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xx Preface
relaxation sessions for my efforts. A powerful
dream I had one summer in college led me
to explore lucid dream-induced OBEs, but I
was discouraged by this method's hit-and-miss
results and how often dream elements imposed
themselves on the experience. Since then I have
explored dozens of books and recordings
promising an out-of-body experience, yet I'd
only advanced a few steps toward a true understanding
of larger realities.
After all this, I achieved noticeable results
the first time I tried the techniques in Robert
Bruce's book about out-of-body experiences,
Astral Dynamics. The aspect I loved most about
the program was that, from the beginning, I
received daily validation that there is something
to astral travel. I learned very quickly that
one does not need to have a full-blown out-ofbody
experience to develop a profound understanding
that we are spiritual beings inhabiting
physical bodies.
When I finished Astral Dynamics I immediately
organized a comprehensive, progressive
program that I could more easily learn
and implement. I e-mailed what I'd done to
Robert Bruce and, with suggestions from him
and his friends, I created an electronic version
of the program, which was an amalgamation
of a day planner, journal, and Astral Dynamics
reference manual. Robert posted the program
on his website, which allowed me to receive
even more feedback. Before long, Robert and I
recognized that a guidebook was evolving,
something that might help many other people
experience the out-of-body state. This book is
the result.
This book is the guide I wish I had had when
my interest in out-of-body exploration started
all those years ago. The amazing journey that
awaits you is something you must experience to
understand. I promise, if you follow the blueprint
laid out in these pages, you will know a
great deal more about yourself than when you
started—but like any great journey, it all begins
with that first step.
BRIAN MERCER
without the memory of an OBE after the fact,
it might as well not have happened. Everything
that helps students retain their precious
OBE memories must be recognized and used.
An unavoidable side effect of this program
is that it can cause the development of psychic
abilities. This is understandable, as learning to
induce an OBE requires training that can be
applied to any other metaphysical pursuit.
Our program contains extensive energy body
stimulation work and, combined with deep
relaxation, mind taming, and induced altered
states of consciousness, dormant psychic abilities
will begin to manifest.
I wish you the very best luck as you begin
our ninety-day training program. Astral projection
might seem a giant leap for you now,
but taken one step at a time it is not nearly as
daunting as it appears. I suppose this is a bit
like eating an elephant. If one looks at a whole
elephant, the task of eating it all seems preposterous.
But once the elephant has been
reduced to frozen TV-dinner-sized portions,
such a task would seem far more achievable.
One might be eating elephant for a very long
time, but success will always be in sight at the
bottom of one's proverbial freezer.
ROBERT BRUCE
It can be easy when going about mundane,
everyday tasks like working, eating lunch, and
driving to the store to be lulled into thinking
that the world we can see and touch is the only
thing there is. On this planet of exponentially
evolving science and technology, the notion
of having a soul—of life after death—seems
Preface xix
almost anachronistic. Healthy skepticism is a
good thing; it is essential. Yet occasionally
something very personal happens to make us
ask questions. Is there more to my existence
than I can readily observe? What happens to
people when their bodies are used up? Is there
a greater purpose for my being here?
We can have complete faith in our belief
system, whether that is science or atheism or
some form of religion or spirituality, yet in the
end they are only beliefs. What do we really
know? In the absence of the known, we are left
with its poor cousins assumption and conjecture.
We can say what we don't know, perhaps,
but for want of tangible answers we are only
left to ponder.
Even when we read about competent,
respected people having out-of-body or neardeath
experiences, it can still seem a little
implausible. If we accept these accounts, in
the final analysis, it is still just a belief. With
something like this, you can't really know
until you've experienced it yourself, and that's
what this book is all about.
This is the moment to lay beliefs aside and
to do—to find out for yourself who you truly
are and what this reality is all about. This is
the time to not just read about it, not just hear
people talk about it, but know it and do it. I
am talking about the survival of the soul. Are
we more than these fragile, fleshy shells?
The exercises and techniques in this book
work. I've always been interested in astral travel,
and since high school have tried dozens of
methods for fueling an out-of-body experience.
At first I experimented with hypnosis recordings,
but received little more than pleasant
What you hold before you is a hands-on, stepby-
step manual for learning how to have an
out-of-body experience (OBE). It provides a
systematic approach for astral projecting out
of your body in a fully awake state.
The exercises in this program are largely
based on the New Energy Ways (NEW) system
of raising and stimulating personal energy.
This method uses body awareness movements
for conscious and direct manipulation of one's
energy body. The NEW system is easy to
understand and learn; anyone can do it.
The CD that accompanies this book is a
supplementary aid for this training manual. It
contains a PC program called the BrainWave
Generator. The BrainWave Generator is an
advanced artificial aid for inducing deep physical
relaxation, stimulating altered states of
consciousness, and creating the perfect state
for inducing an OBE. Using it is not essential
for this program's success, but is an added
extra.
The version of the BrainWave Generator
included on this CD includes twenty-five custom
presets designed especially for this ninetyday
program. You will be introduced to at least
one new preset per week, including seven presets
specially developed for astral projection.
We designed this ninety-day program so
that it was:
• specific and easy to understand;
• comprehensive and goal-oriented;
• flexible and easy to apply;
• fear-eliminating through small, gradual
steps;
• progressive with measurable results.
Introduction
In short, our program makes the OBE more
accessible to those uninitiated in the process.
This book represents our continued efforts to
hone an ideal astral projection program, one
that will help newcomers understand the keyelements
of the process while avoiding common
pitfalls. The idea is that for ninety days
you will commit to spending a set amount of
spare time applying this program. We supply
the tools and you supply the enthusiasm and
stick-to-itiveness.
Achieving a conscious-exit out-of-body
experience is not as complicated as it may
seem at the outset. It is primarily about focusing
your thoughts, harnessing your will, and
overcoming your fears. It is also about learning
to relax your body to new levels, honing
your ability to remain awake and lucid as your
physical body falls asleep, and balancing all
this to achieve the desired result. Perhaps most
importandy, it is about cultivating your ability
to remember altered-state experiences. OBE
memories are just as elusive as dream memories.
Because of this, it does not matter how
quickly you learn to have an OBE or how
often you have one. If you do not remember
it, it is as if you never had it.
Learning to project out of body is also
about courage and mastering one's natural
fear of the unknown. It is one thing when
OBE is just theory, something you read and
talk about and would like to try. But it can be
altogether different when you start experiencing
what can be rather intense OBE exit symptoms
and find yourself suddenly slipping out
of your body. All at once OBE is not just theory.
Early experiences can be quite intimidat
ing if you are not completely prepared and
know what to expect. It takes courage to go
that final distance, but the rewards of facing
and overcoming your fears can scarcely be put
into words.
Learning conscious-exit astral projection
takes persistence. Like learning a sport or playing
a new instrument, it takes time to master the
fundamentals before you are good enough to
perform well. Some people manage to project
during their very first effort. For others it takes
more perseverance. Sometimes ultimate success
requires dogged, long-term determination.
In this course we will be primarily focusing
on the skills necessary for having an out-ofbody
experience, with less emphasis on theory
(unless it is necessary for understanding and
applying the daily exercises). There are a number
of fine books on the market that attempt
to explain the complexities of OBE theory.
Because there is so much ground to cover, this
program focuses on training students to
achieve the actual OBE exit.
We have included a recommended reading
list for astral projection in appendix A. We
suggest you read at least one of these books
while you are following this ninety-day program,
especially one containing case histories.
In addition to helping you better understand
OBEs, it is important to saturate your brain
with the subject matter. This helps program all
levels of your mind and body toward achieving
an out-of-body experience.
What you read prior to falling asleep affects
the theme and content of your dreams. For
example, read a horror novel and you may
have bad dreams; read about romance and
you may have romantic dreams; read about
OBEs and you may have OBE flying dreams.
All dreams aside, presleep reading can generate
out-of-body experiences because you have
OBE on your mind, consciously or subconsciously,
while you are falling asleep.
Everyone has some type of out-of-body
experience whenever they sleep, even if the
projected double just slips out and hovers,
mimicking the sleeping physical body. If the
dream mind is infused with thoughts and tales
of OBEs, waking consciousness will sometimes
return to the projected double. You may
find yourself waking up already outside your
physical body or having a false awakening. (A
false awakening is where you believe you are
awake in the real world but are actually having
an OBE.) For these reasons, it is advisable to
read about OBEs during this program, especially
before sleeping.
A word about skipping ahead and prematurely
trying some of the later exercises in this
program: don't! If you have read other books
on OBE, particularly Robert Bruce's Astral
Dynamics, you will already have been exposed
to some of the exercises and techniques contained
herein. But there is definitely an effective
order in which this program should be
followed. Early attempts at advanced exercises
before mastering the basics may create mental
blocks that can grossly interfere with the ultimate
purpose of this program. Brian discovered
this firsthand in the following experience.
I had for some time been trying to have
an OBE, using a mishmash of techniques,
Preliminary Instructions for the Ninety-Day Program
when I first stumbled across Robert's
book, Astral Dynamics. I skipped ahead
and read some of the more advanced
exercises on my lunch hour and couldn't
wait to experiment. As soon as I returned
home, I lay down and tried an OBE exit
technique without even relaxing properly.
I immediately felt my body turn to
liquid as huge waves of my energy ran up
and down from my head to my feet and
past the borders of my physical body. I
suddenly found myself instinctively holding
on, trying with all my power not to
project. I had tried the exercises too soon;
I simply wasn't ready. In all the collective
years that I'd been experimenting with
different processes, I'd never experienced
anything so powerful so fast. The effect of
this failed experiment and its resulting
trauma was that I developed a gut-level
response to abort the projection process
once it started. It took me years to undo
that simple, five-minute experiment.
There is a lot to this program. It has been
designed to be consumed in small bites so as
not to overwhelm students with too much
information at one time. For best results,
focus all your efforts on each week's material
and exercises. This is not to say you cannot
peek ahead to see what is coming, but only
that you should avoid getting too involved in
what's ahead. Please do not let your enthusiasm
go to waste, however. Pick up something
in the reading list from appendix A and
immerse yourself.
Introduction
How the Ninety-Day
Program Develops
This program is divided into thirteen chapters
called Weeks; one new chapter of material
should be read per week. The first half of each
week's chapter contains information necessary
for completing that week's exercises. This
includes special instructions, background information,
diagrams, and relevant tips. Each week's
chapter also includes directions for using the
BrainWave Generator, the computer program
on the CD that accompanies this book.
The BrainWave Generator is a computer
program that generates sounds to induce altered
states of consciousness. Use of the BrainWave
Generator is optional; it is definitely not required
for this program to be effective. However, it can
help enormously. When used with headphones,
the BrainWave Generator is capable of helping
users relax, meditate, and induce altered states
of consciousness ideal for having an OBE.
When used with light and sound machines,
which add light goggles into the mix, the BrainWave
Generator becomes an even more powerful
OBE aid. For more details on the BrainWave
Generator, see appendix B.
The second part of each week's chapter
consists of a day planner-style calendar that
includes the following:
• Daily tasks: A list of OBE programrelated
activities divided into morning,
daytime, and evening "to do's."
• Affirmations: Short, present-tense, positive
statements help program you for
OBE success. Daily affirmations are used
during waking hours. Nightly affirma
tions are used as you drift off to sleep.
• Daily exercises: Step-by-step instructions
on how to complete each day's
exercises (mind taming, breathwork,
energy work, OBE exit methods).
• Author comments: Advice from both
expert and novice perspectives.
• Journaling space: A place to write down
your progress, make observations, and
catalogue your OBE-related experiences.
The ninety-day program itself is divided
into two distinct parts. Part 1 (Weeks 1-6)
focuses on learning core skills associated with
the OBE. Primarily it's about learning to relax,
how to breathe, and how to keep your mind
clear of intruding thoughts. It's also about
developing your energy body, which greatly
aids the OBE exit process. Key, too, is training
your ability to recapture what we call shadow
memories, those dreamlike OBE memories
that you bring back with you from your astral
travels.
Part 2 (Weeks 7-13) focuses on OBE exit
training. During this part of the program we
will introduce you to a number of proven
techniques for achieving an OBE. We also
introduce ways of overcoming key fears and
how to adjust your mindset for best results.
More importantly, we give advice for setting
up conditions that are most favorable for
having an OBE, discuss common roadblocks,
and offer solutions. We also provide some
advanced projection-inducing techniques for
the OBE challenged.
The idea is that you will be spending the
next ninety days eating, sleeping, and breathing
this training program. You might have
noticed that the title of this course refers to a
"90-Day Guide," whereas there are ninety-one
days (thirteen weeks) listed in this book's daily
pages. You should consider this course flexible.
Do not feel constrained by its weekly schedule.
If you need to take longer for a given day's
exercises, you can always take more time. The
weekly format and the task schedule are guidelines
only. It can be reworked to accommodate
your needs. You can extend the 91 days into
100 days or 110 days or 120 days. The important
thing is not to feel rushed so you learn
everything well. However, the reverse does not
apply. You should not take less time than the
prescribed ninety days unless you already have
the prerequisite basic skills.
What to Expect in Part 1
Part 1 of this book focuses on basic training—
teaching the core skills necessary to achieve
conscious-exit projection. Each day there will
be an exercise or a series of exercises that will
take you through one or more of the core
skills. The steps for an entire technique are not
always given all at once. For example, on Day 1
you will learn the first few steps of a deep
physical relaxation routine. On Tuesday you'll
learn the next few steps, and so on, until by
the end of the week you are well-versed in the
entire routine. This lets you get comfortable
with each part of an exercise before moving
on to the next part. It also allows you to memorize
a few small steps each day, rather than
trying to digest the whole thing in one sitting.
Preliminary Instructions for the Ninety-Day Program
The first six weeks of the program will cover
the following core skills:
Breathing: An ancient way to increase
the flow of subtle energy and vitality
through the body is by using breathing
techniques. The breathing exercises
employed herein have been designed
to start simply and continue in small,
incremental steps. If the core OBE
skills were a tree, the breath would be
the trunk from which the branches of
all other skills grew. Deep physical
relaxation, clearing the mind, energy
body stimulation, and the trance state
are all intimately associated with the
proper flow of breath and energy.
Deep physical relaxation: Deep physical
relaxation involves more than just sitting
back and willing your body to relax. The
method given herein involves contracting
and relaxing specific muscle groups
to progressively relax your whole physical
body. Without deep physical relaxation,
all the core skills that follow are
useless. In order to project you must be
deeply relaxed, physically and mentally.
Shadow memory recall: This is key to
having a successful OBE. You will need
to be able to "download" your OBE
memories in order to recall and realize
them. The ability to remember your
dreams is the first step toward remembering
your out-of-body experiences.
We give techniques to help you remember
dreams and to capture the shadow
memories from your projectable double
Introduction
so they are successfully transferred
to recallable levels of your physical
brain/mind after an OBE.
Energy body stimulation: Some of the
most profound exercises for discovering
that you are more than just physical
matter are the revolutionary methods
for stimulating your energy body that
are given herein. Throughout one's life,
due to a variety of factors, one accumulates
energy blockages. The energy techniques
provided here allow you to heal
these and increase your flow of personal
energy.
Quieting the mind: Where your attention
goes, so, too, does your energy. The ability
to clear your mind of internal dialogue
and maintain a calm perspective
is critical to astral projection in order to
remain composed and in control during
and after an OBE exit. For the average
person, stilling the mind can be quite a
challenge, but the techniques provided
here are introduced in easy, progressive
steps. Anyone can learn how to do this
with a little regular practice.
Primary energy center stimulation: Primary
energy centers (also called chakras)
can be thought of as gateways between
the physical body, the energy body, and
the projected double in the OBE state.
The main purpose of energy body stimulation
exercises is to prepare you for the
higher flow of energy that both allows
and accompanies the OBE exit. The purpose
of stimulating the primary centers
is to open the floodgates through which
that higher level of energy can flow.
The trance state: Trance states are altered
states of consciousness. The basic trance
state occurs when your physical body
goes to sleep while your mind remains
awake and lucid. There are varying
degrees of sleep, with corresponding
levels of trance. Deep physical relaxation
and the ability to hold your mind awake
and clear are prerequisites for entering
trance states.
Energy body loosening: There are ways
to stimulate your energy body that prepares
it for projection. Energy body
loosening is one of the final steps in
preparation for employing OBE exit
techniques.
By the end of the first six weeks of this program
you will be reasonably comfortable with
these fundamental skills. Along the way you
will no doubt come to understand a great deal
more about your nature as a spirit inhabiting
a physical body. Do not think of Part 1 as
being just a set of tasks required for having an
OBE. Learning these core skills is a journey in
itself that opens doors to just about everything
metaphysical and spiritual.
What follows are the results of my first night of energy work.
I've had sporadic instances of involuntary projection throughout my life. I've tried
gaining control of it for many years hut nothing has ever worked.
I've always thought that energy work for astral projection was a waste of time. It was
annoying to he hogged down with silly "New Age" energy rituals, when all I wanted to do
was project.
Then I read Robert Bruce's tutorial. Maybe there is something to this! This was the
first time I'd ever read anything that spelled out the mechanics behind this type of energy
work, why it's needed, and what it does at a core level. Posts on Robert's online forum further
reinforced the validity of doing the energy work. Over and over I was running across
postings from people who were getting very measurable results.
I went to bed thinking that this would never happen to me and started doing energy
work. For a few minutes I felt an ache in my heart center. I kept "circling" there between
passes up the legs and down the arms and in a few minutes it stopped. Then I felt a lot of
activity and itching in my brow center, then something like electricity going through that
area, as if the blood vessels had been shut off, then suddenly opened.
After that I must have woken up thirty times during the course of four hours of sleep.
Every time I woke up it was like another memory was being restored, and each time I was
still on autopilot, doing the energy exercise. By now I can't remember what I was remembering
specifically, but I do remember that every memory that surfaced served to connect
me to something else I had long forgotten. One by one I kept remembering connections to
things, people, places, experiences. Life became a lot bigger than I ever thought it was.
What to Expect
• Setting up your meditation space
• Learning to relax
• Breathwork
• Body awareness exercises
This book emphasizes goal-oriented action
rather than just sitting and reading about
OBEs. Just enough information is given at the
start of each week to guide you through the
coming week's activities, building on what has
come before.
This week we'll show you how to organize
a place for your daily energy work and teach
you a deep physical relaxation and breathing
technique. We'll also give instructions for this
week's energy work, setting up a dream journal,
and using affirmations. Finally, for those
using the optional BrainWave Generator to
• Energy body stimulation
• Your dream journal
• Affirmations
• Optional: BrainWave Generator instructions
supplement your OBE program, we'll offer
instructions for the current week's preset.
Now that you have read all the instructions
in the introduction, let's waste no time getting
started.
Setting up Your Meditation Space
First on the list is to select a suitable place to
practice energy work, meditation, and other
OBE-related training exercises.
There are several desirable qualities for an
ideal meditation space. It should be quiet and
10 Week 1
allow you to practice undisturbed. Lighting is
also important. There will be exercises requiring
full lighting and those requiring low lighting
or darkness. A room with a curtained window
or a variable illumination lamp will suffice.
Headphones or earplugs are ways to eliminate
sound, but you also don't want to be
unexpectedly disturbed by others. People in
busy households may need to innovate to create
suitably private spaces. One aspiring projector
partitioned a large walk-in closet and
turned half into a small private area. Another
rigged a makeshift tent in her bedroom. Others
have found useful areas in attics, basements,
and garages. Think creatively.
Depending on its size, your private space
should have a bed, cot, or easy chair or some
place where you can lie down comfortably. A
hard-backed kitchen or desk chair will also be
required for some exercises. Your space should
be big enough to accommodate this chair,
with the option of placing it against a wall for
exercises that require head support. Ideally,
your space should be somewhere you feel
comfortable and safe.
Try to avoid using the room in which you
normally sleep. If you must use your bedroom,
it is best not to use your bed for the daily exercises.
We are all conditioned to start falling
asleep when we get into our own beds. The
purpose of the exercises in this program is to
learn how to achieve a deep level of relaxation
without falling asleep. If you must use your
bedroom, find a comfortable place on the floor
where you can do your exercises using a folding
bed, small mattress, or a combination of
pillows and blankets. An easy chair, deck chair,
or beanbag chair are other good options.
Another handy item is an illuminated clock,
preferably analog with a second hand. Many of
the coming exercises need to be timed, so a
clock that's easily visible from your practice
position will help. A countdown timer, such as
those used for baking, can be used to supplement
the clock. You can set and forget this, so
you won't have to keep looking at the time to
see when an exercise is over.
The atmosphere of your meditation space
is also important. It should feel comfortable,
safe, and friendly. Atmospheres are affected by
decor, as well as by how a place smells and
feels. Burning incense and essential oils is one
of the most efficient ways of changing an
atmosphere and giving it a spiritual quality.
For the purposes of this program, it will help
if you select a particular incense or essential
oil that you do not normally use elsewhere.
Use this during every training session. This
will set the mood and help program your
body/mind to respond to your daily exercises
more quickly than you otherwise would. In
time, tension will begin oozing out of you the
moment you smell your special OBE training
scent.
Your daily exercises don't all have to be
done in the same location. Some techniques
will be practiced numerous times during the
day wherever you happen to be. These mainly
consist of reciting affirmations, doing short
concentration and mind-clearing exercises,
energy work, and so on. Put daily travel and
waiting time to good use for these.
Learning to Relax
One of the first tasks is to learn how to make
yourself so comfortable that your mind and
body will almost disassociate. We say almost
because a slight body/mind connection is crucial
for straddling that fuzzy edge between
sleeping and waking. Deep physical relaxation
is the foundation upon which everything else
in this program will rest. If you do not thoroughly
learn this essential skill, you could
waste a lot of time and effort making projection
attempts with little chance of success.
This program contains an excellent routine
that, once learned, will progressively take you
to the deeper levels of relaxation that are
required to induce trance and an OBE.
Deep physical relaxation is the one OBE
preparation skill that is most commonly overlooked
or poorly done. Being relaxed enough to
fall asleep does not mean that you have a sufficient
level of relaxation to induce an OBE. Even
though you may feel deeply relaxed, your body
can still possess significant levels of physical
tension. For example, you can still fall asleep
while you are tense or in pain. Physical tension
can prevent you from projecting, even if all the
other skills required for having an OBE have
been mastered.
The purpose of this first week's relaxation
practice is to learn the steps of the routine.
Staying awake and lucid in a state of deep
physical relaxation takes practice. With this in
mind, try to avoid doing the relaxation exercises
when you are overly tired. Falling asleep
during this routine will condition you to fall
asleep every time you perform it, in much the
Flexing Your Astral Muscles 11
same way as you habitually start falling asleep
when you go to bed.
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