Hypnogogia Technique

I believe that an OBE occurs when the body is asleep and the mind is awake.  It
takes practice in order to achieve this state.  A good way to get there is if you
wake up during the night.  When you first feel yourself starting to wake up, you
need to stay perfectly still (to keep your body as asleep as possible).  Now, in
order to remember to keep the body still, you need to have OOBE on the brain.  That
is, I found that if I thought about OBE's a lot during the day, when I began to
wake up at night, the first thought in my mind was "Ok, give it a try".

To continue, once you start waking up, stay perfectly still.  The next step is to
let your body fall back asleep while your mind stays awake.  Easier said than
done.  I have found that even a brief lapse in concentration sends my mind back to
sleep with the body.  Here is a tip on how to keep the mind awake.  I am sure you
have seen that when you close your eyes, there is darkness but also movement as
light passes across your eyelids, etc.  What I do is look at the darkness and the
movement and pretend I am watching a movie.  This does two things.  One: It
occupies the mind so you can stay awake, and Two: It allows for a distraction of
physical sensation or body awareness.  (Like when you watch a movie or TV and
suddenly realize you have been in an uncomfortable position.  You didn't notice
earlier because you were absorbed in what you were watching).  The distraction
described in number 2 above allows the body to go to sleep.  Chances are, if you
can maintain this for even a short time, you will experience hypnogogic imagery.
Hynogogic imagery occurs during the hypnogogic state between awake and asleep.  It
involves vivid imagery.  It is different from "thinking about" something.  You
actually see images as if you were looking at them with your eyes.  And, it can be
pretty neat.

Once you start seeing hynogogic images, you will know that you are on your way.
Just go with it.  Try to be as passive as possible.  Any excitement will release
adrenaline and your body will wake up.  Game over.  Just relax and watch the images
unfold like you are watching a TV show that you don't really care about.  What
happens next can vary.  It is not uncommon to hear creaking noise.  Vibrations or a
swaying sensation may start.  Let me tell you, if you hear creaking and feel
swaying, get ready, because you are about to OBE.

The important points are:

1) Think about OBE's a lot during the day.  This will help you remember when you
start to wake up.  Keeping a dream/obe journal helps.
2) Stay still.
3) Watch the movie behind your eyes
4) Most important: concentrate.  If you lose concentration, you will fall asleep.
Your ability to maintain concentration will improve with practice.

That is enough to get you out.  A couple of quick things.  The first few times you
do it, you will most likely feel fear.  That is normal and will go away after your
first few experiences.  Also, once you feel yourself going, you will probably get
excited.  That is the fastest way to end the experience.  For me, it got to the
point where I didn't care anymore.  I was so sick of finally getting out only to
get excited and end it.  My apathy was the key to success.  Staying calm and
passive is key.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

#2 Concentration

The goal of concentrating is to keep yourself (you mind) from falling
asleep along with your body.  As far as what to concentrate on, I will
give you some examples.  Different things will work for different
people.

The thing I have had most success with is as follows: As I am going to
sleep (or back to sleep in the case of "middle of the night" or
"afternoon nap" attempts) I watch the darkness behind my eyelids.  You
probably have noticed that it's not simply dark.  There is movement;
kind of like a gray lava lamp.  This does two things for me: 1) It gives
me something to focus or concentrate on so I can stay awake and 2) it
allows me to ignore your my in the same way I may not be aware of how I
am sitting while watching TV or a movie.  In the case of 2) above, this
will help your body fall asleep.

What is really interesting is that after I do this for a while and my
body starts to fall asleep, I will begin to see hypnogogic imagery.
When that starts to happen, I watch the images like I was watching a
movie.  A key element here is that when I say "watch a movie" I mean in
a PASSIVE sense.  I don't try to influence what I see.  I attempt to
detach myself as much as possible.  This passiveness, I believe, helps
the body go to sleep.  Further, it has been my experience that during an
OBE, an apathetic or passive attitude is key to prolonging the event.
Any excitement and it is over.  This can be one of the biggest
challenges.

An alternative to "watching the movie" method is to repeat a word such
as "Focus" or "Relax".  Or, you might try counting to 20 over and over.
If you have just come out of a dream in the middle of the night, you
could concentrate on visualizing the dream you just had.  Using this
last method, I have actually initiated a Wake Induced Lucid Dream
(WILD).

Finally, you might try a combination of the methods above.   The
variation can improve your chances of staying awake.

In all the methods described, the key is practice.  I can't tell you the
number of times I thought I was concentrating well only to suddenly find
it was morning and I had fallen asleep.  One momentary slip in
concentration and you will likely fall asleep.  Your ability to
concentrate and stay awake improves with practice.
Pete 

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