Meditation Progress

I've once again included meditation in my daily routine.

What, When and How I Practice Meditation?
My meditation sessions take place at 6:00pm because things quieten down and I feel like relaxing at that time. So far each session lasts about 15 minutes and when I do meditate for longer I tend to get frustrated.

The practice I use is very simple, I lie on my back (on sofa or bed) and take a few minutes to breathe deeply which is controlled (this really helps to relax). Then I breathe normally and focus my awareness exclusively on my breathing. When thoughts do arise I just notice it and remember to go back to being aware of my breath.

My Current Progress
So far managed to get deep into meditation to the point where I lose awareness of my body. I then experience involuntary movements in my fingers, hands and arms which instantly snaps my awareness back to my body and then I'm back at square one. The good thing is that I don't get frustrated for not going deeper because when I do snap back I feel extremely refreshed and energized as if I had woken up from a good nights sleep.

In my recent sessions I have been experiencing something different. When I close my eyes and focus on my breathing within 2 minutes the darkness behind my closed eyelids snaps into an orangish red shade - the same intense shade you see when you close your eyes in sunlight. It quickly disappears as soon as I become aware of it.


I guess when these sort of phenomena arise I get distracted and very analytical. Next time I intend on being as passive as I can - which is easier said than done.

Making some adjustments

Haven't been projecting much lately with only 2 or 3 experiences per month. This past week didn't stick to my meditation plan very well which was mostly due to fatigue. I've been sleeping late and waking up tired which explains the fatigue (currently end up sleeping between 1:00am - 2:00am). So it seems some changes are in order particularly my bedtime. The latest I plan to sleep is at 11:00pm starting from tonight.

Astral Phasing

Astral Phasing is a very simple technique, at least it seems that way. All you do is lie down on your back, remember comfort is important here so if you prefer lying on your side or any other sleeping positions go ahead. Make sure you are wearing loose clothing and if using a blanket use a light blanket. Once you get comfortable breathe deeply, click here for a great exercise on breathing deeply with visual aid.

Once fully relaxed with eyes closed notice the darkness behind your closed eyelids. You won't notice much other than this darkness but eventually you might notice a spark or a flash of light or images. Don't try to analyse everything that you see or feel, try to remain as passive as you can. I guess if you are a beginner it can be difficult to not get excited when something like a random vivid images pop up, but with practice it will be easier to release it.

Eventually what happens is several scenes will begin to flash before you, these can look cinematic. In my experience they looked like moving pictures with a glow of light around them. Soon the speed of these random scenes should slow down - I don't know if this can be controlled, I need to experiment more. Once slowed down you can begin stepping into one of the scenes - I have no experience yet with the stepping into the scene but I expect to do so with more practice.

I think the best time to practice this is anytime that's good for you. By this I mean it can be anytime under the following conditions:

1. A strong desire to astral project
2. You can dim the light in the room you are using - the darker the room the better
3. Make sure there is some peace and quiet and that you will be undisturbed
4. An empty bladder

Deep Breathing

I've been practicing deep breathing recently and I've noticed since incorporating deep breathing I relax much faster. I now meditate almost daily and have noticed a significant difference between my usual breathing and deep breathing. Prior to practicing deep breathing when in meditation it would take me between 20 to 40 minutes to relax fully. Now that I'm breathing deeply and slowly I can fully relax withing 5 minutes. I'm more motivated now to meditate because it's so much easier to relax.

Find out how you normally breathe by placing your palms on your lower abdomen and blow out all the air. Then take in a deep breath slowly. If your abdomen expands when you inhale you're breathing properly. However, if your chest and shoulders should rise and your abdomen sucks in rather than stick out you really should consider practicing deep breathing the healthier way. Click here for a wonderful site explaining, with some visual aide on how to breathe properly.

I think it would be best practicing deep breathing at least once everyday. It would also be beneficial to do this at times of stress and anxiety due to it's relaxing effects.

Keep A Dream Journal

Keep a dream journal beside you (somewhere easy to reach). Before going to sleep affirm that you will have a restful sleep and remember your dreams in the morning. Upon waking up keep your eyes closed and try to remember some impression of your dream. This could be a certain way you felt, a person or an object from your dream. By doing this other fragments should come naturally. Write a brief summary of the dream. The shorter the better.

A dream journal is incredibly helpful in achieving an astral projection. It expands your awareness of the altered conscious states. The more dreams you can recall and write down the more aware you will become of your altered state during sleep.

Disturbing posture in sleep paralysis

I was nearing an astral projection this morning. Got into a trance felt myself almost nearing a projection. I also felt the vibrations this time. In the trance state I heard a young girl crying and thought it was my neice, there was also the sound of doors closing and movement around the house. Worried I tried to get myself out of the paralysis but my body remained completely immobile. I began losing consciousness until finally I became conscious of my head bent on the other side of the bed and my butt above me in the air. To the human eye I probably would have looked like I was about to do the rollie pollie only I got paralysed halfway. I had extreme difficulty getting out of it.

Eventually I snapped out and realized I was lying on my back and think the body I percieved was the one in the astral. Of course there was no one crying in the physical - the sounds I'm hearing in the trance state are sounding so real it feels like I'm hearing them physically and not astrally.

I've been meditating this past week and I've noticed some changes in my hearing. It's sharper than ever. I am constantly hearing a high pitched sound in my ears throughout the day which is mildly annoying. I'm quite happy with the progress I'm making on my meditation and by progress I mean that I now look forward to my meditation sessions.

Voices in my head

I woke up from a dream about terrorists at 6:00am. I realized how calm I was in the dream. People were getting shot in front of me yet I was calm. My reaction in the dream to the event was quite disturbing that it kept me awake for about 40 minutes. For 40 minutes I was trying to decipher the dream, find out what it could mean until I decided that it meant nothing.

I then tried to focus on my breathing so that I could astral project. Within a minute I gave up. Sleep came naturally and this time I just woke up and found myself in another place, I think it was a dream rather than a projection. I had immediate control of my body and I was beginning to create a few scenes to experience. Nothing that seemed relevant.

Then in the background I began hearing someone speaking. This voice was pulling me towards it. My dream began to fade away and I was left in the dark. The voice was female and she had an Indian accent. She used the word 'belief' several times. I'm guessing she was talking about how we create our realities a topic I'm very interested in. I was focusing really hard trying to make out what was being said. This caused her voice to slowly fade away and take me back to my earlier scenes. When I stopped trying to focus on the voice it came back.

More and more voices were coming through at such an alarming speed that I didn't catch a single word. I felt overwhelmed and as I did the voices started calming down coming to a slow speed. Then a 60-something year old sounding man with a british accent said 'My death was caused by an overactive imagination. Actually I died because of my imagination.' Every being that was present including me bursted out laughing. In fact I woke up laughing. This guy was really funny and I guess that is why I can easily remember what he said.

Voices are very common in the state of body asleep/mind awake sate. I've experienced hearing voices before. They are usually in foreign accents and sometimes speak in different languages. I've been hearing voices these past few days in that sort of light trance state. They are mostly incoherent, I think I need to learn to tune in properly.