Distracting sounds and images

[magic]

I couldn´t concentrate on the breathing and trance yesterday cause images and I think some voices popped into my head, It felt a little when you just wake up from a dream and aren´t fully concious yet.
Maybe you will say that I was beginning to fall asleep and the was dream images beginning to manifests itself, but i don´t think they were.
Cause when i gave up and decided to sleep the images continued and prevented me from falling asleep.
And it isn´t that i think them up, they just comes to me.
Luckily this usually only happens when i practice a few hours ahead of normal time.

[hasalameth]

So where do you think they come from? Do they seem to hold a message?

This is what helps me relax and focus:

*Shower / take a warm bath prior to practicing
*Be rested
*Only lightsource - a candle in the room
*No distracting sound or anything distracting what so ever
*Breath awareness really helps
*Don't be hungry, but do not practice immideatly after eating

Keep us updated on how it goes. Good luck.

[EDIT: added some]

[magic]

I don´t really know where they comes from, if it´s from my mind or
If i´m picking up some noices.
I´ve never tried to analyse them since I wan´t to get rid of them to get into trance or just do breath excersises, perhaps I should try a see if there any pattern to it all :)

[CFTraveler]

The trance state is the same, when it comes to brainwaves as the pre-sleep or post-sleep state. In other words, you achieved the hypnagogic state. The only diff. is that when meditating, since you don't have the intention of going to sleep, the images/voices may be recalled easier.

[magic]

Well, in that case I think I must been in the hypnogogic state for atleast an hour before finally beeing able to sleep, cause I tried real hard.
I´m not sure I was in that state cause my mind sometimes also thought about normal things.

[Korpo]

Hey, magic.

Did you ingest caffeine yesterday?

If I drink a coke or sth to close to bedtime, it can happen I lay my head down, close my eyes, fall into the hypnagogic state and cannot get beyond it. Normally when you try to sleep you simply let go from the hypnagogic state and that's it, but for me the caffeine blocks this process, and induces, stabilises and prolongs this hypnagogic phase.

IIRC you can use this phase for Monroe-style phasing OBE, where you select one of the scenes that is shown to you, draw it close and enter it - it is described in the Phasing Sticky here:

http://forums.astraldynamics.com/viewtopic.php?t=7207

If an energy blockade was removed that can also induce an agitated emotion which might provoke this state. Anything that stirs the mind in the presleep state can prolong the trance phases involved.

Oliver

[magic]

well i did drink some warm milk some time before ;)

[Korpo]

Extremely agitating! * yawn *

Oliver