Falling forward while meditating?

[LadyoftheQuill]

I started a channeled writing course recently that I am super excited for. However, it requires you to go into a trance state which I have never done before. I started practicing today with the simple "in through nose out through mouth" method that the course described.

The first time, I finished feeling like I was close but not quite there. My body felt tingly and off afterwards. I still feel a little weird.

My second attempt tonight was during my bonding meditation with my spirit. I still have no idea what to do during these meditations, so they usually end up with me mentally talking to her while keeping my eyes closed. However, this time I set the timer for 15 minutes and did the same breathing exercise while holding on to her vessel and the connecting stone.

At first it felt like I was having a harder time quieting down than the first go around. After a bit, something strange started to happen. My head started to drop lower and lower until I was almost bent completely into my lap (I was sitting crosslegged the whole time). Keeping my eyes closed, I simply raised my head back up. My head started to drop again much quicker this time when my timer started to go off.

Was this a sign of me getting close to a trance state or was I just tired ? Also, let me know if you have any other tips or advice for me!

[Lewk]

[…]At first it felt like I was having a harder time quieting down than the first go around. After a bit, something strange started to happen. My head started to drop lower and lower until I was almost bent completely into my lap (I was sitting crosslegged the whole time). Keeping my eyes closed, I simply raised my head back up. My head started to drop again much quicker this time when my timer started to go off.

Was this a sign of me getting close to a trance state or was I just tired ? Also, let me know if you have any other tips or advice for me!

Maybe it was a bit of both?

I usually do that when I'm tired but also as a result of going deep in the meditation.

If someone is a bit stressed and/or slightly sleep deprived, going into a deep meditation state can also lead them into a deep sleep state, I've found.

I had a phase when I was pretty hyper alert most of the time and found it hard to sleep well. During that time, when a very good spiritual teacher did live guided meditations I became relaxed at a much deeper level than usual. This was in a sense a deep trance state. And I fell asleep.

My teacher - a modern Taoist - said not to worry to those of us who might nod off. Our deeper selves would still be listening doing the work. But those were guided sessions.

Tips: you can have a power nap some time before you meditate, then you're less likely to sleep.

Your course will probably define what kind of trance state is being aimed for.

But light trance is not much different from good relaxation. In a light trance you're alert enough so you can use your conscious awareness to do spiritual work but you won't be as much in your 'normal' day-to-day, worrying or anxious state of mind. Your subconscious levels - the part of our awareness that is naturally good at spiritual / magical stuff - will be more available.

Deep trance is a different thing, when we might be able to 'do' less and experience more - perhaps.

[LadyoftheQuill]

Thanks for the advice Lewk. What's crazy is that I was not that much more tired than usual. I was slightly off from the previous meditation, but it still took me an hour to quiet my mind and fall asleep.

I have been super stressed since the year started basically, so that makes sense for why. The course seems to call for a light or "gentle" trance, but not too light. It needs to be deep enough to receive messages.

If you have any tips for how to go into trance, I would appreciate it! I am still very much new to any kind of meditation. I am usually more of a visual or guided meditation kind of person so this is new to me.

[Lewk]

If you have any tips for how to go into trance, I would appreciate it! I am still very much new to any kind of meditation. I am usually more of a visual or guided meditation kind of person so this is new to me.

I'm glad some of that was useful.

I've been meditating and entering simple light trance states for decades - maybe I have so called expert amnesia and can't explain how you get there. Perhaps it's like most things - you do the practice and it just happens.

The main method for going into a light trance that that I learned was in order to do psychic healing, aura reading etc - on myself or others. It was just a few 'induction' steps of clearing my mind, sitting relaxed in the correct posture, grounding and centering myself really, then doing the psychic development work.

I'm guessing the course you're on is most likely giving you all the info you need to know in order to be successful.

It might help to realise that light trance is nothing unusual. It's very natural. Self hypnosis is another way of getting into a light trance. Authors in that field have often said that many people go in and out of light trances a lot during the day without realising that's what's happening. In a sense people do often walk around in a trance.

What you're doing really is inducting yourself into one consciously, so you can work with it.

The opposite state to the trance state (in 'spiritual' terms) is the 'awakening' state of self observation, where a person consciously notices and pays attention to everything going on with them. This is not the same as a stress or anxiety state.

It may seem counter-intuitive but is possible to be paying attention to everything, having a clear conscious awareness *and* be in a relaxed, light trance state at the same time.

Not sure how much of that is directly useful to you.

[Aryan]

Different Levels of the Trance State



The trance state can be divided into three basic levels. These are gradients of the altered state of consciousness, with each adding to the next. The following descriptions of symptoms will help to tell approximately where you are by noting sensations.


Light-Trance State: This is the first level of trance, similar to the daydream state. While relaxing, your physical body starts feeling warm, cozy, and lethargic.


You feel a mild need to sleep. Your eyelids feel heavy and your eyes begin to glaze and droop. A mild wave of heaviness and warmth flows over you. Your mindtakes on a fuzzy quality and begins drifting. You have some slight difficulty focusing thoughts, especially if you are tired.


Patterns of light and color (hypnagogic imagery) are sometimes seen during a light-trance state. Mind's-eye visions may also appear if you have natural clairvoyant ability. Cobweb-like tickling may be felt in the face and neck areas.



With this come a whole-body feeling of warm comfortable fuzziness and a slight dissociation from the physical body and surrounding environment. Time slows down a little and sounds appear to be louder and from farther away than they really are. Greater internal mental clarity can be attained, as long as tiredness is controlled and the mind held awake. This is the trance state most often achieved during early meditations. If this level of trance is accompanied by deep physical relaxation, the OBE exit becomespossible.


This level of trance, while easily held, is also delicate and easily broken. If you need to move, say to scratch an itch or adjust your position, do so slowly and deliberately and you will maintain this state. If you hold this state for twenty minutes or so, your mind will be refreshed and you will find it easier to continue on to deeper levels.



Medium-Trance State: This is a deeper gradient of the light-trance state where some sensations become more pronounced. Entry into medium trance is marked by a noticeable wave of heaviness and a slight falling sensation. This comes on quickly, like a warm, heavy wave flowing over and through you. This saps your strength and your physical body falls away into sleep. (This is why they call it falling asleep.) This falling sensation may indicate an OBE exit has occurred. Regardless, continue with your altered-state session.You become noticeably dissociated from your physical body and its environment. Willpower is needed to stop your mind from following its body into sleep. Your sense of time passing changes, becoming faster or slower. If you are tired, the sense of time passing increases and an hour can seem like only a few minutes. This is because you may be falling asleep (clicking out) here and there, and/or losing touch with some of your experience memory for this time period. You may also be having OBEs, but not downloading the memories of these.


Your sense of background atmosphere changes and the room around you will feel larger and emptier. Background sounds take on a muffled, faraway quality. This is as if a cardboard box were lowered over your head.


You will feel a mild, bone-deep tickling sensation in your arms and legs, if you move them to ease your position or to scratch. Some physical movement is stillpossible but takes more willpower. Sharp sounds cause uncomfortable sensations in the stomach and solar plexus area. This can feel almost like a physical blow. Sound sensitivity will lessen as trance experience is gained, as you learn to let sounds pass over you. Your thoughts are slow but clear.


Holding your mind clear and focused is the trick to staying awake and mentally functional. When you first start experiencing trance states, you need to concentrate, holding your mind awake without allowing yourself to tense up physically. A sitting position with no head support is recommended, as balancing your head will help keep you conscious.


Hypnagogic imagery and occasional visions will sometimes be seen behind closed eyelids, in the mind's eye. REM (rapid eye movement) activity happens sporadically. When REM occurs, fragments of dream imagery will occasionally intrude into the mind's eye. REM indicates thatyour dream mind is now also active. Ignore REM as best you can if it starts. It normally comes and goes in bouts of a few minutes each, sometimes longer. REM feels like the eyes are fluttering and buzzing beneath their eyelids. This can be distracting. If it becomes a problem, gently rub the fingers and thumbs of each hand together and take a couple of slightly deeper breaths, stretching and moving your body slightly and resettling. This very slow and minor physical activity is usually enough to stop REM and slow dream-mind activity, while allowing trance to continue.


You will be spending most of your time somewhere between the light- and medium-trance states. As you gain experience, your natural level of trance will deepen and stabilize.



Deeper-Trance States: Deeper trance starts with all the symptoms of a medium-trance state, becoming more pronounced as you shift into a deeper level. There aremany odd sensations associated with deeper-trance states, including all those listed above. These are more pronounced and there can be a noticeable loss of body heat and a slowing of the heart rate. There can also be loss of movement ability that may be related to waking paralysis. The symptoms of the deep-trance state can be worrying if you do not know what is happening, but a deep-trance state is not dangerous and cannot hurt you any more than deep sleep. It is also difficult to get into a true deep-trance state, and most people will not experience this accidentally. Deep trance will not happen spontaneously or accidentally.


If you are ever concerned that you are going too deep into the trance state, feel yourself moving upward, take some deeper breaths, and slowly move your head, mouth, fingers, and toes. This will progressively restore movement and reduce your level of trance. If you find you cannotmove at all, you are most likely experiencing waking paralysis. This means you have already projected, but missed the experience due to the mind-split effect. In this case, after waiting a few minutes, concentrate on moving a single big toe to end the OBE. Alternatively, simply allow yourself to fall asleep. You will wake up shortly after this, well-rested and none the worse for wear.

[darkwing dook]

Different Levels of the Trance State
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Careful there. Remember Rule #23:

23. If you are quoting material from an online, or physically published, source you will need to cite where your information is derived. Your post will be removed if you do not quote your source as we do not condone plagiarism.

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[Aryan]

Different Levels of the Trance State
...

Careful there. Remember Rule #23:

23. If you are quoting material from an online, or physically published, source you will need to cite where your information is derived. Your post will be removed if you do not quote your source as we do not condone plagiarism.

topic5027.html

oh..sorry..missed that..
its from book by the author Robert Bruce
book on astral dynamics..pretty good book
thanks for that reminder

[Strigoi56]

Wow this thread is exactly what I've been searching for to explain how trance can feel. It was really assuring knowing I'm on the right track, thanks Aryan.

[Aryan]

Wow this thread is exactly what I've been searching for to explain how trance can feel. It was really assuring knowing I'm on the right track, thanks Aryan.

glad i could help
good luck!