http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_projection_experiences/question_about_the_throat_chakra-t46700.0.html;msg362781#msg362781

Referencing the above post, someone asked the following about their Throat Chakra and Astral Projecting:

So I’ve been learning to astral project and I can tell that I am almost there. I have had some of the various physical sensations like vibrations and buzzing and have seen shadows of images flashing behind my eyelids. But I’m pretty sure that my throat chakra is holding me back, it’s been blocked my entire life and I think I can tell because I have man of the physical symptoms that tend to be associated with it. Recently I have been doing a lot of work to try to strengthen and open that chakra along with the other six, when I get to the point in my meditation where I’m starting to astral project I feel a huge lump in my throat that makes it almost hard to breathe and I start salivating more than normal. Any physical movement like swallowing makes it go away. I’ve been working on mentally focusing on not doing anything that would disturb that sensation because I’m thinking that it is a sign that the chakra is opening.

Has anyone else had this experience and if so can anyone help me understand what is happening and what I should do?

Thank you all.

My response:

From your post… I can tell you this:

You have no issues with your throat chakra.
You BELIEVE you have issues with your throat chakra, and that belief is all that’s holding you back.

You’re well-spoke and communicate effectively. You have no issues with your throat chakra.

With that said, stop worrying so much about stuff like needing to swallow. Just do it. Do you worry this much when you fall asleep at night? Probably not. You just lie down and fall asleep. Well, projecting isn’t any different. You lie down and “just project”. If you need to scratch an itch, do it. If you need to swallow, do it. Do it calmly and gently so you don’t break yourself too much out of your state of mind, but just do it.

I can meditate, get really deep and into it… then, UH OH! I have to go to bathroom…
It’s not a problem. You open your eyes, calmly and quietly get up, calmly and quietly go to the bathroom, do your stuff… then go and sit back down. This act of getting up shouldn’t completely break your focus.

If a simple movement such as “swallowing” is breaking your focus, then you’re worrying too much.

Just relax.

This is a great illustration of how your Perception creates your reality. And it doesn’t just happen here physically…

When experiencing the non-physical, WHAT you experience is OBJECTIVE, HOW you experience it is SUBJECTIVE.
The shape in the middle bottom of the image represents what your non-physical experience ACTUALLY is… the two shapes on the end represent how you INTERPRETED the experience.
You can have two separate consciousnesses experience the same middle image, yet their interpretation of that experience could really end up in two completely different ways.

WHAT you experience is OBJECTIVE (the middle shape), HOW you experience it is SUBJECTIVE.

A member of the Astral Pulse recently asked “Is Astral Projection just a form of lucid dreaming?”.

Well, to answer this question, we need to ask three separate questions which are all intricately linked and yet also not linked at all.

Here are the THREE very important questions that need to be asked.

1. What is “dreaming”?
2. What is “lucid dreaming”?
3. What is “astral projection”?

Now, I have been studying this stuff for a while and at one point, I focused almost exclusively on the first question in order to answer the second and third question. So began my journey to figure out what we humans (aka: science) know about “dreaming” began.

What is Dreaming? I very quickly hit a roadblock when researching this question. What did I learn? I learned that humanity, LITERALLY, has absolutely no idea what “dreaming” is. We haven’t a clue. We have scientists who have provided educated guesses, but not a single human lives today or has ever lived who has been able to answer that question.

So… that kills question #1. The answer: We humans don’t know what “dreaming” is.

Question #2 and #3 are kind of unanswerable because we don’t know the answer to question #1.

So when you ask “is astral projection just a form of lucid dreaming?”, do you realize what you’re REALLY asking here?
You’re asking “is some random label of something we have absolutely no idea about, just a form of another random label of something we have absolutely no idea about?”. Most people love to compare dreaming to lucid dreaming and to astral projection, but you can’t do this. It makes no logical sense because if you don’t know what “dreams” are, then you can’t use it as a basis of comparison to anything else.

Funny, eh?

Now, I *can* answer #1, #2, AND #3. However, I can only answer it from my own personal experience of the non-physical… I’m not saying the answer is right, but I am saying that it comes from my own personal experience. I wrote the following article a few years ago to better explain: http://www.unlimitedboundaries.ca/2012/07/22/labeling-experiences-of-the-non-physical/

Please read that article, and enjoy.

Some people, especially individuals new to Projection, upon having their first Projection proclaim that it was “more real” than their usual physical reality experience. Let me try to explain how this sensation works.

If you really think about it for a second, saying that something is “more real” is a strange comparison to make with something else. If something is “real” then how can something else be “more” real? It’s either real or not real. It’s one of those statements that has no gray area. It’s very black and white, on or off, 1 or 0. The better way to describe these experiences is that when compared to your physical reality perception they are simply “different”. Why are they different? Because while you’re physically awake you’re experiencing this reality *through* the filters (5 senses) of your physical body.

When you’re projecting, you’re not using those 5 physical senses. Now, understand, for your ENTIRE LIFE up until now, you’ve been using those 5 physical body senses and they have formed your entire reality for as long as you can remember. You’ve become entirely used to how your physical body feels when experiencing this physical reality. So what’s different about it when you’re projecting? While projecting, for the first time in your experience, you’re using “other” senses/perceptions to experience the reality through.

So, what’s going on is that you’re experiencing a reality with different filters on, perhaps even LESS filters than you’re normally (physically) used to. This is why a Projection FEELS so “different”.

Let me try to put it another way. Have you ever bought a brand new pair of shoes? The first time you slip those shoes on, they feel very strange on your feet. Don’t they? They feel completely different because they’re filtering what your feet are feeling compared to your old shoes which were very familiar to you. It doesn’t make them any more or less “real”, it just makes your perception of them “different”. This “different” perception is all that’s occurring when you’re projecting. I’ve found that the “different” perception is also directly tied to “how aware” you are compared to your waking self. The more aware you are the “more real” people tend to describe their experiences.

I hope that helps a bit with understanding your experiences.

There are these non-physical concepts floating around that there are these “areas” of consciousness which are “individual” in nature, meaning it’s only you there experiencing it and “collective” in nature, meaning that it’s you experiencing the reality with many other individuals/awarenesses/entities/beings/etc. When you look at consciousness as a whole, you realize that this kind of separation is simply illogical. Allow me to explain.

By the very nature that everything is consciousness – everything is collective. There is only “everything”. The simple fact is that the individualness you experience on a daily basis (the idea that you are separate from everyone else) is an illusion. So when people have a projection and they seem to be in a reality all by themselves, or they have what they will arbitrarily label as a lucid dream, they come to the conclusion that they were within some individual area of consciousness which is only for them and them alone.

There’s only your perception of individual and collective experiences. The difference is like standing in a crowded room with a blindfold that blocks all light from your eyes and ear plugs that block all noise from your ears and then making the, obviously plain as day assumption that you’re all alone. Your perception says that since you can’t see or hear anyone else that you were all by yourself, even though standing all around you are these other individuals. That’s how the non-physical / consciousness kind of works.

You’re never alone. You only perceive yourself to be because that how you’re currently interpreting the reality that you’re experiencing. Someone / something could be standing right in front of you and you’d never see them because you just don’t perceive them.

This is also what I mean when I say that WHAT you experience is Objective, but HOW you experience it is Subjective. So how do you experience something closer to how it’s Objectively presented? You need to keep yourself grounded and centered. This will remove as much subjectiveness as possible which is being fueled by your own awareness. Even then, if you’re able to do that, you still might not ever experience something 100% objective as it’s really presented.

I haven’t done one of these in a while so I thought I’d start them back up again! Post Focus!
There was a post made on the Astral Pulse today by Alex-Anderson, where he speaks about having many what he labels as “OBEs” during his life, but now recently, within the last couple years, that has apparently stopped. He goes on to say that he does have many, what he labels as “lucid dreams” though. Which is great! And I’ll explain!

First, this is his post:

Guys this is driving me crazy, I had probably about at least 3 or more OBEs per week for many years/decades, and my experiences became very mature and controlled in the latter years, but for some reason they stopped suddenly about 2 years ago.

Since then external factors such as a new position at work (higher workload + stress) and the birth of my twins could be contributing factors undecided, but nonetheless I feel somewhat depressed loosing what I thought was a unique gift.

Every night at bed I’m thinking about possible OBE experiences but nothing ever avails (mine always happened from sleep). However I still have very detailed lucid dreams (as I did as a child prior to OBEs occurring), but so far it remains as is with nothing more than a lucid dream.

I remember reading a book stating that OBEs can just stop in mid/late adulthood and never return, has anyone ever had this and found some way to re-kickstart the experiences again?

My response:
The ONLY issue you have is that you’re stuck on labels.
To me, those two quotes above (bolded sentences) are contradictory.

Here’s what you’re saying: “I used to have lots of OBE’s, but within the last two years they’ve stopped… except now I have lots of Lucid Dreams.”
Here’s my perspective: “I used to have lots of projections, but within the last two years they’ve stopped… except now I have lots of projections.”

An OBE *IS* a projection.
A lucid dream *IS* a projection.

Your ONLY problem is that you “believe” that they’re different things… and, as I said, you’re too hung up on labels.
Forget the terms you know. They’re meaningless and worthless. If you’re consciously aware that you’re experiencing a reality which isn’t this physical reality, then you’re projecting.

What you need to do is learn to control what you’re calling a “lucid dream” and dictate where and what you do in those experiences. They’re ALL non-physical experiences.
If you want to experience something resembling this physical reality while having what you’re calling a “lucid dream”, then just do it. You’re only limiting yourself here. Place the intent. Do what you choose to do. Have control.

You have no problem here beyond what you believe you do. You haven’t lost anything except time.

This will be a short and right to the point post about what a lot of people fear to be what is commonly referred to as the “Astral Police”.

In short, there is no “law enforcement” in the non-physical. At least not as you would expect.
The only rules you break are the ones you place there for yourself.

With that said, if you’re breaking your own rules (whether they consciously or unconsciously set by you), then you’re going to run into “blocks”, but any of those blocks are going to be self-created. How you perceive those blocks is entirely up to the individual, it could manifest as a wall stopping you from moving forward; you might just become unable to move at all; you might run into “police”, which is how this whole “astral police” stuff began in the first place, one person experienced it and told someone else…

What you experience in the non-physical is objective, but HOW you experience it is subjective. Not many new people realize this and interpret experiences literally! You can’t do this.

For example, the scenario above of someone being “stopped” by some “police” while projecting, this individual definitely was “stopped” or “blocked” from an action they wanted to take or stopped while doing an action, that’s the objective part… the subjective part was that they were stopped by “police”.

So as you see, there is no “Astral Police”. There is only your own consciousness looking out for itself. Keep doing things that you know are wrong and you’ll quickly find yourself unable to do those things anymore.

It’s been proven scientifically that you dream every single night of your life, yet some people wake up each morning and simply can NEVER remember what they experienced while unconscious. Why is that?

Well, your memory works in the same way whether you’re experiencing this physical reality or a non-physical reality. You must have what I call a “base level awareness” in order for you to directly and consciously experience a dream, after you have that, it’s then up to you in order to fully remember it. There are other things you can do upon awakening to lock that memory physically, but that’s a point for another article.

You remember whatever you directly experience. Yet to directly experience a dream, you must first have even the smallest amount of awareness within that dream. Anything less than that base level awareness, and you won’t re-call the dream, because you didn’t consciously experience it.

I’ll explain how it works physically with a comparison event which I think a lot of us have encountered before: Being so drunk you didn’t remember anything from that evening. If you’ve ever been so blind drunk that the next day you didn’t remember anything that happened, it’s not that you didn’t DO things, because obviously you did (I’m sure your friends will tell you every detail! LOL), it’s just that you didn’t have the base level awareness to directly experience it.

Well, the same holds true for your dreams. If you don’t have that base level awareness, then you won’t recall your dreams, because you didn’t directly experience them.

My first post for 2014 will pertain to my current perception of reality and where I feel I’m at…

For myself, my understanding of reality has shifted so far beyond the common labels people enjoy using (dreams, lucid dreams, astral projection, etc), I don’t identify with that terminology anymore. I simply don’t view reality in a way in which they work anymore. They’re too “physically limiting” for me now.

I have found that experiences in the non-physical (hell, even physical experiences) aren’t something you DO, they’re something you ARE.
As I’ve made mention before, I don’t DO lucid dreaming… instead, I AM lucidly aware.

I recognize that most (or even *ALL*) of the terms people use (dreams, lucid dreams, astral projections, etc) don’t objectively exist. There’s no such thing as a “dream”. There is only an experience in consciousness where your awareness is experiencing a reality which you believe is this physical reality, but it really isn’t.

To me, the labels above are absolutely and completely useless to convey the appropriate meaning of an experience.

As such, this is the method and mode in which I teach. To open the minds of those who come here to see beyond the labels that they have ‘read’ about and see past them to experience consciousness AS consciousness and not a neat and tidy box limiting their experiences. This is how we teach in Destynee’s Plan. We attempt to get the individual to leave their box behind and open their minds to the larger reality… that larger reality includes the physical.

I know that a lot of people here have experienced this before. You’re trying to Project consciously or Meditating and all of a sudden, you know full well that your eyes are shut tight, yet you’re able to see your surroundings just fine!

I’ve experienced this many times while meditating at home sitting in my living room and I’m able to see my surroundings looking exactly as they are. So what is this? Was I *REALLY* seeing my living room? I could see my tv… the tv stand… the wall… the dog beds… they were all there.

Well, it wasn’t until I started doing this on the train going into work each morning that I believe I have a theory. I try meditating on train each morning, the end result is that as the train pulls into Toronto, I’m usually pretty relaxed. I sit there for a bit longer waiting for everyone to leave so that there is room for me to leave as well… and as I’m sitting there I simply continue my meditation. What I experience, usually on most days is the whole “seeing through my eyelids” thing, only what I see isn’t a direct reflection of what is actually going on around me. It’s not even always from the same perspective of where I’m sitting. I’ve seen my fiancé get up and walk away… I’ve seen people who are sitting in front of me get up and leave (not always the same people as are actually there too!)… then upon opening my eyes physically, I see that these people are still sitting there.

My theory is that what we’re “seeing” when we see through our eyelids IS NOT actually physical reality at all… you’re seeing non-physically, and it’s mixed very highly with what you believe is around you at the time.

Thoughts? Comments?

I’m a stickler for that statement “dreaming about projection”…

Now, unless what you mean is that the SUBJECT of the dream was projection, for example, you were talking to a friend about astral projection. That, to me, is dreaming of projection.

But what most people I’ve spoken to about this subject mean is that they were aware they were dreaming, yet the experience still felt “strange” and “dreamlike” to them. First, you can’t “dream about projection” in that manner. You’re either aware that you’re non-physical (projection) or you’re not aware that you’re non-physical (dream). <– also, this alludes to the idea that dreams aren’t what we think they are, but that’s a discussion for another time. A lot of people, especially new people to Projection who don’t have much or any experience, confuse “pre-projection sensations” with having a projection. Stuff like waking up or falling asleep with Vibrations and feeling a sense of separation in the same way that people meditating might have these sensations. You can experience them while meditating, while falling asleep or even while waking up. Unless you were explicitly in the non-physical AND aware that you were non-physical, then it’s not a projection. Now let’s quickly address false awakenings. A false awakening is a dream in which you believe you’re PHYSICALLY awake and going about your business. It IS a projection in which you think you’re awake, yet you don’t realize you’re actually still in the non-physical. It is a projection, in as much as a dream is a projection, however you’re still unaware, but it’s still a big step in the right direction. Whatever it is, it’s a great start nonetheless. Everything we experience are stepping stones to not only becoming more familiar with that state of consciousness, but it also means that if you keep at things, you’ll eventually succeed!

One of my fellow Astral Pulse moderators posted this absolutely great article on dealing with fear.
I’m going to share it here!

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_consciousness/dealing_with_fear_and_some_extra_tips-t43266.0.html

There has been a rise in the number of fear based questions lately so I wanted to take a little time to talk about it.

Fear is probably the number 1 reason that most people fail at astral projection. Evidence suggests that when people stop their attempts frequently due to fear, their brain is rewiring itself to invoke fear faster and faster each time the person quits. Each subsequent failed attempt serves to reinforce the new synaptic pathway to work more efficiently.

This hasn’t been proven to be the case for AP specifically but there is no doubt that the brain rewires itself after repeated practice of instruments or typing for instance. When the brain recognizes something that happens often, it likes to be a buddy and help you out by creating short cuts for something familiar. This is what allows great musicians to sing and play instruments simultaneously and seemingly with little effort.

This is why it is a good idea to work on some of your fears before you seriously start to attempt AP. You don’t want to help fear out in anyway and constantly giving in to fear only serves to insure that it will arise faster. However, with determination and practice, you can still overcome it.

There are many different fears that cause people to give up too soon but the most common two are the fear of death and the fear of encountering demons and other nasty beings.

Death being a possibility or consequence of AP should be the furthest thing in your mind. If someone were to die while projecting, it would only be because it was their time to go. They could have been doing anything at that time and the results would have been the same. There is absolutely no causal effect.

Dealing with your fears of encountering demons and such is a little more complex. It can stem from a religious background or even from your personal interests. Some people have noticed a distinct correlation
between their fear of demons and their preference of scary movies and such that deal with them as subject matter.

Everyone likes to get a little scared from watching a scary movie from time to time. The problem is that when you start to worry about demons, your brain will recall the images and emotions you felt when you were enjoying those scary movies. However, it only recalls the fear and not you enjoyment of watching the films.

My personal belief in regards to demons is that they started out as a normal consciousness like you and I. The problem is that they have trapped themselves into constant state of jealousy over the living, self hatred, and hopelessness.

In other word, they have wasted most of their opportunities to evolve and are thus devolving into nothingness. Can you imagine how angry and bitter you would be if you wasted all this potential. If you do happen to encounter one, it is best that you just leave it be and go on your way.

However, if you think that you have it in you to confront one, pay close attention to their real energy and not the projection that they want you to see. They usually do not match. In one of my earlier experiences, I encountered one of these beings. When this being realized that I wasn’t buying into it’s act, it started to struggle with maintaining it’s demonic image.

She was a teenage girl (probably a suicide) and thought I was a demon coming to take her to hell. I was not aware of retrievals at that time so I did not pursue her to help. Besides, she was just too scared of me anyways.

When it comes to facing our fears, I believe that Robert Peterson said it best. He said that we need to figure out what the worst consequences are for what we want to do and decide if we can accept them. If so, you are ready to begin.

Many people don’t like to take the time to meditate and if they don’t, it’s akin to jumping into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. Meditating allows you to experience different states of consciousness. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of threads that exist in which the poster says that they are in SP but they still can’t get “out”.

Well, if you really are in SP, all you need to do is realize that you are already in the necessary state of consciousness needed to project. Meditating helps you to realize this.

Another proven success factor is to take a short (30 min- 1 hr) nap a few hours before you make an attempt to project. This works because you are already a little closer to that state that you need to be in due to the short nap. Do not attempt to project while taking this nap.

I can’t stress enough how powerful affirmations are. Saying them puts your subconscious mind on notice that you fully intend to have a projection. They work great and fast. Say them to yourself several times a day and have real meaning in the words you choose.

You should also avoid all source of blue light for at least an hour before you make an attempt. Televisions, computer screens, I-pads, and even cell phones are all sources of blue light. Blue light screws up your internal sleep clock so the brain releases less melatonin that helps us relax and get some sleep.

My favorite thing to do during this hour is to read a good book. There’s no better way to exercise our visualization skills. Reading also puts us in an altered state of consciousness.

This actually led to one of my best validations. I was half way through a book when I projected right into the story. I got to watch it play out as an observer watching a play. I learned later that almost everything I saw played out exactly like it did in the book. There was even a new character that had not been brought up in the book at the point that I had quit reading it. It was a jaw-dropping and blissful moment.

If you are just starting out and have had a few successes, you may not have even recognized them for what they were. Don’t worry. It takes most people many experiences before they have the ONE.
That one experience that makes you want to tell everyone you know, how real AP is. It erases all doubt in your mind and motivates you to double your efforts.

Good luck to all of you.