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Take your time and enjoy the various parts of this technique. If you find it difficult to transfer your sense of sight, focus on your other senses, such as touch, as much as possible. As you transfer the majority of your perceptions to your imaginary self, completely forget about your physical body by focusing all your attention on your new sensations and sight. Completely relax and allow your physical body to fall asleep. As your body slowly goes to sleep, you will experience a transition or shift of awareness from your physical to your nonphysical body. As this occurs, remember to remain calm and enjoy your new ability to perceive. This technique is excellent for improving visualization skills. Many people are surprised at how easily they can visualize after a short period of practice. Take your time and enjoy the results. Dream Conversion Dreams are an effective doorway to out-of-body exploration. For many people dreaming is a natural way to ease their awareness away from their physical state of consciousness and begin to recognize and experience other states of consciousness. Since the dawn of civilization, societies and cultures around the world have viewed dreams as an entryway to a different world. The significance of dreams is portrayed in humanity’s oldest recorded writings, including the Upanishads, the Bible, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and the Koran. From the lavish dream temples of ancient Greece to the dream therapy techniques of modern psychologists and psychiatrists, dreams continue to provide valuable insights into our subconscious mind. If used properly, dreams can act as an effective trigger or signal for out-of-body exploration. Some of the most common signals are listed later in this chapter. One of the best ways to initiate an out-of-body experience is to become aware or lucid within a dream. This can be accomplished by changing our attitudes toward our dreams. First, begin to acknowledge the importance of your dreams in your daily life. Treat your dreams as valuable insights and messages from your subconscious mind. In effect, think of them as an actual form of communication, as real as your physical experiences. Second, begin a daily dream log. Record every dream you can, even the small fragments. This should be done immediately upon waking, either by writing or using a tape recorder. Pay close attention to the feelings, emotions, and sensations that you experienced during the dreams. Third, firmly express your desire for increased clarity and awareness within your dreams. As you drift to sleep, strongly request that your complete conscious awareness be present in your dreams. Make a firm, verbal commitment to yourself as you fall asleep that you will recognize, recall, and consciously experience every single dream. Fourth, repeat a strong affirmation to yourself as you fall asleep each night. For example, “As I fall to sleep, I remain aware,” or “Now I have a fully conscious out-of-body experience,” or “I become aware in my dreams.” When doing your affirmations, make them firm and positive, fully expecting your request to be granted. As with all out-ofbody affirmations, concentrate your full emotional and intellectual energy into each one. It’s important to focus and maintain your affirmations as your last conscious thoughts as you drift to sleep. The transfer of your awareness can occur quickly, so it’s essential to remain calm and enjoy any changes in your personal perspective, environment, energy, or location. The following is a dream conversion that I experienced some years ago. In my dream I was in a pet store. Looking around, I noticed a small hermit crab on the floor near my feet. As I watched the crab, it jumped five feet straight up in the air. At first, I was startled and stepped back; then as I watched, it became obvious that the crab was attempting to get my attention. Again the crab jumped and I realized that I had to be dreaming. At that moment I said aloud, “I must be dreaming.” Immediately, I felt a strange tingling sensation in my body and realized that I’d entered the vibrational state while dreaming. Out of habit I focused my complete attention on the idea of floating up and out of my physical body. Within seconds I could feel myself lift from my body and move toward the living room. This type of dream conversion is easy to achieve if we are willing to recognize and accept the entire process. The most important element is how we respond at the moment we become consciously aware within our dream. Vivid or lucid dreams are not necessarily unconscious out-of-body experiences; they can be psychological manifestations similar to internal projections. The unusual or outrageous events in our dreams are creations of our subconscious mind specifically designed to grab and hold our attention. I have found that once we make a firm commitment to explore out-of-body, this type of lucid dream becomes a regular event. In effect, our subconscious mind is doing its best to assist us in achieving our goal of a conscious out-of-body experience. This, of course, is another reason why written goals are so vital. The more focused our goals, the more our subconscious mind is willing and able to assist us. This type of lucid dream can be literally anything out of the ordinary: unusual surroundings or people; outlandish colors or shapes; strange buildings, pets, or other animals. I have found that lucid dreams often manifest as a single strange event in an otherwise relatively normal dream—any strange, illogical, or inappropriate person, place, or thing that is obviously out of the norm. For example, a typical family sedan may become a bright red sports car. A regular home may become a castle. A household pet may become a lion or an eagle. A single object or event in a dream may become completely out of place and outrageous: a jumping crab, a talking cat, a flying dog. Whatever it is, it’s something so psychologically outlandish that it captures and holds our complete attention. The key to a successful dream conversion is our conscious recognition and knowledgeable response to our lucid dream occurrences. Once you recognize a strange or illogical event, situation, or object within your dream, focus your attention as much as possible upon the unusual occurrence. Verbally pinpoint the illogical event within the dream: “I can’t fly,” or “I don’t live in a castle,” or “That’s strange, my car isn’t red.” As you become increasingly conscious (lucid) within the dream, verbally acknowledge that you know you are dreaming. Say aloud anything that will consciously acknowledge your awareness: “I know I’m dreaming,” “I am awake in my dream,” or “I’m now aware.” The next step is to be ready for the transition or movement of your consciousness from your dream state to your nonphysical body. Be prepared for a rapid shift of your awareness. It’s possible that you will wake up in the vibrational state 46