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and holding a point of awareness exterior to the physical body. This stimulates the projection reflex more strongly than any other projection technique I have come across. The first step is to imagine a large, strong rope hanging down in front of you, just above your chest, in a natural position for you and for the position you are in. If you are lying down, imagine the rope end hanging over the center of your chest within easy reach of your hands. If you are sitting, imagine the rope hanging just in front of your face, with the rope end being firmly attached to the ceiling. The rope is within easy reach of your hands. Vary the position and angle of this imaginary rope to suit yourself as to what feels most natural. Center your awareness hands in the middle of your chest. Reach out with both of them and grasp the rope. Climb hand over hand strongly up the rope. Pull the rope to your chest with each climbing hand action. Feel yourself, in your projectable double, moving up the rope as you climb it. Stay aware of your physical body remaining behind as you climb out of it. Concentrate on the climbing action, but don't let your physical body respond or tense. Breathe naturally and do not hold your breath or allow it to become ragged. Hold your mind clear and focused solely on climbing the rope. Try to develop a powerful, natural, two-handed climbing action, just as you would if you were actually climbing a rope in real life. One hand reaches out while the other hand holds on. Both hands work together at all times. As one hand pulls on the rope, the other hand should be reaching out to grip the rope above it, ready for the next pull on the rope. Try not to use only one hand at a time. Using both hands together makes the rope technique easier to do and more effective. Vary the speed of the climbing action to what feels easiest and most natural for you, but do not climb too slowly. Just as with a bounce action, increase climbing speed until resistance is felt, then back off to a more comfortable speed. I find varying my climbing speed from about a half a second to one second for each completed hand action (reaching out and pulling rope in with each hand) is best for me. Feel your awareness hands as very strong and feel yourself climbing effortlessly and powerfully up the rope. Try to feel your projected double, your body, moving upward as you climb the rope. It is the exterior awareness of the climbing action that makes this technique work. The climbing action also provides a natural upward and outward movement away from the physical body. Some people may have difficulty bringing awareness hands all the way back to their chest with every pull on the rope. Some may find that one or both of their awareness hands do not obey orders. If this is the case, just do the very best you can to keep your hands moving and climbing and scrambling up the rope in any way you Fig. 25. Rope technique can. Ways of getting around many common rope-climbing problems, plus alternative projection techniques, are given in coming chapters. Many people have found it helpful to pin or tape a length of ribbon or string to the ceiling above their beds or chairs, hanging within easy arm's reach. Touch this occasionally until you get used to its position in your mind. The position and feel of the rope will grow in your awareness memory, making it easier to imagine yourself reaching out and climbing it with your awareness hands. Position your rope aid at the most natural and easy to imagine position for you. (This aid has one added bonus, if you are an animal lover — cats absolutely love it!) Rope Pressure Symptoms The first sign that the rope technique is working is a peculiar dizzy feeling, a localized energymovement type of trickling vertigo in the pit of the stomach and in the chest. If you feel this sensation, the rope technique is exerting good pressure on your projectable double. Keep climbing and you will trigger the projection reflex — as long as you stay physically relaxed enough to allow the generation of the projectable double. As an experiment, try this short exercise now: close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to settle yourself, nothing more. Feel yourself reaching out and climbing strongly hand over hand up an imaginary rope for twenty seconds or so. Concentrate and really feel your awareness hands doing the climbing action as you do this. Use your memory and imagination to re-create the actual feeling of what it would be like to actually do this. 104