Perspective Shift

I find it some what hypocritical that we, often referred to as "spiritual peoples" have a tendency to view the world or reality as a giant puzzle just waiting to be pieced together. Or wait, do we? Quite the contrary actually. Most of the time general spirituality is perceived as being a practice, or some form of undertaking and belief geared towards pursuing and developing ourselves to better achieve some goal in a spiritual sense. Some see this as being enlightenment, others see it as more so a form of just basic understanding or being. The common ground here, is that we perceive it as being something we need to work towards, that we have some innate purpose in bettering ourselves. But compared to WHAT exactly? Here is where things begin to get interesting.

Though I can attest to spirituality being a practice in which we uncover, and advance in things about not only ourselves, but others and the universe in which we live. I also have come to the conclusion that if we are to truly understand where we are going, we should first uncover possible faults, or holes in our thinking about the very thing in which we are pursuing. To do this, we first need to understand one thing. This being the very definitive and shared belief found within every path of spirituality. The belief in the ultimate creator, God if you will. Now, don't jump to conclusions, I'm not dismissing Gods existence, that would be rather hypocritical of me. I'm more so attempting to open you up to a different angle on the subject of God, and how God applies in a more tangible sense to our reality, and our spirituality.

Defining "God" in Spirituality

What exactly is God in a spiritual sense? The question may seem almost pointless to some because God is of course, the creator of all things around us! The supreme being, entity, or thing that permeates our very being! God is responsible for all things! Yet, even though I can't deny this belief, I have a few issues with leaving it at "God is." This isn't some form of rebellion I have, and it's not that I'm not fine with our current views, it's just that if the entire purpose is exploration and understanding, then allowing ourselves to sit in content with one thing, yet not others, is not going to get us anywhere and we in essence become kin the very thing in which we seek to advance from. Ignorance.

Within spirituality we find various different perspectives on the subject of God, many of which do revolve around the common understanding of God being the general creator. But how exactly can we touch this idea of God? In this sense we really cannot. We have meditations, rituals, and various practices to get us closer to this "thing," yet in the end we truly cannot touch what we cannot understand. Then we have another perspective.

That being that God is not only the creator, but God is the creation. God is all and all is God. This would seem more plausible to some, because how could a being, or essence which has existed forever place itself apart from it's very creation. The very creation in which we have been "made in its image." This doesn't seem very likely, and so we can use this perspective because it would mean that God is not just some thing sitting on a pedestal, but God would be all of us, you, me, and that cup of your fancy sitting on the desk. This very thought is where we find the border line between Science and Spirituality, becomes very thin.

Science and God

Many spiritual people perceive science in itself to be somewhat against God. Or let me rephrase, many RELIGIOUS people feel this way. I make this distinction because spirituality in it of itself is not just a set group of people or beliefs. It is an extremely broad topic which contains people of many different beliefs. Religion, though it may be vast and broad in it's own right, is commonly attributed to a set doctrine of beliefs. Many of these beliefs are based on specific texts and ideals in which to worship and live your life. This is where we soon find the conflict between God and Science, because within many of these beliefs we see the view point that science seems to attempt to disprove the existence of God which no doubt, to put it bluntly, pisses people off.

All of that aside, as was mentioned before, science is coming to a point where the border line between science and God is becoming very thin. Quantum physics is a topic that has had a lot of attention by your average Joe ever since "What The Bleep Do We Know," a documentary style movie that was released in February of 2004 which discussed the power of the Law of Attraction. For those of you completely new to the idea of Quantum Physics, let's take a second to briefly figure out what exactly that means.

Quantum Physics is a branch of physics which deals with very small bits of "matter." These small bits of matter, otherwise referred to as parts of reality are called quanta. This is directly derivative of the Quantum Theory, within which we see five main ideas:

1. Energy is not continuous, but comes in small but discrete units.

2. The elementary particles behave both like particles and like waves.

3. The movement of these particles is inherently random.

4. It is physically impossible to know both the position and the momentum of a particle at the same time. The more precisely one is known, the less precise the measurement of the other is.

5. The atomic world is nothing like the world we live in.

Though this may appear to be your typical run of the mill scientific theory, it is actually far more impressive than that. So impressive that once you begin to delve into the topic, you realize that the science it self creates thought within you that borders a spiritual belief or practice all by it self, simply by the amazing relation to thoughts, and life. You may be thinking, well, how could this possibly be? How could SCIENCE be directly correlated to SPIRITUALITY? Well, funny enough, within quantum physics we learn that our very thoughts, have profound affects on our reality. Or rather, what we call reality.

Well WOW, is this NOT something we "spiritual people" have been saying for years?! Well, actually, it is. It's exactly what people have been saying for thousands of years. This directly coincides with the many practices of intention for manifestation that we find in Magic, or the direct manifestation meditations we find in Buddhism or related areas. The list goes on, but within the world of Quantum Physics, we can finally touch, or rather, begin to touch what we before could only describe in a mystical sense.

How Intent or Thought Affects our "Reality"

Whenever this question comes up the first thing I always point people to is Dr. Quantum, otherwise known as Dr. Fred Allen Wolf, and his video about the Double Slit Experiment in which he describes very understandably, the amazing affect of measurement on the quantum reality.

Within this experiment physicists were seeking to understand how particles (little bits of matter) acted. It began by first taking these tiny particles and firing them through a single slit to see the pattern that would emerge on the other side. They replicated it using two slits, and found a similar pattern. What had occurred is that when the particles were fired towards a wall with a single slit, the pattern on the other side directly reflected this. Showing the pattern directly in line with the slit. Similarly, when they were fired at a wall with two slits, then two patterns directly in line with the slits emerged.

What really began to baffle scientists is when they started looking at waves, and what soon followed. When they saw a wave come in contact with a single slit, they realized that similarly to the previous experiment, the pattern on the other side directly reflected this. Where the slit was, the pattern on the other side was a lot stronger, indicating that more passed through where the slit was, as expected. When they included two slits, the waves interfered and collided with each other, leaving several "hot spots" on the wall behind it. This was called an interference pattern.

When they decided to "go quantum" as the video describes it, they proceeded to do the experiment again, only firing electrons this time. They got the same result when firing these electrons through a single slit, so nothing seemed out of place. Yet when they attempted to fire these tiny bits of matter known as electrons towards two slits, as opposed to receiving two patterns on the other side, they got an interference pattern just like the waves! This may not seem significant in reading this, but I strongly advise you to watch the video, as it no doubt does a much better job of explaining this and at only five minutes in length it's well worth it.

Scientists were baffled by this, because it simply did not make sense to them. They assumed that the tiny bits of matter were some how bouncing off of each other to make the interference pattern. So to solve this issue, they fired one electron at a time thinking that surly this would change the results. Surprisingly, they received the same affect! The video offers us a very strong explanation of this event. Dr. Quantum suggests that "the single electron is fired, becomes a wave of potentials and goes through BOTH slits, and interferes with it self to hit the wall like a particle." He goes on to say that "mathematically, it's even stranger. It goes through both slits, and it goes through neither, and it goes through just one, and it goes through just the other. All of these possibilities are in superposition to each other."

This was absolutely profound to me and screams alternate realities. If this wasn't enough, things only got stranger from here. Scientists put a measuring device near one slit so they could see exactly what occurred. When they did this though, they got back some hair raising data. When they observed the firing of the electrons, they went back to behaving exactly like the tiny particles, and they received a pattern of just two bands again! The very act of watching, or observing, changed the actions of the electrons as if it was aware that it was being watched. But how could this be? This is where we see the line of science and spirituality border.

The Science of Spirituality

Though scientists and spiritualists often have very different feelings on the subject of creation. Be that, the universe was created by a singular explosion, or that God simply created all that is, we see a lot of similarities. Quite frankly, I find these to be rather irrelevant because I've had discussions with people who take both sides of the argument, that yes, the universe was created with a single explosion, but who created the cause of the explosion? I find it interesting that people can exclude the belief of God, yet believe that matter existed for all eternity. Both are rather mind boggling, but here is where we get into the the issue of defining what "God" is all over again.

What we have found out now, though, is that the simple act of observation and expectation has a profound affect on the outcome of our reality. When we observed the electrons they acted differently based on our expectations, yet when we allowed them to act with their own regard things were very different. This alone leads us to take a different perspective on things like prayer, and the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction states that what we put out, we get back. How we act, think, and essentially live, is what we receive. If we look at everything in a negative fashion then negativity is what we receive. Looking at the aforementioned scientific discoveries, we can see that this is not out of the realm of explainable possibility. On a more profound note, this rings truth in relation to prayer and God. The idea that if we believe, ask, and follow through with something we greatly desire, we will receive it, is the driving force behind prayer. My uncle, a graduate from the Princeton Theological Seminary takes the stand that prayer changes how we PERCEIVE a situation. As in, if one is in a terrible situation, prayer has the power to affect our views on it, to see a situation positivity as opposed to negatively, which in turn would actually have an affect on the situation.

It's how we think about a situation that makes it inherently negative or positive. For one person the current recession and financial strain may be the worse thing in the world, for another it may seem to be an opportunity to make a much needed change in the way they live their life. This is where we really come into the area of learning that we create our own existence all the time. God, the creator, can be defined as whatever you want to define it as. You could even call the gasses that created the explosion which resulted in the universe, God, if that's what suits you. It would be incredibly backwards, but to each their own. It's entirely subjective. But the one thing we are in a position to accept, is that your entire reality is a product of your own will.

This is just some food for thought for those of you set with your current belief system. As opposed to just being content in thinking that God is to directly blame for every event in your life, you can take a step back and realize that you have a more powerful impact on your life than you know it. Also, for those who attempt to take an objective look at your objective outlook on your objective science about being objective, this may give you a better foundation of spirituality so that you can step over that fine line and understand that just because everything is not tangible as of right now, or that just because spirituality is not always defined in a scientific platform, that there still may be reason for you to pursue or undertake similar practices. After all, realizing these closing boundaries will eventually put those into situations where that line is crossed whether they want to, or not, and the only separating factor will be in explanation, and terminology.

From mainstream Hollywood to children's cartoons, the thought of leaving your physical body and moving forward into a seemingly different reality yet, parallel existence has been a fascination for many. Moving beyond this, the actual discussion of Out of Body Experiences (OOBES) and Astral Projection is a very large and continuously ongoing one, especially within spiritual, religious, and parapsychological communities. The practice by many is seen as almost a bridge between the physical and non-physical worlds, giving motivation and encouraging those seeking confirmation of the existence of an afterlife or the "soul." Once experienced, further investigation into its existence is most often unsought by the person experiencing it, yet the phenomenon has been highly researched by the scientific community due to it's intrigue.

Astral Projection in it of itself is a huge practice with various beliefs surrounding it. It has no simple definition, although the current adopted understanding of the practice is that an individual intentionally separates from the physical world and enters the "Astral Plane." This plane of existence is understood to be parallel to this reality on lower "levels," but also contains with it higher levels of existence that the projector may access with practice in raising the vibration or resonance of the astral body. These higher levels are said to go fairly high and there are those individuals who say that with practice they have even reached a level of resonance high enough which enables them to see and even communicate with Angels. Regardless of the many understandings of the practice, it is an ongoing one and can be extremely exciting, as well as scary within early stages.

Astral Projection and the Scientific Community

Astral projection is a practice that is shrouded in myth and mystic, but through this there is a lot of truth and ongoing research. Along with this, it is an invaluable aid for spiritual growth. Our societies scientific method requires us to prove, experiment, and repeatedly prove whatever it is we are researching. The issue astral projection poses to this method is that we currently do not have effective enough technology to record, document, and measure the astral body. Despite this, many different attempts have been made at studying the phenomenon through scientific means. Despite this, numerous attempts have been made at scientifically documenting the existence of astral projection and OOBE phenomenon.

The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was founded in 1882 by England's Cambridge University. The goals were to research the spiritual, religious, psychic, and general paranormal events that were reported and discussed world-wide. Essentially anything that science could not put a tangible handle on, anything "unknown" within the world of metaphysics. In 1886 a two volume work called Phantoms of the Living was published by Edmund Gurney, Frederick Myers, and Frank Podmore, three members of the SPR. The work cited a large about of Astral Projection events amongst upwards of 702 overall cases cited within the two volumes of work published.

The American Society for Psychic Research (ASPR) is one of the many organizations who devotes a large amount of time and research to the OOBE phenomenon. They attempt to separate the events of clairvoyant vision from an actually out of body experience. This proves to be somewhat difficult to distinguish between due to the subjective nature of certain psychic phenomenons. What one person perceives as being leaving the body within their astral body, another may perceive as nothing more than viewing or observing an area by means of clairvoyance. In 1977 the ASPR and it's director Kaelis Oasis, along with his associate Janet Mitchell, did various experiments with the famed psychic and artist, Ingo Swann.

The reasearch into this phenomenon continued and is still taking place today. In the early 1970s Dr. Robert Morris, director at The Psychical Research Foundation (PRF) in North Carolina, worked with a Duke University student by the name of Keith Harary. Keith, an apparently very skilled Astral Projector, was able to engage in various experiments mostly based on what he was able to perceive during projections. He projected into different buildings and successfully read back whatever was on them during the projections. He stated that he could hear sounds within our physical plane, but also heard incredible harmonious things from beyond our current physical plane of existence.

Another prominent round of research on the subject was conducted by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, California. Russel Tard, and Harlod Puthoff, both physicists, conducted a large amount of experiments about Remote Viewing between the 1970s and early 1980s. They were convinced that Remote Viewing is actually a form of clairvoyance, as opposed to a form of OOBE. To me this raises a few extra questions because after practicing Technical Remote Viewing for a few years, I don't see how you can relate remote viewing to OOBES in general. How they came to these conclusions is beyond me, but the research was fairly in depth. They did various experiments with the famed Ingo Swann, giving him the coordinates of a particular location for him to project to, and having him report back successfully. It was stated that he was successful 75 times out of 100 trials, where 14 attempts were missed and the other 6 couldn't be successfully evaluated. These trials were described as being remote viewing experiments, yet, it was made known and clearly obvious that what he was doing was a form of OOBE or Astral Projection. He described how he would leave his physical body and make his way to the specified location.

As the research continues various other systems of measurement have been developed in attempts to measure such phenomenon. Most recently, Kirlin Photography, a form of photography first developed and named after the Russian inventor Seymon Kirlian in the early 1940s. The process is reportedly able to record the aura or bio-field of an individual, and so has been used or attempted, to capture an image of an Astral Body. Kirlin Photography is still highly controversial today, despite the images that have been recorded. Whatever the research, it's safe to say that proving the existence of Astral Projection is still a difficult task within the scientific community. More importantly than the current findings, is figuring out what would prove Astral Projections existence. Either way, we can rest assured knowing that the practice, research, and experimentation that revolves around this extraordinary phenomenon is one that will continue throughout the years.

The Difference Between OOBEs and Astral Projection

It's often debated whether a difference even exists. I decided to mention this only because I tend to use the terms interchangeably, which seems to confuse a lot of people who are under the impression that there is actually a difference between the two. An Out of Body Experience is said to occur to those nearing death, or where the body actually dies for a brief moment. It can also be achieved consciously and when someone experiences one, the environment seems to be as real as it gets. By that I mean physical. Your location appears to you just as it would if you were awake and moving about in your daily life. In Astral Projections people seem to experience a large array of colors, and a generally different vibe.

The only other difference is that within an Astral Projection, in time an individual can "ascend" to different levels, whereas in an OOBE an individual is essentially entrapped within this one level of resonance. If you do move up in a level or plane of existence while in an OOBE, then you are automatically considered to be Astral Projecting. This is somewhat of a logical fallacy I should say. Assuming that one is different from the other based on minute differences in perception. My personal opinion on the matter comes from my own experiences. A low level Astral Projection, more commonly in the first stages of the practice is pretty much exactly like one would experience while during an OOBE. To me, an OOBE is simply a low level Astral Projection, the lowest level often achieved. The issue lies within the practitioner. If you learn that there is a difference, and then strive to achieve one or the other, the idea that you will perceive what you think you are going to perceive is a pretty feasible idea.

What this means is that, if you believe an OOBE is a very real, physical experience whereby everything seems exactly the same, with the exception that you can move through walls and the usual rules don't apply, then you will probably experience that. If you believe that in an Astral Projection you will see things differently, you probably will. Not to say that the entire nature of the two are subjective, I'm speaking on first encounters. It's no different to me at this point, having pursued both on their own terms. If I project and everything seems to point to an OOBE, I have no issue calling it that. But if I think raise my vibratory state, I can then feel comfortable in saying that I am Astral Projecting. I believe that an OOBE may be just the same thing, but on our physical plane of existence. As in, we project, but are still walking around in the physical reality, as opposed to flying around in the "astral" plane.

My most recent projection experience was completely unintentional. My alarm was going off and I had a terrible nights sleep, so I was pretty exhausted. I hopped up and leaned over to turn it off, but as I hit the button it wouldn't go off. The noise irritated me and then I hopped up again to turn it off and was finally successful. I kind of looked around for a minute in confusion then realized that I had unconsciously projected. I suppose I was so startled by it, having just recently fallen asleep, that I was jolted out of body, or rather, never returned to my physical body before trying to turn off the alarm. I would equate this experience with an OOBE because it was no different than normal behavior. If I were to hop up, fly out, and increase my current vibrations to move up in the planes, I would then call that an Astral Projection.

It's really not that complex, and I don't feel that an OOBE is beneath an Astral Projection at all, I just feel as though there are levels within the practice that are hard to really get a feel for unless you practice yourself. So if I refer to an OOBE, it's safe to assume that I am referring to a lower level projection whereby I still have room to move up. Likewise, if I refer to an Astral Projection, I am more than likely making reference to an instance where I'm right above basic level projection. Within these levels though, there is a large amount of practice required to explore and develop your ability, and many uses within each. There are some who only pursue OOBE experiences and find more than enough to do and explore while doing so. Others seek out more diverse and "out there" experiences. Whatever your goal, it depends on your intent. Not too coincidentally, both forms of projection are achieved in exactly the same way. The difference lying in this intent, whether you are intending to OOBE or Astral Project.

Uses Of Astral Projection

Astral Projection is used for various things beyond the general cool factor of flying and exploring another reality parallel, yet separate from the one we move through day in and day out. Many people have used Astral Projection for the purposes of healing and magic(k). Due to being located in a different and higher plane of existence, the use of energy work and similar practices seems to be not exactly easier, but more effective to a certain extent. This is no doubt due to being closer to a source of some form. You are in essence pure energy, as opposed to manipulating that energy within your physical body.

Astral Projecting can be an extremely useful tool in exploring other environments. Be those other buildings to check up on a friend or family member, or different planets. Some even report the ability to travel through time, considering the idea of "time" isn't even relevant once projected. Imagine being in a world where no rules you currently experience are relevant at all. You have no boundaries and there is pretty much not a single thing you cannot do or achieve. The uses are limited only to your imagination.

The Stages of Projection

When it comes to any metaphysical practice, stages are always relevant. I can't help but stress them because it seems to help the newer practitioners understand the processes in which they are experiencing. It's incredibly helpful in understanding where you are with your practice, and where you're going, as well as what you should to to help you further along your practice.

Stage 1 - The first stage of projection is associated with the sleep state. We are believed to project out of the body as we fall asleep. Many are not aware of this, but a lot of people attribute that jolting feeling, or experiences of falling while sleeping to a forceful return of the astral body to the physical body. This stage is also said by some to occur while even in waking states. During times of extreme exhaustion, some people have experienced partial, or even full projections whereby they are moving around, or doing something only to be brought back into the body. It's almost as if they were experiencing a day dream, only to be snapped back into consciousness to realize that what they were going through wasn't really happening in their physical body.

Stage 2 - Stage 2 is experienced when the astral body is forcefully projected a short distance away from the body to consciously escape instances of extreme pain. It's like a mental escape. Many long distance runners, bikers, or other athletes can attest to this form of projection. It's as if they were watching their body from a different perspective so the pain or events going on did not directly affect their mental state. Others have experienced this as looking from behind their eyes. I would call this a very low level projection in which your mental state is actually projected, but you retain conscious control over your body. Sometimes, because someone is use to a certain behavior like biking, it seems as though they aren't even in control over their body, and only watching the events transpire as if the body just remembered what to do.

Stage 3 - This is the first stage of conscious projection. You are free to do what you wish and go where you choose. With more practice you are able to travel at any speed, even instantaneously, and distance is not a factor. At this stage the projector should watch their thoughts, because if we recall that energy flows where attention goes, you will travel or end up where your thoughts are directed. This is because while in a projected state, you are your consciousness, essentially nothing but energy, so where you concentrate or focus on, you will end up.

Stage 4 - This is the stage many more experienced projectors experience. It is the stage that you are "contacted" or being to see and experience contact with higher beings. Some refer these to "angels" or "guardians." You achieve this stage after practice and time spent during astral travel. Once here a lot of lessons are learned and your eyes are opened even further. Many refer to this stage as being the stage of enlightenment, the stage where the highest level of spiritual lessons and growth can be achieved.

Beginning Your Astral Travel

Prior to hopping right into the practice you should first take some basic preliminary steps to optimize your success. There are a lot of people who experience common issues while attempting to leave their body. Wondering thoughts, twitches, restlessness, and even fear are just a few of the many issues you may face while just beginning. Below are a few exercises you should take up on a regular basis, and even just before attempting to Astral Project to help you along.

Meditation - Meditation is one of the most important practices you can take up during any spiritual practice. It's especially important for the individual new to Astral Projection because it enables you to get into a calmer, more relaxed state of mind. Quieting your conscious mind is of the utmost importance so that you can be more focused on the task at hand. I have written some other posts about different meditations and offer various exercises which you can find here. Aside from those, we'll be working with the four phase breath in particular for what we are attempting to achieve.

The Four Phase Breath

The Four Phase Breath is a very popular traditional Chi meditation that utilizes breathing control to help relax, and focus the mind. The exercise it self takes very little work on the part of the practitioner, but I would advise you you to take up it's practice on a regular basis as opposed to doing it just before you attempt to project. I say this only because being exposed to all of these new things in one sitting can be very exhausting mentally, and even physically, as your body adjusts to the breathing change. This may result in you just falling asleep, as opposed to successfully projecting.

1. Sit upright, or lay flat on your back. Begin by taking a few deep breaths in through your nose and out of your mouth. Relax your body, go through and ensure that all of your muscles are fully relaxed. Allow your thoughts to pass freely, don't spend time following any particular train of thought. Instead, allow them to come and go as if you were viewing them on a television.

2. Take in one last deep breath to prepare for the exercise. Breathe in deeply allowing your stomach to expand on the inhale and contract on the exhale. As you breathe in slowly, count to four. When you reach four, you should have inhaled to your lungs' capacity.

3. Hold this breath for a total of four seconds.

4. On the fourth count, exhale slowly to the count of four. Hold for four seconds before repeating. Continue this exercise until you feel fully relaxed. Remember that each inhale, and exhale should be for four seconds, and you should wait four seconds before inhaling, and before exhaling again.

This exercise is extremely easy once you get more adjusted to the practice it self. In the beginning, if you are entirely new to related exercises you may have difficultly keeping count. This is normal and don't worry about it right now, you will get use to it as time goes on, and eventually you won't even need to count, and rather, it will just be natural for you.

Stretching

Often I hear people complain that they experience constant and irritating twitches. This is due to your body still being wide awake while you're sitting in total stillness. We even twitch a lot prior to falling asleep. It's completely normal. Getting around this isn't as complex as some make it seem. Take about ten minutes out of your day in the morning, prior to going to bed, and before practice to stretch. Stretch all of your body parts fully, careful not to over do it. Breathe deeply as you do this. You can even do one round of the four phase breath per stretch. That will be a sufficient amount of time to perform the stretch as well, so it all works out. A good idea would be to take up some light yoga work to help you prepare. It's also great for centering.

Astral Projection Methods

After you have fully relaxed and are prepared for your projection practice, lay down flat on your back to not be so comfortable as to fall asleep, or sit in a reclined position. I would suggest that you wear loosely fitting clothes and that the temperature in the area is comfortable enough so that you won't be too hot or too cold. There are a large variety of different exercises you can experiment with to successfully project, but remember that everyone is different, and something that works for one person may not work in the least bit for another. Everyone and their needs are different, so finding the right method for you may take some work but with consistent practice your success to some degree or another is pretty much inevitable.

Full Relaxation Method

This method is very similar to common relaxation techniques utilized for various means. It's not that complex and in fact, though the desired outcome is to achieve a full projection, the method to induce it has no direct correlation with projecting. You begin this method by getting comfortable and going through to relax each body part individually. Some people like to start from top to bottom, others from the feet upwards. Pick whatever you feel more comfortable with and begin.

Take in a deep breath and focus on the body part you are relaxing. If you are going from top to bottom start with your face. Take in a deep breath and ensure that your face is fully relaxed. Every muscle in your face should be at ease and with no contractions. Some people like to flex and contract every muscle in that area to help relax it. Continue breathing and relaxing this part of your body and then move on to the next.

Move down and relax the neck and upper shoulder muscles. Get out any lingering movements you need to help this process. Breath deeply while focusing on this area, ensuring that it is fully relaxed before moving on. Continue this throughout the rest of your body and repeat if needed. As you do this make sure that you are taking your time. This is the method in totality, so patience is a must. After some time practicing this method you should feel completely relaxed and your state of relaxation may come to a point whereby you experience a spontaneous projection as your body essentially falls asleep while your mind remains conscious. Some experience projections by this method, others require a bit more conscious effort, but I would advise everyone to use this method first, even before trying any other methods we cover later. The more relaxed you are in the long run, the better.

The Chord Method

As you lay down, either tie a string to something above you, tape it to the ceiling, or use a completely imaginary one. As you lay down fully relaxed, imagine your astral arms gripping hold of this string. Take your time and be careful not to flex or tense your physical arms. Pull on this string and gently climb your way up. The goal is to tug with your astral arms and send your consciousness upwards in hopes that your astral body will eventually follow. You should never technically reach the top of the string, the purpose in having a physical rope there is to assist in the visualization. This method has proven very successful for a lot of people. I have unfortunately only had success once with this. It was my first projection ever accomplished manually and was very brief. For this method, along with others but especially this one, I need to stress the importance of relaxation. I experienced the tenseness in my arms for a long time while working with this method, and only achieved success when my body was completely depleted of energy due to a spell of insomnia upwards of six years ago.

Rocking Out

The title to this is fairly humorous, but that is literally what we are trying to accomplish when utilizing this technique. This method is done by consciously rocking your astral body. Not literally, but rather imagining it rocking side to side within your body. As you rock the momentum of the rocking should cause your rock to get longer and even pick up speed. This occurs until you are rocking from one side of your body to the next and continues until you essentially rock your astral body loose of the physical. People have used this method, only to find themselves falling on the floor, but when they rose surprised to lay back down, they realized they were experiencing a projection.

The Body of Light

Variations of this method are discussed virtually everywhere Astral Projection or OOBES are taught. It is a very effective method but requires a lot of practice and getting use to. Begin by creating a mirror image of your body in front of you. Imagine this body to directly reflect your person. Take some time to ensure that no detail is spared. Jewelry, clothing, hair, every detail of your person should be included. See this body moving around the room. Allow it to explore your current location, go into a different room and come back. As it explores see through it's eyes, feel what it feels. It should be no different than walking or moving around in your physical body.

Have the body of light come back to where your physical body is, and position it in front of you. Begin to consciously will your consciousness into this body. As opposed to viewing this body in your mind from your physical body, begin to view your physical body through this body of light. After some work and practice many people experience a projection by doing this. There are other variations of this method floating about. One such involves transferring your consciousness into a ball of light, as opposed to a literal body. Which ever your method, have patience and work at it regularly.

Lucid Dreaming

A lucid dream is a dream in which you are consciously aware of a dream while you are dreaming. From this dream state I have found that you can consciously project yourself out of your body into an Astral Projection. Lucid dreaming it it of itself is a huge practice with a lot of benefits. This is the primary method I suggest everyone to take up. It may not be the most straight forward method, but it's one that will ensure success over a period of time. I wrote a much more in depth look at lucid dreaming that you can find here.

The basic method for achieving a lucid dream though, is by keeping a dream log. Every morning when you wake up write down the time, date, your emotional state prior to sleeping and how you felt when you woke up, and your dream in full detail. If you don't remember your dream at that time write down "I chose not to remember my dreams." As you get into the habit of logging all of your dreams you will eventually begin to remember them in full detail, and over time you will learn your dreaming patterns. This will result in you questioning yourself while dreaming, which will jolt your consciousness and you will realize that you are dreaming. After playing around with lucid dreaming for some time you can eventually push yourself forwards and out into an astral projection.

Final Tips

Astral Projection can be an incredibly enjoyable and enlightening experience. After you have successfully projected your practice and learning experience truly starts. There are a lot of reasons why people fail at projecting. One of which is patience. Developing patience is a key component in finding success. Using affirmations to help along your progress is also encouraged, Also, if you have fears about the actual projection, affirming that you have nothing to fear will help you. Affirming on a regular, daily basis that you will be successful can improve the speed and likelihood that you are successful.

Many of these exercises can be assisted by having a certain amount of skill in other meditation techniques. I encourage you to expose yourself to meditation to the fullest extent. I stress meditation in almost everything I write about because I feel it's just that important. Some of these methods require a shift in focus and concentration. Developing your sensitivity can have drastic changes in your progress, especially when dealing with the Body of Light method. It will help you to get a better feel for the energetic body and to shift your focus from one point to another.

There is enough information about Astral Projection for me to easily exceed 10 books. This post is just meant to get you started along your journey and there is a lot more content that needs to be covered. For now, stick with it, experiment, and most of all enjoy what you are experiencing. I suggest that you keep a log of all of your experiences and results similar to the lucid dreaming dream log. It can help you to see what you have been doing, and what you were doing to give you the most results. There are a few methods to achieve projection through Chakra work, and if you want some added help look for some guided meditations or Astral Projection walk troughs, trance or meditation music seems helpful as well. Most importantly, keep at it, good luck, and I'm more than open to any questions you have. I have a lot more posts lined up on this subject, and if you had any success by means that were not listed here feel free to share them.

The 11:11 Phenomenon, also known as the 111 phenomenon is something that has interested me for quite some time now. It is easier experienced than explained to someone completely new to the concept. Looked at simply, it is a universal wake-up call that many people go through at different stages of their spiritual development. The phenomenon occurs when an individual seemingly cannot escape the numbers. Wherever you go you are noticing 11:11; on the clock, within numbers or the sum of numbers around you, dates, etc... Contrary to popular belief the 11:11 phenomenon doesn't even necessarily need to be with those particular numbers.

It is a process of synchronization and patterns. I still remember when I first experienced the time on the clock. I was really young, in elementary school with a digital watch. I don't even think I could tell time because when I looked down at my watch I said "Wow! My watch goes all the way up to one hundred and eleven!" So, considering I didn't even know that it was in the thousands, I can safely assume I was pretty young. Whenever I would glance down it seemed to be 11:11, and I noticed it twice a day for a long time, but then it stopped and I began noticing different, yet equally strange things.

Particular letters, words, dates, etc... would show up throughout my day. For awhile I questioned what it meant but then eventually figured it out, or at least I thought I did. Years later I was roaming the Internet and discovered an article on 11:11. Many of the current beliefs are what I've already mentioned, but some take it to the point of adding the sums of numbers to find 11:11. For instance, today is 4/7/2009: 2 + 0 + 0 + 9 = 11, 4 + 7 = 11. I can take this as a sign that yes, writing about this today was the right move. Or rather, finishing it, considering I started it last night.

Through the Looking Glass

But before getting more in depth, let's first look at the steps many associate with 11:11.

Step 1 - You begin to notice the number (or related event) on a clock, within purchases, money, just all over the place. You begin to become more conscious of the numbers as well. After observing it for the first time many people get the "oh, well, that's cool" reaction because it is seemingly odd to see. At this point 11:11 is basically just a calling card, something to make you scratch your head and keep on moving throughout your day.

Step 2 - This is when it gets a bit more interesting. This is the step in which the numbers appear to a point that basically destroys all probability. Your curiosity peaks as you notice them more and more. Some even turn off clocks or turn them back, and purposely look away to not notice the numbers, or not consciously find the sum of numbers around them. Yet, within all of this conscious effort to not see them, they still appear. This is where many people who do not believe, or choose not to allow some numbers to disrupt their take on reality are forced to turn around and pursue, just for their own peace of mind. Others never leave this step and try to forcibly push 11:11 out of their minds and lives.

Step 3 - This is the peak of the phenomenon. This is where you actually begin noticing the numbers' significance and many are sent spiraling down the rabbit hole in a fast paced and exciting pursuit of self discovery. Eyes are opened, minds are forever changed and the numbers are no longer just simple reminders, no longer just odd occurrences. They are symbol, they are sign. It's something that's hard to grasp at first but it all makes sense in some odd way because in actuality many still feel discontent with their understanding of it, and instead just use it as a means to continue and deepen their pursuits.

Many see the numbers as having similar meanings to what I described before, but also use them as a foundation. They see different sets of numbers as meaning different things entirely. Such as 000, 111, 222, 333, etc... This to me is not significant in a numerological sense, but more so on a personal level. Just like the many systems of divination floating around, Tarot, Runes, etc... It all depends on the individual. Your own view on what you're seeing and experiencing dictates it's meaning. It's entirely subjective.

There are those who even equate the ringing in the ears with this very phenomenon. That ringing being the high pitched hum that is sometimes heard when you are in silence. Assuming what you are hearing is not the electromagnetic discharge from machines or electronics around you, that ringing is seen as being very significant. Some different belief systems even call it the "Song of Angels," which is wild enough considering the amount of people who feel that 11:11 is a sign that the Angels are among us, guiding us. Is there an actual connection here? Well, who's to really say, but, why not?

Whatever you perceive 11:11 as being directly, it is safe to say that it is, in short, a phenomenon of noticing events, similarities, questions and answers within the universe we live. However, because so many people talk about this topic as if it were the end all be all in spiritual understanding, I felt the need to write about it myself and possibly shed light onto the situation and certain points that may have not been brought up before.

Intent

The power of intention ranges far beyond that of passive spiritual practices, Hermeticism, or Affirmations. Intent literally affects everything you do on a regular basis. Perhaps not at first, but if you do nothing at all to directly pursue your goals, yet hold firm to a particular intent, your actions will begin to slowly reflect that intent. It's simple psychology, the more you focus on a thought the more you are affected by it. This isn't AS simple as that, though, because of course you can keep an intention of murdering someone close to heart, and never go through with the deed. Be that as it may, holding such negative intentions can create more negativity, aggression, depression, frustration, and the like, in your life. Especially towards whatever individual you are thinking of. So either way, you are directly affected by the intention.

I bring this up because the most recent article I read on 11:11 was written by Steve Pavlina on his website. It's a very well written article on the subject, but I kind of felt that some things were left out. This wasn't surprising to me because honestly, the majority of the individuals I have met who are familiar with the topic see no purpose in going out of their way to elaborate on every feeling or experience they had as it applied to the phenomenon. Unfortunately it just somewhat irritated me to see that of all the articles I've read on the matter, no one really felt the need to mention some obvious points that I feel are just too important to mention. That or no one else noticed the same things as me, which is less likely.

As you begin to pursue or notice the many related events associated with 11:11, you will come to a point where you are noticing things in a way that seems to give you "universal feedback" to whatever question, or situation you are facing. I call this simply "seeing the signs." To just elaborate a bit more, if you for instance were facing an extremely stressful situation whereby you had to choose between two different things of equal significance to you and you couldn't decide which to decide on, then the 11:11 phenomenon could potentially play a roll in your decision. Steve Pavlina makes note of a similar situation when it came to his actually writing the article based on the subject. He wasn't fully certain if he should write it or not, but felt the urge to do so. That same day he received various e-mails about the subject, a member on his forums opened a thread about it, he received an offer to write for an 11:11 magazine, etc... This to him made it clear that yes, it was the time to write about it.

Another good example can be taken right out of Hollywood. Jim Carey's character in Bruce Almighty begged God for a sign of what he should do. Several literal signs began popping up around him. Road signs telling him no, turn away, etc... came up all over the place. Even a truck completely filled with signs pulled in front of him, flashing lights and all, yet he didn't notice or take in anything that was going on around him. We as the audience notice it because it was made for us to laugh at, but it's something very real many don't experience. Seeing a sign vs seeing a sign you WANT to see are two completely different things. This phenomenon is a means of opening up to see things for what they are.

Similarly, I've had instances where I wasn't sure what to do, and different things would occur pointing me in the right direction. Things like a random chain letter, signs on the road, e-mails, all containing the same general subject matter. Or feeling stuck and trapped, only to be contacted by someone giving me an opportunity that would most definitely open doors for me. By opening yourself up go actually noticing these "signs," the 11:11 phenomenon can start to play a major roll in your life. Here, though, is where it begins to get slightly more complicated.

Perception

Perception is a primary component in communication. Not only this though, it is also one of if not the most significant things that dictates how you view the world around you. The questions we ask, the answers we receive, how we feel, even how we think often directly corresponds to how we perceive the things that happen around us. With this, how you understand this phenomenon directly affects what you get out of it. In lou of probably confusing you, leaving you staring at your monitor looking something similar to this cool character face O_o, I'll take a step back and approach this what a much more easily understood method.

Imagine this, you are walking down the road and for once in your life you can read the street sign on the corner. It says "Stop." You have been walking down this same street for years and never noticed it, despite the many close encounters with approaching cars, bikers, and the occasional trucker. Never did it occur to you what the sign meant, and even though you experienced close encounters you never really figured that stopping at that corner was what you were SUPPOSE to do, and so you didn't. The only time you stopped or hesitated was when you noticed the impending doom that awaited if you continued. You were never taught to look both ways, and no one ever taught you the laws of the road.

This seems horrible, doesn't it? However, it is human nature to allow curiosity to drive us until we hit a wall along the way. We would never know that fire was hot unless someone got burned. Now that we know that, though, we can stop it from happening to us. But we can only do THAT to the level of our understanding of the fire. We may not know that washing your hands with alcohol and then lighting a candle will result in an enormous fireball just because we know fire burns. What you should take from this is the understanding that seeing signs, does not always equate into doing the right thing.

Going back to the story. Now that you can see this sign and understand it's meaning, you are in a better position to not get hit by a car. This doesn't mean that it will never happen, it is just something that puts you into a better position. Reading the signs is not the end all be all, and by no means is it the end of self-discovery. It's simply another beginning. So where does this lead us? Honestly that depends I suppose, but for this discussion it leads us directly to the entire purpose of this article. Where our Intent, affects our Perception.

Intent Affects Perception

On the surface this may seem self explanatory, but in reality it doesn't seem to be that way. In the book Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsch, he spoke of a fictional story whereby a particular gentleman walked past a homeless man everyday. As he past him, he noticed that for years he had been sitting on the same chest. Wherever he went, he brought this chest. After years of seeing him the man finally went up to him and asked some questions. I'm not entirely sure of what exactly was asked, but eventually he asked if the homeless man had ever actually looked into this chest he had been lugging around with him all these years. The homeless man looked almost confused, he had never thought of it. When he looked inside there was enough money for him to be richer than he could have ever imagined. It's been a few years so I'm sure I got that story horribly wrong so please forgive me, but the general points still remain. The moral of the story is that we are what we choose to be. Or rather, we are we we choose not to see. Hang in there with me for a second, it will all make sense, I assure you :P.

The positions we place ourselves in throughout life are just that, positions we place ourselves in. When it comes to 11:11 we are exposed to a life changing method of seeing signs, a new method of interpreting the world around us to propel ourselves into better situations. This is what it appears to be at first anyway. As we continue down the road of 11:11 we eventually come to a point where we seek out the signs and symbols to answer the questions or solve the problems we are facing in our lives. This is no overnight occurrence, mind you. It's one that happens after a drastic shift in your mind-state and belief system as it applies to life in general. For some this happens in months, others years, some even decades. This shift means that you are to a point where your understanding and experience of this phenomenon is one that is hard to be expressed into words. It's significance to you is unrivaled and your interpretations of the signs and symbols is your own. But once we move on and begin asking, and seeking, awaiting response, we sabotage ourselves at the same time.

Once you've reached this peak, you probably have already come to a point where you have experienced the power of manifestation. It's kind of difficult not to, not impossible, just not likely. We've already shown how intent affects your life directly, this directly applies to the power of manifestation. As the quote goes, if you believe you can achieve. In our case we are saying we will achieve. Energy goes where attention flows. The more negativity you put out, the more negativity you get back, the same goes for positivity. It's the same process I discusses when I talk about the power of Affirmations. It's your desires, your thoughts, ambitions, emotions. They all have a direct say so in the outcome of your life. So when we are dealing with a very real system of guidance, if you will allow me to call it that, and we incorporate our own intents after we feel as though we have a "grasp" on it, things can get a bit complicated.

Taking that story we used previously. Imagine you are in a mood today in which you don't want to walk to work. You would realllly much rather just stay home today because you have this mild headache and you've missed Oprah all week. You're hoping and praying something happens to keep you home. It doesn't and you leave the house walking the same way you always walk. When you get to the corner you see the stop sign, you didn't see it there before, but because you see it and understand what it means you now take this opportunity to stop what you are doing, and go back home. You didn't take two seconds to think it over, you saw the sign, you had never seen it before, never noticed it nor could you understand it, but now you suddenly can. Why is this bad?

Well both stories have in common the fact that the individual did not understand the sign prior to this experience, the difference lies in their intentions. The first one did not have any particular intention in mind, but was rather struck with an epiphany, if you will. The second individual was hoping, and praying for something to keep them home from work today. With this, the second they observed a sign they figured that, hey, why not, it's CLEARLY indicating for me to stop so I mustn't move forward anymore... it might not be in my best interest.

WRONG. Now, I refuse to be the one to dismiss the whole "everything happens for a reason" scenario, however, I also refuse to be the individual to support selective ignorance. This sign very well could be interpreted as a sign to stop the trail of thought the person was on. It was lazy, selfish, and could put them in a position where they could jeopardize their job, thus their family if any applies. Due to their selfish intents, the individual read the sign as they WANTED to. This isn't getting away from my belief in the signs meaning being up to the individuals perception, it's more so an exercise in self awareness. Just because you see a sign doesn't mean that everything is as literal as it seems. Take a step back and observe yourself, your surroundings, and how you are feeling when these signs occur.

I've seen so many people take that negative perception on 11:11 and related occurrences. All it does is confuse you in the long run. I do feel that it can be beneficial, because it will cause you to walk down this road of self-discovery and experience first hand the many pitt-falls arrogance can offer. It can be an extremely long journey, I know because I went down that road and experienced much of the same. Choosing to see things as they benefited me, as opposed to taking a more objective perspective and evaluating the entire situation. There is a much better way, and this applies to life in general, not just 11:11.

Final Words

This post was originally intended to be a short e-mail to someone about the subject. It's something that bothered me and even though I didn't go in depth to the extent that I could have, I feel I've touched on some important and eye opening issues as it applies to belief, signs, and interpretation. When we are discussing something as mind-boggling as 11:11 or any spiritual subject for that matter I expect there to be a large amount of criticism along with it. I expect many of you reading this to not only disagree with me on the existence of such things, but on my views on life. For those individuals I encourage you to stick with your current understandings and feelings.

We all grow, develop, and change at our own pace. I am fully content with the understanding that my life, all of our lives are completely subjective. Are we living subjective realities with an objective reality? Maybe, maybe not, that's a topic of discussion for another day. However I can fully attest to the fact that universal signs are all around us, guiding us in the right direction. We are shown things that we may not always like, but sometimes it's what we need. I believe that you will take from this what you need to take from this, that we see, feel, and believe exactly what we need to at this moment to propel us forward. I can only imagine what we will experience next.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. ~Unknown

The power of words spreads far beyond that of communication. The term "speaking it into existence" is one that never seems to lose it's strength. Many times we fail to see just how powerful our words can be on another person, or even on ourselves. Our words tend to echo our thoughts, but just as important as what we say, is our intentions behind what we say. Saying "I love you" for instance is a significant and very meaningful phrase. If you use those same words, yet you clearly have negative intentions and feelings towards that person then those feelings shine through. Perhaps not the best example, considering some use that phrase as if it had no meaning, and others don't realize what's going on, or choose not to. The meaning, however, remains. What you say is significant, but how you say it and what you're reasons for using the words make a difference.

An affirmation is a statement, or judgment that you declare as being true, therefore telling yourself over and over again that "I am a beautiful, successful person" without truly meaning it won't have the same affect as if you fully meant what you said. Or will it? I hope to dive into the subject of affirmations head first and hopefully we can not only discover the effectiveness of using them, but useful situations and techniques for using them.

The Power of Words

Though when discussing traditional communication only 7% is ruled by what you say, 38% being how you say it (your tone) and 55% of which is body language, the actual words we use carry with them deeper meanings then we often consider. For instance, the word "hate" in it of itself essentially personifies negativity. We fail to consider this when we use "hate" in a sentence that rings with intended positivity such as: "I hate how they treat their children," or "I hate not finishing something I start." These sentences originally have positive intentions and observing these intents and how we communicated them can teach us a lot.

The first sentence is positive, or at least in this example it's positive, considering it can be seen either way. We can assume that whoever said it is speaking on behalf of some innocent, mistreated children who are either being abused or neglected. By saying that you "hate" how they are being treated, within you, you are making a judgment that they should be treated better. Clearly this is out of sympathy for the children, as their situation has no direct relation to yourself (in this example).

The second sentence in our example is being used by an individual who is clearly struggling with an issue of no follow through. Beginning a task and never completing it is a terrible habit for anybody. By saying you "hate" it in this way is indicating that it's disliked and the individual would rather it be the opposite.

Where both of these individuals went wrong is in their selection of words. In using the word hate we are placing ourselves and innocent children into a category they do not belong. The term hate has been used for centuries in extremely negative situations. When we think hate, we think of something that we despise so intensely we would rather be without it. Though this may be how we THINK we are feeling about our situations, that we HATE them, using such a strongly negative word does nothing beneficial for us beyond that of promoting more negativity. So in our intentions of bringing positive change to ourselves and for the children, we in essence brought negative energies into situations whereby we only meant for positivity to reign.

There was once a highly controversial study done on the effects of speech on water crystals by Dr. Masaru Emoto. Despite the many feelings on the matter, what he found reigns true in our discussion. He learned that the effects of negative intents and speech directed towards water drastically altered the crystals' structure. The same is true for positivity, however the alterations were substantially different. All of the water crystals where negative intents, words, music, and the like were used turned out to be quite unattractive at best. On the other hand, the crystals where kind, loving, heart felt intentions and words were used had extremely attractive crystal formations.

How we feel about ourselves and others has an affect on them. For a more tangible example, look at the kids in school who were bullied or are being bullied today. Confidence and self esteem on these children are often really low. It's fairly obvious to see the relationship between words and emotions. We know now that emotional stability largely affects your actions in life. A strong willed, confident and driven individual is more likely to strive for personal greatness than a depressed, unsure, insecure one. The quality of life then is highly affected based on this. So bringing it home, how you speak to those around you, or speak about yourself will have a major change in that person be it on the surface or within them, subconsciously. Thinking before we speak is one of the most important things we can do to ensure we don't damage other people in the long run. This doesn't, however, change how we are affecting ourselves, which brings us to our next topic.

The Power of Intent

Do you remember being a kid and being told no by someone for some reason or another? There are those who would probably just rebel, but then there are the others who suck it up, grit their teeth and obey. Either way, later on many of those same emotions are lingering and we tend to put on a facade and play nice, even though we really want to strangle whoever it is that attempted to, or denied our childhood pleasures. It brings up the old saying "mean what you say, say what you mean." When we don't particularly want to hurt another persons feelings we may say things that we in reality don't mean. But what exactly do our intentions have to do with anything? I mean, if we say something nice even though we are thinking mean or hurtful things, what does it matter?

Well that is a good question, but using the foundation the Law of Attraction gives us, we realize that thoughts will vibrate outwards regardless of the words we speak. The more negativity we think, the more we get back. Looking at this from a spiritual stand point we can observe the trickle down affect many are aware of through things like hermetic science. Or taking a purely psychological stand point we still see this being true. How you think ultimately affects your actions whether you believe it or not. If you constantly think of failure, loss, stress, and the like, then it's almost inevitable that you will create that within' yourself.

So with this in hand we can see the affects of speaking to someone using positive words, but having negative intentions. It's the same way as saying F*** *** to someone with a smile on your face. Clearly the smile is there, suggesting you are happy and in a good mood, but the words you say still may offend whoever you are talking to in a negative way, simply due to the negative connotations associated with the words used. So regardless if the person you are speaking, or thinking to/of is aware of your intentions, you are still directing negative thoughts towards that individual or yourself, and unless you are trying to use affirmations in a negative way, this will have an adverse affect on your practice.

Many practitioners of Magic(k) are also very well aware of the importance of intent. The use of "spells" and the like are in reality not governed by the actual words being said more often than not. It is more so dictated by the intent behind the words being said. The belief that specific words will be effective in bringing about change is the very driving force behind creating that change.

Beginning Affirmation Work

The actual use of affirmations is a lot more simple than people make it out to be. In short, it's repeating a word or phrase of meaning to change something about yourself for the better. Originally I was just going to detail how to use them, but I think breaking them into two categories is even more effective. We can use affirmations in two ways, there are more but the major two are for a goal or change within yourself you are pursuing, and the other are self affirming, or esteem building affirmations.

To begin with let's explore goal oriented affirmations. A simple affirmation in this case could be:

I Will Be Successful

This is an affirmation in it's simplest form. Our goal is to become successful. So without leaving room for doubt or question we repeat that I will be successful. More can be added to this affirmation for a more specific goal, such as I will be successful in my new job. The basic goal here is to change your method of thinking from fear, doubt, or uncertainty to confidence in your self and your potential. The more this affirmation is used the more you will begin to act accordingly to ensure it's success. Using affirmations such as this are something you should make a regular habit of.

Building Confidence In Yourself

Even if you are the most confident individual in the world, using these affirmations are incredibly helpful to your success in anything you pursue. They help shape the way you think of yourself, and the least amount of negativity you associate with yourself the better off you will be. Examples of these forms of affirmations are:

I am strong.
I am handsome.
I will be successful.
I can achieve anything I put my mind to.

Using "I will" and "I can" put a lot of emphasis on your affirmations. Going through and doing this is a great method for self betterment. It is confidence building and important. If you feel uncomfortable doing it than this is probably exactly what you need to be doing.

Effectively Using Affirmations

At this point we basically know what an affirmation is, and some different forms of them. Using this knowledge is where it begins to get interesting. Here are some major tips you should consider if you are looking to make affirmations a part of your daily activities.

1. Repeat It Often - every morning, when you look in the mirror, when you have free time, or any instance it comes to mind, say your affirmation out loud. The more you say it the more of a habit it becomes. These habits eventually change your thought process and that is exactly what you want. As opposed to thinking negatively you will eventually begin thinking of things in the positive sense. As opposed to making complaints you will notice yourself working to make changes that will benefit you.

2. Write it down - write down all of your affirmations. This makes the information stick and can be visible at various times of the day to remind yourself. Keep a notebook, journal, saved file on the computer, or whatever other means you want to use and write down your affirmations often. The more visible the better.

3. Meditate - meditating on your affirmations is another excellent method to continue to make them effective. You can either chant the affirmation as if it were a mantra repeatedly out loud or internally while keeping in mind the intent behind the words. Or you can just focus on the intent behind the affirmation. Do whatever you are most comfortable with, or both.

I recently came across an excellent article online at Peaceful Prosperity discussing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Energy, and the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT. It is a method of utilizing affirmations by means of a mudra (hand gestures used to aid in meditation) and meditation. It's a highly intriguing method and one I actually didn't even know about. The specific mudra taught was different from ones I had used during traditional ki meditations and therefore interested me. I haven't used this method yet, personally, but plan on experimenting with it to see the difference it makes. I would suggest you check it out as well: A Little More On TCM, Energy, and EFT

4. Visualization - creative visualizations are extremely useful for helping with your affirmations. If you visualize the goal of your affirmation, or rather it's success it can have a huge impact. I would suggest visualizing from a first person perspective. For instance, if you're affirmation is that "I will do 10 pull-ups straight by the end of the month." Then visualizing yourself actually doing pull-ups can have a significant affect on your end results.

5. Leave Reminders - using post it notes, having a piece of paper in your wallet, having a screen saver, or anything similar with your affirmations written on it can be very helpful. The entire idea is to change the way you think to improve your quality of life or help you reach a goal, being reminded of your affirmations on a regular basis will only cement the ideas, goals, or drive within' you to be successful.

6. Sigilization - a Sigil is actually a tool used primarily within "Chaos Magic(k)," but it is also used in various other spiritual pursuits as a meditation aid. For our case it's a great tool to use along with our affirmations. By breaking up a specific affirmation into a shorter word or phrase we can use it in repetition along with the intent behind it to aid in meditations or focus on the end result. To create a sigil you first need to take the affirmation. Using the original affirmation of "I will be successful" we first need to break this down by removing any repeated letters. This will give us: I wl be sucf. Now you rearrange the letters to make an easier pronounced phrase: Iwl Bescuf. This is now manageable to repeat out loud or internally. From here all you need to do is focus on the intent of the sigil, that being the original affirmation. This is one of my favorite methods.

Final Tips

Using affirmations can have an extremely significant positive affect on your life. Using "I will" and "I can" statements are extremely useful in affirming what you mean. Making the changes you want to are possible and within your grasp. It is all up to you in the end and how much work you are willing to commit to change. Using a tape recorder and playing back your affirmations may increase their potency as well. Don't forget that these exercises and techniques for utilizing affirmations are only a few I have personally worked with. There are many more floating around out there on both the internet and within books.

The most basic and very effective method you can use is to just write it down and repeat/remind yourself of the affirmations. I would suggest that along with using affirmations you pick one trait daily to work on improving. Not to be cliche, but Roam wasn't built in a day, and neither will your personal changes. Never give up and even if you feel over whelmed you can get to your desired goal, it just starts with you taking the first step. Also, in the worlds of Albert Einstein, always remember that "problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." Change is a must and almost inevitable, so taking it into your own hands and ensuring that change is positive is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

I honestly don't think there is any other way to describe spirituality in general other than calling it subjective. By that I mean it has virtually nothing to do with concrete evidence or facts, and it is rather based on our own impressions, feelings, emotions, and ideas. As I continue walking down this path and incorporating my spiritual beliefs into every waking moment of my life as best I can, it becomes more obvious to me every day, that our spiritual understandings have virtually nothing to do with another's interpretations. We all have our own ideas, come from different cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicity's, and therefore all perceive the world a little differently, based on these situations and resulting experiences.

This isn't to say that the world we are perceiving is actually different, how could it be? Who knows, but what's more important is that it is different for each of us, on a personal level. If our perception wasn't subjective than I could imagine all of us following and living by the same beliefs. This just isn't the case. Even looking towards religion; Christianity being the largest religion on the planet, with it's believers and followers accounting for over two billion people, has more subjectivity than you could imagine, with it's subsections or "categories" being too numerous for me to even count. This stemming from a seemingly objective foundation of what Christianity should be. So when we are discussing spirituality in general, it's no surprise to see how so many of us simply cannot agree on what "reality," is actually factual. Does it matter though?

Paganism, Kabbalahism Shamanism, Christianity, etc... Despite the many overall differences associated with just these spiritual and/or religious paths, the general, underlying fundamental goals of the practices all seem to be interconnected in so many ways it's almost pathetic disappointing people don't realize them. (I had to rephrase that last sentence because it's not everyone's fault, it's typically a result of how someone was brought up. Of course, there are those who choose to conciously ignore it, in which case, yes, it's pathetic.) After engaging in countless debates and discussions about spirituality, my own beliefs, and the issue I see with Religion, I've learned that due to the subjectivity of it all, and peoples own understandings of anything they come across, convincing others or dismissing anothers' interpretation gets us no where. It doesn't help them or me by even proclaiming that one thing would be right, whereas another is wrong.

I try not to make it a habit, however, one instance rings a bell. I was having a conversation with a group of people about Religion as a whole, and how I felt it to be overall misleading in nature. I said that Religion (the groups not teachings), at least today, does more dividing of people than uniting. Many Religious individuals claim that their Religion is the correct one, and any others are following a wrong, even secular path. I went on to say that despite this, many of the Religions they so strongly stand behind dictate love, compassion, and understanding for one another, which goes to show that individuals are more of the dividing and controlling factors, as opposed to the Religions themselves.

This brought me to a few light bulb moments while engaging in the conversation. I ended up moving forward, making note that even in Christianity; within the Bible, peoples interpretations of simple passages were all different. The major differences I noticed where in their choices of taking text literally, or figuratively, based purely on what to me seemed to be their own feelings on the matter. What made most sense to them, or what they could make use of most easily in their situation. The individuals I was discussing this with really couldn't disagree with me, although they had their own feelings on the matter, but to me it just paved the way for more trains of thought.

Talking about the "paranormal" for instance... We all seem to have our own set of beliefs, which I cannot claim is a bad thing, because I fully accept that my current reality, how I perceive things, may not be felt by anyone else I know. However, it just led me to question the teachings of so many books and websites, who take an objective stand within every word, paragraph, and page written. It leads to websites springing up, attracting so many kids and instilling upon them beliefs that seem to be concrete and without question. It seems like a typical societal methodology to me, creating the US and THEM caste system. Whereby whoever agrees with our beliefs are correct and anyone not following the same standards we live by are outcast, not correct, and therefore should be changed or shunned if they want to be respected or "fit-in."

So, if we are unable to agree on some form of an objective reality, whereby everyone can agree on a singular system of beliefs, then we should at least all agree on our realities being subjective. Which does not mean that we can't agree on anything, but that one experience for one individual may not be seen as the same for another. The way I see it, if I see something one way and another see's it another way, we can share those experiences and come to our own conclusions that fit our own beliefs and our own "world." For happiness we don't all need to agree on every detail, but pointless bickering on senseless matters can be avoided for the most part if not entirely.

The Soul Mirror, otherwise known as the Black and White Soul Mirrors, The Elemental Mirror, or Metaphysical Mirror, depending on the circle you roll in, is a very important part in self discovery be that for spiritual reasons or general self betterment. The purpose is to find out the positive and negative traits about your person so that you are able to change the more negative aspects about your personality.

The "Mirror" can be created in different ways, depending on your intentions. Whichever way you choose to make it, I would just advise that you create one for your own benefit later on down the road. Some time ago I created one, and to this day still look back on it and work on some of the negative traits that I found within' myself. Unfortunately this can be slightly daunting, seeing how many negative traits you can find about yourself is never something fun, but honesty is the best policy because it is for you and should only be seen by you. Once created you can begin the task of making the changes that you feel should be made, be that through self awareness or meditation.

Method 1

Step 1

The first method we'll be discussing is one that is most famous among hermetic practitioners. To begin you will need either a piece of paper to work on, or in my case whichever word processing program you choose to work with.

I like to set mine up in various sections, I feel that it's a method of organization that is beneficial because it helps you to concentrate on the task at hand, rather than trying to think and categorize at the same time.

Begin my writing words that describe you. No phrases, just words.

Example:

Irritable, Strong Willed, Procrastinate, Kind, Forgiving, etc...

Do this until your list is exhausted with any and everything that you feel describes you, being fully honest. Sometimes it may take more than one day to actually accomplish this simply because it can get quite time consuming. If you are open to help and helpful criticism I would suggest that you find someone close to you to perhaps give you some help in this department. Someone who will be honest and unbiased.

This list can be as long or short as you need it to be, but don't feel insecure about creating it. Being honest with yourself is of the utmost importance right now and this is by far the most important step in the entire process.

Step 2

This is where you will get into the categorization of the list you just created. Sometimes people fail to mention this step or disregard it in it's entirety, as it does seem to be sort of a bordering step for those who are doing this coming from a Hermetic background. Depending on space if you are writing you may need an entirely new sheet of paper or the back. As opposed to drawing a line down the middle of the paper I would suggest that you just do one part and then the other, in more so paragraph form than list. Just as a means to save paper.

You will need two categories, Positive, and Negative. It's fairly self-explanatory but you simply take each word from the first list and place them into their perspective groups. All the positive traits go under positive and negative ones under negative. If you have a word that you feel can be both positive and negative then you can place it in both categories.

Using the short example list created earlier our lists would look something like this:

Positive: Kind, Forgiving, Strong Willed...

Negative: Irritable, Strong Willed, Procrastinate...

Once you have done this you are done with step 2.

Step 3

This is the final step in the process but also one that takes a bit of insight into the elements. For those of a Hermetic or general Magic(k) background this step will be far more easy than someone who has zero understanding of these topics.

What you are going to be doing now is grouping these same descriptive words into their respective elemental categories for both the Positive and Negative.

Fire, Water, Earth, Air.

A way to set up your page would be as follows;

Fire:
Positive Fire:
Negative Fire:

And repeat for each respective element.

Doing this is not as difficult or daunting as it may seem. Just go through the entire list you made in the beginning and for each word you see place it into a category that best describes it. Sometimes a word may fall into more than one elemental category and if that is the case than place it into both of them respectively. Because this step is so much like the previous one, going into it further is fairly irrelevant, all that is required is a brief understanding of the elemental properties which you can find HERE. This step is not required, depending on your goals and intentions.

It is to get an understanding of where you stand and what element you are most "attuned" to currently. From here elemental meditations and self-awareness are enacted to help "balance" a potential unbalanced individual. To work on swapping out a more negative trait for its positive counterpart. An example would be |Hate| = Love, etc... If you are honest many times this list will be fairy long, and overwhelming, it's never expected of you to accomplish these character changes over night. You should start with one single trait and work your way down the list from there.

Method 2

The second method is exactly like the first one, only you remove the final step. This method is for those individuals who choose not to associate themselves with the elemental affiliation. Either the less spiritual type or anti-metaphysical. I personally don't see the issue with it, but some do for whatever reason they may have, and so this is simply an alternative.

The end process is the same, you should go through the list one by one to either improve on a positive trait or work to counter a negative one.

Method 3

This is a method that was taught to me early on in the Art of Living, and one I was able to utilize in group lectures and talks with the Red Cross. It's a more upfront method and I'd advise everyone to use this along with the previous one, though, it can be used in place of it as well. It's more informal and one you can teach to large groups of people without bringing in metaphysics or spirituality.

Step 1

What you need is either a piece of paper or whatever word processing program you choose to use and make three categories either by folding the paper, spacing, or drawing two lines. The categories should be labeled: Stop, Continue, and Start.

From here you should write exactly what you want to stop doing in your life, what you want to continue doing, and what you would like to start doing. Unlike the first and second methods you can write entire phrases and sentences if you need to.

Example:

Stop: Day dreaming in class, starting something and never finishing it, staying up late, etc...

Continue: Maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle, etc...

Start: Keeping in touch with family and friends more often, looking for a job where I will be happier, etc...

This list is for your eyes ONLY and can be as long or short as needed. From here you can either be done or move on to an optional yet highly recommended step.

Step 2

Take out another sheet of paper as needed and write down the steps you are going to take to change, continue, or discontinue anything you previously wrote down. I like to write everything in a list form to make it easier to read later on.

Example:

Stop > Starting something and never finishing it. > When I start something I'm going to try to work on it until I'm done by limiting the distractions I have around me, and rewarding myself when I finish.

The majority of things we actually write down and set our minds to we accomplish. If you just tell yourself to do this or that, more often than not we put it aside and rarely get back to it. So listing steps and setting out to do them is a great way to get started. Some even write this up as a contract to themselves and sign it at the bottom. Making themselves a personal promise that this is what they are going to do and nothing is going to get in the way of it.

Either way, regardless of your reasoning or method behind it, these are important exercises. Self betterment is a large part of life and a great first step to anyone who has spiritual, hermetic, or other aspirations. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Namaste

This expression is not meant to simply be associated with sex, but rather, anything within the realm of creating pleasure in ones mind. When you do something, be it eating junk food, playing video games, or having sex, a neurochemical is triggered in your mind, this neurochemical is called dopamine, and it activates what’s referred to as the “award center” of the mind.

The peak of orgasm, the absolute height of sexual pleasure, is also the cause for the greatest amount of dopamine to be released into the brain, by legal means. This affect also has a crashing aftermath, like any form of mood altering drug or situation. What goes up must come down, and thus, when an individual has been dosed with large amounts of dopamine, they too experience a monumental drop in attitude, emotional state, and generally anything associated with ones mood.

Such scenarios can result in uncomfortable relationships, as, once the urge for dopamine is met; the general craving is reduced or temporarily eliminated. This can make sexual attraction to ones partner reach a monumental low during the process of recovering from such a dosage. However, if, particularly a male, is exposed to another female, this urge for dopamine can instantly rise again. This is because the male figure is biologically geared towards procreation. This drop in desire with ones partner can also be contributed to the neurochemical prolactin, which is secreted directly following orgasm, or more specifically, following the release of dopamine. This agent serves the purpose of stopping the desire for dopamine. In essence, it is somewhat attempting to keep the dopamine levels of the body at a normal state. This is not always the case, however.

These dopamine fixes can be gained through other means as well, which has been previously mentioned. Sporadic events, often experienced by athletes, gamblers, over eaters, etc… All experience temporary fixes in dopamine. Such events enable an individual to temporarily have their entire focus on the moment, though; they attain this temporary fix through means that are more detrimental in the long run.

The mind also posses various neurochemical’s that band together, forming a kind of “bonding hormone.” This hormone is referred to as oxytocin and is composed of adrenaline and dopamine, they mix together, and without them, our ability to mentally experience “love” would not exist, at least, not from a scientific standpoint. Oxytocin enables us to feel attached and connected to another individual on a neurochemical level. It is associated with the phenomena of becoming “addicted” in a sense, to a spouse. Feeling attached to everything from their appearance, to their voice or the smell of their hair. Over time, with the help of oxytocin, to you, you’re spouse actually begins to appear _more_ attractive than previously thought.

This chemical bond is the key to maintaining a healthy relationship. Being more susceptible to this chemical bond has far more affects on your physical being and mental states than one would imagine. Such affects range from a calmer state of mind, and having that calming affect to those around you, living a healthier life. Patients suffering from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have been found to have their longevity increased when they have companionship due to this neurochemical.

This chemical not only greatly aids us in health, but it decreases cravings and increases sexual gratification. Couples who are more intimately connected on a higher level than simply lusting for a dopamine fix find that having sex can be just as, if not more gratifying without orgasm if they are intimately connected on this higher level. Oxytocin is also not a chemical which demands a constant incoming flow of met desires to generate, unlike dopamine which generally needs increased dosages to yield the same pleasurable results. Oxytocin levels remain high when the constant fluxuations of dopamine levels associated with the seemingly never ending dopamine rollercoaster, stop, or slow down.

This means that the less you rush to meet the needs of your body craving a dopamine fix, the better off, and more pleasure out of life you will receive in the long run. This leads us to say that the general perception of sexuality is fundamentally flawed. Lust should not be associated with what “sexuality” is based on; rather, lust is simply a craving of the body seeking dopamine for instant gratification, which serves no greater benefits in the long run. Sexuality, companionship, and specifically sex can be very rewarding experiences to help you grow as a more loving, caring, and spiritual being. Simply staying the course to seek instant gratification and temporary relief will only result in your being a very unhappy individual, as, your moods and mind will never be at a constant state of calm. Calm and focus of the mind are very essential keys to any esortic path, be it that of a path of mysticism, or magic and its subcategories.

Also remember that this dopamine roller coaster is experienced by other means than just sex. Other addictions such as gambling and sugar addictions, among many other things that give you gratification due to dopamine are also associated with it, and therefore should be done in moderation, if at all.