Hi there. I'm new here and was hoping someone could shed some light on what I'm experiencing.

Years ago I "mastered" the ability to go into sleep paralysis by mistake. I used to wake up early to go to the bathroom, I'd stay awake for a few hours and when I got tired again I'd go back to bed only to find myself in the sleep paralysis state. At that point I would always get the sensation of being sucked up if I didn't fight it. I experienced the vibrations only a few times.

This was back in 2004 and I stopped pursuing this because of time issues and also because I never saw anything that would indicate that I was having some sort of paranormal experience.

The times that I left myself go it would feel like I was traveling through a tunnel, doing a flip in the air and then traveling up again. I tried this again yesterday. I traveled up at high speeds through the tunnel and I decided to open my eyes only to discover that I was looking up at the ceiling of the bedroom. At the same time I was still feeling the sensation of traveling through the tunnel although in reality I was just there in the bed. So I decided to close my eyes and continue. After traveling through the blackness there seemed to be an opening in the distance and I went through it. At this point I just transitioned into a dream.

I was fully expecting to see something else. What am I doing wrong? What is the traveling through the darkness? Anyone know?
Is this the gateway to out of body travel or am I supposed to leave the body at the initial stages of sleep paralysis. Although I have tried to "get up" during sleep paralysis and nothing happens. So what am I doing wrong here?

It sounds like you are doing everything right except expecting you cannot go into Consciousness. Sure you can since you are doing it already, it sounds like. You have a lot more control and experience than I do anyways, with that. Welcome to Tom's MBT discussion forums.
Love to you and yours,
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Thanks.

What did you mean when you said "go into consciousness?"

I guess I have a lot of experience. When I learned how to get into sleep paralysis back in 2002 I wasn't aware of OBEs or any of that. I'd say that I have had more than 300 episodes of it over the years. I just need to know how to "get out of the body." Even today I tried to sit up while in the sleep paralysis state and I couldn't.

Max,

Keep at it. It takes time to develop so continue to experiment. I remember an amusing experience in which I seemed to be entering into something strange, starting with seeing a strange green and blue sort of paisley pattern with some yellow streaks in it through which I passed, followed by darkness. The next day I realized that what I was seeing was the fabric of the couch on which I was laying and which I had never looked at so closely and in detail before. So the dark space that followed was apparently the interior of the back of the couch. So keep at it and more importantly, don't get hung up on expectations.

Ted

Thanks for the encouragement.

What method do most people here use for this?

The problem with my method is that it's too quick and there is such a small window of opportunity that to master it is almost impossible.

Just let it happen rather than trying to force it, or believing it almost impossible, or hard, or anything. Out of body and into Consciousness are basically the same thing as Consciousness is fundamental to what we are. The body is part of the illusion of this Reality frame, so being able to ignore it is going into Consciousness Space such as with meditation, or what you are doing, and you are doing it. Just relax expectations, and focus your Intent. Practice, practice, practice without being emotionally attached to the outcome is what I would suggest. You are already doing it so you can do it, and you already know it is possible, right?
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Hello Max,
Welcome to the board.I have a couple questions and then maybe I or others can help alittle more in addition.

When you said that you just transitioned into a dream -were you still consciously aware after this or did the experience end ?

What are you expecting to see ?

One thing I will say now is that it is possible to split your awareness between staying in bed and traveling. In these times,for myself anyway,I prefer to focus on the data not associated with my body in bed. What I mean is I concentrate away from the body and IMO you did the right thing by closing your eyes and continuing.

As for the darkness-some call it 'the void'. In my experience it can be a transition state. When I remain patient,calm,and focused I almost always find that a different environment will emerge. Looking for your hands (in the darkness) is a good technique for maintaining nonphysical focus.

If you have mastered the ability to go into sleep paralysis, you have found the holy grail for consciousness exploration!

Your problem seems to be expressed in this sentence "At this point I just transitioned into a dream.". Which means you succeeded (or almost), but your beliefs and expectation made you think you failed. Read this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5538

My experience with the high speed tunnelling and the void is that it's my metaphor for trying to get somewhere, but my intent isn't focused enough. I am then kind of idling around until I stop the experience.

You are close, just a few assumptions (beliefs) that are constraining you. If you have more questions after reading the other thread, please ask.

Hi Max,

There's a few things that jump out at me as possible sticking points. The first thing I noticed is that you seem to be attempting things that have a strong physical analog. "I decided to open my eyes" and "I tried to sit up." When you tried to open your eyes you saw the ceiling. When you tried to sit up you couldn't because you were in sleep paralysis mode. I think when you are trying these things it is your body that is still responding to the mental effort. For instance, when you wanted to see, instead of trying to open your eyes you could simply express the desire to "see". Out of body, you have no eyelids to open and no eyes even! You are only receiving data that is analogous to seeing. You don't have to "open your eyes."

I have been there. Years ago, after reading Journeys Out of the Body and trying so hard to duplicate Monroe's experience, I would occasionally wake up experiencing the vibrations and immediately try with all my might to move my nonphysical arms. This would only break the state and I would feel the tension in my arms from trying to move them.

The other thing that sabotaged my efforts was the tremendous excitement that occurred when I felt the vibrations because I was thinking "All right! Here's my opportunity! Must get out right now!" I would suddenly feel my heart beating hard and a feeling of anxiety which would break the state and simply wake me all the way up. The thing that finally allowed me to succeed was, as Jeff suggested, staying calm and relaxing even further, especially my mind. I just enjoyed the experience and let things happen. And things did happen. I have expereinced an out of body state, lucid dream like states, communication with entities, all from simply relaxing and letting things happen. Later, I started expressing a desire (an intent) for whatever experience I wanted without trying too hard to do anything. This is sometimes successful. My attempts are still hit and miss though. Sometimes I have amazing results and sometimes I reach sleep paralysis, feel the vibrations, and nothing else. This is still satisfying in it's own way though so I don't complain.

Tom has cautioned several times about the hazards of expectations and trying to duplicate someone else's experiences. Yours may be similar or totally different. Have no expectations. Experiment and find what works. Something Tom suggested that I have tried, and it seemed to work, was when you find yourself in that state, simply have an intent to have whatever experience that would be most beneficial to your growth and learning. Tom says the system will help you if it is beneficial for your growth to have the experience. Another thing he said that was tremendously helpful to me was that whenever you reach the state in meditation where you are no longer aware of your body, you are out of body! It's all about where the focus of your consciousness is. Tom's words finally freed me from the expectation of having an experience a la Bob Monroe which amazingly allowed me to do just that and much more. Keep at it. You are much further along than you think.

Here's a link where I recount some of my experiences, including my initial OOBE. You may find it interesting reading at least. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3754

Ramon

Welcome Max,

I have been working with the sleep paralysis state for many years now. My progress has been slow, but fruitful. The forum is full of great advice regarding this state. With the great help of the forum members, my approach is: Have a clear intent, and then just let the experience happen on its own.

Something that Tom said in the fireside chat has helped me a great deal. It went something like: "we typically get what we don't want". This is starting to make a great deal of sense to me. Consider elementary school. I might want to be at recess running around, exploring, and having fun. However, it is time to study math instead (boooooriiiing). The school lets me out for recess here and there, but this is mainly to help me maintain better focus once back in the classroom. My desire is to grow, learn, and evolve. To do this, I have to put my intent (to evolve) out there and then just go along with the lesson plan, whatever it may be.

I had spent a lot of time trying to instigate NPMR experiences so that I could start growing and evolving. What I forgot to consider was that being here in this PMR is actually the point (currently anyway). It would seem that many of these NPMR experiences are to supplement, aid, and/or encourage our PMR learning. Each of my NPMR experiences has in some way propelled my evolution in PMR. The point in all of this is that we have to be careful not to focus too much on the sky for rain (growth), we are already up to our knees in it. To borrow from Tom... we are exactly where we need to be.

That is my limited and humble input. I hope it is somewhat useful.

_________________
-"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find... you get what you need"