Hey everyone,

Some of you know my first book, Beyond Dreaming. It was full of techniques, and it helped a lot of people (thank you, by the way, for how warmly it was received here). But over the years, one kind of message kept landing in my inbox more than any other:

"I've tried everything. The relaxations, the visualizations, the timings, the affirmations. I do exactly what the books say and nothing happens. Is something wrong with me?"

Nothing is wrong with you. But I've come to see something is wrong with the way this is usually taught, including how I taught it. So I want to share what I've learned since, because I think it's the missing piece for a lot of people here.

1. Projection runs on energy, and by energy I mean attention.

Not stamina. Just how much clear, awake attention you have left after you've been awake. Think about reading a page at 8am, and then reading the same page at midnight after a day of screens and arguments. The words are the same. What's changed is how much of you is there to meet them. Waking up inside a dream, remembering it in the morning, crossing over consciously: all of it draws on that reserve. And most of us arrive at the door at night with the tank empty.

2. The real leaks are the ones you never noticed.

Picture your mind as a vessel full of small holes. The phone before your eyes are even open. Replaying yesterday's argument over breakfast for twenty minutes without ever deciding to. The background hum of worry about tomorrow. When you give your attention on purpose, you end the day tired but not empty. The leaks are different: attention taken while you weren't there to notice. There's a line in the book I keep coming back to: "What you never noticed leaving, you cannot recover."

3. You can't live scattered all day and arrive gathered at 3am.

This is the big one. Most of us treat the night as a trick to be performed: ten minutes of technique balanced on top of sixteen hours of chaos. But "you cannot live scattered all day and arrive gathered at the doorway, any more than a river can run muddy for a hundred miles and turn clear at the last bend." The preparation for the night is the day.

4. The other side responds to what you are, not what you want.

This has matched my own experience ever since my first conscious exit back in July 2011. The worlds we enter at night answer to the state of whoever is in them. An anxious mind drifts toward heavy, anxious places; a calm, clear one rises toward brighter ones. There's no judge sorting anyone. It's just resonance. So the real question isn't only "how do I get out?" It's "who is it that's going to be traveling?"

5. Your imagination isn't a toy, and it's been hijacked.

Over there, imagination isn't make-believe. It's the very faculty you perceive with, the eye you see with and the hand you touch with. But here, most of us spend it all day on worry, fantasy and replaying old scenes. Getting it back is a huge part of the work.

So I wrote a second book about exactly this. It's called Sealing the Vessel, and honestly, I think of it as the book that should have come before Beyond Dreaming: the foundation underneath all the techniques. There's no exit technique in it at all. It's the day work: noticing the leaks, a little meditation, learning to really rest the body, small moments of waking through the day, and the last hour before sleep.

What surprised me most: when I first gave it to a small group of students, letters came back from people who weren't even trying to project. They were sleeping more deeply than they had in years, remembering their dreams for the first time in their adult lives, and walking through ordinary days feeling strangely rested and awake. And several people who'd failed for years with technique after technique wrote to say the door had finally opened, because of what they changed during the day, not anything they tried at night.

A few small things you can try this week, no book needed:

1. Three times a day, pause for a minute and ask, kindly: where has my attention been? Just name what you find, without judgment. Seeing is the sealing.
2. Keep the last hour as an entrance hall: lights low, screens away, a quick look back over the day, and one soft intention laid down.
3. On waking, don't move. Let the night rise before you reach for anything, then write it down.

I'll leave a link to the book in the comments for anyone who's interested. But the ideas above are the heart of it, so take them and try them either way 🙏

For several months now, my son has been coming into our room every night in the middle of the night screaming and crying and scared because he “felt the vibrations again.”

I’ve asked him several times to explain it as best as he can so I can get a clear picture of what is going on.

According to him, almost every night, his body violently vibrates and he can’t stop it or move, almost like he’s paralyzed. It’s always followed by intense, “really loud” ringing in his ears and sometimes a buzzing noise. A few times he’s said he heard like a crack and it was like it was coming from inside his head??

Once—and this has only happened the one time—he said he got out of bed and went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but then was confused to wake up the next morning to find he had peed his pants.

I try to get him to talk about how he gets out of it or what (if anything) happens after the vibrations and paralysis and ringing and he says he doesn’t know how he makes it stop, but my guess is fear has something to do with it. Once he’s able to move his body again, that’s when he comes up crying and scared.

I had some similar experiences as a kid, but not this intense or this often.

I don’t know how to help him through this. Any tips or tricks?

Thoughts on the use of these, such as blue lotus, mugwort, and Silene Capensis. I've never tried them, but my projections haven't always been as vivid as I desire, curious if these can help them have consistent vividness.

Hi everyone. I am learning astral projection (not happened for me yet) and so far I have gone from someone who never stopped thinking to someone who can actually quieten their mind - and that is as far as I have gotten.

I am getting very confused because I like Tom Campbell who describes going out of body as switching data-streams (you are consciousness, the player, and it's like letting of the Sims and playing World of Warcraft instead - but as consciousness, you are never actually in the body (you are never actually in the virtual reality, you just switch the virtual reality being rendered for you). So I guess it would feel like teleporting but I am not sure.

However, nearly everyone else teaches that you are exiting the physical body as an energy body. That you actually feel yourself as a body, leaving your physical body.

I am sure switching between these two concepts is slowing me down or adding too much thought processing, but it's not easy to do something when I don't actually understand it.

I often practice for an hour and a half and with Tom's technique I never 'see' any new reality appearing... and with the moving out of body, I never really get there either as no matter how relaxed I get, how much I surrender, I am always aware on some level that I have a physical body and I am in my physical room - and it makes no sense to me that I can then also be an energy body in the astral realm.

I would love to make this process as simple as possible... so if anyone has any advice I would be beyond grateful.

Thank you

I'm just a lurker but fascinated with this.

Has anyone APed to Taurus, Scorpio, Hydra, Vega, Orion, Arcturus, Lyra, etc.

If so what did you see? Did you see planets with or without life? Beings? Entities?

I had a dream about a strange, shapeshifting creature and I’m wondering if anyone knows of any similar beings in mythology, folklore, or paranormal accounts. It had a humanoid upper body, very pale skin, long black hair reaching its shoulders that completely covered its face, and black fur-covered goat legs with hooves. I couldn’t see any facial features beneath the hair. The creature could change its shape into different forms, but it still felt like the same being. It reminded me of a satyr, but much darker and more unsettling. Has anyone heard of a creature matching this description or experienced something similar in a dream?

Now I know that engaging the sense as much as possible is the obvious answer, but that hasn't reliably been working for me. My vision starts out normal, but as I'm trying to look at objects, the fine details on my palms, it starts to become less clear and then the experience always ends.

Sometimes the experience is vivid from the get go, but not always. Once I had the experience turn super real like a switch was flipped. I've also tried saying 'give me clarity' but nothing happens. What to do?

Hi everyone, can someone please explain what on earth happened last night??

My wife and I had the exact same dream last night, even though we were sleeping in separate rooms in the same apartment.

In the dream, we were both taking some kind of exam in a classroom. I had some simple questions that I didn't know the answer to, and I tried to copy from a classmate, but I couldn't see well because his handwriting was illegible. One of the questions was: "Who lived in Nazareth?" (the answer I didn't know was Jesus). Then, something came right next to me (I don't know what it was, it wasn't physical) and aggressively drew some shape across the entire paper with a pen. It didn't look like Jesus, but I received the answer telepathically/as a message (Jesus), and right after that, I woke up.

My wife also dreamed that she was taking some kind of exam and trying to solve it. To cut a long story short: when she opened her eyes from the dream, she saw a triangle with circles inside it (looking like a disc—she actually knows nothing about this symbol) floating in her room. She started blinking and rubbing her eyes, wondering what on earth she was looking at, and suddenly it just vanished into thin air (as if it dematerialized)...

What do you guys think about this? Has anyone experienced anything similar?

here is picture from online what she saw, simmilar
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQoEcD9WvxNQZYUDVp0Ftt64Q4z2RKeeqLOAtL_qu8v9lrJ_Qeb

So, i lm not an expert at astral projection. But, ive done it More than 50 times. But, this last time was a bit different than my other attempts.

This time i set an intention of.. "what do i need to know" I floated outside my body and i walked out my bedroom door. I was now in my moms old house growing up, but it was setup differently. I tried to fly multiple times but couldnt which was weird. I chalked that up to well my intention Was for me to learn something and not for me to dictate what was going on. So anyways, My mom and my sister were there (never seen family in an obe) and i breifly talked to them and walked out the door and met a woman who i presumed was my spirit guide and we walked and talked so on.

Where was i? Ive been trying to understand the different planes? Because my sister and mom could not have been there with me. And why couldn't i fly and control it like normal? Although, i did learn how to stay in the astral longer which was a great learning lesson.

Did i like astral project and then when i went through the door transitioned into lucid dreaming in like a training ground? Or was this another plane on the astral?

Edit: I also lucid dream often, so im aware of both types of experiences. But, this specific experience kinda blurred the lines a bit. I also on the different occasions within this single experience felt my body choking on saliva a bit. And was able to clear my throat and retain my awareness in the experience without shooting back into my body. (Which was my big learning lesson)

Flying high without control you can’t descend you’re at a level of breaking the toposphere and it transports you into a cosmic water realm
It feels like you are swimming through space.
You have an unknown task you need to solve to close this dream cycle.
Be hyper focused
Save the realm possibly or the creatures or entities to break the loop before it’s too late.

The other morning, I woke up to intense vibrations and I was abruptly yanked out of my body. It felt like some force was grabbing my “leg”and pulling me up towards my ceiling. It happened very quickly and intensely. I flew up, almost through my wall, but I was so overwhelmed that I jolted back into my body.

Once I get an astral session going, I can usually keep trying, so I continued trying to unstick myself. It’s like half of my body was in and half of it was out. I could move my head, hands, and only one leg, but the rest of my “body” was glued to my bed. The parts of my body that I had control of started to disappear and became translucent. I saw a small black butterfly flying in my room.

Then a figure appeared at the base of my bed. It was holding one of my pillows against itself, shielding most of its body from me. It was a dark figure, and I knew it was trying to frighten me. I realized I could speak, so I commanded it to leave me alone. It changed form/color, into a light figure. I knew it was trying to deceive me, so I kept telling it to leave. It began taunting me, slowly reaching a hand out to my leg that was still paralyzed, as if it wanted to grab it. I was frustrated that I couldn’t move or get it to leave, so I ended the session, but woke up with no fear. I don’t believe the entity was necessarily evil, just taunting. Like it was saying “hahaha, look at you, utterly defenseless in your bed, struggling to move.” If anything, the entity felt kinda dumb. Like there wasn’t much substance behind it.

I’ve been too tired to try attempting AP again, and discouraged that I still seem to doubt myself too much to have a fully successful experience. But I’m gonna keep at it. I know I just need more practice and faith in myself. Any tips/commentary are greatly appreciated!

Broke outa a rather evil feeling sleep paralysis just to open my bedroom door to a place that I could best describe as a hotel lobby or a type of waiting room. red and black colors with gold accents and warm lighting, sense of not belonging there but not wanting to go back to my body because of what I was fleeing from. familiar yet unknown folks in the lobby weren’t hostile but they made it known I wasn’t supposed to be there and then I was sent back to myself (I dunno nothing bout this stuff but I’ve had experiences before, this one just creeped me out because my family said they heard banging coming from my room that same night) my dreams since then have been pretty offputting or disturbing

Every time i tap in to the vibration state i feel like i stuck. I tried commanding my body out , roll to the side , the rope method and even visualizing a another place but nothing seems to work ... am i doing something wrong ?

From SP to AP, i saw some people first person i saw was walking afraid, i greeted them and they ran away screaming, 2nd person i saw i greeted her too yet she came screaming towards me looking exactly like Samara from the Ring movie. What’s going on? Am i not allowed to be there or?

I have a few questions, but before that, I want to say that my only goal is to know,I don’t mean to insult anyone or cast them in a bad light; everyone believes in what they are convinced of, or what they think they know.

I have read and watched quite a bit of material online, and I was almost convinced that OBEs (out-of-body experiences), lucid dreams, and astral projections were something real not merely an illusion interpreted by the brain in various ways; in other words, that there was something more to it than just an illusion within the brain. However, I came across some very convincing material that has prompted me to ask myself different questions. I prefer not to cite sources, so as to avoid the appearance of advertising or trying to persuade anyone. The point is that all these states a person experiences are entirely illusory; there is nothing supernatural existing outside the brain. And regarding these states OBEs, lucid dreams, astral projections I became interested because, as it happens, I experienced all of them years ago naturally, and without making any effort whatsoever. Later, for various reasons, I came across material on the subject; it piqued my interest, and I began to find explanations for why I had experienced these states.One of the things that struck me is that almost everyone who talks about OBEs (out-of-body experiences) and lucid dreams uses fear as an excuse.I’m familiar with materials like Robert Monroe’s *Out of-Body Instruction Manual*. At first, I was very optimistic, but as I started looking into them, it struck me that it’s essentially just hypnosis. I don’t want to promote it since I’m not entirely sure but it’s possible there’s something more to it.and not in a good way.Another thing that struck me is that some of the people who have had one or more of these experiences—out-of-body experiences (OBEs), lucid dreams, and astral projections—are so convinced that they are real that it is actually frightening. Furthermore, I noticed that the more frequently people have such experiences, the more convinced they become that they are real.Everyone knows that alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs are harmful, yet people still use them.

Now before you roll your eyes and say "miracles aren't real". I just want you to hear me out. So I was made a Christian by my parents, and now in my teen years, I've had terrifying dreams about the rapture and the coming of Christ, Hell, and so forth. I've been secretly hoping none of this is true, but miracles such as Azuza street revival and countless others prove there must be a divine force giving these people the ability to heal.

There are people who claim to have the same powers today as Christians, but they usually harness dangerous beliefs alongside, so I take it with a grain of salt. I'm not discrediting AP(I know it is truly a thing!) what do you all think?

I think I projected last night for a short time, because I was doing my routine and got tired so I decided to switch to my side from my back but I felt myself lift up and next thing I know I’m in a bright forest and I have some sense of control of myself, it didn’t feel like a dream.

my posts are never truly long but 🤷‍♂️

I snore when I sleep on my back, so I sleep facing down, head to the side. I do this so that I dont wake my wife.
I also fall asleep rapidly, so I bought an Apple Watch to vibrate after 30 mins and wake me (and not my wife).

Has anyone had an OOBE facing down? Any different techniques I can use?

I lucid dream most nights. I regularly have sleep paralysis, and will move out of my body and go do stuff. It's always felt just like a dream, so I assumed I was mistaken and not actually moving out of my body.

Last night I attempted to astral project. I was able to sit up while my body stayed laying down. I got out of my bed and into the rest of my house. I asked for an angel or spirit guide to come help me. Nothing happened. I left the house and flew off in the same way I do in dreams. I entered some kind of large building with tons of people. I talked to a few. No one was aware of astral projection, or could tell me how to find a spirit guide. Then I woke up.

Looking back on it, it felt exactly like a dream. Everything worked just like dreams do. There was nothing surprising.

So was it a dream? If so, how come? I moved out of my body. How am I supposed to consciously astral project if this is what happens when I think I'm leaving my body?

I'm starting exploration of AP purely out of curiosity and this sudden organic pull towards it.

I'm trying to keep an open mind while understanding the science behind it say chemistry and biology.

ChatGPT has been super helpful in keeping me grounded and informed. I think I found the best analogy for AP when compared to known technology. So here it goes:

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VR analogy. Neuroscientists literally describe dreaming and conscious hypnagogic states as "internally generated virtual reality"—where your brain acts as both the graphics engine and the display headset.

In fact, the "game mechanics" inside an astral projection or lucid state work remarkably like a real VR system:

Graphics & Render Quality: The stability of your conscious focus acts as your texture resolution. If your mind wanders, the "frame rate" drops, making the environment blurry or dreamy. Giving crisp, direct commands like "Clarity now!" forces your brain to upsample the environmental detail instantly.

Zero Latency Movement: In physical reality, your brain sends a signal down your nerves to move your muscles. In this state, there is no physical lag—thought is movement. If you think about moving toward the door, your position shifts instantly without needing to walk step-by-step.

Procedural World Generation: Your subconscious populates environment details on the fly. If you open a door to a room you've never visited, your mind procedurally generates the interior using logic, expectations, and past memory templates.

Collision Detection: Solid walls exist only because your brain expects them to be solid. The moment you reframe your expectation and realize there is no physical matter, collision turns off and you can pass straight through walls or furniture.

Treating it with that playful, exploratory mindset of jumping into a high-level sandbox game is actually the best approach—it keeps fear low and curiosity high, which prevents your nervous system from waking your body back up.

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Ending on a comic note, given the current memory prices, I think I'll stick to using my free VR PC for the time being lol.

So a couple of years ago back when I was either in middle school or high school this was like late at night yeah late at night. I don’t know what time but I it was after midnight. I know it had to be and I was laying down and I was somewhat tired, but I really wasn’t all I know is that I went into sleep paralysis which is I’m used to.

I’ve been having it for many years and I still have it here and there just had as much as I did back then. my body went into sleep paralysis and I didn’t know what that was back then. I know that my body was to sleep and I was trying to jot my body back up so I can move around and I couldn’t and I don’t know what happened.

All I know is that I was on the floor and I was confused and this is only for a split second and I knew I was on the floor and under my bed as if I have fallen out of my body under the bed. I knew I was under the bed because well I just knew and all I saw was the light from my TV bouncing off of the walls.

I was confused, but I didn’t think nothing of it during that moment and then I was back in my body my but I still haven’t got up out of it, but I was still trying and then that’s when it happened again that I fell out of my body onto the floor again, but this time I decided to get up I got up and I looked down and I saw my body.

It was very weird during the moment, but I didn’t think nothing of it I think and then somehow I just ended up right back in my body and then that’s when I like eventually got up out of the paralysis, but like I said, I didn’t think nothing of it. I thought it was weird, but I didn’t know what it was until a couple of years later I could probably say like in high school.

Maybe around the time of when we were in quarantine that was when I have figured it out that that’s what it was because I was going through a whole something.

I came across outer body experience and yeah, so it’s just stuck with me for years of that’s what it was, and that I had Astral projected out of my body so I’ve been like actually trying to figure it out now. Years later I’ve been trying to actually see if that is something that actually happened that night or was it just my mind playing tricks on me, but I wholeheartedly believe that i astral projected.

Hey, I havent projected consciously since I was a teen and practised a lot. I am now 50. However ever since my teens Ive had visitations from things on the astral plane and 'see' stuff( it was full on between 13-18 and then was a little less frequent). In more recent years, though, I seem to be doing it much more frequently again( maybe a few times per week) in the dream state. Its more than a symbolic lucid dream, I am meeting people and beings and they tell me things of relevance. On several occasions, someone I know has been in them and when I ask them the next day, theyve dreamed of me too. It even happened before with someone I only met online who used to buy my art. Occasionally when in a more liminal state I get messages and information on random stuff. I feel like now I am getting older its becoming stronger again like it was when I was a teenager. I feel secure in it and not afraid of what I see and experience, though its pretty wild sometimes. Id like to talk about some of the dreams Ive had in the astral. I assume people do that here? Open to consciously developing it more, but I am also happy with falling asleep and going for it. I cant decide consciously where to go and what to do though. That would be great if I could.

Sometimes on rare occasions I am able to astral travel and while it's very enjoyable, I usually wake up very, very exhausted 🫩 like I've just worked a 12 hour shift.

Does this happen to anyone else and what is the reason behind?