ForumforAstral
First time poster here. I have been reading over the various web sites, videos, and read thru about 60 books on Astral Projection (AP) and lucid dreaming (LD). After drilling down to the fundamentals, I have come down to the following conclusions.
AP and LD are the same, internal phenomena. They are shifting from perception of physical reality (PR) to non-physical reality (NR).
LD is achieved by pushing “up” or shifting from a dream state into a conscious state while perceiving non-physical reality. (Somewhat easy)
AP is achieved by pushing “down” from a conscious state and shifting from physical to non-physical perception. (Barring natural talent this is very hard, to somewhat hard.)
LD is developed by
Dream journaling to improve non-physical memory. (required)
Intent demonstrated by affirmation, saturation, self-hypnosis, and repetition.
Reality checks to trigger the push up or shift.
Enhanced awareness of surrounding in PR.
Meditation to improve control of consciousness.
Adjuncts like music, Binaural beats, herbs & vitamins, and electronics like flashing lights and special alarms.
Base technique- simply follow some of the above techniques and within a few weeks you will begin having intermittent lucid dreams. With continued practice and intent, you can have them consistently.
Advance techniques- These techniques to improve the number of and allow multiple dreams like FILD, SSILD, WBTB etc. Although some of these change the “pop up” to a “drop down” from a near sleep state into direct lucidity. At the core, you awaken after a certain period, then fall back asleep while engaging in activity to keep the mind active while falling asleep, triggering a dream awakening, or having an outside stimulus trigger.
AP is developed by
Intent demonstrated by affirmation, saturation, self-hypnosis, and repetition.
Breathing techniques. These seem to be of use in achieving relaxation.
Deep relaxation to allow the body to achieve a state of sleep paralysis or full on body sleep with no body awareness.
Meditation to improve control of consciousness. Both mindfulness and concentration techniques can be helpful.
Visualization skills to include all 4 other senses.
Adjuncts like music, Binaural beats, and herbs & vitamins may be helpful.
Base technique- Establish a deeply relaxed state thru meditation, recent awakening (preferably without moving), or by staying perfectly still. Trigger sleep paralysis or nearby state. Already primed for REM sleep is beneficial. At this point, the practitioner utilized a technique causing his perception to shift from the PR to NR. This can be different types of visualizations using any or all the senses. The trick is to engage a “Non-physical sense”. The presence or absence of “Vibrations”, sounds, or similar phenomena is not required, but can act a a sign post that you are near the correct level.
The “Phasing” style techniques are essentially a way to bypass the requirement to learn meditation and relaxation. They also require little visualization skills seeming to rely on somatic sensation typically.
The “classic” style is engaging in deep relaxation/ meditation along with specialized visualizations. The “Body of Light” or Mandala’s with dream yoga are examples. These require a substantial investment of time and training. It requires competency in relaxing, meditation, and visualization.
The heart of all techniques is this. The person must be in an Alpha state between approximately 4 to 12 hertz. This is the frequency where REM, hypnagogia, and sleep paralysis takes place. This can be achieved by being asleep and dreaming (easiest), immediately after waking (more difficult but not hard, or meditation or staying perfectly still for extended periods (Hard).
Once the practitioner reaches an acceptable state of consciousness, they “simply” shift their perception to non-physical senses. They attempt to see while their eyes are closed, they try to move limbs that are not there, etc. Enhance visualization skills are most helpful here.
Personal theories and WAGs (Wild Ass Guesses)
The human mind creates our perceptual world. We live in a “Sim” generated by the data transmitted by our senses and interpreted by our mind. While awake, the “Sim” is hooked directly into the body. When we sleep, the “Sim” is unhooked from the body. (IE Sleep paralysis) Dreams are the “Sim” processing data and experiences. Our normal dream states are run by our “monkey mind”. This would explain the chaos and need to retrain our conscious mind to start running things. It also explains the Dream Yoga premise of “Everything is a dream.”
The different levels perception, control, and memory have to do with how well the mind has developed visualization (all senses), concentration, mindfulness, and control over brain frequency. I suspect that poor visualizers tend to have fuzzy/gray dreams. I suspect that if your brain waves are too far from the correct zone you loose control and or feel like you are in slow motion. We tend to get kicked out when certain neurotransmitters are used up. IE the end of REM cycle.
I have no opinion yet as to this shift allowing access to information outside the corporeal form.
Feedback? And If I posted an online poll would the group be interested in the data?
