Dream recall

Ok so this first step is so easy and completely essential for astral projection and dream control.

It's simply what it says it is, recalling your dreams. How many dreams do you remember having a night? How many dreams can you remember from last night? This should give a good indication of how aware you are as you sleep. The goal here is to recall and note down as many dreams a night as possible, using a simply but strict method.

1) Keep a diary. This doesn't mean you have to go out and buy one, just scraps of paper held together with a paperclip is fine, you just need to keep a record. And not on your computer or phone, it has to be on paper, more why later.

2) Keep it by your bed with a pen in arms reach. If possible, have a phone or torch handy or plug in a lamp nearby ready.

3) As soon as you wake up, whether it's morning or middle of the night, make the absolute first thing you do is write down any dreams you can remember. I mean before getting out of bed, literally within 20 seconds of being awake. Those first few seconds are vital as there's plenty of stuff you'll remember that will disappear almost immediately. Some people call it the dream veil but it's not really as mystical as it sounds.

4) Note down everything - emotions, colours, people, numbers, temperature - anything significant.

5) Note down something. If you can't remember ANYTHING at all just note down any emotions, any mood, any slight vibe of a person that you get. If you really can't recall anything hold the pen to the paper anyway, so that you're forming a pattern of remembering dreams.

6) Store it away back in the same place. Maybe write it up neater or fill in some gaps, or if you want a safer record type it up on your computer. The reason I said don't do this before is because it's urgent that you pen down all of your memories immediately, you don't have time to boot a computer. But neatening it up later is obviouosly fine.

After a week or two you'll be remembering more and more dreams each night, infact your memory will become so strong you'll start to recall 10-15 a night even without even noting them down. You're basically training your mind to be more aware while you sleep, rather than just trashing the memories of dreams that were previously obsolete. Don't be surprised if you start to experience very real, detailed and intense dreams, or even slip into a lucid (aware) dream which you have full control of.

This step might seem odd and a bit too easy but trust me, it will help you out tenfold if you get into a habit of doing this. So yeah, come back here in 3 weeks or so and tell me how it goes, anything interesting you've discovered, any questions don't hesitate to ask.

What is astral projection?

This is a subject I hate discussing. It's just...eugh. I also hate discussing human origins, the afterlife, whether or not there is a god etc. I just don't know and I don't pretend to know. I'm rather apathetic actually. I just don't care.

Many people have different beliefs regarding what astral projection is. Some believe it's a way for you soul (spirit, consciousness, whatever you would call it) to leave your body and travel around anywhere in the world like a ghost. Some have very specific beliefs, about different levels of astral planes and a silver chord which attatches to your body. Some people of different religions connect astral projection with their own dogma, sometimes giving it a different name, you can find sects of buddhists, witches, even christians that practice astral travel under a different guise. Some people think it's merely a very intense form of lucid dreaming. Some people think it's merely a hallucination of the mind, I've read more than one explanation from a scientist claiming to know exactly what it is.

But none of these people know anything at all, they're just theories. All I know is that it's a very, very real experience. Whether it's a spiritual thing or trick of the mind, it's very real. I don't know what causes it, and never will. That's the beauty of it, in a way, there's no way I could ever know so I can neglect the boring study of what it is and how it works and just go ahead and experience it. It's the same kind of open-minded approach I take to most thing, same would go for human origins. I don't know how we got here...evolution? Intelligent design? No way I could know but I don't care enough to waste time studying it anyway when I could just enjoy it. And same with astral projection, I love the experience and I love learning little things at a time with out forcing myself into a belief system before I've barely even experienced it myself.

This is one thing that holds a lot of people back. The more spiritually minded are held back because of skeptics putting them down and telling them it's just their mind tripping out. And the more skeptical people are put off practicing all together due to their beliefs. Why? What difference does it matter at all? The experience remains the same.

So to answer the question of what is astral projection is, I don't know. I will never know. You will never know. And neither of us should care. Just enjoy the practice and experience. All I can confirm from my own practice is that it's real, and that it is a different experience from lucid dreaming. If you feel you need a belief to back it, then figure that one out on your own and be happy that you have your own personal belief system.

Next post we're getting started. Something that helped me out tenfold - dream recall. Stay tuned.