Falling sensation, can't seem to achieve it very well.

[stephy]

I'm trying to reach a state of trance but have issues with getting the body relaxed that deeply. It does seem to work but at a point it's like it stops working, no sense of falling or more warmth. I made it so with each breath I would imagine myself in water and releasing all air upwords and I would go down a bit. Is this to be expected or what's going on?

[heliac]

Yea i can't quite get it to work too well either if i try to make it happen with imagination. It seems to just happen on it's own once you start to get deeper into a meditative state though.

[CFTraveler]

I'm trying to reach a state of trance but have issues with getting the body relaxed that deeply. It does seem to work but at a point it's like it stops working, no sense of falling or more warmth. I made it so with each breath I would imagine myself in water and releasing all air upwords and I would go down a bit. Is this to be expected or what's going on? Hi stephy. Yes, it can happen, visualizations only take you so far, and it's good to switch them around. One thing to do is not try to 'feel' something when you're trying to relax or get to trance- instead use a tool (such as breathwork, mental visualizations, tactile imaging, or some combination)- to keep your mind busy without getting verbal, and forget about what you're supposed to feel- just focus on what you're seeing or hearing.

[Tom]

Floating downstream on a raft works better for me - but I have to go backward while facing up. If I try to see where I am going it doesn't work. It may sound weird, but I tried other things like the downward elevator, falling leaves, leaves in a stream, falling in a bottomless pit. Even laying on a beach and counting the waves didn't help. I keep coming back to floating downstream, which worked for me as a little kid. As far as I can tell when you find the right imagery it will click for you.

[stephy]

I have trouble letting go still, at one point I think I observed the breath without controlling it at all and it was weird. I keep trying to get into the observe only state but each time I notice I'm not focusing on breath for a split second then I'll go back to controlling it. :\

[Tom]

Okay, control your breathing. There are patterns like inhale 4, hold 2, exhale 4, hold 2 (4:2:4:2) or you can just start by making the inhale and exhale the same without holding in between (4:4). It isn't necessary to count seconds. Just a steady, even count is enough. The ratio is more important than the actual duration. You may find that after holding the pattern for a while that you end up just watching the breath.

[sleeper]

I'm not sure how others think of this, but as far as this website goes, there are probably three distinct ways to think of falling.

One is the falling sensation that we think about when we induce a trance. for me, this requires constant focus and if i lose that, then i also lose the falling sensation.

Another is the falling sensation that wakes us up with a jolt during sleep, usually because of astral re-entry or something like that.

Another is the constant falling sensation that is experienced in deep states of stillness and trance and a very monk-like practice is usually required for me; probably because my meditative practice is intermittent these days, but i've also experienced this during pre OBE. for me, this requires near-complete inner stillness, high lucidity and minimal movement. This kind of constant falling sensation feels like i am rapidly falling through empty space (or water); my vision screen is typically very dark with white wavy vertical lines. At this point, the sensation of falling happens without any effort from me. in fact, any effort by me will usually ruin my sense of falling and make my trance worse, not better.

the level of trance i get depends on my level of preparation: how is my inner calm? my lucidity? my physical calm? do i need to pee? etc.

so if i have difficulty trancing, i assess myself to see what other thing i might need to work on.

i'm telling you this stephy because all spiritual practice is holistic; each thing affects other things. sometimes the best way to get over the metaphorical peaks is to kick them over, other times, it's best to go around them. which method to use is up to you to decide.