Robert Monroe - Journeys out of the body, Practical Guidebook

Taking medicines

The placebo effect is much stronger in the phase than in reality since all actions occur in a highly modified state of consciousness and are perceived directly. Object locating techniques may be used to find medications used to treat existing problems. It is also possible to create self-made substances to produce the desirable effect. For example, in case of an acute headache in reality, a practitioner may take a painkiller while in the phase and its effect will be partially felt in the wakeful state.

Direct Effect

An illness or problem may be directly affected by actions in the phase. For example, a sore throat may be warmed by envisioning a burning sensation in the throat or by moving to a hot location, like a sauna. If a practitioner would like to increase physical flexibility, then stretching in the phase will cause the body to adjust to the nonexistent action by relaxing and tensing the corresponding tendons and muscles.

Programming

This is nothing more than normal autosuggestion or auto-training in the phase, which is more potent in the phase than reality. A practitioner should repeat a desired goal silently or aloud and, if possible, should imagine experiencing the desired result. For example, if the aim is to get rid of depression, a practitioner should attempt to recreate a happy mood in the phase, experiencing it to the fullest extent possible. Simultaneously, silent repetition of a goal with complete understanding and expectation that everything will be alright, that everything is wonderful will undoubtedly produce the desired effect.

Useful experiences

Everything with useful properties in reality should be experienced as useful in the phase since the body will react in practically the same manner. Useful experiences may include exercising, going to the gym, having a massage, taking mud or salt baths, and experiencing pleasant emotions.

Psychology

Practicing phase-related techniques favorably affects the psychology because it offers new opportunities and evokes new emotions. However, there are specific applications of the phase that produce differing psychological effects. For example, it is possible to use the phase space as a bridge for dealing with phobias by facilitating a setting where a practitioner may confront and deal with certain fears. Various complexes may be defeated in a similar manner. The use of a well-known technique called re-visiting (recapitulation), where a person re-experiences adverse events while trying to relate to them in a new way, has been used successfully in the phase.

Training

Any motor skills can be sharpened by using it in reality and in the phase because the algorithm of rapid physical action is generated at the level of interaction between areas of the brain that correspond to muscle action. In the phase, wrestlers may practice throws, karate fighters may practice punches and kicks, and gymnasts may practice acrobatics. Having enough time to practice these actions in the phase is another matter.

UNPROVEN EFFECTS

People often approach the practice of various phase states with deep-rooted misconceptions about what can actually be achieved through practice. Everything listed in this section refers to these misconceptions. It has not been proven that any of these things is impossible; however, actions should be based on proven and verified methods in order to avoid making mistakes and wasting time.

Physical exit: If the first experience with the phase phenomenon happens by accident, it is almost impossible not to interpret it as a real separation of the soul from the body – a physical exit. This is how the initial phase experience really feels. With experience it becomes easily noticeable that certain things in reality do not match things in the phase, like the placement of objects or furniture in the house where a phase is first encountered.

No actual physical exit from the body has ever been proven through scientific experimentation and observation. For example, in the phase, it is not possible to fly around to locations in physical world, although it may seem so, the locations that are experienced are produced within the mind. Nor is it possible to pinch someone in the phase and then to find a bruise on the person while in reality.

Other worlds: The phase space is similar to the physical world, and a practitioner may be inclined to think that the soul has left the body. Sometimes the phase takes on an absolutely unnatural form. As a result, the practitioner may decide that a parallel world has been entered: the world beyond, the astral plane, mental space, or the ether. Although travel in the phase can lead to many places, this does not mean that the phase allows travel through or use of actual, alternate worlds. The practitioner should be reasonable.

Development of super-abilities: It is partially correct to consider the practice of the phase as an extrasensory ability since it is an actual development of extremely unusual skills that have always been considered mystical. Times have changed, and the phase should hardly be shuttled off to the esoteric, obscure corners of knowledge.

There exists an unproven theory that the practice of the phase can impart unusual abilities. While literature is full of references to this effect, these abilities have not yet been proven by anyone. The same applies to intentionally developing unusual abilities in the phase. Yes, these may be trained while in the phase, but this does not mean that training in the phase will yield the same results in the real world.

Practice should not be for the sake of achieving super-abilities since there are many proven applications that do translate to reality in valuable ways. Be realistic.

USE OF THE PHASE BY THE DISABLED

While practicing the phase may still be viewed by the majority as entertainment or an element of self-development at best, phase practice takes on a whole new meaning for the physically disabled.

For them, the phase may be the only place where the handicaps of reality dissolve and disabled practitioners experience a range of possibility greater than the life experienced in reality.

A blind person will see again in the phase, even more clearly than seeing people do in reality. Someone who is paralyzed will be able walk, run, and also fly. A deaf person will hear the murmur of streams and the chirping of birds. For the disabled, the phase practice is a chance to discover new, incomparable worlds free of physical limitation.

Naturally, there are some nuances that must be understood. First, for example, if a person was born blind, then there is the question as to whether or not they would be able to see in the phase the same way ordinary people see. However, this issue has not been fully studied, and blind people should simply carry out their own independent research. Second, some types of disabilities can negatively affect the practice of the phase states. For example, people who have gone blind have greater difficultly catching the intermediate state between sleep and wakefulness since, unlike seeing people, they may awaken without opening their eyes to the perception of sound. Third, a purely psychological disability plays an enormous negative role.

Psychologically disabled people have a whole range of specific beliefs and attitudes that may present an obstacle for them.

Whatever the individual issues, this particular area of phase applications requires additional study. It deserves significant attention because it is a valid tool for the rehabilitation of the disabled. It is workable, unique, and extremely surprising in terms of the experiences that it offers.

TYPICAL MISTAKES