Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

T DC, modified 5 Years ago at 5/2/18 10:57 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 5/2/18 6:11 PM

Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 516 Join Date: 9/29/11 Recent Posts
I am not really an expert in this area, but I have had some experiences, and I thought I would post the tips and tricks that worked for me.  If others want to contribute please do so, I find talking about this stuff and hearing other people's experiences generally brings this area of life to the front of my consciousness, and then as a result these types of things start to happen more frequently.  Hearing about Daniel's lucid dreaming experiences in another recent thread, for example, was awesome and inspiring.

So, a few years ago, following an abnormal energetic experience, I got really interested in lucid dreaming and astral projection (Out of Body Experince) as a way to explore other spiritual dimensions.  I had lucid dreams once in a while as a kid, but never enough to really cultivate it as a skill.  After I got reinterested, I read Robert Bruce's Astral Dynamics book, which has lots of interesting content, but didn't seem to help all that much - I had the odd lucid dream, but nothing too exciting.  

Robert Bruce has lots of interesting ideas, such as that we're all OBEing probably every night, only we don't have sufficient consciousness during the experience to retain the memory when we wake up.  Astral Dynamics also has good exercises for 'loosening' bodily ties, such as, while sitting or lying down, imagining yourself standing in the middle of the room, and turning around - the idea here seems to be increasing comfort with the basic type of experience of being consciously separate from your body.  Other exercises include visualizing (all in the first person): standing up out your body, turning around in your body (while lying down), and rotating in your body laterally (windmill style, your belly button is the peg).  These exercises can be hard to wrap your head around at first, but quickly get easier.

After a few months of pursuing this, I found 'The Phase' which is an extremely effective OBE method, with free downloadable ebooks on the site I linked.  The Phase combines exercises like those mentioned above with a targeted approach to getting in the optimal sleep/wake state for an OBE to occur. The basic idea is you set an alarm that allows you to get about 6 hours of sleep, wake up and orient yourself for lucid dreaming/OBE practice, then go back to sleep.  Ideally, you sleep less soundly after this and experience numerous minor awakenings.  On each of these minor awakenings, when you wake up, don't move your body whatsoever - remain totally still and relaxed and practice a few of the 'getting out of your body' type exercises mentioned above.  The combination of directed conscious activity with a largely asleep physical body seems to majorly produce lucid dreaming and OBE experiences.

I had immediate success with this technique, maybe the first night doing it I was too excited to get back to sleep after waking up, but the next time or two, practicing these techniques upon subsequent awakenings majorly worked.  One night I had numerous lucid dreams which were much more stable and vivid than normal, including several false awakenings.  Another night, after doing the technique I got into this weird half awake, half asleep type state, and then just casually and abruptly stood up out of my body.  I floated through my door and through an interior wall, opened the outside door, and went floating down the street.  I lived in the city at the time (think light pollution), and on a street with few trees, but in this state large deciduous trees lined the street, and the sky was filled with an incredible amount of stars - I happily floated on my back down the street, gazing up at the sky through the leaves.  The experience ended when I got sucked back into my body (which was much less clear).

I still think these experiences are super interesting, but I largely stopped explicitly pursuing them after this OBE.  I think just the experience of going out of body once was enough to strongly reassure me that the experience exists, is accessible, and is probably very natural - people who have had near death experiences describe very similar experiences of leaving their body.  Having an OBE experience first-hand helped perhaps to lock in, experientially, the reality (and inevitability) of these accounts.

General tips for lucid dreaming - I had a friend who was a major lucid dreamer tell me this: often when we get lucid, especially as beginners, the state becomes weak or starts to break up.  One way to prevent this is to literally hug any nearby dream object, which helps reinforce the solidity of the experience.  Another method I have heard for this scenario is to rub your hands together.  More successful lucid dreams I have had also involved some sort of plan, i.e. 'when I get lucid I will..' fly, float through walls, change the scene... 

If people have any tips or experiences, please share!  Methods of prolonging lucid dreams is one thing I have wondered about, but I feel like this just comes with increasing experience.  Cheers!  -Tim
George Lee, modified 5 Years ago at 5/4/18 2:26 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 5/4/18 2:22 AM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 2 Join Date: 5/4/18 Recent Posts
You're the guy that 4 years ago wrote a post thinking he was enlightened. I found myself reading again I met a fully Enlightened "Buddha". Here's what he said: just the other day and I'm curious to see what discoveries you've made since... "Man, you don't need esoteric texts and it doesn't have to take a long time. I did it in three years following Buddhist teachings available in your local bookstore and on the internet. I also did it with no transmission, aside from taking refuge. What really matters is the purity and strength of your desire for enlightenment, along with following genuine teachings suitable for your level of practice. Just saying.."

At first I was impressed. In all honesty I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but once I started reading your thread Enlightenment and the path which leads there (Key edit now in first post!) it became obvious that you have no idea what enlightnment was really about. You attained some sort of mental stillness and clarity and confused that with enlightnement. You spoke nothing about internal energy, about kundalini, about opening meridians, about internal visions and initiations, about astral travel, about mental wandering, nothing about psyhic powers, so what kind of enlighnment was that? I hope that in the last 4 years you've discoverd just how confused you were before...
T DC, modified 5 Years ago at 5/4/18 9:55 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 5/4/18 9:55 AM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 516 Join Date: 9/29/11 Recent Posts
George - I have laid out a feast, but all you want to do is complain about another meal I served you some four years ago..  Thanks for the message, but just send me a pm next time as it has nothing to do with this thread.
George Lee, modified 5 Years ago at 5/4/18 2:51 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 5/4/18 2:51 PM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 2 Join Date: 5/4/18 Recent Posts
I would of PMed you, but since I'm a brand new user here, I'm unable to do that. If you can PM me I'm open to discuss this topic and other similar ones in private.
T DC, modified 4 Years ago at 5/13/19 9:14 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 10/24/18 10:48 PM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 516 Join Date: 9/29/11 Recent Posts
Bump - interesting thread with strong discussion potential!  ;)
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 4 Years ago at 5/14/19 4:00 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/14/19 4:00 AM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
Well, I think it’s interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I had an out of body experience of my father coming to say goodbye after he had killed himself. I don’t know whether saying goodbye like that is possible for real, but it was definitely an out of body experience. I knew where I was and could feel myself leaving my sleeping body to sit up and have the scenery changed to my childhood room. It was as if I were a child again and he was coming to say goodnight, beacause at that time we were closer than later when I was an adult. He was awkward and didn’t know how to approach me other than that.
Pål R, modified 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 4:53 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 4:53 AM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 115 Join Date: 8/3/16 Recent Posts
I followed your advice for lucid dreaming tpday and it worked. For a minute or so, but still emoticon
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 4:59 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 4:59 AM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
Wow, at the first attempt? That’s cool.
Pål R, modified 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 2:33 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 2:33 PM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 115 Join Date: 8/3/16 Recent Posts
Well, I do try now and then and keep a dream journal, which helps massively, but taking naps emediately after six hours of sleep and hugging things helped today
T DC, modified 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 5:57 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 5/15/19 5:57 PM

RE: Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection

Posts: 516 Join Date: 9/29/11 Recent Posts
Linda - Nice, thanks for sharing! That sounds like a very interesting experience. 

Pal - Good to hear! Hugging things does seem to be a great strategy to increase the solidity of the dream experience.   emoticon

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