Astral Projection not working? Do you need help to figure out why your attempts have not been successful?

There may be a number of reasons why your attempts at Astral Projection are not working, yet.

Don’t despair, I’ve probably come across all the problems at one time or another, and I wrote this post to help you solve them!

The First and Most Common Problem Encountered by the Would-Be Astral Traveler is Simply Insufficient Relaxation

If you are struggling to have a successful Astral Projection, chances are that you are insufficiently relaxed, mentally, physically or both.

This can only improve with practice.

Astral Projection is not to be forced or rushed. Many very experienced OBEers still sometimes fail to successfully project.

Often, the best solution is to concentrate on your self-relaxation techniques, which will have huge benefits for you anyway!

I recommend starting off with breathing exercises, deep physical relaxation (baths, massage and progressive muscle relaxation are all very helpful), and meditation, in this order.

We suggest methods of relaxation that will help you achieve the right kind of trance for Astral Projection, and there are also products available to help with this.

Binaural Beats and Isochronic Tones are a very helpful way to induce the correct level of trance – these work by using sound to trigger particular brain frequencies – and can really speed up your progress.

Find out more about these here…

(However, be warned, there are charlatans out there who will try and sell you expensive but poor quality products that will not help with Astral Projection one bit.)

Falling Asleep Before the Out of Body Experience is Successful

Often we lie down, get ourselves fully relaxed and ready for an Out of Body Experience, only to find that we fall asleep before exit from the body is achieved.

This still happens to me, and is nothing to worry about! Your body is conditioned to fall asleep when lying down, particularly in bed, unless you are unfortunate enough to suffer from insomnia.

If you are finding that you always fall asleep when attempting Astral Projection, the best thing to do is change your habits a little bit.

Firstly, since your body has been conditioned to fall asleep in bed, try your OBE exercises outside of the bedroom. This step alone is often enough to create a massive improvement in results!

You are also probably falling asleep because you are tired, so ensuring that you get enough sleep is likely to help with successful Out of Body Experiences.

You can also try Astral Projection in the morning, as after a night’s sleep you will be well rested. Setting your alarm earlier than normal, and doing your astral projection exercises in the morning can often yield results.

Afternoons can be good for Astral Projection, as well, although I sometimes fall asleep then as well.

It is worth saying that often when we fall asleep before exit, we may still manage to experience a Lucid dream, which is different but related to Astral Projection. So it’s worth working on your Lucid Dreaming in tandem with Astral Projection. Later in this website we will outline methods for Lucid Dreaming!

A Failure to Remember Out of Body Experiences

You may be surprised to know that many people who think that they cannot induce an Out of Body Experience simply have difficulty remembering their experiences. Because of the nature of the Out of Body Experience, a failure to remember the experience makes the whole episode as though it didn’t take place.

There are several ways of improving your Astral Projection memories, but the most simple and effective one is simply to keep a pen and paper by your bed, and get into the habit of recording all of your dreams and dream experiences.

There is a high chance that you will rediscover some memories from Astral Projections and Lucid Dreams. Recording dreams is very useful for anyone with an interest in these matters, so you should be doing it, anyway!

Fear, Unease or Panic at the Moment of Projection

As discussed in my article about Techniques for Astral Projection, a profound feeling of vertigo is common before a successful exit from the body, which sometimes stops the student from completing the projection.

Additionally, the point of exit is sometimes accompanied by genuine physical discomfort or even pain.

A pressure is often felt around the head, like a very tight band.

In fact, there is a whole host of common symptoms associated with Astral Projection.

If your attempts to Astral Project are being distracted by these sensations it is useful to understand that these feelings are not unique, and nor are they permanent.

Once your projection is complete, these feelings will disappear.

Trying to Rush the Astral Projection Process

Some people just master Astral Projection quicker than others. In the same way that some people may learn to drive a car quicker than others, it does not necessarily mean that the slower starters will not develop a better technique.

In fact, it is often the case that those who have to work hardest at Astral Projection to get results end up having a much better grasp of it.

Don’t feel that you have to rush the learning experience, it is part of the journey towards Astral Projection!

Pay Attention to When Your Attempts at Astral Projection are Most Nearly Successful

As with learning anything, the key is to observe the conditions that get results, and do more of them.

Even if not completely successful at inducing an Out of Body Experience, if you feel that progress is being made then this is a direction that you should concentrate on.

Dietary and Health Reasons for Unsuccessful Astral Projection

In terms of dietary reasons for problems with Astral Projection, low protein meals are to be recommended before attempting to induce an Out of Body Experience.

I am not advocating a vegetarian diet, and I am far from being a vegetarian, but eating a heavy meal that is high in protein does seem to hinder Astral Projection.

I’m sure it is not a coincidence that the cultures where mysticism is more widespread tend to have a diet that is lower in protein. Furthermore, in the sectors of these societies that are most devoted to the spiritual, such as in the priesthoods, special diets avoiding meat are commonplace.

To be clear, the problem is eating a meal high in protein close to the time that you intend to project. You DON’T need to completely abstain from meat, or indeed any other foods that you enjoy.

In fact, it is best to avoid eating too much of anything before trying to induce an Out-of-Body Experience. The reason for this is that the energy you need to project is being diverted into digesting your meal. Naturally, the heavier the meal, the more energy needed to process it. (I’ve written more about what I’ve learned about diet and Astral Projection here…)

As far as health reasons go, I am far from being the most healthy man on the planet, and this has not restricted my abilities to achieve an Out-of-Body Experience! However, some health issues, such as problems with breathing, can certainly be found to make Astral Projection very difficult. In these instances, your first step should be to seek medical advice.

Focus on each of these points, and you will see a sharp increase in your progress. And soon you will find yourself able to Astral Project successfully and without difficulty.

 

The Seven Most Effective Techniques for Inducing an Out of Body Experience

Firstly, it is important to say that before attempting to use any of the Techniques for inducing an Out of Body Experience, you should be fully-relaxed in mind and body. Out-of-Body-Experience.info contains lots of information and tips in order to reach the desired state of mind.

Inducing an Out of Body Experience is not something to be forced, and without sufficient relaxation, you are unlikely to project successfully! Read about Out of Body Experience techniques, by all means, but do understand that until you have mastered relaxation and trance-states, you will not be able to do much with them. Discover the quickest, easiest way to enter a Deep Trance here! (Shaves months or even years off your learning curve…)

Now, that said, here are the Seven Best Techniques for Inducing an Out of Body Experience:

1. Inducing an Out of Body Experience Using The Rope Technique

The Rope Projection technique is said to have been devised by Robert Bruce, one of the foremost figures in the world of Astral Projection. The idea was for a method of projection that would be effective for people who were without sight, and therefore relies more on tactile experience than visual memories. The technique hinges around an imaginary rope that hangs above you from the ceiling.

As you lie on your bed, you imagine the rope hanging down towards you, and what you do is visualize yourself (or rather, your Astral Self) taking hold of the rope, and pulling yourself up the rope, one hand at a time, all the while concentrating on the sensations as you climb upwards. Be aware of the feeling of the rope against your hands, and the motion of your body as you pull yourself up from your bed, and concentrating also on the feelings of your arms slowly but surely pulling yourself upwards.

The Rope Technique is extraordinarily successful at inducing an Out of Body Experience, even in people who have struggled for a long time to see any results. Quite quickly, a feeling of fairly intense vertigo is experienced, and projection is generally instantaneous, provided the student has kept themselves calm and relaxed throughout.

2. Out of Body Experience using the Ladder Technique

Occasionally, people have difficulty with the rope technique for astral projection, as they just don’t feel that their imaginary hands and arms are strong enough to hold them and pull them up the rope. This may sound strange to you, but it is a phenomenon more common than you would think!

In this instance, a ladder may be imagined hanging from the ceiling, instead, which has the benefit of allowing the would-be Astral Projector to use his or her feet, as well as the hands.

All other aspects of this method remain the same as with the Rope Projection Technique.

3. Out of Body Experience with the Point Shift Method

The next two techniques for Out of Body Experiences are slightly more traditional and also more difficult for many people. However, some people take to these kinds of Astral Projection techniques like a duck to water, and it is certainly good to have as many different methods under your belt as possible.

The point shift method involves becoming intensely aware of your own body, and then mapping out in your imagination where everything in your room is, in relation to you and each other. It is for this reason that it requires quite a lot of concentration.

Once this stage has been reached, you then can feel yourself float, just a few inches, at first, and then visualize all of your surroundings from that new perspective. The idea is to feel as if you have already projected out of you body, and keeping your awareness of where you are and what you visualize from the view-point of your imaginary self!

Finally, you slowly rise from your physical body. This takes what can only be described as a very relaxed form of will-power. Some force is necessary, but you must not allow your body to become tense. Congratulations, you have projected, and once this method of Astral Projection is mastered, you will find it far easier to project under almost any circumstances.

4. Using the Self-Visualization Method for Astral Travel

This is the first method I learnt to induce an Out of Body Experience with!

Like the Point Shift method, it is among the more difficult for many people, and this probably accounts for many of my early struggles to master Astral Projection. However, once learnt it is a good technique that only becomes quicker with practice!

At the heart of this technique for inducing an Out of Body Experience is creating a detailed, life-like double of yourself. I find it works well either lying down or seated, but it works best in an environment you are very familiar with. Visualize yourself, starting at the feet, and working your way up, including any details you believe will help your body-double to feel real to you.

Sometimes I imagine really intricate detail, from buttons to eyebrow hairs, and other times I imagine in much broader strokes.

With some effort, you can now allow your body-double to stand up or sit up.

At this point you may start to feel a pressure in your head or in your chest.

Don’t panic, as this is the projection point kicking in. If all goes to plan, your awareness will now have shifted entirely to the projected body.

If you find it difficult to visualize, you could try practicing this visualization exercise, which incidentally is quite effective at creating a trance-state. Joseph Bearwalker Wilson also wrote about some very smart exercises to train yourself to attain an altered state of consciousness, which you can find referenced here.

5. The Rolling-Out Technique for Projection

Not a complete system for Astral Projection, in itself, but more of an aid, for when projection has not quite been successful. I generally alternate this technique with others when projection is proving difficult, or use it to finish the projection after using the rope technique.

This is a method of inducing an Out of Body Experience while in bed or in a reclining position. It is effective because the act of rolling in your bed is something that we each experience many times a night, and the familiarity of this action makes it easy to visualize for the purpose of helping to induce an Out of Body Experience.

Simply “feel yourself” rolling back and forth in your bed, and allow your imagined view point to reflect each new position. This technique for Astral Projection is quite often enough to trigger a successful Out of Body Experience, even when you have found yourself struggling using other methods. I have to say, though, that I have seldom found it effective on its own.

6. The Driving System for Out of Body Experiences

Another effective system, that I believe was also discovered by the great Robert Bruce. As I describe it, it will become apparent that this technique for Astral Projection is not one of the more traditional methods!

You may have noticed, while driving, or playing a computer driving game, that concentrating on the driving, while the views from outside move quickly past, constantly changing, you can easily find yourself in a trance. We can often lose track of time, or get to a destination without really remembering the journey.

We can use our remembered experiences to help induce astral travel, by recollecting the feeling of motion combined with the ever-changing and moving landscape. This should result in a deep trance state quite quickly, allowing the projector to now switch to another method, say the rope technique, to make the actual projection.

Personally, I have rarely used this method for inducing an OBE. It certainly works; however I do have a concern that using this method could easily train the practitioner of Astral Projection to always associate the feelings of driving with entering into a deep trance state. This would be undesirable, for obvious reasons!

7. The Picture Technique for Projection into a Virtual Reality

I have saved the most exciting and unusual method of Astral Projection for last!

After having entered a trance state, fully mentally and physically relaxed, the picture technique for Astral Projection can yield some quite stunning results. I did this first by accident, an did not succeed in replicating it until a couple of years later.

You want to use a picture, which can be a painting or a photograph, and allow yourself to imagine yourself in the landscape. Looking at a reflection of that picture in a mirror increases the feeling of depth in the image, which I think was a crucial part of me mastering this technique for Out of Body Experience.

Really “feeling” and “seeing” the details around you is the key for making this Astral Projection technique work. Start by allowing an imaginary view-point to get closer and closer to the image, and then gently but firmly push your consciousness actually into the picture. This technique allows the Astral Traveler to explore a virtual world or worlds, and also use this as a starting point for travelling to other Astral Worlds.

One problem that people often find with Astral Projection is that they can successfully project to a specific place or Astral realm, but shortly find the destination morphing into somewhere different. The Picture technique for Out of Body Experience neatly side-steps these kinds of problems, transporting the traveler to a much more clearly defined world, that you could visit and explore many times, and results of each exploration are much more likely to be consistent.

This is not the easiest Astral Projection technique to master, but its results will speak for themselves, if you are prepared to put in the extra effort!