Tuesday, July 18, 2017 Wow! A Very Encouraging Experience

I had a rather exciting experience this morning.  Last night on YouTube I found some videos on "easy", basic ways to astral project that were different from how I normally meditate - they advocated certain techniques that started with lying down. My old Sant Mat training always said it wasn't a good idea to lie down because you'd probably fall asleep.

Anyway, I decided to give the techniques a try; one was all about doing it at the time you normally go to sleep; another was about doing it at a time when you were well rested. Since I saw the videos just before bedtime I tried the bedtime technique out. I prayed my usual protection prayers before doing anything that might involve me leaving my body or experiencing spiritual phenomena.

Apparently I fell asleep, because at one point I found myself awake - fully conscious - and I was looking at something happening in front of me. It was like a "shadow show" in light projected in a big circle on the ceiling, with these beautiful patterns that ebbed and flowed and changed, almost like a kaleidoscope; some of it looked like calligraphy mixed in with what looked like some natural silhouettes of trees and snowflakes. This wasn't at all like imagining something or a dream; it was just like looking at something in a totally awake state. I remember thinking “What the heck am I looking at? Is that coming through the windows?” – Which is unlike a dream, where you can experience the craziest stuff and never even wonder about it – it all feels normal. I also thought that the angle of my body, on its side, was all wrong for me to be looking at something projected up on the ceiling, and besides the ceiling is a very colorful tile pattern that would show through.

I thought to myself that I was completely awake and conscious; I knew who I was, I knew I was in bed; I was aware of my position in the bed, but I began to doubt that my eyes were shut because what I was looking at was so clear and real. I gently attempted to open my eyes and realized that yes, they were shut. I realized I had to use the bathroom and as I slowly started to open my eyes, the visuals faded and I felt like I was coming up out of a deep, deep relaxation - it was almost like waking up except no change in consciousness or thought.

I got up, went to the bathroom, and went back to sleep. When I woke up I completely remembered the event as if it had actually happened. When I dream, I forget dreams very quickly. It in no way was like a dream; it was a perfectly real experience I had in a deep, relaxed state where I clearly saw something happening in front of me. That’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to happen to give me encouragement that these kind of experiences actually occur – that I’m on the right track, that I can actually do what I hope to be able to do – leave my body and visit Irene with fully conscious perceptual clarity.

Later I realized my mind was trying to downplay what had occurred, but the more I thought about it and validated it the more excited I got about it. I’m reworking my session schedule to include one Astral Projection exercise during the day and then adding the “falling asleep” astral projection method that worked last night. 

I just realized I had actually already been practicing the falling asleep method when I started talking to Irene as I fell asleep, keeping myself conscious as long as I could, envisioning an interaction with her, until I fell asleep. It’s basically the same thing with some added intention techniques.

I had a good morning session after I worked quite a bit, then in the afternoon I did about a 45-minute Astral Projection “rope” technique where I got my body in what seems to me to be a fully relaxed state and it was easier and easier to imagine pulling myself out of my body with a rope hanging from above. I need to remember to just let my throat and mouth go dry when I do this which is the best way to get past any throat/mouth allergy discomfort. Anyway, my mind would start slipping off into dreamlike imagery and scenes but all the time I remained conscious and aware and returned to pulling myself up via the imagined rope. I felt like it was a really productive session and would come in handy for setting the intention and mental note to stay conscious as the body drifts off to sleep or to regain and maintain consciousness while sleeping and experiencing something.

The only problem with the daytime astral projection technique is that when I lie on my back I have what seems to be a constant nasal/throat issue where I'm always coughing or swallowing.  I may have to start taking an antihistamine at some point just to be able to get some uninterrupted time for that particular kind of session.