside your head. First, hear the ringing, but then try to go deeper.  If you are like me, you will find that that ringing has multiple layers. I can almost always hear a slight ringing if I plug my ears at any point throughout the day, but something that is unique to those first moments of wakefulness is a low rumbling like an engine in my head. Unless I focus inward, this sound will almost always go unnoticed.  First, I will try to hear the layers of ringing, then the low rumble, and then I strain hard to hear the bursts of static that I am so familiar with. If I can hear those bursts of static, I will remain on this technique and through intent and continued listening in, allow them to build in speed and intensity.

Other Techniques

Straining your Brain
Immediately, for three to five seconds upon waking, begin causing intensely imagined strain in your brain. This one I have found to be very effective in quickly bringing on the vibrational state, but I will admit, it really took some time to get the hang of this technique. For weeks after reading the term "strain the brain" in Michael Raduga's writing, I was baffled as to how one would actually do this. I don't have any muscles in my brain. How on earth can I strain it? I will try to provide a detailed account to clarify what I have found works for me when employing this technique in case you read "The Phase" and found this technique as frustratingly confusing as I did. First of all, the pressure sensation that I generate is similar to that of being upside down. Do a handstand, or stand on your head, or even just hang your head between your legs for a minute or two until you can feel the pressure building in your head. You know what I am talking about? Your veins in your forehead start to bulge and your face gets all red? OK, so you have memorized that feeling. I then will try to pulsate that pressure feeling. (Keep in mind, you are not literally aiming to force blood into your head, I am just trying to provide some details on how this feels to me so when you are successful, you will recognize the feeling.)  Now upon waking up, feel the pressure and weight of your head against your pillow. Try to move that pressure up from the base of your skull from the back of your head forward. Try to expand that pressure until it is similar to what you experienced while upside down. Now for fun, try to pulsate that sensation, almost as if the inside of your head is throbbing with this pressure. As with all other techniques, it is important that you are not inducing these sensations physically. This is all non-physical. Just strobe this pressure over and over again or occasionally hold it at its peak. The interesting thing about this technique is that I can't generate this sensation during the day, but it comes fairly easily most of the time immediately upon awakening.

Straining the Muscles without Moving
This is a very similar concept to straining the brain, but instead of your brain, you are creating imagined strain all throughout your body.  I personally have a hard time getting this one to work for me.  Being that my muscles are really possible to physically strain, I tend to unintentionally tense various muscles which is counterproductive.  Straining the brain while maybe more difficult to imagine, is easier to do correctly because there are no muscles in your brain to strain even if you wanted to.

At this point, if all goes well, you are either out of body or you have reached the vibrational state.  From the vibrational state, simply continue as we have discussed in the past.  Let the vibrations build in smoothness and frequency and then roll out, stand up, float out, climb an imagined rope, etc.

Tips

Perform this method after four to six hours of sleep. I have the best results between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM.

If cycling through your selected techniques doesn't work for you, remain positive and optimistic with an intent on repeating the process on your next awakening and just go back to sleep.

I have found that if I tell myself that every technique and cycle that I am performing is relaxing me more and bring me closer and closer to sleep that they tend to be more successful.  This helps me prevent accidental muscle tension or from coming too far out of that borderland state for any techniques to be effective.

Don't give up. Once you have built this reflex upon awakening, the phase state will be substantially easier to achieve.  In Robert Monroe's final book he commented that after decades of projecting as he was first going to sleep, he found one day that rolling out upon awakening, in comparison, was "absurdly easy". Once mastered, this will most likely be the most reliable method of reaching the phase that you can find.

8 comments:

  1. I'd like to comment on brain strain you mentioned in your video. The way I have achieved this is by getting the same vibration as when one yawns. So it's kind of straining the area around your ears so the same sensation is felt as a yawn. I have had good results with way.

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  2. I'd like to comment on brain strain you mentioned in your video. The way I have achieved this is by getting the same vibration as when one yawns. So it's kind of straining the area around your ears so the same sensation is felt as a yawn. I have had good results with way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know, you are absolutely right! It is the same sort of muscle group feeling (without using muscles). Thanks for this!

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  3. In the Training part is says, "The challenging part of this method is building that reflex to immediately attempt projection upon awakening, and if unsuccessful, immediately begin cycling through techniques." My question is; what do you mean by building that reflex to immediately attempt projection upon waking, and how do you do it.

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  4. And another question is if you do a technique successfully how long do you keep doing it for and would you do any other techniques after if one technique already worked? Thanks :)

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  5. Do you attempt this everytime you are in the process of waking up, or just days you decide to make attempts to reach the phase ?

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  6. "...just go back to sleep." Sometimes that's easier said than done.

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