Following CD program

[Andy Mulligan]

Good day to all! I'm hoping to master astral projection. I first found out about AP in 2011 and was fascinated by it. I bought Mr. Bruce's book and was able to have a few brief experiences. I won't bore you with my life story but I always had other things going on and wasn't really able to give AP the focus it required to be truly proficient at it. So it was really just a passing interest.

I have started the 90 day guided program a few times over the years but had not finished it (I think I had made it about halfway on two separate occasions) I'm thinking this time I'll actually try to follow the CD companion as I found this helpful. My general plan is as follows:

1. Week 1 relaxation CD
2. Week 2-3 meditation/focus CD
3. Week 4 energy raising
4. Afterward will do mediation once a week, energy raising once a week and OBE practice 2-3 times per week.

In addition I will keep a dream journal (on my phone, will only post noteworthy dreams here) and try do do energy raising each night.

Hopefully this log will keep me accountable. Astral projection seems more akin to something like a martial art which might take years to truly master but hopefully in the next 2-3 months I can at least build some fundamentals and good habits going forward.

Will try to update this log regularly and am certainly open to any feedback or constructive criticism. I may not be able to respond right away since I live in North America and the time zone is different.

One aspect of astral projection that intrigued me in particular was the aspect of astral time travel - viewing past events and the possibility of interacting with or perhaps influencing the past. However I feel like that is something for further down the road.

It's not over boyos, it's only begun
Let's see if life throws Andy a Mulligan

[CFTraveler]

Welcome Andy. You might want this moved to the MAP program subsection of this forum. I can do this for you, if you'd like.

[Andy Mulligan]

Welcome Andy. You might want this moved to the MAP program subsection of this forum. I can do this for you, if you'd like.

Thank you CFTraveler!

Apologies if I posted in the wrong section- if you are able to move it I would greatly appreciate it!

[CFTraveler]

No problem, just wanted to make sure you're ok with it.

[Andy Mulligan]

Had still been following the program as laid out in my first post.

I'm working through the second CD which is focusing on clearing the mind by focusing on breath awareness, etc.
There are musical notes that play at increasing intervals and the goal is to get from one note to the next without losing focus.

I start out strong but then start losing focus as this goes on, although the CD is an hour long so I think this would be a challenge for many people.

I do a progressive muscle relaxation before starting the meditation but a few times have felt a very strong urge to get up and start moving during the meditation session - difficulty sitting still.

I will try to cut back on internet browsing as doing too much of this I've found can lead one to have some trouble focusing for long periods - feeling "scatter-brained" as we say.

I've been recording dreams and dream recall is slowly improving. I had a few instances where I realized I was dreaming but somehow did not think to take control of the dream. I have been reading galantamine has shown to improve lucid dreaming and dream recall in one study and am considering experimenting with this myself as part of this project.

[CFTraveler]

About the note thing,
although the CD is an hour long so I think this would be a challenge for many people. I found it to be the most challenging part of the program. I gave up on it after a week and it didn't impede my progress. Just so you know. :)

[Andy Mulligan]

About the note thing, I found it to be the most challenging part of the program. I gave up on it after a week and it didn't impede my progress. Just so you know. :)

Thanks for your reply! I think the CD did help somewhat with mind focusing as interior monologue had been an issue for me but may not be necessary for everyone.

I continued with the program, went through the recommended number of sessions for both the meditation and energy raising CDs
Since last week I've been focused on the conscious exit CD

I have not projected yet but have continued doing energy raising each night before going to sleep.
Initially I found myself growing very tense (muscle tension) as I went through the OBE practice. This has improved but I have developed a bad habit of holding my breath or breathing irregularly. (Perhaps I had been holding my breath in addition to tensing up but did not realize it)

The exit technique in the guided mediation on the CD I believe is called the "rope" technique. Essentially you visually climbing a rope with your hands while lying motionless on the floor with the goal of causing an OBE.

I had some trouble picturing climbing a rope at times (especially as I grew more relaxed) but I have set up an old jump rope in one room so that one end hangs near the floor. My hope is by pulling myself up (at least my upper body up) a few times a day this will aid with being able to visualize doing so during mediation.

I will add that each time I've gone through the OBE practice I've had what I believe is sleep paralysis because it takes me a few minutes to move (usually I can open my eyes but need to slowly move fingers and toes before I can move my arms and legs to stand up.)

I have continued with my dream journal but recalling details of dreams is still a work in progress.