MAP Start-up Group

[Pilar]

Here we go...week one :shock:

I'm starting this thread for a small group of folks beginning the book. I'm starting day 1 here and some others are on Day 6. Rest of the community: Feel free to join in/get support/comment. Hooray for a safe & supportive space! Thank you Robert Bruce.

Aloha
Pilar

[Charles]

Good luck with MAP pal!

I'll have an eye on the thread.
Keep us updated!

[TonyC]

Thanks for making this Jill, this will allow anyone that is interested in the group to participate at their own accord. So far we are 4 strong and we will be communicating thru this thread and if it starts getting too trashed we can each make a Thread Named "Yournamehere's MAP Journal" It just depends on how many hits we get on this little topic. As of 8/30/2006 I am on day 6 of Mastering Astral Projection. The only thing that I have had any trouble with is some body awareness and the sponging action. I cant do the sponging action if my toes needed it to stay attached to my feet. But for the most part everything is going great. I have had some pretty big energy movements throughout my body and Im enjoying the company of the group they keep me in line for the most part and keep me enthusiastic enough to get thru the whole 90 days.

Best Wishes,

Tony C.

[Charles]

I'm also on day 6. The body energy stimulation is also rather difficult for me too. I spend an hour and a half on a daily basis on stimulating the energy; which is way off from the 10 minutes or so prescribed in MAP. Being aware of a specific body part isn't that of a problem for me. Things get sour when I have to move awareness at will. Like Tony, there's definitely a strong energy movements that is felt. For exemple, my feet sole have been vibratings for a whole day.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Great idea, guys (and gals). :D Keep with it, the more time goes by and the more you practice, the stronger you will feel the energy and be able to control it. I noticed something last week that I was going to post, but this seems a good place to put it.

I have one of those back massagers that you can get at a drugstore for about $35. It has 2 speeds of vibration, is flat and covers most of the back area when reclining or lying flat. I was using it after I hurt my back and had been doing some energy raising. After I turned it off, my energy body was humming, thrumming, tingling, and moving like it had a life of it's own. This continued for at least 30 minutes without any effort on my part. I normally have my energy "start up" on it's own throughout the day from doing energy raising so much. But, this was in overdrive! So, I figure that it works similar to using a feather or stick to encourage energy feeling, but it stimulates on a much larger scale. Thought it might help anyone who is having trouble.

[Pilar]

Hey, that sounds like a great tool for Charles! He's been asking about additional methods for raising body-awareness.

I've been thinking of some additional techniques that you might want to add to your repertoire, C, from dance and martial arts.

Do you like to do any tai chi? I was thinking that it might benefit you to include some exercises that circulate energy throughout the system to remove any blockages that might be hampering your body awareness.

'Holding the tree' a chi gung posture, energy 'sweeping' movements from tai chi, and postures like 'warrior pose' in yoga are very good for this. When I do them, I can feel earth energy pushing through my legs and lower body. Myself, I have noted blocks in my lower body which interfere with me connecting to the earth/grounding.

I did some of these postures one day by the ocean and after only 1/2 hour my whole body was vibrating :lol:


PS I'm now on day two. I found the energy work went easily for me yesterday and my meditation was an extra challenge because my partner decided it would be a good time for him to go outside my bedroom window and weedwhack :D

Pilar

[Charles]

Thanks for suggestions guys!

Painterhypnogirl:
The back massagers is a fantastic idea! I might get one too if I'm not able to make progress. I aprreciate your input.

Pilar:
I did Tai Chi for 4 years. I won't bring the Tai Chi techniques into MAP. I had some negative experiences at that time and I don't want bad memories interferring with MAP. Howerver, thanks for the suggestion :)

[monkbiker]

I'm on day 7 of MAP. I get a pretty strong tingling sensation on the soles of my feet anytime I direct my attention to them - I'm talking IMMEDIATE tingling, within one or two seconds.

I'm having some success with the sponging action and directing my awareness up through my legs, abdomen, hands, arms and shoulders. But all I'm getting is this "tingling"; the same sort of tingling I get when my hand or arm or foot goes to sleep, only not as strong.

[CFTraveler]

I'm on day 7 of MAP. I get a pretty strong tingling sensation on the soles of my feet anytime I direct my attention to them - I'm talking IMMEDIATE tingling, within one or two seconds.

I'm having some success with the sponging action and directing my awareness up through my legs, abdomen, hands, arms and shoulders. But all I'm getting is this "tingling"; the same sort of tingling I get when my hand or arm or foot goes to sleep, only not as strong. That's the right kind of tingling- it's working for you.

[Charles]

Getting better with energy body stimulation. One thing though, while doing the toes/foot energy stimulation, I got tiny spasm from toes and legs. I don't know if it's related to the energy work. Anybody else experience this?

[Pilar]

Hi there, Charles.

I'm guessing this is normal, although I can't be certain as I'm only on Day 3. However, last night when I went through my energy stimulation exercises, and was practicing the rubbing/stirring/brushing/sponging on the base of my thumb, it quickly started throbbing and pulsing and then I was walking around the house afterwards trying to shake it off, because I had an ache in my wrist and forearm for about an hour afterwards lol

After reading some of CFs OBE journals in the forum here (you may want to check out), it sounds like there are alot of variations on the kinds of sensations we are yet to experience :)

Vibrations, rocking, shaking, noises, buzzing---I think it about to get alot weirder than what we are currently experiencing :lol:

Cheers
Pilar

[Charles]

Hi there, Charles.

I'm guessing this is normal, although I can't be certain as I'm only on Day 3. However, last night when I went through my energy stimulation exercises, and was practicing the rubbing/stirring/brushing/sponging on the base of my thumb, it quickly started throbbing and pulsing and then I was walking around the house afterwards trying to shake it off, because I had an ache in my wrist and forearm for about an hour afterwards lol

After reading some of CFs OBE journals in the forum here (you may want to check out), it sounds like there are alot of variations on the kinds of sensations we are yet to experience :)

Vibrations, rocking, shaking, noises, buzzing---I think it about to get alot weirder than what we are currently experiencing :lol:

Cheers
Pilar

Heheh yeah that's true. As long as there's an experience it's a good sign I guess!

[Pilar]

Oui-bien sure!

[Pilar]

Hello friends,

Just wanted to check in on how it's going with the MAP exercises. I had a little bit of trouble yesterday with the awareness-splitting practice - distraction, I guess. But also, I just didn't have a good practice day because I couldn't stay awake. Fell asleep twice during my exercises. So all in all, it wasn't too productive. Looking forward to a better couple of days.

How are you all doing? Any new dreams, sensations, developments?

Pilar

Pilar said:

Vibrations, rocking, shaking, noises, buzzing---I think it about to get alot weirder than what we are currently experiencing
You have nooooooooooooooo idea! :lol: You've started down a road that will not only shake your energy body, but will probably shake your foundations regarding what is real. :shock: Look forward to an amazing journey! :D

[Spite]

Hi everyone, thought I would post seeing as I am part of this group and I haven't said anything yet.

I've been enjoying my energy raising lately. I can lay down and spark on my energy body pretty much at a moments notice. My legs are feeling well, although I had a bad groin injury awhile ago and its still not fully recovered; I feel it while doing energy work, its not the greatest feeling, but I know its healing.

At this rate I should be raising my primary centers with ease.

Good Day,
Spite

[Gilo]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd say hi and I would like to offer my encouragement to the group, I'm just at the end of week two but have a little trouble with awareness splitting sometimes one half of me will have trouble keeping up with the other half.
I find if I just focus on sponging that side of my body for about a minute, I can resume the awareness splitting with ease.
One thing I cant explain is that since I have started MAP I have started smelling things while dreaming :? , its not every night and it has never happened before, well not that I can remember anyway.

[Pilar]

Well that sounds kind of fun, Gilo, you could have alot of fun with that, visiting all kinds of places from flower shops to pizza parlours and having a virtual smell-smorgasbord :D

Pilar

[Gilo]

Unfortunatly the smell was of ammonia, and waking up with that still lingering in your nose is no fun :lol:, I'm sure thats just a small fraction of what were all looking into.

[Pilar]

I haven't had any conscious OBEs yet, but my energy work is going really well. I find my energy body buzzes into awareness really quickly (thank you dance-yoga-martial arts teachers!!). I have found that I am flexing my lucid muscles in my dreams to take control and steer them away from scary things that are happening.

I have had alot of problems with nightmares my whole life. It is rare to wake up in the morning refreshed with memories of pleasant dreams.

The other morning I managed to alter a dream that was quite scary into something safe and innocent. This encourages me.

BTW, welcome Spite!

Oh, and I wanted to throw this out there for anyone who is interested. I have recently found a terrific site on the web http://www.yogatoday.com that offers free downloadable yoga classes, a new one every day, and it cycles amongst three teachers who are very good, so you get a good sampling of styles, and it is a bonus to my MAP training.

aloha
Pilar

[Spite]

Great website Pilar!

I haven't taken Yoga before or anything, but I have done a few excersizes here and there. I wanted to go to a yoga class, to meet some women....and maybe learn some yoga :D...jk. With this website though I think it'd be a good start.

Also, about dreams...I read somewhere that writing down a sentence to a paragraph of what you want to have happen during the night will greatly effect your dream mind. Just write something down and keep it in mind while you drift off to sleep. I haven't tired it personally, but it may help your situation.

Have you tried using a dreamcatcher as well?? Those are supposed to catch bad dreams.

Well anyways, best wishes,

Spite

[Gilo]

I think the Yoga link will be good as I have found that starting a meditation in the first couple of weeks encouraged me alot as well as immersing yourself in AP topics like reading this website or getting as many books as you can on the topic, I presume it helps keeps the idea at the front of your mind.

Having abit of a blank spell with the dreams for the past couple of nights, just cant remember them, I know I had one last night because I have memories of waking in the middle of the night after a dream and saying to myself I must remember this but come to fill out the details this morning and its not coming too me, looks like I will be racking my brains the rest of the day until I remember :lol:

[Pilar]

I am also finding the yoga/meditation a boon to my ap practices along with chi gung etc --basically anything that enhances skills of raising energy and stabilizing the mind. I personally am finding reading the forums isn't a good idea because it fills my head with too many of other people's experiences and sets up an expectation for me that I am also going to have bad/frightening ones. So I'm not reading the boards anymore. Just trying to build my own practice from scratch and keeping it peaceful and positive. I also found I was wanting to set a goal for myself in doing this--which gives my practice a personal focus.

[Spite]

Yea I stay away from alot of the negative stuff. I usually just find good topics and stick with them. Just keep up with the program and be happy, all will be well. :D

While I'm usually know as a "fluffy bunny", "love and light" type, I do think it's a good idea to be aware of what you might encounter in the astral. If you can learn about it, not get wrapped up in fear about the negative possibilities, then you won't be afraid when something happens that is normal, but a lot of new people take to be negative. For instance, the "Dweller on the Threshold" is a classic example of something that can be terrifying for anyone not familiar with it.
http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/cha ... ?t=sp-fear (http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/chat-forum/viewTopic.jsp?t=sp-fear)

On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend reading the Possesion and Serious Neg Abuse forum for beginners. Those cases are the extreme's of what can happen and are pretty rare. One important thing to know, though, is that we can create our own "thought forms" in the astral that can scare the living daylights out of us. If you are fearful, scary things might just show up that you created yourself from your own fears. Being aware of this can make it go away. The best way I've personally found, is too laugh at something scary. For me, it always instantly disappears.

If you travel the astral enough, you are going to come upon something a bit scary. That's the reason that all philosophies of meditation teach opening up in protection. The least of which is surrounding yourself with white light. Think about it this way, would you go to a mall parking lot at night, in the dark, leave your doors unlocked, go inside the mall, come back out with your head down, fumbling around for your keys with your wallet/billfold in plain sight and get in your car without looking around you? Don't you lock your doors before leaving first, keep your purse/wallet tucked safely somewhere, and look around you not only to be aware of what/who is around, but also to let them know that you are alert and aware? If you don't do those things, you've probably never lived in a large city. :D Or had your car broken in to. The point is, it's wiser to be aware of the negative possibilities, take intelligent steps to guard yourself against them, then go about your business with confidence and not get wrapped up in fear about what "might" happen. You can't change the astral by not believing there isn't anything negative out there. But, you can change your attitude or fears by educating yourself, taking some precautionary steps, and then, fearlessly moving forward, ready for exciting adventures. :D

On that note, I thought I'd post a link to one of the best ways I've found to protect yourself from anything. It's an Alex Grey art, video clip that is about kundalini, but I personally use it as a visual for myself whenever I'm in a situation that is a bit scary. It's all about personal power and my belief that we are eternal and indestructible. It's stops everything in it's tracks, whether it's my own thought forms, or something else. I don't worry about it, I just use my power visual, and, poof, scary thing gone. :D Hope it helps someone else, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyzIKDVxw3Y

[Spite]

That was a cool movie. And your points on being aware of negative things that possibly could happen is a good suggestion.

I guess I can be a little light headed when suggesting things. I've been doing this for a few years now and I don't really even think about alot of those things that happen when beginning the projection process. I still even need work on some fundamentals, like remembering. I lose sight of some things that become natural; I guess thats why I'm doing MAP again.

Good Day,
Spite

[Pilar]

Hi there,

I have a history of really frightening experiences in the astral (and physical too!) so am trying to retrain in that regard. Have gotten alot of helpful info on the site, mostly confirming others have seen what I have.

Enjoyed the video !! I recognize the image from 'Alex' (moderators) avatar?

Inspiring images!

I am on day 8 now and am getting better at integrating the MAP with my yoga-meditation-chi gung practice. Having fun!

Any new smells/experiences anyone ? :)

I'm having success removing blockages in various places and battling off a night-visitor I have had for awhile. Finding my Buddhist meditation practice coming in very handy. Things are going well.


ps-what happened to TonyC and Charles?

Pilar

[Pilar]

While I'm usually know as a "fluffy bunny", "love and light" type,
pps--not sure, but perhaps someone pointed this out about you in the past as a sort of criticism? but I wanted to affirm that taking a positive approach to difficult situations is a good character trait, and often a sign of having overcome alot of adversity, (which is definitely not 'fluffy bunny'!!) and from reading other posts of yours, is sounds like you are that kind of person--a good quality to have!
P

[TonyC]

Im always around :D . Just havent had time to update my experiences here on the forums. Keeping up between the group is just as time consuming as doing energy work, But dont let that fool ya I like chatting and going over experiences with people even though they may be different than my own. Well today im on Day 8. I decided to take some days to go back over what I had already learned and in doing so increased the rate at which I can relax and move energy around my body. I do believe that it is in my best interest to continue with the program again. I was just making sure that I had everything down. I will probably be updating here every 4-5 days in one big post so that I can have more time to devote to my excercises and Group emails and chat. I am also doing the Gateway Experience throughout all of this as well.

[Pilar]

Keeping up between the group is just as time consuming as doing energy work,

..and quite addictive, I am finding :wink:

I started week 2 over again because I just felt like I needed to slow down and spend more time on my energy work. So I am redoing day 8 today. Seems like my dream-memory goes in fits and starts. I have noticed this for years now and I wonder if there are correlations with the moon-phases and dream recall?

I just finished my sponging exercise and so at the moment I am vibrating, whole-body.

Feels weird :) Like I'm a spaceship, about to take off! :lol:

[Gilo]

:lol: yesterday I decided I was going to go over week two again to concentrate more on energy work and to give me more time to prepare for the non-thought exercises.
Something I have noticed an increase of is when lying in bed or just focusing your thought with your eyes shut I will get like a shudder of the blackness, similar to a camera focusing onto a black card but zooming in and out rapidly. I find concentrating on the action makes it stop while just letting it happen lets it continue longer.

[CFTraveler]

This sounds like the beginning of a phasing episode.

[Gilo]

I was wondering what it was I just thought it was an optical illusion, I need to pay more attention on how it starts to see if its something I can work on and develop

[TonyC]

Well Im going to have to give up MAP for a few days Im having a few family issues and dont know when I will have access to a computer again. I hope to be back as soon as possible and will probably try to stick with it until I get back on here. Till then see you guys around. :cry:

Best Wishes,
Tony Calhoun

[Gilo]

Well Im going to have to give up MAP for a few days Im having a few family issues and dont know when I will have access to a computer again. I hope to be back as soon as possible and will probably try to stick with it until I get back on here. Till then see you guys around. :cry:

Best Wishes,
Tony Calhoun

Hope everything works out for you Tony, we'll be here when you get back.

[landru27]

This MAP start-up group is a great idea. With respect to MAP, I have at least a little in common with almost everyone posting here, and a lot in common with a few people.

Like some others, I progressed nicely through the first week and a half, and then decided that I needed to develop my energy body a bit more before proceeding.

At this point, (like monkbiker said of his experience), the moment I focus my awareness on my feet or my hands, I feel a tingling similar to the pins-and-needles of when one's foot "falls asleep". I will add that I know it is -not- my foot falling asleep, because if I stand up and walk around, I do -not- feel the numbness that is felt when a foot really does fall asleep. (Besides the fact that (a) feet don't fall asleep in 1 or 2 seconds, and (b) there is nothing that could be cutting off circulation when I am, e.g,, lying flat.)

I have felt quite a variety of distinct physical sensations when moving my awareness up and down my legs and arms.

The most exciting one I felt was like spurts of water rushing -inside- my left thigh. I felt these a few days in a row, for 30 or 40 minutes each day, and became annoyed when they did not return, but then I read in AD that such a sensation usually indicates a constricted energy pathway clearing up a bit, so it was instead encouraging that the rushing water feeling went away.

At one point, I felt a sensation -just like- someone tracing along my leg with the tip of a ball point pen. That was pretty exciting, too, because I really had a sense of tactile imaging / body awareness.

In general, though, I feel like I am having trouble achieving real body awareness, and I feel rather stuck in the mud with respect to energy development. I definitely feel physical sensations, and I have felt that tingling in my feet spread up my legs to just below my knees, but mostly it seems like I become aware of my body because of the tingling, not the other way around. I have particular trouble -feeling- the sponging action, although I can imagine it / picture it in my mind.

Within the first few days of doing MAP, I felt definite throbbing in my left thumb and most of the rest of my left hand, in concert with focusing my body awareness. These days, however, when I focus on my hands, right after the tingling / pins-and-needles starts, I can feel my pulse in every finger and part of my palm / wrist. It's kind neat being able to take my pulse with one hand, but the ongoing physical sensation of my pulse distracts my body awareness, and I find it hard to focus enough to stir or brush or whatever.

On a different note, once while focusing on both palms at once, I felt "fingers" running down from the very top of my head. It was just like small insects crawling through my hair, or what happens when a few drops of water land on the head, and trace their way downward (except that, since I was lying flat, gravity would have pulled water drops down toward the back of me head, and these "drops" were going in various directions.) It didn't concern me, but I had recently read in AD Robert's advice to (a) not go near the primary energy centers until the secondary work is well developed, and (b) to work from the base center upward, not downward. So I didn't focus any attention on my head; I just "let it be".

Some specific questions I have are:

What can I do to improve my ability to -feel- my body through body awareness?

Is there something that can take the place of 'sponging' which will be as effective, which some people might find easier to do?

Sometimes I think I have a blockage in my knees; if I'm having trouble with the body awareness, is there another technique for clearing such a blockage?

Does anyone else feel their pulse to the point of distraction? If so, have you found away to work around that?

Many thanks.

[landru27]

I thought of another question:

When the energy is flowing, what does it feel like? Most of the physical sensations Robert describes in MAP and AD have to do with energy structures being repaired, cleared, or strengthened. He also says that such sensations always fade with continued energy work. So, what does it feel like when the energy is flowing well? I assume it is subtle, since he says that the strong sensations point to problem areas. Is it subtle? What else can people tell me about it, from their own experiences?

[Pilar]

Welcome, landru! Your questions are great. I too can relate to the sensations beginning to fade away, and some disappointment in that, as if I am no longer making progress :wink: I will keep an eye in here and wait for the experts to pop in and answer your questions for the benefit of all of us!

[Riverz End]

Is there something that can take the place of 'sponging' which will be as effective, which some people might find easier to do?


I've found the "awareness hands" described in Astral Dynamics to be helpful in pulling energy up past the knee's. I don't think that is mentioned in MAP or the NEW V2. But basically you visualize a pair of hands and run them through your feet. Then you can use the hands to sponge energy up your legs etc.. It's still sponging but the hands seem to give me more control somehow.

[CFTraveler]

Is there something that can take the place of 'sponging' which will be as effective, which some people might find easier to do?


I've found the "awareness hands" described in Astral Dynamics to be helpful in pulling energy up past the knee's. I don't think that is mentioned in MAP or the NEW V2. But basically you visualize a pair of hands and run them through your feet. Then you can use the hands to sponge energy up your legs etc.. It's still sponging but the hands seem to give me more control somehow. Something I used to do when sponging just didn't seem enough, was visualize (tactilely, that is) a bunch of bb's(aka tiny ball bearings) running up and down (inside) my legs. This usually got the sensations going, and then I would switch to sponging, depending on the case.

[Pilar]

Both of these techniques are really helpful, CFTraveler and Riverzend, thanks for sharing. I will try them both. Although last time I did my energy exercise, as soon as I created the mental intention to begin work at my left toe, the energy just flared to life and started moving upwards on its own. I moved my awareness to the other leg, same thing. Then my hands, same. Within a few moments, my awareness was split four ways and began banging back and forth with large sweeps from toes/fingers to hips/shoulders and just went on like that for my whole meditation. In fact, I was trying to make some change or just to move forward in any way at all, and couldn't. The energy did that pretty much on its own and nothing further happened. ?? I'm also getting the falling sensations when I meditate, and increased deja vu during the day.

[CFTraveler]

landru wrote:
Does anyone else feel their pulse to the point of distraction? If so, have you found away to work around that? Actually, this sometimes happens in the hands and feet and is quite normal. It can be distracting, but you can use it- try to redirect it to where it isn't- that way instead of trying to ignore it, you can use it.
Sorry I didn't see it the first time I looked.

[Riverz End]

I'm also getting the falling sensations when I meditate, and increased deja vu during the day.

That's a very good sign! :D

Last night I spent some extra time on the relaxation, plus I had some Paw Gep Dream Tea (http://www.cherylsherbs.com/store/index.html?item12000050.html) which is really wonderful stuff. I started to get the heart beats but I got excited and it went away and it was too late to try again. But now I know that I have to spend more time on the relaxation part. Robert mentions how this is often overlooked for the more exciting stuff, I'm thinking he's right.

[Pilar]

Whew! Today was interesting. I am currently having a different experience every time. I was having trouble getting my basic sponging/brushing focus going. My mind kept wandering. Eventually my whole energy body just sort of jump-started and then I felt like I was activated all over at once. I decided to try to focus on the spinal bounce and at that moment, I suddenly became aware of my heart--my chest felt really tight and my heart was racing a bit and it felt like someone was holding me down. I felt pressure on my forearms and sudden awareness of the room I was in as if I could see it brightly. I decided I would relax in response and that helped some of the chest tightness-heart racing. I was going to go back to the spinal bounce because I figured something might actually be happening and right then my timer went off :roll:

RiverzEnd-the tea sounds good--haven't heard of that one? Do you get it at a health food store or on-line?

[landru27]

Apart from the energy work related to the MAP exercises, I often do some extra energy work when I climb into bed for the night. When I do that, sometimes I drift off but then wake up again. When that happens, I often find that more of my body than what I was focused on has become active. I'd guess this is along the lines of "awareness momentum" which Robert mentions in Astral Dynamics.

It is always an encouraging feeling.

This happened last night, and when I drifted back awake, I felt distinct activation sensations in my base center (which I take it is also called the root chakra). That was quite encouraging indeed.

Also, similar to some of the recent posts above, I often find that I feel energy movement sensations 'spontaneously' in parts of my body -other- than where I am focusing my awareness. Though, I've not had anything as strong as a "jump start" or vibrations.

The spontaneous sensations are always encouraging, just like the momentum ones.

[TonyC]

Well an update to how my everything is going is good. I have restarted week 1 to make sure I had all the basics and I am glad to say that I have improved upon getting results faster and moving energy around without waiting as long as I was. I have also been able to relax faster and better which helps me feel the energy movement better within my body. Night before last I started feeling a slight vibration while I was laying down to sleep. It wasnt very strong or for very long but when I was trying to increase the vibrations they kindof vanished. :( . But it is progress albeit small. Until the next update...

Best Wishes

Tony C.

[Pilar]

Glad you're back, TonyC!
I've missed a couple of days lately. The old 'discipline' thing. :wink: I am beginning week 3 today. I've been doing lots of energy work--chi gung ocean breathing is working great for raising energy up quickly, and 5 animals gung fu for grounding the excess back out! I'm really enjoying my practice. :D

[Spite]

Hi everyone,

Just checking in...I'm in and out of MAP again...but no problems at all!

I've been doing energy work everyday and keeping my mind clear and healthy. Alls well in my neighborhood.

Spite

[Riverz End]

RiverzEnd-the tea sounds good--haven't heard of that one? Do you get it at a health food store or on-line?

Aloha, the link I posted is from a local shop which is a bit on the expensive side IMO. I'm sure you can get something similar from a local place. I have become addicted to that tea though, there's something in it that makes me feel great.

I tried the rope technique last night and I started to get some sensastions and then for some reason I couldn't focus anymore and lost the ability to visualize. But the good thing was that I did get into a light trance so I think I'm ready to start up with MAP again.

Deep relaxation is the hard part for me and seems to be key to it all. I tend to carry a lot of stress in my body. I really need to start some kind of yoga or something.

[Pilar]

I wonder--is this the 'lucid dreaming' herb that contains high amounts of caffeine? My boyfriend is taking it and he couldn't sleep last night :)

Well, my ap practice took a dive this week! I am getting ready to travel for 2 weeks, so we'll see how well I do with consistency. I am beginning week 3...

[Rob]

I hope you don’t mind me joining this group, but I intend to start MAP again. I only managed to get as far as the trance induction techniques and then for one reason or another I gave it up. I have calculated that if I start it now, I should have it finished before the new year, all being well.

PLL
Rob

[Pilar]

Yay! Rob's here. Welcome, welcome. *hug*

Well folks, I am away at writing school for 2 weeks and have the time and space to focus intensely on my practices...so, that means I also have the time and space to get back to the map. Looking forward to week 3 which has been delayed for a bit now.
Pilar

[Rob]

Wow! Thanks for the welcome Pilar and *hugs* back at you. :D

Lets see how far I get this time, please feel free to shout at me if I'm not doing my meditations and start getting side tracked.

PLL
Rob

[Rob]

It’s very quiet in here.
I guess people must be busy working through the MAP book.

PLL
Rob

[Pilar]

oh, thank god. Maybe if you and and Rob are both doing it you can both kick my butt so I can stay on track. I admit I have gotten off track. :oops:

[Gilo]

Getting off track seems to be a big issue with me :lol: but keep returning pretty quick, I'm a couple of days off week four and found the quietening of the mind particularly tricky, I'm too used to doing a million things at once and to try and take that to nothing can be problematic. With that in mind I am getting better and I feel that any meditation I do is increasing in quality. At first I just could not keep things quite but I used a candle flame too focus on which seemed to give things a kick start.
Do people think that having an absence of thought is a natural thing?

Dream recall is getting steadily better, I have had up to four dreams per night with recall, this is not every night though and I have found that doing another session of exercises just before I go too sleep (sponging etc) can improve this.

I mentioned last time I posted about the shudder when I had my eyes closed (CFTraveler mentioned 'phasing') I have found that I can just sit and watch this and it will be ongoing but the slightest thought change e.g. what can I do with this?, will bring it to a stop.

Sorry its been so long, I'm promising to keep my updates alot more regular :D

[landru27]

Hello!

I've been inactive on this forum for more than two months (work, holidays, etc.), but find that I can likely return to regular visits.

I see that it's been over a month since the last update to this MAP start-up thread. Are people still interested (just busy, like I've been)? or was this not helping folks?

While I've been inactive on the forum, I've actually done better about regular AP / OBE exercises in the past month or two than before. I've had some really stunning sensations, and have steadily progressed toward being able to reach trance state.

I've caught up on reading a few other threads on this forum, and will post some replies here and there.

[TonyC]

I must confess I have been somewhat inactive as well. But I plan to change that on Jan. 1 when I move into my new house I will start back up MAP from day 1 yet again but that is my new years resolution... Finish MAP and achieve a conscious OBE by the end of the year.

[CFTraveler]

Go Tony!

[Charles]

Hello everybody,

I'm in the same situation as Tony here. I've been totally inactive in the last few months regarding MAP. The thing is, I got discouraged by the energy body stimulation exercices...I was doing more than an hour each day of body stimulation and still had a hard time mastering the exercices. So, here I am, back to square one. Hopefully it will work this time around.