Step one: Relax the body.
According to Monroe, "the ability to
relax is the first prerequisite, perhaps even the first step itself" to
having an OBE. (out of body experience) This includes both physical and
mental relaxation. Monroe does not suggest a method of attaining this
relaxation, although Progressive Muscle relaxation, coupled with deep
breathing exercises (inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3.... until 50 or 100)
are known to work well.
Step two: Enter the state bordering sleep.
This is known as the hypnagogic state. Once again, Monroe doesn't
recommend any method of doing this. One way is to hold your forearm up,
while keeping your upper arm on the bed, or ground. As you start to
fall asleep, your arm will fall, and you will awaken again. With
practice, you can learn to control the Hypnagogic state without using
your arm. Another method is to concentrate on an object. When other
images start to enter your thoughts, you have entered the Hypnagogic
state. Passively watch these images. This will also help you maintain
this state of near-sleep. Monroe calls this Condition A.
Step three: Deepen this state.
Begin to clear your mind. observe your field of vision through your
closed eyes. Do nothing more for a while. Simply look through your
closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you. After a while, you may
notice light patterns. These are simply neural discharges. They have no
specific effect. Ignore them. When they cease, one has entered what
Monroe calls Condition B. From here, one must enter an even deeper
state of relaxation which Monroe calls Condition C-- a state of such
relaxation that you lose all awareness of the body and sensory
stimulation. You are almost in a void in which your only source of
stimulation will be your own thoughts.
The ideal state for
leaving your body is Condition D. This is Condition C when it is
voluntarily induced from a rested and refreshed condition and is not
the effect of normal fatigue. To achieve Condition D, Monroe suggests
that you practice entering it in the morning or after a short nap.
Step Four: Enter a state of Vibration.
This is the most important part of the technique, and also the most
vague. Many projectors have noted these vibrations at the onset of
projection. They can be experienced as a mild tingling, or as is
electricity is being shot through the body. /their cause is a mystery.
It may actually be the astral body trying to leave the physical one.
For entering into the vibrational state, he offers the following directions:
Remove all jewelry or other items that might be touching your skin.
Darken the room so that no light can be seen through your eyelids, but do not shut out all light.
Lie down with your body along a north-south axis, with your head pointed toward magnetic north.
Loosen all clothing, but keep covered so that you are slightly warmer than might normally be comfortable.
Be sure you are in a location where, and at a time when, there will be absolutely no noise to disturb you.
Enter a state of relaxation
Give yourself the mental suggestion that you will remember all that occurs during the upcoming session that will be beneficial to your well-being. Repeat this five times.
Proceed to breath through your half-open mouth.
As you breath, concentrate on the void in front of you.
elect a point a foot away from your forehead, then change your point of mental reference to six feet.
Turn the point 90 degrees upward by drawing an imaginary line parallel to your body axis up and above your head. Focus there and reach out for the vibrations at that point and bring them back into your body.
Even if you don't know what these vibrations are, you will know when you have achieved contact with them.
Step five: Learn to control the vibrational state.
Practice controlling them by mentally pushing them into your head, down
to your toes, making them surge throughout your entire body, and
producing vibrational waves from head to foot. To produce this wave
effect, concentrate of the vibrations and mentally push a wave out of
your head and guide it down your body. Practice this until you can
induce these waves on command.
Once you have control of the vibrational state, you are ready to leave the body.
Step six: Begin with a partial separation.
The key here is thought control. Keep your mind firmly focused on the
idea of leaving the body. Do not let it wander. Stray thought might
cause you to lose control of the state.
Now, having entered the
vibrational state, begin exploring the OBE by releasing a hand or a
foot of the "second body". Monroe suggests that you extend a limb until
it comes in contact with a familiar object, such as a wall near your
bed. Then push it through the object. Return the limb by placing it
back into coincidence with the physical one, decrease the vibrational
rate, and then terminate the experiment. Lie quietly until you have
fully returned to normal. This exercise will prepare you for full
separation.
Step seven: Dissociate yourself from the body.
Monroe suggests two methods for this:
One method is to lift out of the body. To do this, think about getting
lighter and lighter after entering this vibrational state. Think about
how nice it would be to float upward. Keep this thought in mind at all
costs and let no extraneous thoughts interrupt it. An OBE will occur
naturally at this point.
Another method is the "Rotation method"
or "roll-out" technique. When you have achieved the vibrational state,
try to roll over as if you were turning over in bed. Do not attempt to
roll over physically. Try to twist your body from the top and virtually
roll over into your second body right out of your physical self. At
this point, you will be out of the body but next to it. Think of
floating upward, and you should find yourself floating above the body.
Monroe suggests you begin with the lift-out method, but argues that
both are equally efficacious.