Unable to AP

I've been extremely interested in Astral Projection lately - I've spent my time reading guides, researching.
I have a problem though.
I can't ever seem to even begin to get any of the suggestions on how to start to work.
I keep trying to lie down, think about where I'll move. I'll focus on specific body parts or attempt to imagine the darkness when I close my eyes as a 3 dimensions reality (which I can't seem to actually imagine). I've tried many things, but it always only ends up keeping me awake for hours while I try to even get to the vibrational stage.
Can anyone offer help?

[astralsuzy]

It can happen to anyone. You are lying there for hours and nothing happens. When I go to bed I make an effort to ap but not for very long. I am not able to ap because I have had enough of trying. My body does not want to co-operate. Tonight when I have had enough I am going to another location and try there. I think you have to be in different locations to give yourself a break. You cannot lie there for hours. It does not work. You can get up for a while then lie down and try again. I have had success in doing that. Do not worry if you cannot imagine something very well. It is not important. You can still ap. I am terrible at imagining things and I always ap from it. If you have tried things that keep you awake for hours that is no good as it is not getting you anywhere. I meditate for a while, then I do an ap technique. If that does not work I meditate again. Sometimes sensations happen but it does not always happen. You can still ap even if you have no sensations. Sometimes you are ready to ap but you do not know it. I have stepped out of my body without realising that I was spiritually getting out. I thought I was physically getting up out of bed. If you keep persevering and believing you will ap, it is just a matter of time, you will ap. There are rare occasions when you could try to ap for a long time and it does not happen. If that happens try not to worry about it. It will make you feel worse. I know because one time I was trying for a long time without success and I started to worry. The next night I ap. I hope this will help you. One other thing, your mind has to be relaxed. If it has any nagging thoughts, problems, thinking about what am I doing tomorrow, what I am having for dinner etc. it is harder to ap. You can still ap but it is more difficult. I would only try to imagine something for a short while. If you do it for too long it could make your mind not to relax. When I do an ap technique it mostly works. If it is going to work it usually happens straight away. That is from my experiences.

This helped a little, but I think I worded it weird.
It's not just a few nights that I try and I get stuck and nothing happens. It's every time, and I've tried multiple methods. I can't get into the vibrational state or sleep paralysis or anything, it's sort of troubling. I think I'm missing something that I should be doing that I'm not?

[Fairyana]

For many people it takes a lot of practice, just like learning to play the piano. I suggest you focus first on meditating and being good at it. This will prepare you for the next step.

I've been trying to AP from lucid dreams. There are many techniques to AP. May be with time you'll find the one that is easiest for you.

[Andries]

Yes I agree meditating helps me gain more subconscious awareness and that allows me to have lucid dreams and from their you can project or just continue your lucid dream I have had about 11-14 lucid dreams its not much but im 15 and just started this year , so my advise cydippe is to try and meditate every night until your mind is silenced.

Another way I have found to silence my mind is by listening to binaural beats just put them on and let your brain waves sink whit them sometimes I dont even realise I have been listening for more than 1 hr and it feels like 15 min so mabe search for a few on youtube and see if they work for you (:

[astralsuzy]

Originally Posted by cydippe

It's not just a few nights that I try and I get stuck and nothing happens. It's every time, and I've tried multiple methods. I can't get into the vibrational state or sleep paralysis or anything, it's sort of troubling. I think I'm missing something that I should be doing that I'm not?

Why are you trying to get into the vibrational state or sp when it is not a requirement to ap?
You can try a thousand different methods and still not ap. That is not the problem. There is something you are doing wrong. You will have to change what you are doing and give it time for it to work. It may not work overnight. You say you lie down for hours. I advised you not to do that. How is your mind? Is it relaxed? If it is stressed you will unlikely ap. Do you believe you can ap? If you think you cannot ap, ap will probably be a lot harder to do. The others have suggested to meditate. Meditation is a great tool to help with ap. Someone suggested listening to beats. That is a great way to relax your mind if you need to.

Originally Posted by astralsuzy

Why are you trying to get into the vibrational state or sp when it is not a requirement to ap?
You can try a thousand different methods and still not ap. That is not the problem. There is something you are doing wrong. You will have to change what you are doing and give it time for it to work. It may not work overnight. You say you lie down for hours. I advised you not to do that. How is your mind? Is it relaxed? If it is stressed you will unlikely ap. Do you believe you can ap? If you think you cannot ap, ap will probably be a lot harder to do. The others have suggested to meditate. Meditation is a great tool to help with ap. Someone suggested listening to beats. That is a great way to relax your mind if you need to.

The technique I try the most (as it seems to be the most common technique and of the only ones that make sense to me) is the whole keeping your mind awake while your body falls asleep. You know, staying alert? Not moving your eyes or responding to itches. I've seen it apparently working for both lucid dreaming and ap, and I'm interested in both, so I always figured if it didn't work for one I could try the other.
However, I usually end up staying up late without realizing it because I simply can't relax. I keep shaking for some reason especially when I'm trying to stay still or focus, and I can't stop my mind from wandering or my eyes from moving and such.
I've also several other techniques most of which pertain to imagining things, but I'm terrible at that. I find those ones terribly difficult.
The reason I am trying to get into the vibrational state is because I haven't found very many ways that don't include it or talk about it.

[astralsuzy]

From cydippe
The technique I try the most (as it seems to be the most common technique and of the only ones that make sense to me) is the whole keeping your mind awake while your body falls asleep. You know, staying alert? Not moving your eyes or responding to itches. I've seen it apparently working for both lucid dreaming and ap, and I'm interested in both, so I always figured if it didn't work for one I could try the other.

That technique can work. I often ap without having to do anything. It is still a good idea to have an ap technique in mind. There are times when I am lying there, I could ap but I do not ap. There are no symptoms or anything. I could be lying there for a long time without success. My inner self is ready to ap. I have to encourage it to ap so I do an ap technique. It does not always work.

However, I usually end up staying up late without realizing it because I simply can't relax. I keep shaking for some reason especially when I'm trying to stay still or focus, and I can't stop my mind from wandering or my eyes from moving and such.

That is your problem. You cannot relax. I used to listen to a CD on rain and the ocean. Other people listen to beats. It might be a good idea to listen to something for a while to get into the habit of relaxing. There are relaxation CDs that help you to relax a lot. You say you are trying to stay still or focus. It seems that you have had enough. Trying to force yourself to lie there is unlikely to work. You need to take a break from it and come back to it. You say you cannot stop your eyes from moving. Perhaps that is why it is not working as well. Try to forget about your eyes. It is just like me with swallowing. If I keep thinking about it I want to swallow and that will wreck it.

I've also several other techniques most of which pertain to imagining things, but I'm terrible at that. I find those ones terribly difficult.
The reason I am trying to get into the vibrational state is because I haven't found very many ways that don't include it or talk about it.

Choose a technique that is simple to do. You do not need to do a complicated technique. No wonder you find ap hard. Do not worry about trying to be really good at imagining things as it does not matter how bad you are at it. It still works. Forget what you listen to that says you should get into the vibrational stage. They are not experts. They are just like you and me. We are learning and they happen to be very good at writing a book or making CDs. I do not have a problem with that.

I find it much easier to AP from the dream realm. I started about a year ago by meditating & installing routine reality checks (even when I know I'm awake bc once you get in the routine your subconscious will too.) Once I am asleep once I do one of my reality checks & it fails I am usually able to tell myself I'm dreaming & go into lucid dreaming easily. Once your there it's much easier to AP. I have tried while awake but with all the noise factors (2 sm kids a hubby & 3 cats) it's almost impossible. I have been able to get to hearing my SG while awake & she was trying to coach me over, but I got to excited & lost it :(


Choose a technique that is simple to do. You do not need to do a complicated technique. No wonder you find ap hard. Do not worry about trying to be really good at imagining things as it does not matter how bad you are at it. It still works. Forget what you listen to that says you should get into the vibrational stage. They are not experts. They are just like you and me. We are learning and they happen to be very good at writing a book or making CDs. I do not have a problem with that.
*I love this!

Thanks for the help guys!
Though, honestly, I don't really know how to get into astral projection through dreaming or without the vibrational stage. How do you know when you are ready to pull out of your body? How do you use lucid dreaming to go into AP?
(I also have trouble with Lucid Dreaming for the same reasons, I guess, so I'm not sure how well that would work.)