Missing the "window"

[Psychic Surgeon]

Hi everyone
I've been advised that the reason I go too deep or not deep enough to reach the "window" for OBE might be because I need to do more lucid dream work and more energy work.
Last night I spent a few minutes doing the full body circuit until the abdominal energy storage center was full and then I stimulated all seven chakras. I don't spend too long doing chakra work as I am very sensitive to energy. Particularly the brow and crown chakras. After stimulating the brow chakra for only a few seconds I begin to experience pain in this area. Even as I type this and just think about the brow chakra I feel a dull ache in my forehead. I assume this is because I am a spiritual medium and have been practicing spiritual development of one kind or an other for over 20 years.
I can get into a light trance easily in a few seconds but as you know it's not quite deep enough. It's when I go past the light trance hypnogogic that I loose positive control. Is there a particular kind of energy work I should be doing in order to achieve MABA?
Forgive me for going around a little to arrive at my question but I felt some info about me might help.

Many thanks

PS

[CFTraveler]

Hi everyone
I've been advised that the reason I go too deep or not deep enough to reach the "window" for OBE might be because I need to do more lucid dream work and more energy work.

That may have been me.

Last night I spent a few minutes doing the full body circuit until the abdominal energy storage center was full and then I stimulated all seven chakras. I don't spend too long doing chakra work as I am very sensitive to energy. Particularly the brow and crown chakras. After stimulating the brow chakra for only a few seconds I begin to experience pain in this area. Even as I type this and just think about the brow chakra I feel a dull ache in my forehead. I assume this is because I am a spiritual medium and have been practicing spiritual development of one kind or an other for over 20 years.

I am not a medium (although there are some indications I'm developing that way) but I have the same brow sensitivity. I'd recommend doing brushing and sponging for your tertiaries and secondaries, and when you do your chakras stop at the brow chakra- don't stimulate it at all, since it's already sensitive, and if you feel compelled to work it, use water element instead of the usual energy ball or sponge. Also spend some extra time on your base chakra.
Another piece of advice would be not to do any energy work before bed. Just relaxation and passive meditation.

I can get into a light trance easily in a few seconds but as you know it's not quite deep enough. It's when I go past the light trance hypnogogic that I loose positive control. Is there a particular kind of energy work I should be doing in order to achieve MABA?

There are other things you can do after you've developed your mastery of energy work, such as energy body loosening and 'noticing' (which as a medium you're probably better than me at) or 'listening' (ditto.) Listening to your earhiss seems to synch your brain a little faster once you're at that stage, you might try it when you believe you're close to an exit state.

Another thing- don't think of it as a "window of opportunity" that you can miss- think of it as a state you eventually get to, even when you think you've missed it.
I always recommend that you get up when you think you are not going to exit; this does two things- if you get up in-body you know you weren't ready, and you can go back and work on deepening the trance, and it trains you not to go to sleep right after trying to project.
Of course, I also don't recommend doing this at sleepytime, because you may train yourself not to sleep well....

[Psychic Surgeon]

Thanks for your advice CFT.
I have a couple of questions please...

You mention "noticing"... what should I be noticing?

When I was a child (around 8 years) I would listen to earhiss as I was falling asleep. It would start as a very low hiss and gradualy get louder and louder. It seemed to get louder as I got closer to sleep. Eventualy, it would be so loud it would sound like an aircraft taking off inside my head. I would then begin to experience fear and this would bring me back to fully awake. Yet I always had the idea that if I could just put up with it for a little longer when it was at the unbelievable mind boggling deafening stage there might be something at the end of it. Unfortunately, I never had the courage to see it through and eventualy it went away.
My instincts tell me this phenomena is related to OBE in some way - although I have no idea how.
Have you heard of this before?

Many Thanks

PS

[CFTraveler]

Noticing is an exercise you do when you're in trance but not deep enough to try an exit technique. Just stare at the blackness in front of your eyes, and see what happens, the swirling blobs of color, or the images that start to form. This keeps your mind occupied in a passive way, keeps your attention away from your body and your thoughts, while remaining passive (you can make it active also, by consciously changing the color of the blobs you see- but you have to see them, not imagine them.) Anyway, if this is too boring, listening to the earhiss will keep your attention busy, engaging your senses while remaining passive.
And yes, most probably when you had the listening experience what happened is that you entrained yourself and shifted focus/frequency, and the noise was what we call 'astral noise', the noises that sometimes accompany an OBE exit- which can be scary for someone who does not expect it or know it can happen.
If you read the stickied thread entitled "Your First Conscious Projection" (in the OBE Research & Discussion subforum) you will see many possible things you may experience. The purpose of that post is to list all possibilities, to avoid fear and confusion for someone who has never consciously projected, because some of the symptoms can be scary. Doesn't mean they will happen, but they can.

[Psychic Surgeon]

Thanks again for the advice CFT.
I've been doing energy work (filling sub naval storage center and sturing chakras except brow chakra) before attempting to achieve MABA/OBE.
I'm still going too deep or not deep enough. It is so frustrating not having any success.

I remember how it felt when I had the experience of lots of people around me when trying to achieve MABA and not being concerned about their presence. I must have been looking at them through different eyes so to speak because had I have been fully awake I would have been alarmed by their presence.
I don't feel as if I'm getting any where near that realy - so frustrating.

Am I right in thinking that there is more to it than just keeping the mind awake while the body falls asleep - that there is a "shift" in consciousness that takes place at some stage in the relaxation and ultimate falling asleep of the body? I ask this because of my reaction (or lack of it) to the people I refered to earlier being around me during a MABA/OBE attempt.
Also, as I recall, I didn't slip into the state where suddenly the people appeared around me. I believe I clicked out for a while when consciously relaxing and then woke up into that dream like state, noticed the people around me and was not bothered by them being there ( so at this point my conscious awareness was altered). I hope all this is making sense...

Can you tell me anything about getting into this state - any "markers" or "signs" that may be experienced when this state is approaching during the relaxation and MABA process?

Is getting into MABA a constant conscious process - that is one starts off wide awake and relaxes further and further without clicking out or loosing focus at all until the body is literally witnessed by the mind to fall asleep. Or, to put it another way, ( please bare with me) is there a constant unbroken thread of "wide awake" mind from sitting in the chair or laying down to practice, going through deep relaxation into trance and finally exiting the body? (appologies for the long winded questions - I'm just trying to get it right).


Many Thanks

PS

[CFTraveler]

It's possible that you did click out the first time; Some people just program themselves to 'come to' when they do click out using affirmations while they do their relaxation. I never have, though.

Yes, there is a consciousness shift that happens, but it is not the same for everyone- in my case I just 'know' that I'm thinking differently. It's hard to describe, in fact I don't know if 'feeling weird' or 'different' is an apt description, but it's what I get right as I start to 'see'.

Some people use binaural beats (such as the Gateway series or the JOOB beginning CDs) to get to that point, and even though I don't recommend bb's to project, I do think that sometimes they help you recognize the state when you get to it, and then you can know you're in it when you do it by yourself-awake and aware.

Another thing that helps is affirmations- "I am aware of my projections" is a good one to keep you aware while the shift happens- to keep your lucidity going without falling asleep.

[Psychic Surgeon]

Thanks again CFT
Just to confirm please - you slip into an altered state when relaxing down and you know when you are there because you are aware that you are thinking differently - the main point being here is that your concious awareness and focus remain unbroken (no clicking out) from the first moments of relaxation right through to OBE?

Also, can you say anything about how it feels to be mentaly awake when the body is asleep please? I guess I am looking for markers again - something tangible that I can relate to in this sea of new experience.

Many Thanks

PS

[CFTraveler]

Thanks again CFT
Just to confirm please - you slip into an altered state when relaxing down and you know when you are there because you are aware that you are thinking differently - the main point being here is that your concious awareness and focus remain unbroken (no clicking out) from the first moments of relaxation right through to OBE?

The ideal conscious OBE has no click-out, but it is possible to OBE with the click out, provided you become aware that time has passed (and you clicked out) and that you are in a transitional state.

Also, can you say anything about how it feels to be mentaly awake when the body is asleep please? I

This is more difficult, because it is not the same for everyone. Some report amazing clarity, I do most of the time, but things look different- I can see through my eyelids and hear things that aren't there, but know what's going on, not like a dream, where your consciousness is different.

guess I am looking for markers again - something tangible that I can relate to in this sea of new experience.

I'd say seeing through the eyelids is the most obvious marker, but also the sense of movement- like floating on the ocean, for example- is another.