Hypnogogia or Sleep Paralysis

I have decided that before I try to induce an OBE I will first try to induce Sleep Paralysis and then Hypnogogic imagery. This will let me know that I am on the right path to an AP.

I got up 5 hours after I went to sleep, stayed up for a few mins and then went back to bed. I was up for about 50 mins and didnt really experience SP or HI. Ofcourse, this was only my first attempt. While on the bed, I DID find it very difficult to move my hands but with enough effort was able to move them. Was this paralysis? I don't know. I did not feel a weight on my chest or another presence in the room. After all, how does one break sleep paralysis? By trying to move or just going into sleep?

[astralsuzy]

Sleep paralysis is when you cannot move your body. It only last for a short time.

I am outlining my following plan to get an AP.

-Get up 5 hours after falling asleep, and then go back to sleep while repeating affirmation "I am out of my body now" to keep my mind awake.
-Same as above only go to sleep after waking, in different room on couch. These two are Buhlman's techniques.
-Get up after 5 hours and try indirect techniques for phase shown on 0be4u.com page.

Each of the 3 techniques above will be practiced each night for 1 month.

I have never experienced sleep paralysis or hypnogogia however. Is it necessary to experience this before getting into seperation or is just experiencing vibration enough?

[wstein]

Originally Posted by satsujin

I have never experienced sleep paralysis or hypnogogia however. Is it necessary to experience this before getting into seperation or is just experiencing vibration enough?

Neither sleep paralysis nor hypnagogia is required to experience AP. Vibrations are also not necessary. Since you seem to be making this method up yourself, only you can decide if a step is necessary.

Just to clarify a few things:
-sleep paralysis is a normal state in deeper sleep where the body is paralyzed so it doesn't thrash about during dreaming, most commonly one is asleep and unaware of the condition
-vibrations are partial sleep paralysis
-'hypnagogia' is seeing imagery not related to what is in the visual field, it is most commonly very short in duration, unusually vivid, and most often in the few minutes just after you close your eyes . Imagery can be realistic or fantastical.
-the experience of being aware while in sleep paralysis varies greatly depending especially on the exact position of your body in its environment and to what degree you are paralyzed. While feeling a weight on the chest or presence in the room are some of the more commonly reported experiences, they still represent a small minority of cases.

Thanks for the update but I'm not making these techniques up by myself. They are techniques listed by William Buhlman and Michael Raduga.

[Egadanadage]

You can actually experience hypnagogia while in sleep paralysis, as an fyi. The easiest way to experience hypnagogia is to simply lay down, close your eyes, and wait. Preferably at a time when you're not tired...at least for me...or even at a time when you're tired but you know you have to get back up without fully falling asleep. I usually read my little one to sleep at night, and after she's fallen asleep I'll close my eyes to induce a hypnagogic state for twenty minutes or so knowing that I can't fully fall asleep because I've got stuff to do before I go to bed later. It isn't meditation. It's just relaxing down into that place between an awake and asleep state for a bit. I'm a big fan of the good old hypnagogic state. Trying to achieve it in the middle of the night though...I'm not sure about that, generally speaking. I would imagine it would be too easy to just slip into sleeping. Everyone is different though. For me? I have to be in a state where I know I can't fully fall asleep. I've got to keep full consciousness.

[skygazer]

In sleep paralysis you do not feel a presence in the room nor the weight on your chest, this is just misinformation based on something else happening altogether, unfortunately it is out there now and continues to passed for fact.

I have broken from sleep paralysis by just waiting it out calmly. It took just seconds to break out of it.

I think your plan to experience different types of altered states is a good one; very logical. I don't know that it will help directly with astral projection but experimentation is always a learning experience. Good luck

[LadyMay]

I have a better way to induce sleep paralysis. Wake up about two to three hours earlier than you usually do, and then stay up and do whatever you want for those two to three hours, and then go back to sleep the time you'd usually wake up. I guarantee you'll wake up with sleep paralysis.

Works like a treat for me. Has never failed. Unfortunately I'm too lazy to wake up early so it only happens when my sleep is interrupted for a long period of time by house noise or something (I'm a light sleeper). And since it's usually an accident and in paralysis long term memory is disabled, I never remember to try to OBE.

[desert rat]

You might read through some of the posts on astral pulse , and on some other sites . There are a whole bunch of methods like the roap methods , you visualize puliing your self with a rope , or visualize your astral feet slidding out past your phy feet .
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/we...-t19294.0.html

[The Back Seat]

You can experience hypnogogic imagery any time you briefly wake up during sleep. Next time you become conscience during sleep, focus your eyes to the back of your eye lids (if you understand how to use the third eye, then bring the focus to the third eye). If done right, you should be able to see imagery involving anything from energy wave patterns to vivid images of things.

Achieving sleep paralysis is a whole other thing that isn't as easy for most people. I experience sleep paralysis (not on purpose) sometimes when I am sleeping in and consistently waking up then going back to sleep. Sometimes I'll have this dream like experience where i think I am awake but can not get up. I have gotten better at realizing when this happens and bringing my focus to astral projection instead of fighting to wake up. At this point it will take no effort all to float out of your body.

I have read that if you relax enough to get past the initial vibrations, you can enter a paralyzed state. Don't try to force yourself out of your body because this will unparalyze you and ruin the entire thing (this I have experienced). When you are at the right point, you should be able to almost free fall out of you body (don't fight gravity, use it)