Astral travel tips?

[CalmChaos]

This forum needs some posts so I thought I'd throw out this question... does anyone have any good astral travel or lucid dreaming tips?  My head seems to hit the pillow and then boom-- fast asleep. How do you maintain focus and keeping your consciousness awake when your physical body is so sleepy? Is it a matter of just being a good meditator and that's what will help someone to control their dreams better?

[Tanga]

This forum needs some posts so I thought I'd throw out this question... does anyone have any good astral travel or lucid dreaming tips?  My head seems to hit the pillow and then boom-- fast asleep. How do you maintain focus and keeping your consciousness awake when your physical body is so sleepy? Is it a matter of just being a good meditator and that's what will help someone to control their dreams better?

 

For Lucid Dreaming:

- Try repeating many times to yourself "I will remember my dreams tonight" whilst you are lying there falling asleep (you're "programming" your subconscious with repetition).

- Keep a diary and pen by your pillow and set your alarm for the early hours (which is when we apparently have REM sleep - dreaming time) on a night when you're not doing anything the next day. So when it rings it may wake you up in the middle of a dream and you might then remember it immediately and right it down. Hence getting yourself more into the practice of remembering and being more aware of your dreams.

 

I am a natural ludic dreamer (in colour). I used to keep a diary... and still do if I have a particularly interesting dream. I can alter my dreams whilst I'm dreaming - with effort.

And I can recognise the meaning of certain types of dreams that I have.

E.G.  if I dream that I am fighting vampires (either physically, or say I meet them on a train and I'm thinking "I've got to get away from these guys...") I know, that I am sick and my body is fighting a kidney infection (kidney infections make one pee out blood - hence the vampire analogy). I also know that I must try - lucidly - to win the fight. If I win - it means I can remedy the infection with alternative assistance (herbal supplements and LOTS of water).

If I lose - I know that when I wake up, I will have to go down to my doctor - and get some antibiotics.

 

I personally can't say if meditation has helped me be a lucid dreamer - as I didn't know how to meditate when I was a child and had lucid dreams then... *shrugs*

But meditation improves ones concentration and awareness so why not?

 

[chongjasmine]

I am a dreamer.

Sometimes, my dream can be full of adventures.

I enjoy dreaming.

If I think the dream has special meaning, I record it down in my diary.

[EmpyreanKnight]

I would like to try this myself, but it seems a bit dangerous. :o

[chongjasmine]

I would like to try this myself, but it seems a bit dangerous. :o

 

Why does it seem dangerous?

[EmpyreanKnight]

Well, I watched from an -- ahem -- movie that during astral travel, there's a very thin spiritual thread that connects you to your physical body, and that when it snaps, you'll be gone forever. Is that true?

[Little Fang]

I've not experienced a thread, but I've always been told to not get lost or injured.  We will heal in the astral, but it could affect you a little in the physical.  (Feeling sick, fatigued, etc.)  Experiences may differ as I've not gotten injured there before, or lost.  Not to scare you or anything, please take this with a grain of salt. 

 

Dreams on the other hand are harmless adventures!  (Unless it's a nightmare...)

[chongjasmine]

I've not experienced a thread, but I've always been told to not get lost or injured.  We will heal in the astral, but it could affect you a little in the physical.  (Feeling sick, fatigued, etc.)  Experiences may differ as I've not gotten injured there before, or lost.  Not to scare you or anything, please take this with a grain of salt. 

 

Dreams on the other hand are harmless adventures!  (Unless it's a nightmare...)

 

Even nightmares can be fun, if it is not too scary.

[EmpyreanKnight]

I've not experienced a thread, but I've always been told to not get lost or injured.  We will heal in the astral, but it could affect you a little in the physical.  (Feeling sick, fatigued, etc.)  Experiences may differ as I've not gotten injured there before, or lost.  Not to scare you or anything, please take this with a grain of salt. 

 

Dreams on the other hand are harmless adventures!  (Unless it's a nightmare...)

 

I got apprehensive of OBE because of the Insidious films lol. Can astral travel be like that tho? I mean, in the sense that you meet weird, interesting creatures, not necessarily entities that want to hurt you?

[sandrang123]

I've "traveled" since I was a child. I used not to be able to control it as much--and the first time I traveled, I did have a sense that if I was gone too long, my body would miss me! I was maybe only six or seven. And it was funny, too, in that I didn't travel very far. I just slipped out of my body, thought of my mother, and then I was in her room. I remember thinking, "Oh, she's so cold." I told her the next day I had a dream that I was standing next to her and she was shivering, and she said, "Oh, I was so cold last night!" Then at other times, I'd sort of fly out of myself, then I'd get scared and hit my body again like a ton of bricks, like it sucked me back into itself.

 

But now that I'm older, I yearn for these experiences and am not afraid--in fact, I feel at "home" in a weird way. I just sort of ask to do it, when I want to. And I travel much farther, like up into the sky, outer space, through worm holes, to other dimensions (with beings that are sometimes human-like, sometimes not so much so--really awesome liminal experiences. I wish I could tell you "how" to do it, anymore than I wish I could tell people how to channel. I do agree with someone on this thread who said to ask to remember your dreams. But how to take the dream state and access astral projections remains, to this day, a mystery to me.

 

Oh, and for the record: I do not use drugs to obtain this state. :) Unless red wine counts, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

[Trogon]

I have managed astral travel a very few times. The first time was when I was in my teens and reading about OBEs, so I tried it. I have kind of lost significant amounts of time on a couple of occasions (basically feeling like I was "gone" for a few minutes, only to return to find that several hours had passed). My main suggestion is to set some kind of alarm (with a gentle or muffled sound) to remind you to come back.

 

I've read of the thread that connects your spirit to your body. I can recall vaguely seeing it one time, but I didn't feel like it was a fragile thing. I honestly don't know what might happen if it were damaged in some way.

 

Well, I watched from an -- ahem -- movie that during astral travel, there's a very thin spiritual thread that connects you to your physical body, and that when it snaps, you'll be gone forever. Is that true?

 

I'm guessing this was that one with Shirley MacLaine? I can't remember the name of it though ...

[EmpyreanKnight]

Well, I watched from an -- ahem -- movie that during astral travel, there's a very thin spiritual thread that connects you to your physical body, and that when it snaps, you'll be gone forever. Is that true?

 

I'm guessing this was that one with Shirley MacLaine? I can't remember the name of it though ...

 

I was referring to this movie. It's really quite scary. :o

[Trogon]

I remember seeing the trailers on that. I have to be in exactly the right kind of mood for horror flicks ... I haven't seen "Insidious" yet ...

[EmpyreanKnight]

I'm sure you'll have a lot of opportunities to get in the mood since Halloween is just around the corner, Trogon. Try to stream the two sequels too, alright? :D

[Little Fang]

For those who are inexperienced with this, know that you don't have to have an OBE to astral travel either! 

Mine comes as very lucid/vivid "daydreams" while in a meditative state.  Don't feel that you are doing it wrong if you can't see your own body or explore your house.  There are different planes to explore too!

[sandrang123]

Excellent point. Indeed! There are entire other dimensions.

 

For those who are inexperienced with this, know that you don't have to have an OBE to astral travel either! 

Mine comes as very lucid/vivid "daydreams" while in a meditative state.  Don't feel that you are doing it wrong if you can't see your own body or explore your house.  There are different planes to explore too!

[Arch]

Astral travel can indeed be dangerous.

Why that can be dangerous, depends on ones point of view really.

 

That being said, walking down a sidewalk can indeed be dangerous.

Why that can be dangerous, depends on ones point of view really.

 

To me, everything to do with the astral is on a plane that doesn't really help me all that much in my life.

Sure there are all sorts of exciting and interesting things to find there,

sort of like a spiritual theme park.

I could go there if I wanted, but the tickets are pricey and who knows what has broken out of its cage.

It really comes down to if one has adventure marked in ones spirit,

or if one just lives in such a state that the Astral is a natural part of life.

Like if one is a shaman in a tribe, or even one of the tribe members etc etc.

 

For a person living in the west there are other issues.

Christianity has spiritually evolved them in a direction that makes the astral problematic to their psychic makeup.

One is suceptible to get possessed by the entities living there more easily.

As from a Christian perspective one is venturing not into hell, but into the abyss beyond hell.

Now whatever people believe is fine,

but one should not underestimate the collective unconscious imprint of the society one lives in.

 

I'll leave you with a couple of warnings from Jung, on Hindu spirituality,

which if I'm not mistaken Astral travel is imported from.

In these matters one needs a great deal of psychology in order to make it palatable to the

Western mind. If we do not try hard and dare to commit many errors in assimilating it

to our Western mentality, we simply get poisoned. For these symbols have a terribly

clinging tendency. They catch the unconscious somehow and cling to us. But they are a

foreign body in our system--corpus alienum--and they inhibit the natural growth and

development of our own psychology. It is like a secondary growth or a poison.

Therefore one has to make almost heroic attempts to master these things, to do

something against those symbols in order to deprive them of their influence.

 

If you think in those terms, you build up an apparent Hindu system with the psychology of the Western mind,

and you cannot do that--you simply poison yourself.

 

Now I'm not to say if you have taken adequate measures to protect yourself.

Nor if you should dare the risk, this is just my perspective on the phenomena,

and you are free to agree or disagree.  ;)

[bastet]

I have not done Astral travel that I am aware of...

I did manage to have a lucid dream without the intention of having one.

 

This happened after meditating on Israel Regarie's Golden Dawn Tarot and I am convinced

it happened because of that. It was a fun and very pleasent experience.

 

I have not been working with the Golden Dawn Tarot since but I probably should since I had wonderfull results!

 

[bastet]

If you think in those terms, you build up an apparent Hindu system with the psychology of the Western mind,

and you cannot do that--you simply poison yourself.

 

Now I'm not to say if you have taken adequate measures to protect yourself.

Nor if you should dare the risk, this is just my perspective on the phenomena,

and you are free to agree or disagree.  ;)

 

But is not our mind poisoned by culture anyway?

 

[bastet]

Well, I watched from an -- ahem -- movie that during astral travel, there's a very thin spiritual thread that connects you to your physical body, and that when it snaps, you'll be gone forever. Is that true?

 

Insidious? :)

[Arch]

But is not our mind poisoned by culture anyway?

 

Well that depends on how you look at it.

Jung saw our society as a metaphorical soil that we where planted in.

So, if you have survied in that society and managed to function,

then the society isn't poisonous to you.

 

However if the society doesn't work for you and you end up on the street as a beggar or insane in a mental hospital.

And it can be proven that it was the society itself that made you unable to function.

Then it can be likened to being planted in a radioactive desert.

And yes then society and your culture would be poisonous to you.

 

However if you do function and then go into a plane(s) that isn't included as acceptable in your culture.

You might end up destroying your capability to function in your society.

Sort of like a plant that gets soil from another area that has some bad parasites that kills it.

 

Now people who struggle to function might actually find help in say the Astral,

sort of like a plant who gets good soil transplanted in a garden in an otherwise inhospitable environment.

 

It really depends, that is why I said it depended on the "spirit" of the person.

Some "spirits" can stand such things, some even thrive.

But, if you have no clue what you are doing, and have a "normal" life in your "normal" society.

Then you are gambling with all the stability in your life and basically saying "all in" to the spirit realm.

[bastet]

But is not our mind poisoned by culture anyway?

 

Well that depends on how you look at it.

Jung saw our society as a metaphorical soil that we where planted in.

So, if you have survied in that society and managed to function,

then the society isn't poisonous to you.

 

However if the society doesn't work for you and you end up on the street as a beggar or insane in a mental hospital.

And it can be proven that it was the society itself that made you unable to function.

Then it can be likened to being planted in a radioactive desert.

And yes then society and your culture would be poisonous to you.

 

However if you do function and then go into a plane(s) that isn't included as acceptable in your culture.

You might end up destroying your capability to function in your society.

Sort of like a plant that gets soil from another area that has some bad parasites that kills it.

 

Now people who struggle to function might actually find help in say the Astral,

sort of like a plant who gets good soil transplanted in a garden in an otherwise inhospitable environment.

 

It really depends, that is why I said it depended on the "spirit" of the person.

Some "spirits" can stand such things, some even thrive.

But, if you have no clue what you are doing, and have a "normal" life in your "normal" society.

Then you are gambling with all the stability in your life and basically saying "all in" to the spirit realm.

 

Thanks for that wonderfull and interesting reply.

I understand what you are saying here and I would consider myself to be one of those people who

was damaged by my culture.

 

However, that does not necessarily mean that taking on another tradition will always help you. I think a lot of the (spiritual and cultural) traditions of the world are full of very problematic concepts for the modern mind.

 

It takes a long time to find your own path and to find out which plants are beneficial and which are poisoness. For me wether or not I think I am on a "spiritual path" is of no real value... for I will always be on one, wether I want to or not.  Only awareness of how I was influenced (or still am influenced) gives me the ability to make better choices for myself.

 

But yes you have a point. I cannot speak for those people who feel at home in their sociaty and life. I would not recommend them to do anything religious or spiritual anyway. If it is not broken why try and fix it.

[Arch]

Thanks for that wonderfull and interesting reply.

I understand what you are saying here and I would consider myself to be one of those people who

was damaged by my culture.

 

You are welcome!

 

I know what you mean by damage.

My own upbringing in conservative Christianity,

made me unable to function well in contemporary society,

or even the subgroup of that church for that matter.

 

If not for extensive research into among others Jung,

I would probably have killed myself by now.

[Vasixlisa]

I've "traveled" since I was a child. I used not to be able to control it as much--and the first time I traveled, I did have a sense that if I was gone too long, my body would miss me! I was maybe only six or seven. And it was funny, too, in that I didn't travel very far. I just slipped out of my body, thought of my mother, and then I was in her room. I remember thinking, "Oh, she's so cold." I told her the next day I had a dream that I was standing next to her and she was shivering, and she said, "Oh, I was so cold last night!" Then at other times, I'd sort of fly out of myself, then I'd get scared and hit my body again like a ton of bricks, like it sucked me back into itself.

 

But now that I'm older, I yearn for these experiences and am not afraid--in fact, I feel at "home" in a weird way. I just sort of ask to do it, when I want to. And I travel much farther, like up into the sky, outer space, through worm holes, to other dimensions (with beings that are sometimes human-like, sometimes not so much so--really awesome liminal experiences. I wish I could tell you "how" to do it, anymore than I wish I could tell people how to channel. I do agree with someone on this thread who said to ask to remember your dreams. But how to take the dream state and access astral projections remains, to this day, a mystery to me.

 

Oh, and for the record: I do not use drugs to obtain this state. :) Unless red wine counts, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

 

Hey :)

 

that sounds very interessting! I always wanted to travel astral, but don`t seem to have the ability. But I have the feeling of slipping out of my body from time to time. Not farther than a few meter and always with bouncing back after hitting some kind of barrier or something, that is holding me back.

 

Do you have any tipps on exercises for astral projection?

 

Thank you in advance

[~D~]

This forum needs some posts so I thought I'd throw out this question... does anyone have any good astral travel or lucid dreaming tips?  My head seems to hit the pillow and then boom-- fast asleep. How do you maintain focus and keeping your consciousness awake when your physical body is so sleepy? Is it a matter of just being a good meditator and that's what will help someone to control their dreams better?

 

Hi! CalmChaos,

Joe Treacy on youtube has one for astral travel...I havent used it, but i have used his other videos, and he seems ligit and not harmful etc...He has a big following...guided meditations...

 

~D~