Exit Issues

[TheFifth]

Hello everyone. To start off, my interest in OBE has been varied for the last 5 or 6 years. Early on, my interest was avid and I was successful in triggering a couple of spontaneous exits and WILD type experiences. However, the conscious exit has always eluded me.

My interest in this area has been sort of re-kindled as of late, but I suspect that I acquired some bad habits from my previous practice; first and foremost being what I believe to be the "flinch" reflex. My body is hyper alert and keen as it is, and when stuff starts "going down" just prior to an exit, I do experience a sort of flood of anxiety. This is seemingly totally out of my control, regardless of how much I attempt to relax.

Last night my sleep was very broken. I had a couple of spontaneous projections, where I actually felt myself shoot out of what felt like the throat center. This projection felt like a reflex, very natural and there was a strange noise associated with it. Of course, in a dark room it would be difficult to see much if anything, but in most of my projections my perceptions are not all that conrete. It makes me wonder if I even projected at all, despite the very visceral sensation of the actual exit, along with very clear astral noises. This is an ongoing problem and I'd very much appreciate any insight or similar experiences.

[CFTraveler]

You definitely did exit, even if you lost the rest of the plot, so to speak.
I have to ask, if you've induced WILDs before, what did you do if you had a projection reflex when you were doing it, did you ignore it, or did it get in the way of phasing into the scapes?

[TheFifth]

Do you think it has to do with the memory download? These exits are rarely lucid to the point where I'd like them to be, and the sensations of separation are more powerful than the actual experience.

The WILDs were a result of experimenting with this thing called the "saltcube timer", I'm sure it's still online somewhere. You would basically set it up, then fall asleep before it would wake you up abruptly. It had something to do with interrupting sleep, which of course leads to a lot of this phenomena. I had one or two OBEs as a result of this, a false awakening and a couple WILDS. The transient state of consciousness that this timer put me into sort of precludes memory of anything other than violent exit sensations (mainly vibrations). I sort of ended up wherever I ended up. The sensation of this "reflex" is something new to me; that seamless, natural exit.

[CFTraveler]

Do you think it has to do with the memory download? These exits are rarely lucid to the point where I'd like them to be, and the sensations of separation are more powerful than the actual experience.

There's a few reasons why this could be. It could be the lack of energy, a question of timing, or the possibility that you are clicking out momentarily and were actually having reentry sensations.
I've had exits that were very dramatic, and I could actually see a mist exiting (with etheric vision)and then-nothing. If it's a question of timing, sometimes the sensations happen way before you're actually ready to exit- don't give up and go into an energy body loosening technique before trying the exit again.
And finally, if you're clicking out and waking up (even if for a second) you can feel and hear the same sounds and energy sensations as the exit, but since you're reintegrating, nothing will happen. But when this happens, sometimes falling asleep later you will dream (or remember in dreamstate) what you experienced when you were out.
So there's your possibilities.

The WILDs were a result of experimenting with this thing called the "saltcube timer", I'm sure it's still online somewhere. You would basically set it up, then fall asleep before it would wake you up abruptly. It had something to do with interrupting sleep, which of course leads to a lot of this phenomena. I had one or two OBEs as a result of this, a false awakening and a couple WILDS. The transient state of consciousness that this timer put me into sort of precludes memory of anything other than violent exit sensations (mainly vibrations). I sort of ended up wherever I ended up. The sensation of this "reflex" is something new to me; that seamless, natural exit.

I'm aware of the saltcube methods, I used to hang out at the forum years ago when Matt was still Matt.
If you were having good results with the timer, perhaps you want to move your practice time to 2 hours before your usual wakeup time, it may give you the optimal conditions for an awake exit, because you'll already have slept, and still be sleepy enough to go into theta fairly quickly and without much ado.
However, if you're running out of energy, you might want to do some energy work during the day, not as part of your routine.