Can't always get what we want.

[Beekeeper]

Okay, not sure where to post this.

Last night, husband was away so tried rhythmic napping to induce lucid dream. Hadn't done any real preparatorywork to determine sleep patterns because it's not really practical. Getting a bit desperate for a meaningful astral experience as it's been a while since anything exciting has happened so had this one-off chance.

The results were somewhat disappointing despite a lot of positive anticipation. I ended up getting up to read for a couple of hours and having a banana and some water.

Tried focussing on the hubby at his Mum's and Dad's. No trouble visualising him.

Felt the usual energy movement that's there when I'm quiet. Got a bit of hypnogogic imagery and a non-lucid dream where I was in my pjs at the start of the headland walk I usually do with my dog. Briefly saw a friend who was into AP but had given it up. (Don't know if it was him or a dream image of him because I occasionally come across him on this walk.)

Anyway, to the point now. The only thing that was different is I felt a few distinct taps on the top of my head.

Any theories on the head taps? Anyone experienced this before?

[enoch]

I've been flicked in the eye a couple of times but never tapped on the head. Actually, the flicks in the eye preceded a pretty intense couple of weeks for me which kinda put me off practice for a month or so. I have no idea what this is or have any useful advice. I believe Mr. Bruce would recommend ignoring it and pushing on! So I'd take that advice - not that I did.. :roll: :wink:

[Matt]

Can you describe in more detail what was the exact method you used? It sounds like you did a wake-back-to-bed method, what time did you get up and then go back to sleep?

[Beekeeper]

Sure.

Set alarm for 2.30 because I usually naturally wake at 5.30 (and may go back to sleep.)

Set the salt cube timer on my laptop as recommended: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 ,20, 4 minutes apart. Found I wasn't about to go back to sleep (no surprise there) so got up, had a banana and a glass of water and read Bruce Moen's "Voyages into the Unknown" for about an hour and a half. Was yawning so went back and tried again with the timer. Dozed very lightly after this.

Did I do it wrong?

Enoch,

I don't know what those taps were about. I kind of got a "C'mon wake up" feeling from it like you might do to someone acting stupid. I wasn't the least bit startled or scared though, which actually kind of surprises me as it was night time and all.

[Matt]

Okie dokey, looking at the graphs on this page:

http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/cha ... sleep-edge (http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/chat-forum/viewTopic.jsp?t=hovering-on-sleep-edge)

Which chart best matches what happened? My biggest difficulty is always being able to fall back to sleep fast enough. I've found it helps a lot to keep the bed warm and to especially keep my feet warm.

Sometimes I fall to sleep but the timer doesn't wake me up. I've found that putting the timer speaker close to my head makes a big difference in its ability to wake me up. If it's on the other side of the room my brain seems to filter it out even if it's loud.

Here's a page with some more suggestions on what to do:

http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/cha ... p-training (http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/chat-forum/viewTopic.jsp?t=sleep-training)

BTW, feel free to post questions about this method on the saltcube site because I'll see it a lot faster and be able to answer any questions. I almost didn't read this thread because I didn't know it was on this method.

What do you think of Bruce Moen's books so far?

[Beekeeper]

First of all, Matt, thanks for your interest and help.

I was in the sleep resistant/not enough waking resistance category. Maybe I needed to tire myself out more during the day. Certainly got some daylight. Wasn't hot or cold but did fly out of bed totally startled when the alarm went off at 2.30 (was dreaming about doing an OBE experiment with a group of people in some kind of chamber).

Moen's book? I'm reading it simultaneously with Buhlman's "Adventures Beyond the Body" so I'm not done yet. So far, I like it (and the other one too). I was drawn to the idea that people can do "rescues" when I read Monroe and it seemed like Moen's book would mostly be an account of such things. I think I have a bit of a "Sir Galahad" complex (was gonna say "Mother Therese" but it didn't have exactly the right connotations). Getting a few new ideas while reading these two but I'm trying not to be all over the place with my techniques. I figure I've got the rest of my life to keep trying and people generally live long lives in my family! :)

Have registered as a user on your site so, if I get another occasion to try this method, I'll be in touch.

What I'm hoping is to get a few decent OBEs happening which path the way for more. Is that how it goes: it gets easier once you've overcome the initial hurdles? I seem to have stagnated after a promising start.

Thanks again.
:wink:

[Matt]

You're welcome, I'm looking forward to hearing about how you progress!

One other thing that helps me a lot to fall asleep quickly is to keep my body and especially my eyes extremely still. I'll start daydreaming then and make sure not to let my body move no matter how much it wants me to. The goal is to watch your body fall asleep and feel it go paralyzed. Right before that happens, your body will probably send a "please roll over" message.

It can be really hard to ignore that message but if you can then your body will shutdown while you're still awake. Here are some posts on that:

http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/cha ... all-asleep (http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/chat-forum/viewTopic.jsp?t=watch-fall-asleep)
http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/cha ... =paralysis (http://www.saltcube.com/out-of-body/chat-forum/viewTopic.jsp?t=paralysis)


Is that how it goes: it gets easier once you've overcome the initial hurdles?

Yes, once you've learned what it feels like to put your body to sleep it becomes a lot easier. The more familiar the feelings are of each state you have on the way into a lucid dream, the easier it is to recall them and get back to them

[Beekeeper]

Thanks so much Matt! That information makes all the difference! It's so much better when you really understand how it all works.

Keeping still is a problem because I get neck pain. Will invest in a new pillow and start a daily yoga practice.

Last night I dreamt my family and I were in a "Flintstone's" car and it wasn't initially big enough so I used my mind to make it bigger and more comfortable. I wouldn't classify this as a lucid dream though because it didn't trigger an awareness that I was dreaming. Also, I left it as a car that had to be propelled by foot!
:roll:

I've used affirmations such as "When I see feet or shoes in my dream tonight I'll know I'm dreaming" and have had whole dreams about feet and shoes and I still haven't twigged. In fact, my dreams have been extremely accommodating in this regard but I just seem to be a total dope when I'm asleep.

I'll keep at it though.

Cheers!

1

[Beekeeper]

Saw the nicest pair of red stilhettos in last night's dreaming. Oh well.

No, joking aside, I actually feel like I'm making progress since Matt's tips. :)

Actually started floating in a dream and asked a dream character very matter-of-factly if she'd mind giving my feet a tug and pulling me back down. I guess I'm not running short of opportunities to get lucid. Eventually I'll wake up (I have in the past).

[Matt]

Thanks so much Matt! That information makes all the difference! It's so much better when you really understand how it all works.

Keeping still is a problem because I get neck pain. Will invest in a new pillow and start a daily yoga practice.

Last night I dreamt my family and I were in a "Flintstone's" car and it wasn't initially big enough so I used my mind to make it bigger and more comfortable. I wouldn't classify this as a lucid dream though because it didn't trigger an awareness that I was dreaming. Also, I left it as a car that had to be propelled by foot!
:roll:

I've used affirmations such as "When I see feet or shoes in my dream tonight I'll know I'm dreaming" and have had whole dreams about feet and shoes and I still haven't twigged. In fact, my dreams have been extremely accommodating in this regard but I just seem to be a total dope when I'm asleep.

I'll keep at it though.

Cheers!

You're definitely welcome, on thing I've found that helps to make affirmations more effective is to word them in such a way that you're actually redefining who you are rather than planning an event.

For instance, rather than something like "I will become lucid in my dream" say something like this:

"I am a lucid dreamer. I am skilled at becoming super aware within my dreams. I am extemely sensitive at detecting clues that I am dreaming."

By redefining who you are the affirmation is in the present tense and doesn't rely on any kind of "if/then" logic. It is simply always true, so I think starting an affirmation with the phrase "I am" is important.

[Matt]

Saw the nicest pair of red stilhettos in last night's dreaming. Oh well.

No, joking aside, I actually feel like I'm making progress since Matt's tips. :)

Actually started floating in a dream and asked a dream character very matter-of-factly if she'd mind giving my feet a tug and pulling me back down. I guess I'm not running short of opportunities to get lucid. Eventually I'll wake up (I have in the past).

It sounds like you're getting more and more lucid in dreams naturally! With the floating thing, one thing you can do to practice controlling your movements when floating is to concentrate on the feeling of gravity while you're awake.

Later when you're in an LD you can create that same feeling to go back down to the ground, you can also redirect it upward to fly

[Beekeeper]

Thanks Matt,

You're a great help!

I'll give your gravity tip a go.

At least I'm having lots of fun in my dreams. Was speeding through traffic on a hessian sack, taboggan style, with my kids night before last! Cool! :)

Enoch,

I don't know what those taps were about. I kind of got a "C'mon wake up" feeling from it like you might do to someone acting stupid. I wasn't the least bit startled or scared though, which actually kind of surprises me as it was night time and all.

I first had this experience in december 2003 or early to mid 2004 and have had it 2 or 3 times since. Well actually, I take that back. The first experience of this kind was me being pushed physically to wake me up while I shouldn't have been sleeping (in my opinion by way of senses and knowledge). I moved quite forcefully into the bed but the force that moved me did not cause an impact. It simply moved my body. So there was not any pain, and I knew the purpose of it. This has happened other times in other ways. Many many mornings I am awoken by clairaudient sounds also with good intention. Most of them I only remember in hindsight as at the time they were hard to perceive, I suppose because I was dreaming.

There are things going on with this forum and I know for a fact that they are groups of entities helping and teaching and training the people that go to this forum. This is one reason why we are having similar experiences and experiences of this magnitude. They won't mind us knowing as long as we take it with maturity. We are going to be very elite people. Just be true to yourself and enjoy the excitement of life!

[Beekeeper]

Hi Futureguy,

Never thought to connect it to joining this forum (which I did on New Year's Day). Maybe you're right. :lol:

I thought my guides might have just started getting frustrated/ feeling sorry for me. I give them a hard time you know.

Anyway, it has happened a couple more times already. Once on the shoulder, which felt free of persistent muscle pain (from spending too much time reading astral books and posting on forums) for a while. Last night, a gentle poke in the hip, which came through while I was dreaming. :wink:

Cheers