A little help would be appreciated.

[Ginko211]

Ok, I have been trying to AP for quite a while now without much success. The problem is my inability to stay awake and/or get into a meditative state. I suspect my physical disability (Cerebral Palsy) is to blame for this. Every method I've experimented with has had one of the following outcomes:

1. Meditative state is reached, but I fall asleep before exit.
2. The meditative state is broken before exit is achieved due to pain.
3. Nothing happens

Here's what I have tried so far. The number in the parentheses indicates the outcome:

1. trying to induce sleep paralysis by lying on the back. (2)
2. Sitting on a regular chair. (3)
3. Sitting on a recliner in the erect position (2)
4. Sitting on a recliner in the reclined position (1)
5. lying on either side. (1)

Lying on either side seems to get me into the deepest meditative state before I fall asleep. Does anyone have any tips on how to stay awake in this position? Or is there some other technique I have missed?

I guess I should mention that I tried chanting a silent mantra. That worked way too well by not allowing me to get into a meditative state at all.

I have gotten close to LDing a couple of though. But it always seems to happen when I'm not trying. Even then it only seems to last for a couple of seconds and then fade away. It usually feels like I'm underwater. My sense of hearing dulls and my vision darkens around the edges. I willed myself to exit when this happened, but doing so seems to bring me back to a state of complete wakefulness. What is this altered state of consciousness? Is it an LD or something else entirely?

It just sounds like you'll do better in starting with LD, instead of trying to AP through meditation.
It's good to still meditate, (just keep it short)
-to condition the mind
and most importantly for you, I think
-to work on your Awareness,
(presumably you already searched the ways of meditations and awareness lessons are also covered in most of them)
-and eventually to practice in taking control of yourself for LD.

ASC/Altered State of Consciousness or Trance - can be achieved through hypnotherapy, or simply by yourself.
There's plenty of info out there like in e-how.

No need to try too hard,
it will come to you in due time.

Good Luck

Sounds like your having a hard time AP... I can relate to the frustration of not being able to. So my advice is, if you have time stay up really late do it... When you go to sleep try and catch yourself in sleep paralysis. If you fail an go to sleep...its ok. Set an alarm for 2 hours later, move around a little, drink some water.. NOW when you go back to bed lay very still for a few minutes letting your mind wander about anything while you get easily comfortable again and when you kind of least expect it try and move your arm if you find it hard to or you feel it buzzing or vibrating your basically really close IMO to trying an exit technique like pulling yourself out or "willing" yourself out... Its all about being extremely relaxed or tired imo and catching yourself in sleep paralysis.

Cheers,

Joe

[Ginko211]

Originally Posted by Niebla0007

and most importantly for you, I think
-to work on your Awareness,
(presumably you already searched the ways of meditations and awareness lessons are also covered in most of them)

Can you elaborate on this please? I haven't really done much research on meditation techniques. I always did what felt 'right.' (which in my case happens to be focusing on the breath)

Originally Posted by JoeJoe

Sounds like your having a hard time AP... I can relate to the frustration of not being able to. So my advice is, if you have time stay up really late do it... When you go to sleep try and catch yourself in sleep paralysis. If you fail an go to sleep...its ok. Set an alarm for 2 hours later, move around a little, drink some water.. NOW when you go back to bed lay very still for a few minutes letting your mind wander about anything while you get easily comfortable again and when you kind of least expect it try and move your arm if you find it hard to or you feel it buzzing or vibrating your basically really close IMO to trying an exit technique like pulling yourself out or "willing" yourself out... Its all about being extremely relaxed or tired imo and catching yourself in sleep paralysis.

Cheers,

Joe

I would have tried this method 'properly' had it not been for my disability. The 'moving around' part is impossible to execute without someone's help. I don't have anyone cooperative enough around me to get out of bed in the middle of the night to help me AP :P

I normally awaken at 3 am, or thereabouts and try to lie awake in bed. This doesn't always induce paralysis and I just end up falling asleep. When it does work, its when I'm least expecting it. It doesn't last long either. I sometimes go into that state immediately after waking up which is baffling. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when it happens or (the likelier case) I just haven't figured it out.

[astralsuzy]

When we are in bed, it is more likely that we will fall asleep. You can still ap in bed. I would not lie on your side as it is too comfortable. You will have a high chance of falling asleep. If you had a lot of sleep and you are not tired, lying on your side can work. I have ap many times doing that.

Can you elaborate on this please? I haven't really done much research on meditation techniques. I always did what felt 'right.' (which in my case happens to be focusing on the breath)

Two important ways to deepen and intensify one's spiritual awareness is through spiritual practice and self-inquiry.
There's also a simple and powerful self awareness technique which is fairly easy to develop.
Just create a silent watcher over your own mind, and apply this into daily habit.
It only takes a small part of your attention to assign this part
the task of watching everything you are going through.
Imagine this part as a video camera that records everything, to be stored and analyzed almost immediately after it occurs.
Take a moment and try it now, see if it works or later again when you meditate.

Awareness practice is found on a few advanced meditation/lessons and books.
I should also add that in my own opinion, awareness is also about one's consciousness,
and should you be inclined to want to read more about this, see
http://www.umsonline.org/consciousness.htm

And reading through the thread http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...al+awarenes s
is definitely worth the time.

[Ginko211]

Thanks for the links Niebla, will certainly look into the meditation compendium when I get the time. I've been doing something similar to what you described for the past two years. It has helped me greatly in spotting and eliminating many limiting thoughts.

I've been meaning to also give you a link to this old post about Stages of Awareness from the beginning.
http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...ight=awareness

You're welcome.

[loopylucid]

Originally Posted by Ginko211

I normally awaken at 3 am, or thereabouts and try to lie awake in bed. This doesn't always induce paralysis and I just end up falling asleep. When it does work, its when I'm least expecting it. It doesn't last long either. I sometimes go into that state immediately after waking up which is baffling. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when it happens or (the likelier case) I just haven't figured it out.
I have gotten close to LDing a couple of though. But it always seems to happen when I'm not trying. Even then it only seems to last for a couple of seconds and then fade away. It usually feels like I'm underwater. My sense of hearing dulls and my vision darkens around the edges. I willed myself to exit when this happened, but doing so seems to bring me back to a state of complete wakefulness.

I could go onto to list even more methods and ideas but one thing stuck out in these posts which seems very important and that's what ive underlined, now it seems when you stop trying, you start travelling, one thing I noticed with a lot of people myself included is sometimes once weve done loads of work on intention and AP/Lucid dreaming contexts and mind prep, it can often prove very fruitful to just stop for a while and see what happens, stop consciously attempting the projection for a while but keep strong if it did happen, what you'd do, does that make sense? Then use that when the experiences as ive underlined happen and take it from there for a while, don't be disheartened if it doesn't last long, the point is you made it! So you will make it again :)
Keep us all updated and happy travels
Loopy

Have you tried the Wake back to bed technique? It works for both LD and AP, but you need to find the right balance of sleeping vs staying awake for it to work, which can take a few tries, but it often pays out to a lot of people.