Such a question can only arise from not fully understanding the properties of the phenomenon and its nature. When one suddenly understands at a certain moment that he is just as real as he normally is, and is standing somewhere that is not in the physical world with his same hands and body, and can touch everything around him and discern fine details, such much emotion stirs up inside him that no questions arise at all. This is the most amazing experience that a person can attain!

The initial lucid dreaming encounter is always jolting and sometimes frightening. Depending on the individual, fear experienced during initial encounters with lucid dreaming occurs in about one-third of all cases. Even veteran practitioners encounter fear, which speaks to the profound nature of lucid dreaming state.

With time, as rapture ebbs and emotions wane, thoughts turn from the fact of the phenomenon itself towards how to somehow use it. And here, a fantastically diverse field of practical application opens up before the practitioner. These applications – which this book communicates – are not to be associated with the many unproven and dubious methods often described in sundry esoteric literature. The information presented herein is verifiable, practical, and attainable.

Whatever the nature of lucid dreaming – a state of mind, or perhaps an external experience – this is the sole opportunity to: visit any part of the world or universe; see people who are out-of-reach in real life, including relatives, the deceased, celebrities, and various creatures; communicate with the enormous resources of the subconscious mind and obtain information from it; realize desires that are unattainable in real life; model artistic productions; influence physiology, and more. These are not dull experiences. They are eminently personal and real.

To perform this technique, approach any person in lucid dreaming and ask him (or her) where to quickly find a desired object. An accurate answer is usually given straight away, and it should be followed. However, to avoid wasting time, do not forget to mention that the object must be found “quickly”, or specify that the object should be “nearby”. During this communication, under no circumstances should there be a doubt about the accuracy of the information, since otherwise it may lead to a simulation of what is expected.

The drawback of this technique is that it requires the presence of an animate person and good skill at communicating with objects in lucid dreaming, which can prove difficult.

Journeys Out of the Body (1971)

…This was a most unusual and vivid experience, and I don’t know if I want any more like it. I went to bed late, very tired, around two in the morning. The vibrations came in promptly without induction, and I decided to “do something” in spite of the need for rest. (Maybe this is rest.) After moving out easily, and visiting several places in quick sequence, and remembering the rest need, I attempted to get back to the physical. I thought of my body lying in bed, and almost immediately, I was lying in bed. But I quickly realized something was wrong. There was a boxlike contraption over my feet, evidently to hold the sheet off my legs. There were two people in the room, a man and a woman dressed in white whom I recognized as a nurse. They were talking softly a short distance from the bed.

My first thought was that something had gone wrong, that my wife had discovered me in some kind of coma and had rushed me to the hospital. The nurse, the sterile atmosphere of the room, and the bed all supported this. But something still didn’t feel right.

After a moment, the two stopped talking and the woman (nurse) turned and went out of the room, and the man approached the bed. I grew panicky because I didn’t know what he was going to do. I became more so as he bent over the bed and held gently but firmly onto each of my arms at the biceps, and looked at me with bulging, glistening eyes. Worst of all, I desperately tried to move, but could not. It was as if every muscle in my body were paralyzed. Inwardly, I writhed in panic, trying to get away as he brought his face down closer to me.

Then to my utter astonishment, he bent over further and kissed me on each cheek, and I actually felt his whiskers; the glistening in his eyes was tears. He then straightened up, released my arms, and walked slowly out of the room.

Through my terror, I knew that my wife had not taken me to the hospital, that this man was a stranger, that I was again in very much the wrong place. I had to do something, but all the will I could muster didn’t have any effect. Slowly, I became aware of a hissing in my head, much like a strong steam or air hiss. Through some dim knowing, I concentrated on the hiss and began to pulsate it, i.e., modulate it soft and loud. I made the pulsating go faster and faster in frequency, and in a few moments it had accelerated to a high-order vibration. I then tried to lift out and succeeded smoothly. Moments later, I was converging with another physical body.

This time, I was cautious. I felt the bed. I heard familiar sounds outside the room. The room was dark when I opened my eyes. I reached for the place where the light switch should be, and it was there. I turned on the light and sighed with great, great relief, I was back…

In the section on deepening and maintaining, it was noted that the more active a practitioner is while in lucid dreaming, the better. Conversely, if there is less activity, the quality of lucid dreaming declines, allowing for an easy exit. Thus, in order to leave lucid dreaming, the practitioner only needs to completely relax and ignore any perceived sensations, actions, or thoughts. A practitioner may also recite a prayer, mantra, or rhyme, since that helps the consciousness to be distracted from the situation more quickly. Of course, one needs to calm down and try to get rid of the fear, which in and of itself is capable of keeping such a state going. Periodically, the practitioner should try to move a finger in order to check whether attempts at relaxation have had an effect.

Let us begin with a totally shocking fact: during 50%(!) of successful indirect entries into lucid dreaming, it is not necessary to perform any specific lucid dreaming entry techniques, as separation techniques are immediately successful… This has been statistically proven at School of Out-of-Body Travel seminars and in the analyses of other sources. Conversely, an incorrect understanding of separation techniques may lead to undesirable consequences. It is possible for a practitioner to enter lucid dreaming state and be unable to separate from the body. Therefore, it is very important to understand how separation techniques work since they are often a key to success.

Interesting Fact!

Relatively often, a practitioner will try to employ separation techniques to no effect. However, he will later unexpectedly understand that he had been lying in a different position than he sensed that he was in, and in fact, it had only been necessary for him to stand up. This happens mostly among beginners and is indicative of an incorrect understanding of separation techniques.

At times a practitioner need only think about separation, and it happens. This is a rarity, which explains the existence of a whole series of auxiliary techniques. The most important separation techniques are rolling out, getting up, climbing out, and levitation.

Rolling out

While awakening, attempt to roll over to the edge of the bed or the wall without using any muscles. Don’t worry about falling out of bed, hitting the wall, or be concerned with the details of how this technique should feel. Just roll.

Getting up

Upon awakening, attempt to get out of bed without physical exertion. This should be performed in a way that is most comfortable for the practitioner.

Climbing out

While awakening, try to climb out of the body without using any muscles. This technique generally comes to mind when a partial separation has been achieved through the use of other techniques, or one part of the body has completely separated.

Levitation

Upon awakening, attempt to levitate upward, parallel to the bed. While attempting to levitate, do not wonder how it should be accomplished; everyone intuitively knows how to levitate from their experiences in dreams.

Falling out

Practically the same as levitation: upon awakening, try to sink down through the bed.

Pulling out

Here, upon awakening, try to exit the body through the head, as if escaping from a lidded cocoon.

Backwards roll

After awakening, try to perform a backwards somersault over the head without using any physical muscles.

Bulge the eyes

Upon awakening, bulge out or widen the eyes without opening them. Frontal movement toward separation may result.

Imagining Yourself Already Separated

You can imagine yourself already separated and inside your room, trying to feel your separated body as intensely as possible. Your sensations will gradually flow into your subtle body from your physical one, and become just as realistic.

Translocation

You can try to employ the translocation technique without first separating, which will lead to both translocation and separation occurring at once. Teleportation with eyes closed works best for this.

Flight

You can try to feel yourself flying at high speed.

Separation techniques are united by a singular idea: nothing should be imagined, movement should be attempted without the use of physical muscles. The techniques produce the same sensations of movement felt in real life. If nothing happens immediately after trying, then the technique is not going to work, though it may deliver results at a later time. A practitioner will instantly be able to recognize if the technique has worked. However, people are often unprepared for the realness of the sensations and think that they are making a physical movement instead of realizing that a part or all of the body has separated. After this unfortunate failure, careful analysis helps to understand what happened and plan for a successful retry.

If separation was incomplete or took place with some difficulty, this is a signal that the technique is being performed correctly, but that strength and aggressive effort are required from this point to achieve complete separation. For example, if some movement began and then stopped after having made some progress, then one should go back and move even harder once again in the same direction.

In order to practice separation techniques, lie down with the eyes closed and attempt all of them over the course of several minutes. A separation attempt has likely been accomplished if no muscles twitch or strain and a sensation of movement occurs. There will be a strong, almost physically palpable internal effort to perform a movement. Naturally, no physical movement actually occurs and the practitioner remains prone and immobile; however, at the right moment, these actions will lead to an easy entrance into lucid dreaming.

Interesting Fact!

Approximately 1% to 3% of the time that lucid dreaming is practiced, one realizes immediately upon awakening that one has already separated. This means that one may already go somewhere and stand, lie down, sit down, etc. This is not however becoming conscious in a dream, but an actual awakening.

It is also worth discussing how to conduct yourself upon separation if one of lucid dreaming creation techniques starts working. In such a situation, it’s important to realize that separation should be done with the same body and same sensations that were obtained when performing the technique. For example, when rotating, you need to stand up using the same sensations of rotating, and when observing images you need to separate using the same body that sees the images, etc.

Additionally, it’s important not to completely return back to the body if your lucid dreaming creation technique involves the sensation of partial separation from the body. For example – if rotation worked, then before trying to separate, there is no need to fully turn back into the body and merge with it. Separation would immediately become much more difficult. It’s better to do it on the fly after halting rotation in a position perpendicular to your physical body. The same temptation can arise during phantom wiggling, when separation should begin from the arm that began to move – i.e. do not move it back into the physical body. The same goes for all of the partial separation techniques.

If a novice has learned through practice what phantom wiggling is and how it feels, then he may proceed to separation like he would to phantom wiggling, but this time moving his entire body. That is, this is an attempt to move with the perceived (i.e. subtle) body; not a muscle is to be moved in the physical one.

The most important thing is to immediately realize that logically speaking, if indirect techniques have worked or awakening has just occurred, then the practitioner is already in lucid dreaming. All of his sensations are no longer coming from his physical body, although it may seem that they do. All that remains is to stand up, roll out, and levitate, as if doing so with the physical body.

Novices and the inexperienced often try to discover some tell-tale sign of separation, and expect to encounter it in practice. Actually, there are a whole variety of sensations that occur during this process. Those who do not know this often waste a large number of experiences when they encounter unexpected situations. That’s why it’s good to always be prepared for any eventuality and know the primary separation scenarios observed in 99% of all cases.

Types of lucid dreaming Entrances (Separations) Listed by Sensation:

– Ordinary movement

Here, separation usually seems like a completely ordinary movement, as if it were made with the physical body. The practitioner simply stands up, rolls out, or levitates as if he were doing so in reality.

– Separation

Actual direct separation of the subtle body from the physical one, as if the practitioner were actually exiting something. Despite the fact that this sensation gave its name to the entire process of entering lucid dreaming (“separation”), direct separation occurs quite rarely and the term is inaccurate in terms of sensation.

– Pulling

A feeling of a mass of gummy rubber stretching from every part of your subtle body and pulling it back into your physical one. Forcefully overcome that feeling of being pulled in, and it will dissipate.

– Sluggishness

The subtle body becomes quite heavy, as if it weighed several times more. The sluggishness will dissipate in proportion to the counteracting force applied.

– Awakening to Separation

The practitioner awakens or surfaces from a lapse in consciousness in an already separated state, and does not need to separate or use a lucid dream creation technique. Simply get up and go forth.

– Stuck Body Parts

Some parts of the subtle body can become stuck in a physical stencil during the process of separation. For example, this often occurs with the legs, trunk, head, and pelvis. In such situations you need to fully break free with all your might by changing the direction of your exertion.

– Being in Two Bodies at Once

A feeling arises of not really being in lucid dreaming and not really lying in bed, but of truly being in lucid dreaming and also truly lying in bed at the same time. You need to try to press on through with the situation, transferring all of your sensations into your lucid dreaming body, which will become the only one perceived.

– Spontaneous Full Separation (When Performing Techniques)

When performing any technique, you may spontaneously find yourself having already fully separated into your room or into any other place in lucid dreaming. There’s no need to return back into your physical body in order to “properly” separate.

– Being Pulled Out by Someone or Something

In this case, separation occurs not fully by one’s own will, but due to help from a lucid dream object. For example, someone starts pulling at your legs or lifting up your entire body. The important thing in this situation is not to relax, but to start moving on your own as soon as possible. Such a situation often occurs with so-called “"alien abductions”, which are actually spontaneous and unrecognized lucid dreaming experiences the majority of the time.

– Suction

When performing techniques like observing images or visualization, practitioners are often completely sucked in to the imagery being observed, with all the accompanying sensations. This imagery then becomes a full-fledged lucid dreaming space of its own. There’s no need to return back into your physical body in order to “properly” separate.

– Putting Your All into a Technique

When performing sensory-motor visualization and several other techniques, a convergence between separation and the technique itself occurs. This leads to there no longer being a need for separation in the traditional sense. For example, during sensory-motor visualization, the practitioner initially begins by actively imagining that he is walking about a room, but that imagined perception gradually morphs into the real sensation of actually being in the room. Meanwhile, when phantom wiggling it only remains to stand up from the body in which wiggling is felt, and so on. There’s no need to return back to the physical body in order to separate “properly”.

– Dream Consciousness

Becoming fully consciousness while dreaming with full cognizance of what is occurring is also a separate lucid dreaming entrance method, but one that does not involve direct or indirect techniques. There’s no need to return back to the body in order to separate “properly”, although many do so in order to obtain more vivid sensations.