Review: The Quantum Akashic Field

by Jim Willis

It's been a long time since I wrote an OBE book review. It's not because I ran out of books to read. It's because I've been focused on other things. Part of the problem is that this book was difficult to read, and I mean that in the literal sense. The contents were good, but the font/typeset was so small I had to wear reading glasses (aka "peepers" or "cheaters") in order to read it. It was micro-font.

The book was 174 pages long, and each page was on thick, high quality paper. But if it was a normal font, it might have been 250 pages. So I was struggling to read every page, and therefore reluctant to go back to it; I'd put it down and not pick it up again for weeks.

I know I've said this in many other book reviews, but here it comes again: this book is fascinating and different from all the rest. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I'd describe the book as "A philosopher's struggle to find life's meaning in the light of his OBEs."

The author, Jim Willis, is a good writer; he's authored 11 books, so he has great grammar, spelling, organization, and thoughtfulness. He doesn't waste your time.

Willis comes from a Christian background. Before he retired he was an ordained Christian Minister for more than 40 years. He wrote sermons and shouted the messages of Christianity at a pulpit in front of congregations of church-goers. And then, in 2013 or so, he started having out-of-body experiences, and needless to say, it caused him to do a lot of soul-searching, and his soul-searching is reflected heavily in this book. In a good way. OBEs are where the spiritual rubber hits the spiritual road! And that fascinates me. For example, he writes:

"If an argument about the existence of God hinges on proof texts selected from a Bible that is said to be without error, then all someone has to do is show that the Bible contains some discrepancies and the argument is over. God simply ceases to exist. In other words, I wasn't preaching about God anymore. I was preaching about an inerrant, infallible Bible. In my theology, the Bible had taken the place of God." (pg. 50)

He's one of the first Christians I've ever read who pointed out a discrepancy in the Bible, one I had never heard before (and I've heard many):

"And language changes and cultures evolve. I find it fascinating, for instance, that the opening chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, describes paradise as a forest-like garden of Eden. Sixty-six books later, in Revelation, the Bible's final book, paradise is described as a magnificent city." (pg. 133)

Rather than interpret OBEs through Christian-colored glasses, he started doing research, some of which was science-oriented, but much of which was in other spiritual traditions. So yes, there are a few quotes from the Bible in this book, but Willis also talks open-mindedly about Buddhism, Shamanism, and other spiritual traditions. He talks about spirit guides, past lives, and other "new age" beliefs. He also cites Robert Monroe and William Buhlman. I've got to admire a Christian who is as open-minded as Willis. So many religious believers, especially Christians, are not. I applaud Willis for being open-minded and doing the hard work.

Willis is level-headed. For example, he's quick to point out that:

"If OBEs constitute a scientific event as well as a metaphysical phenomenon, they will stand up to scrutiny. Indeed, they must stand up to scrutiny or they are not worthy of our study." (pg. 36)

He goes on to cite various scientific research and fundamentals of quantum physics, referencing, for example, one of my favorite non-OBE authors, Dr. Dean Radin, chief scientist at the Institute of Noetic Science (IONs). (If you haven't read Radin's book Entangled Minds, you definitely should!)

In many of my book reviews, I complain that there are not enough OBE narratives, so readers have no idea the author's level of experience: Are they nut jobs (or "nutter" as they say in the UK), an inexperienced "book-knowledge-only" author, or have they actually been there? Thankfully, Willis has ample OBE narratives and explains exactly what his OBEs are like. Thank you, Jim Willis.

For example, he gives an OBE narrative from August 11, 2014, in which he finds himself on Martha's Vineyard trying to talk to the President of the United States (at the time, Obama). In another narrative, he describes flying directly into the Sun to "burn away all my impurities" He not only made it, he "enjoyed every second of it."

His narratives clearly point out that, like me, he's met various spirits and even the "invisible helpers" I wrote about. He even struggles with what to call them because nomenclature can be brutal to Christians: One person's "Angel" is another person's "Spirit" or another's "Higher Self." Choose your words carefully because each term is "loaded" with positive and negative connotations for the believer!

"Unseen angels," the Bible calls them in the book of Hebrews. The "Spirit Guides" of shamanic traditions. Our 'Higher Self.'" (pg. 61)

I can really relate to Willis because in some ways we're a lot alike. We're both old guys. Like me, he lives (or lived) on a properly in the middle of the woods, embracing nature. Like me, he questions everything, including our perceptions. Many years ago I wrote an article that compared OBEs to NASA: Why are most ordinary people convinced that the planet Mars is real? They've never been there (in-the-body that is!), so all they've got to base their beliefs on is anecdotal evidence: photographs and videos, all of which could easily be faked. Willis makes a similar analogy, except with England, since he'd never been there.

Near his home is a "Medicine Wheel" that he thinks might have been a sacred place for Native Americans who once lived there, and possibly a "vortex." Many of his OBE narratives involve traveling to the medicine wheel and witnessing rites, ceremonies, and spiritual lessons there.

I was pleasantly surprised when one of his narratives described beings I've seen myself. Here is his description:

"There I met someone, or something, that is very difficult to describe. It's not a 'being,' as such. It's more like a pillar, or tube, of light. It seems bright and, in contrast, I seem dark. (I guess anything would appear dark next to that light.)" (pg. 97)

In the past I've described them (verbally) to friends as looking like a giant, human-sized Coleman Lantern filaments floating a couple feet in the air. And I believe these beings are the basis for descriptions of "Angels" in the Bible.

Any self-respecting fundamentalist Christian would say "See? See? Being of Light? That's how the Bible describes Lucifer!" And yet, in my experience, these "angels" go out of their way to help people and perform sacred missions, often with unconscious and unaware astral travelers in tow to use as unwary tools of their trade. But I digress; that's a different topic for a different day.

I was disappointed that Willis never addressed "The Elephant in the Room," and that is: Why do many (at least fundamentalist) Christians think out-of-body travel is a trick of the Devil, evil, or even "Witchcraft," which is forbidden in the Bible?

Or the other, even bigger Elephant in the room: Willis talks about meeting and interacting with various spirit guides and spirits, even giving them names, like his spirit guide, Sobuko. But the Bible strictly forbids consorting and talking to spirits. How does he reconcile that?

This is definitely an excellent book if you want philosophy and conjecture with regard to out-of-body experiences. It's a search for meaning and answers. It's brutally honest and dripping with self-doubt. He asks all the right questions, and he treats opposing views fairly. And he comes up with excellent conclusions. For example:

"You inhabit all realities. It's only your five sense that create the illusion that this one is all there is." (pg. 91)

Then he argues his point by citing various theories of quantum physics, such as that we may be creating our reality simply by choosing from probable outcomes and collapsing the wave-forms by observing them. But how does that lead you to Ultimate Meaning, to "God"? That's a difficult question to answer. But he struggles to do so.

If you're looking for OBE techniques or tips, this book is not for you. There are no exit techniques in there. Well, he almost does. Willis offers some practical advice and breaks it down into several pages of instructions, which he summarizes as:

1. Make the Decision
2. Stick to it (Don't give up!)
3. Develop a System
4. Focus, Focus, Focus!
5. Stay Calm
6. Keep a Journal

He also suggests:

• Learn to find stillness: Stillness of heart, stillness of mind, stillness of body.
  
• Learn to staying grounded
• Try to slow down your heartbeat.
  

He's also quick to point out that he's not always successful in getting out-of-body. He writes:

"I fail to still my mind as often as I succeed. Maybe even more often. It's a constant struggle." (pg. 125)

I feel your pain, Jim! 

You may be wondering: What does all this have to do with the quantum akashic field? Not much. Aside from a few small attempts to relate OBEs to quantum physics, there's really very little in the book about the "Akashic Library" or quantum mechanics. I'm not sure why so many authors try to relate OBEs to quantum physics: both William Buhlman and Michael Raduga did it, but neither did it justice. If you want a good discussion of how all this relates to quantum physics, go back to Dean Radin's book "Entangled Minds" which I mentioned earlier.

I enjoyed this book a lot and give it 4 stars out of 5. It's more philosophy and conjecture than I wanted, too light on techniques, but worth the money.

Bob Peterson
21 February 2023

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews

Problem 6: Stuck in Sleep Paralysis

by Bob Peterson

This is part 6 in a series of articles I wrote to help you solve out-of-body problems. 

The previous 5 articles I focused on problems getting out-of-body. Here are links to them all:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep
3. Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade
4. Problem 4: I Get Scared and Chicken Out
5. Problem 5: I Can't Get The Vibrations
   

Now I will focus on problems you encounter after you've induced the proper state. 

In this article I'd like to focus on a problem many have faced: You exit your body, but you find yourself tightly glued to it, stuck in sleep paralysis, and unable to go anywhere.

I first wrote about this problem twenty-one years ago in this article.

The secret lies primarily in knowing what’s really happening.

In the sleep paralysis state your consciousness seems to be focused, not in your astral body, but in your "energy body," also known as the "etheric body." Since the energy body is closely associated with your physical body, you won't be able to dislodge it or get it more than a few inches/centimeters away from the physical body. That can’t happen until you’re dead, or close to it.

There are exceptions to the rule: "physical mediums" or "spirit mediums" seem to be able to remove their etheric body from the physical. You may also be able to dislodge it temporarily if you're sick or injured, but for most normal people, there's just no way.

The secret is, you need to transfer your consciousness from your energy or etheric body to your astral body.

After a lot of experimentation, I found a way.

1. Close your eyes and keep them closed.
2. Push forward with your consciousness and imagine your consciousness is moving forward. Even though you may not feel any movement, your consciousness will move forward in your astral body. If you doubt that it is working and open your eyes prematurely, your awareness will zip like a ball on a rubber band back into your energy body. So keep your eyes shut and have faith that your consciousness is moving forward.
3. Keep pushing forward with your consciousness as hard as you can, just like walking underwater, until you are about fifteen feet (five meters) away from your physical body. Of course, since your eyes are closed, you can only guess (or approximate) how far this is, so don’t obsess on the distance. Just take a best guess.
4. Once you are safely fifteen feet/five meters away from your body, open your (non-physical) eyes again, and you will be in your astral body and free to roam.

In his book The Vibrational State, author Maverick Vardøger described a similar technique he calls "Breaking the Glue" in which you close your eyes and sit up and pry yourself free with a great deal of force coupled with imagination.

You are now free to move about the cabin. Enjoy the ride!

Bob Peterson,
07 February 2022

Problem 5: I Can't Get The Vibrations

by Bob Peterson

This is part 5 in a series of articles I wrote to help you solve problems inducing the out-of-body state. Here are links to the previous four articles in the series:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep
3. Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade
4. Problem 4: I Get Scared and Chicken Out
   

In this article I'd like to focus on another common problem: You can't seem to get the vibrations no matter how hard you try.

First of all, let me just say the vibrations are different for everyone, and they can even vary from instance to instance. To some people they feel like touching a live electric wire: disrupting, electrical and almost painful. Other people feel them as a loud, roaring, rushing or hissing noise. Some even find them stimulating, soothing, arousing or even orgasmic. The important thing is: some people don't feel them at all; they are completely undetectable. That means you may experience the vibrations and not even know it.

The flip side of that coin is: the vibrations may not even be needed to leave your body. Many people leave their body without getting the vibrations at all, or at least they haven't noticed them.

When I first started having OBEs in the early 1980s, the vibrations felt rough and electrical, but as time went on they got smoother, almost nonexistent. Still, after all these years I get the full-intensity vibrations every once in a while (like every couple years) and it surprises me.

So if you can't get the vibrations, don't sweat it. It means very little.

I suspect maybe the vibrations are a physical-body phenomenon, similar to a mild seizure, or maybe the brain's interpretation of when it's flooded with sleep paralysis hormones. And maybe we only notice it if we have full-body awareness when we exit the body rather than becoming conscious after we exit.

At any rate, here are some ideas to help you get the vibrations:

Energy Exercises

Some astral projection teachers use energy exercises to induce or "call" the vibrations. The idea is: instead of performing out-of-body exit techniques, you relax and simply perform energy exercises. Robert Bruce and other authors recommend the microcosmic orbit used in Tai Chi and Qi Gong, where you visualize non-physical energy flowing like a river through your body in a circle, starting at the Dan Tien (belly button chakra) downward to the root chakra, back up the spine to the crown chakra, then back down to your Dan Tien again.

Other teachers recommend "Velo" (Voluntary Energetic Longitudinal Oscillation) and similar techniques where you try to develop a harmonic resonance with a disc of non-physical energy sweeping your entire body from your feet up to your head, and back down. Nanci Trivellato's book Vibrational State and Energy Resonance is 494 pages devoted to this technique and how to do it properly. If done properly, it can bring you the vibrations.

Another popular energy exercise is Kundalini, in which you visualize a stream of energy flowing from the Earth up to your root chakra, up your spine, exiting out through the crown chakra. I've never practiced kundalini yoga, but I've read stern warnings not to do it without proper guidance of a competent guru. You've been warned.

Technique Cycling

One of the most important contributions from Michael Raduga is the concept of OBE "technique cycling." Technique cycling is where you lie down, fully relaxed, and try for a few seconds (like maybe ten seconds) to use one OBE exit technique. For example, let's just say imagined rocking. If you've made no progress after ten seconds, switch to a different exit technique (say, phantom wiggling) and try that for another ten seconds. If there's still no progress, switch to a third exit technique (say, imagined floating.) If none of these three exit techniques induce the vibrations, start over with your original technique (imagined rocking). It's best to cycle through a small number of pre-selected techniques. If you try to think of different exit techniques to try, or select too many techniques your brain will engage too much. You should try to keep your mind as silent as possible, and keep it as simple and possible. Raduga suggests three.

Special Music

On rare occasions I have gotten the vibrations while meditating to music with my headphones on. It has always been when the music elicits a state of connection; it brings me into the zone. It's almost like the concept of a Koan in Zen Buddhism, a concept designed to jar your consciousness out of its normal pattern and bring you to a state of grace (like the sound of one hand clapping). In my case I've gotten the vibrations while listening to these songs:

• Close to the Edge by Yes
• Awaken by Yes 
• Ritual by Yes
  
• And You and I by Yes (Is there a theme here?)
  
• Cygnus X-1 by Rush
• Echoes by Pink Floyd
• Ashes Are Burning by Renaissance
  

Harness Unfamiliarity

In 2019 I wrote a blog article titled Harnessing Unfamiliarity. It is about how you should break your routines and try new things for your OBE practice: new locations, new beds, new directions. It can help.

Use Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB)

It may be easier to induce the vibrations if you use the Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) technique. Again, this is one of the key concepts of Michael Raduga. For more detailed instructions, read this article from my blog:

Wake-Back-To-Bed Explained 

The idea here is to interrupt your sleep after 6 hours (typically) with an alarm. Once your sleep is interrupted, stay awake for a brief period of time, then go back to bed and perform out-of-body exit techniques: the technique cycling I mentioned earlier. Many people find they can induce the vibrations easier when they practice after interrupted sleep.

Harness Your Fear

In 2017 I wrote an article for this blog about Turning the Tables On Fear. Part of the article was about how to use your fear to induce out-of-body experiences.

A couple years later I had a nightmare in which I was being attacked by a horrifying demonic monster, and I woke up with a start. In a way, this was a form of WBTB because the nightmare startled me awake.

Realizing it had just been a dream, I lay back down in bed and did an experiment. I visualized the monster's face, and as I did, a cold shiver ran through my body. As I focused on the monster, the shiver quickly developed into a mild form of the vibrations. I knew I could easily drop into an out-of-body state, but I hesitated: What if the monster was real and waiting for me on the other side? So I pulled myself back to full-body awareness and the vibrations faded away.

Just for fun, I visualized the monster's face again, and the vibrations came back. Now it became a challenge and a game! I spent about 10 minutes just pulling myself out of the vibrations and back in, just by visualizing the monster's face. I must have done it 10 times in a row. Eventually I got tired, gave up, and went back to a normal sleep with no more nightmares.

Conclusions

Hopefully this article gave you ideas to get you to the vibrational state, and from there fully to the out-of-body experience. If you have more techniques to call the vibrations, send me an email and I'll do a follow-up article.

Bob Peterson,
24 January 2022

Problem 4: I Get Scared and Chicken Out

by Bob Peterson

This is part 4 in a series of articles to help you solve problems inducing the out-of-body/astral projection state. Here are links to the previous three articles in the series:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep
3. Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade
   

In this article I'd like to focus on another common problem: You can get to the vibrations and are all set to take off, but suddenly you get scared and abort your attempt.

In a previous article I wrote about how the Guardian of the Threshold can manifest your subconscious fears and reservations in many strange ways, preventing you from inducing an out-of-body experience. If you hear voices--strange or familiar-- that try to talk you out of the OBE, ignore them: they're not real. The same goes for other weirdness, like phone calls, knocks on your door, or even ugly creatures, old hags, or demonic-looking creatures.

Fear can be a big show-stopper when it comes to astral projection. In fact, I dedicated an entire chapter of my first book to the problem of fear and how I had to overcome it before I could successfully self-induce OBEs. I even wrote another separate article on this blog on Turning the Tables on Fear.

When you start your OBE attempt it's easy to put on a brave face and tell yourself you're going to be strong and unflappable. But when you're finally out-of-body or deep in the vibrations, the reality of it (some would say shock and awe) can throw all your hard work and training all out the window. You may tell yourself, "I'm not ready for this" or "I'm in over my head" and abort the experience. That's the wrong attitude.

Someone once said that bravery is not being unafraid; it's acknowledging the fear and not letting it stop you. The fear is okay. The fear is natural. The fear is instinctual. But do not let it stop you.

In my experience the best thing to do is grant yourself some time. Make a deal with yourself. Tell yourself, "This time I'm not going to let it stop me. This time I'm just going to go along with it another ten seconds and see what happens." Usually that's all you need. Once the vibrations start and your fear-reaction sets in, you only need to ride it out for a few seconds until, poof, suddenly like magic, you find yourself fully out-of-body, embraced by a comfortable and calm silence. No more monsters, no bogeymen, no more vibrations or noises. It will all just suddenly disappear and you'll find yourself floating peacefully above your body in tranquility. Then the adventure begins!

To calm their fears, some people say a prayer of protection before their OBE attempt. It doesn't matter whether you pray to God, Jesus, Angels, Spirit Guides, Odin or whomever. It just needs to embody a sense of protection. If you're Wiccan or pagan, you can also perform a ritual of protection or cast a spell of protection.

Others choose to visualize a white light of protection surrounding your body.

Unfortunately, you cannot eliminate fear altogether because it is instinctual: our bodies have developed certain fears, such as fear of the unknown and fear of death, as a means of self-protection. So the best you can do is mitigate the fear, try to reason with it, and wait until it lessens with time and experience.

Bob Peterson,
10 January 2023

Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade

by Bob Peterson

This is part 3 in a series of articles I wrote to help you solve problems inducing the out-of-body state. Here are links to the previous two articles in the series:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep 
   

In this article I'd like to focus on another common problem: You're able to induce a common precursor to out-of-body experience, "the vibrations," but they just fade away and don't produce an OBE.

In my 43+ years of experience, here is what I've learned:

The vibrations can be induced by turning your focus inward, narrowing down your focus into a tiny stream of watchful awareness, while letting go of all sensory input. In many cases it involves temporarily abandoning your thoughts, emotions, and expectations and just allowing it to happen: surrendering to whatever happens.

Once you accomplish all that, the vibrations often sweep into your body like a crescendo of electric energy, like touching a live electrical cable where some unknown force turns up the power more and more.

Needless to say, that can be quite jarring. I've written elsewhere that it's like getting slapped in the face: hard to ignore, especially when you've gone to such great lengths to make your mind quiet and still. And therein lies the problem: That slap-in-the-face jars you out of the proper state and brings back all those thoughts and emotions you worked so hard to eliminate. "Oh my God, it's happening! What do I do? Am I in danger?" On and on chatters the monkey-mind, once again out of control.

Although some so-called experts say you should try to encourage the vibrations, but in my experience it's best to ignore them altogether, remain calm and re-center. Or as they say in England, "Keep Calm and Carry On."

Return your mind back to that quiet, unfazed state with no thoughts and no emotions. In fact, I've experimented quite a bit with this state and found that when the vibrations sweep in:

• If I try to encourage the vibrations, they fade away quickly.
• If I try to think about the vibrations, they fade away slowly.
• If I get scared or emotional about the vibrations, they fade away quickly.
• If I do absolutely nothing, the vibrations reach their peak intensity then fade away slowly.
• If I remain calm, bring my mind back to a quiet no-thought/no-emotion state, the vibrations come back, full force.

So my advice has always been:

• Remain as passive and calm and possible, and try to just "observe." Tell yourself you've just going to wait and see what happens next.
  
• When the vibrations reach their peak intensity, try to move physically: try to stand up, sit up, roll over, or similar.
• If you're in the correct "vibrational state" your body will be in sleep paralysis, which means your physical body won't move, but your non-physical (or "astral") body will.
• If you don't try to move, but instead imagine you're floating up in the air, or imagine you move away from the body, chances are nothing will happen. In my experience, just using your imagination is not enough to actually leave the body. For some people, it may work, but for me it doesn't.
  
• Most people don't realize they're out-of-body at that point, so they forget to move their astral body as they would the physical body.
  

An interesting corollary is that the inverse can also be true; cause and effect may be reversed: In techniques like my "Almost Move Technique" and Michael Raduga's "Phantom Wiggling" technique, moving the non-physical body, even just a little, can induce the vibrations, whereas normally the vibrations can enable movement of the non-physical body.

In other words, moving the non-physical body (if you have good enough focus) can allow the vibrations to come, just as well as the vibrations can allow you to move your non-physical body.

Another interesting observation is what happens next: After the vibrations reach their peak, and after you've moved your non-physical body, everything changes: Your conscious awareness will then be completely associated with the non-physical body and the vibrations will suddenly and mysteriously disappear, as if you've left them behind along with your physical body. Then you can go about exploring the out-of-body state.

Bob Peterson,
13 December 2022

Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep

by Bob Peterson

This is the second in a series of articles to help solve problems inducing out-of-body experiences/astral projection. These are "Pre-OBE problems." Later I'll do a series of articles on Post-OBE problem solving.

Here's a link to the previous article: Problem 1: Nothing Happens.

This time I'll address a very common problem: you fall asleep when practicing. It happens to a lot of people, even the best of us. So here are some suggestions to solve it:

Practice in the morning

You're most likely to fall asleep if you practice right before bedtime. It's always best to make your OBE attempts in the morning, preferably right after you wake up from your last sleep cycle. That's when you should be more alert, conscious, and less tired. It's best to make your attempts right after you wake up, even before you even move your physical body.

Many people, myself included, need to get up early and go to work, which restricts the mornings on which you can practice. For that reason, I try to practice on the weekends and holidays.

When I was young and single, I used to spend Saturday and Sunday mornings trying to induce the OBE state: I'd wake up around 7:00 and start my OBE practice. After repeated attempts, I'd often give up and allow myself to drift back into sleep. Then I'd wake again around 8:30 and start practicing again. If that failed, I'd go into another sleep cycle and wake around 10:00, and try again. Some days I'd even go into a fourth cycle. Many days I didn't have that option because a neighbor would start mowing his/her lawn or countless other distractions.

Don't practice from your bed

We are all conditioned through years of habit to fall asleep when we are in our bedroom and in our bed. So you're much less likely to fall asleep when you practice from a couch, recliner, a chair, a hotel bed, or a bed at a friend's house. Some authors suggest setting asleep a special place, like a favorite couch, for your practice. That will condition your subconscious to think of it as your special OBE spot, and give you the right frame of mind.

Practice sitting up instead of lying down

I've had a vast majority of my OBEs lying down, but if falling asleep is a problem, you might be better able to focus if you're sitting up. Buddhist monks and other meditators often meditate sitting up. They often use a special meditation cushion and recommend keeping your back straight. It's worth a try.

Develop single-minded unwavering focus

We fall asleep by letting our minds drift. If you strive to maintain a single-minded unwavering focus, you're less likely to fall asleep. You need to silence the "Monkey Mind" and try to keep the inner thought-chatter to a minimum. The first few times you practice you may notice lots of mind-chatter (same goes for meditation), but the more you practice, the better you get at keeping your mind quiet, still and focused. It may take years or practice before you can keep your mind from its endless chatter.

Consider Caffeine

Author Michael Raduga suggests waking up very early in the morning or even the middle of the night, and slamming (quickly drinking) an energy drink, coffee, green tea or other drink with caffeine, then going back to sleep immediately before it takes effect. He claims to have good success doing this. Caffeine affects different people different ways. It's never kept me from sleeping, except in rare case. So you may want to experiment here.

Vary the amount of light in the room.

Our sleep cycles are greatly affected by the amount of light coming into the room where you practice. The more light, the harder it is to sleep. When people can't sleep at night it's often because they have too much light in their bedroom, and the solution is to make their bedroom as dark as possible by unplugging nightlights, putting black tape over LED charging indicators, turning off their cell phone's ambient display (or turning the phone over).

The opposite is also true when it comes to inducing OBEs: If you keep falling asleep, add more light to your practice area to inhibit sleep.

Don't be afraid to fall asleep

Lastly, don't be afraid to fall asleep. One common "rookie" mistake is to stay too alert and not let yourself get close enough to sleep. You need to carefully walk that knife-edge between awake and asleep. I've fallen off that edge and fallen asleep at least ten times for every successful out-of-body experience I've ever had. If you fall asleep, just chalk it up to experience and try again. Don't get discouraged, never lose hope, and don't stop praciticing.

Bob Peterson,
22 November 2022

Problem 1 "Nothing Happens"

by Bob Peterson

Wow, it's hard to believe I've been doing this blog for more than ten years now, having published my first article in November 2012! Time flies whether you're having fun or not.

I'm a problem solver by my nature. In this series of articles I want to help solve some common astral projection/OBE problems. OBE problems can be classified into two types: pre-OBE and post-OBE.

Pre-OBE problems are encountered trying to achieve an out-of-body experience, but before you get there such as when the vibrations fade or when your heart starts beating wildly when you're trying to exit.

Post-OBE problems are problems that occur after you've left your body, like getting sucked back in prematurely or finding yourself glued to your physical body and unable to move.

First I'll focus on pre-OBE problems.

Today's article is about a common problem: You try to leave your physical body but nothing happens. Eventually you get bored and give up in disgust. This is a common problem, but you can take several steps to solve it.

Use your active imagination

If nothing happens, try to engage your active imagination. When we fall asleep, we un-focus. We kind of let our minds wander until our control slips away.

When you try to achieve an out-of-body experience, you still need to approach sleep, but when nothing happens it may help to focus on inner events.

Robert Monroe's "Lines of Force" Technique is just one example in which you learn to focus inward; in this case by imagining a two lines of energy extending from both sides of your head. Focusing on these lines of force engages your active imagination and gives you a focus on inward events. The trick is that you need to keep that inward focus as you approach sleep.

Get closer to sleep: walk that edge

When nothing happens it often means you're too far from the edge of sleep. If you just lie there and expect something to happen, chances are it won't, at least not until you get very close to sleep. One good exercise is to try to watch yourself fall asleep. See how close you can retain awareness of what happens around you before you lose your grip on consciousness.

Wait for hypnagogia

If you get very close to sleep, you will start to naturally hallucinate: you may see visual images called hypnagogic images, like fragments of ordinary objects like a pen or a book. You may hear auditory sounds like people whispering or saying fragments of sentences. This is all normal and natural, and all it means is that you're getting very close to sleep. These hypnagogic hallucinations happen to everyone, but most people are too unconscious to notice they happen. (There are also hallucinations as you come out of sleep called hypnopompic hallucinations and you can use these to your advantage too).

After several years of practice I got to the point where I can see hypnagogic images almost immediately after lying down.

My favorite OBE technique involves taking control and manipulating the hypnagogic images. So if nothing happens, you just need to get closer to sleep.

Don't be afraid to fall asleep

One of the most common problems is that people are afraid of falling asleep during OBE practice. They keep themselves vigilant and alert so they can pay attention to the sensations like the vibrations, or to keep a watchful eye out for those hypnagogic images. The problem is: if you're too alert, it's never going to happen. If you're too wide awake, you'll never see them. So don't be afraid to fall asleep during practice.

I like to tell people I've fallen asleep at least 10 or more times for every successful out-of-body experience I've ever had. Chock it up to experience. And after you fall asleep, you may wake up after the sleep cycle and mentally scold yourself, "Well, damn, that's another attempt wasted." But it's all part of the learning process. It happens to the best of us. Like the Windows operating system: reset, reboot, and restart.

When I was young I used to spend hours trying over and over: walking that edge, falling asleep, waking up and trying again. It's easy to get discouraged, but don't despair: just accept it and try again later.

Again: If you're too alert you'll never get to the OBE state. Nothing will happen. You need to "let go." You need to get very very very close to sleep, and you need to straddle that thin line of sleep. It's a razor's edge, but once you get there, you only need to maintain that "thin line" for a few seconds, like seven or so seconds until the vibrations hit and you're home free (of your body).

Don't be afraid to move

Many people don't realize that you actually need to initiate movement like you do in the physical body. Some astral projection books say to leave your body, just imagine yourself floating and you will float. Maybe that works fine for some people but for me it usually doesn't. I need to initiate movement. Just like Michael Raduga's "Phantom Wiggling" technique, it's more than using your imagination. It's like actually moving your non-physical body.

My rule of thumb is: Wait for the vibrations to reach their peak, then try to either physically get up, physically stand up, physically roll over, or my personal favorite, swing your arms. This is identical to moving your physical body. There is no difference. If your physical body moves, you weren't in a deep enough trance and need to go deeper for your next attempt.

If you don't try to physically move, it's very likely that "nothing will happen." You need to initiate that non-physical movement.

What should happen is that sleep paralysis will keep your physical body frozen. Your physical body should stay put and your non-physical body (astral body, whatever) should move.

Many people just lie there and do nothing, not even realizing they have left their body until they eventually fall asleep. You need to be proactive about this.

In my next article, I'll cover another common pre-OBE problem: "My OBEs are too short."

Bob Peterson,
08 November 2022