A Glimpse Of The Future?

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
Time: 6am
Where: In bed
Weather: Cloudy
Techniques used: Indirect techniques from Michael Raduga's 'The Phase' - see blog post for more information: http://obewanderingsinwiltshire.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/out-of-body-sofa-surfer.html
Goal: To try and meet my Nana (Grandmother) who passed away a couple of years ago

Prior to this experience I had a semi lucid dream during the night (where you're vaguely aware you're dreaming) - what was weird (and quite cool) about this dream was that I dreamt I woke up and took my mouth guard out (yes I wear a mouth guard - its for sleep apnea - its very sexy....) and saw the time was 4am. I then woke up for real..... took out my mouth guard, checked the time again and saw that it was in fact 4am..... cool right?

Anyway, around 6am I found myself awake and started using some techniques like trying to 'wiggle' my energy body hands and legs and watching any mental images that arose. I fell in and out of consciousness until I suddenly felt that my energy body legs were bent at a right angle at my knees and going down right through the bed! Obviously this can't have been my physical legs :)

I stood up (with some difficulty) to separate from my body fully... I was wearing the bed like a skirt! I rationalised that I'm not physical - I can walk through things. I walk through the bed to the door - I can't really feel anything, just a vague sensation that there's something there. My vision is very clouded and fuzzy. I say 'clarity now' and thing of my physical mouth; it feels so real (there I go again!). I always wonder when I'm close to my physical body if I talk then does it talk too? My vision of the landing area outside my bedroom becomes brighter and I think of looking for Nana. At this point something brings me back to my body - I'm barely awake, but I remember reading in 'The Phase' that you should always try and leave the body again when you re-enter it. I try wiggling my hands and feet again and feel that my energy legs have come out of sync with my physical body. I sit up out of my body and get off of my side of the bed as I would do physically. I remember that Raduga says that you should use a 'deepening' or solidifying technique to stabilise the out of body state by touching things around you. I can't see anything yet, but I feel my way around the bed touching the metal bedstead at the foot of the bed as I go. I can feel it all very clearly although it seems to feel subtly different to how it would in waking reality. My vision starts to come and I say 'awareness now' - there's a sudden upward movement, a strong vibrating sensation and a loud buzzing sound - I feel a bit scared, but I hold on.

I come to a stop and a scene forms around me - it looks like my house at first, but begins to change. I have the distinct feeling that it's our future home, or a representation of it. I go over to a side table and there are a number of photographs on it. I look at one in particular and in the photo there seems to be an older representation of me, but with long hair. In the photo I'm seated and to my side is someone who looks like an older, teenage version of my daughter (she's 6 years old in waking reality) - also with long hair. There are other people in the photograph, but I don't really look at them. The images become a bit distorted as I look at them so I carry on walking around the (seemingly) big house.
I walk to the next floor down and there are teenage versions of my son and daughter - it's strange though because they seem to having showers in a big landing area with shower cubicles set into wooden paneling.. I walk down another flight of stairs and the house is covered in wooden paneling with lots of ivy growing on it. As I walk down into an open hallway/reception area I see a clock with a plaque and note attached to it - I know as I see it that it's a present from my husband congratulating me on a promotion or something? I see him sat at a table in a big garden a little way off and I go over to him (there are other people around as well I think) and I sit on his knee and give him a kiss. I remember that I wanted to try and find Nana and say that I've got to go upstairs and do something to excuse myself. He replies that he'll come up with me and we go upstairs - I think my daughter joins us on the way. I let them go on ahead as I look out of a big window on one of the landings. There is an older lady in the distance looking at me so I decide to go through the window and put my head through it (very cool!). I push my head and shoulders through the window and remember reading stories of people getting stuck in thing whilst projecting..... big mistake.... I get stuck halfway through and I forcibly pull myself through the window and feel it break behind me. There's a big grass lawn and a building ahead so I walk on over to it, there's a lot of older ladies around and I call for Nana but nothing happens. I shout her name and keep shouting it - I think I was starting to get upset..... I really lost a lot of lucidity here and it all became very dreamlike. A strange looking woman with purple hair is brought towards me (my Nana had purplish hair when I was a kid), I start crying and end up back in my body.

Notes: My subconscious seems to have influenced this a lot. Perhaps the sci fi program 'Continuum' I'd been watching the night before was responsible for the future aspect of this experience? Either way I wouldn't call this my most lucid out of body experience. Also, it's possible that the older lady I first saw was my Nana (if she indeed showed up at all) - I didn't get a good look at her and maybe she wasn't what I was subconsciously expecting. So, the big question is how do I see whats really there and stop my subconscious having such a big effect?

How Can We Improve Our Out Of Body Memory And Recall?

Remembering clearly what happened in an out of body experience or lucid dream is something that I've been having issues with - falling asleep instead of immediately noting everything down in my journal probably has a lot to do with this! So; apart from telling myself to 'man up' and write everything down instead of lazily falling asleep- what can I do??

I've been thinking about this a lot, and the more I think about it the more I realise that my memory sucks in waking life too. Perhaps improving our day to day ability to remember things will improve our memory of what we get up to when we're not in our bodies?

So, I've set myself some homework and this what I've come up with:
I'm big on visualizing - so, I'm going to try and remember my shopping list (which I usually forget - go figure!). I'm going to try rehearsing my shopping trip in my imagination (this would work well if you usually go to the same shop and know where everything is). Sit quietly at home before your weekly shop with your list in hand and mentally see yourself walking through the entrance of the store and walking around picking up everything you need and putting it in your basket. It might take a few goes of doing this run through before you feel confidant you can go to the shop and put into practice what you've rehearsed. I'm giving this a go on my next shopping trip; either it'll work and I'll be a memory genius - or the kids will starve. Good luck kids!

In my quest for a better memory I found this great article called "7 tips to improve your memory" and I particularly like #3 which suggests giving greater awareness to your everyday life and weaning yourself off the habit of "continuous partial attention" - you can find the article here: http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20723699,00.html

William Buhlman (in his book Adventures Beyond the Body - it's brilliant I highly recommend it - you can visit his site at http://www.astralinfo.org) suggests that while you're in an out of body experience (or lucid dream) that you should say "I remember all". This feels like it would work to me, as it sends a very powerful message to your subconscious that remembering your experience is important and gives you an anchor with which to focus your mind. I haven't tried this yet - but it's on my 'to do' list! Another idea is to write down an affirmation along the lines of "I remember everything I experience" on a piece of paper and putting it under your pillow. Re-read this every night to remember your dreams or out of body experiences and increase your lucidity.