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for about a month i practiced astral projection learning things about it and trying to relax and i think i managed to do it but i wasn't sure
i was lying on my bed trying to foucus and relax just letting my mind drift. i sat up but felt really light almost like in a lucid dream and tried to step down from my bed but before i hit the floor my whole astral self froze, i couldn't move i was just stuck over my floor and paniced because my chest hurt and i felt like i was sufficating(sp?). i somehow got back, but was really freaked and haven't tried it in over a year
I'm very interested in finding my guide 3nodding
(has anyone read the His Dark Materials trilogy?)

Wow. Well, I tried to meditate once and it didn't go to well. I could get myself relaxed but my mind kept wandering from one thing to another. I'd be thinking about meditating and how it's supposed to work, then I'd flash forward to daydreaming about the school year and so on.

Another thing I don't understand is how you're supposed to talk to ...well who ever you're trying to talk to. I kindda keep comparing it to a dream. The was you talk to people in your dreams, is it different that when you're meditating?

I just keep having all these doubt come from nowhere all of a sudden when I get settled and decide to meditate.

I'm gonna have to try that. Thanks

I've read that three times already and only fully understand some parts.

ok loves, I will try and reword this, I am not that talented with word sorry, ok with the counting of breaths, it is one breath in, two breath out, three breath in, four breath out, try to keep or breath even and just count you can do this up to a number you are comfortable with then start over the count. What ever feels right. Or you could do it like this: one breath in and out, two breath in and out, three breath in and out ect..Don't try to stop your mind from wondering, you will never win, just let it go were it pleases, eventually it will come back. To stop from being afraid while meditating try casting a circle to meditate in, if you need instructions on casting a circle tell me. Ok, so for me to get to the astral plan I can't just try and leave my body because as soon as I think of my body I go right back into it, so think about going forward, like traveling through a tunnel, and don't look back, and for some reason whenever I go to the astral plain I always come up through water. An other thing, don't be afraid, if you are, try holding a protective crystal while meditating, or ware protective jewelry. I think a circle is protection enough. An never fear about not finding your body again, you are always attached to it, all you have to do is think about it and you will be back in it. All I can say is practice. If something is still unclear tell me and I will try to explain it better I know I am not that good at righting down my thoughts I am better at physically showing... hope I helped you guys understand what I was talking about, oh yeah about the talking while in meditation, for me I talk like mind to mind, sort of like in a dream, sometimes it is talking like using my mouth and everything, I think really it depends on the person and what they are talking to. I know a lot of things are ambiguous, but that is because everything is different for every person. I can only tell you what works for me, and hope that it will lead you in the right direction. I hope I have been helpful.

okay dokay

(Taken from Leaving The Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection, D. Scott Rogo, prentice Hall Press)
One of the chief barriers people learning to project face is fear. Many are afraid that they may die, or be harmed in some way as a result of their projection. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Canterbury Institute, renowned for its occult studies, executed an experiment in projection involving over 2,000 people. None of them were hurt in any way by this, and now, three years later, none have complained of any newly arising problems.
Once you are aware that you cannot be harmed by projecting, you should begin Monroe’s techniques, step by step.
Step one:
Relax the body. According to Monroe, "the ability to relax is the first prerequisite, perhaps even the first step itself" to having an OBE. (out of body experience) This includes both physical and mental relaxation. Monroe does not suggest a method of attaining this relaxation, although Progressive Muscle relaxation, coupled with deep breathing exercises (inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3.... until 50 or 100) are known to work well.
Step two:
Enter the state bordering sleep. This is known as the hypnogogic state. Once again, Monroe doesn't recommend any method of doing this. One way is to hold your forearm up, while keeping your upper arm on the bed, or ground. As you start to fall asleep, your arm will fall, and you will awaken again. With practice, you can learn to control the Hypnogogic state without using your arm. Another method is to concentrate on an object. When other images start to enter your thoughts, you have entered the Hypnagogic state. Passively watch these images. This will also help you maintain this state of near-sleep. Monroe calls this Condition A.
Step three:
Deepen this state. Begin to clear your mind. observe your field of vision through your closed eyes. Do nothing more for a while. Simply look through your closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you. After a while, you may notice light patterns. These are simply neural discharges. They have no specific effect. Ignore them. When they cease, one has entered what Monroe calls Condition B. From here, one must enter an even deeper state of relaxation which Monroe calls Condition C-- a state of such relaxation that you lose all awareness of the body and sensory stimulation. You are almost in a void in which your only source of stimulation will be your own thoughts. The ideal state for leaving your body is Condition D. This is Condition C when it is voluntarily induced from a rested and refreshed condition and is not the effect of normal fatigue. To achieve Condition D, Monroe suggests that you practice entering it in the morning or after a short nap.
Step Four:
Enter a state of Vibration. This is the most important part of the technique, and also the most vague. Many projectors have noted these vibrations at the onset of projection. They can be experienced as a mild tingling, or as is electricity is being shot through the body. /their cause is a mystery. It may actually be the astral body trying to leave the physical one.
For entering into the vibrational state, he offers the following directions:
1. Remove all jewelry or other items that might be touching your skin.
2. Darken the room so that no light can be seen through your eyelids, but do not shut out all light.
3. Lie down with your body along a north-south axis, with your head pointed toward magnetic north.
4. Loosen all clothing, but keep covered so that you are slightly warmer than might normally be comfortable.
5. Be sure you are in a location where, and at a time when, there will be absolutely no noise to disturb you.
6. Enter a state of relaxation
7. Give yourself the mental suggestion that you will remember all that occurs during the upcoming session that will be beneficial to your weel-being. Repeat this five times.
8. Proceed to breath through your helf-open mouth.
9. As you breath, concentrate on the void in front of you.
10. Select a point a foot away from your forehead, then change your point of mental reference to six feet.
11. Turn the point 90 degrees upward by drawing an imaginary line parallel to your body axis up and above your head. Focus there and reach out for the vibrations at that point and bring them back into your body. Even if you don't know what these vibrations are, you will know when you have achieved contact with them.
Step five:
Learn to control the vibrational state. Practice controling them by mentally pushing them into your head, down to your toes, making them surge throughout your entire body, and producing vibrational waves from head to foot. To produce this wave effect, concentrate of the vibrations and mentally push a wave out of your head and guide it down your body. Practice this until you can induce these waves on command. Once you have control of the vibrational state, you are ready to leave the body.
Step six:
Begin with a partial separation. The key here is thought control. Keep your mind firmly focused on the idea of leaving the body. Do not let it wander. Stray thought might cause you to lose control of the state. Now, having entered the vibrational state, begin exploring the OBE by releasing a hand or a foot of the "second body". Monroe suggests that you extend a limb until it comes in contact with a familiar object, such as a wall near your bed. Then push it through the object. Return the limb by placing it back into coincidence with the physical one, decrease the vibrational rate, and then terminate the experiment. Lie quietly until you have fully returned to normal. This exercise will prepare you for full seperation.
Step seven:
Dissociate yourself from the body. Monroe suggests two methods for this. One method is to lift out of the body. To do this, think about getting lighter and lighter after entering this vibrational state. Think about how nice it would be to float upward. Keep this thought in mind at all costs and let no extraneous thoughts interrupt it. An OBE will occur naturally at this point.
Another method is the "Rotation method" or "roll-out" technique. When you have achieved the vibrational state, try to roll over as if you were turning over in bed. /do not attempt to roll over physically. Try to twist your body from the top and virtually roll over into your second body right out of your physical self. At this point, you will be out of the body but next to it. Think of floating upward, and you should find yourself floating above the body. Monroe suggests you begin with the lift-out method, but argues that both are equally efficacious.
If, after all this, you still can't project, I recommend purchasing Leaving The Body, by R. Scott Rogo. It only costs $7.95 and contains another eight or so techniques. Not all techniques work for everyone, but chances are you'll find one that works for you in this book.