did i go into alpha state?

[bmlyeryk]

i knolw it was a bad time doing this at 8am so everyone else was awake at this time making noises. i had to wear earplugs.

i attempted the silva method. i first tried to relax my body from foot to head. i sat upright in my bed against the wall & put my hands on my knees. i tried deep breathing (im not that great at it). it wasnt to hard to avoid thoughts either.
i saw phosphenes when closing eyes (obviously). i counted from 100 to 0 (not 100% focused on the numbers though..only about 98% of the time). then i remembered to roll my eyes back...i may have done it wrong since i turned up my head as well & my eyes were tense). there 2was music playing in my mind (i always have music playing in my mind)...am i not supposed to have music playing in my head?
after counting the numbers my hands tightened their grip on my knees (is that wrong?) so i wasnt feeling entirely relaxed i dont think....but my arms & hands felt less circulated & more attached to my knees. i struggled to much to maintain my eyes rolled back...should i have kept my head down & NOT tilted back?
then i started the first specific affirmation (just one affirmation at this point)...did i directly enter the subconscious? (after the 'session' i counted back to 100 not fully focused...& came back to my own self i think)............plus my head got a aching surge of blood coming up after unfolding my legs

did i do this right or did i do it wrong? did i speak to the subconscious or not?
what areas should i improve in.....this was my first time

[liverpool footballer]

One of the biggest problems most people have, and i had it too, is that we don't trust the process and seek to do everything perfectly the first time

An alpha state is characterized by physical and mental relaxation and there's no certain way to tell whether you have crossed to alpha or not...unless you have some biofeedback device to measure your brainwaves. So really, once you feel sufficiently mentally and physically relaxed (note, feel, not think. you cannot absolutely know definitively if you are in alpha or not), trust that you are in alpha

If you're unsure how "mentally or physically relaxed" you ought to be, feel how you are like just before you nod off, or just when you wake up. When you just wake up and drift off to sleep, your brainwaves are in alpha, so you can use that to compare with the state you are in.

There's no 100% way to tell if you're in alpha as far as i know, and for all my self-hypnosis sessions, i simply trust that i am in deep enough trance. Counting from 100 down to 0 with a 1 second pause between each number is probably more than enough to bring you in alpha if you focus and remain relaxed

Also, remember to tell yourself that you will enter alpha easier and quicker the next time you attempt to, when you're in alpha. Meaning, when you enter alpha (or think you're in it), after entering all your affirmations, add the affirmation that "everytime i enter alpha, i get into alpha easier and quicker the next time i try to do so".

[jeff3]

The real key is to keep it up, try to set a certain time each day and if possible use the same place,chair,bed, whatever. This conditions your mind to begin the shift as soon as these conditions are met, sorta like an NLP* anchor.

[Wax Frog]

I get weird sensations when I meditate, like having my sensation of my hands/arms 'fade out', or seeing waves of purple light, or feeling as if I'm 'moving around inside myself'. From what I've read on the subject, I'm sure I must be achieving some sort of altered state...

I'd suggest not worrying too much about assuming a special posture. I have often done my sessions lying flat on my back, and they work out just as well.

LF, about your sig line - when I first starting trying to apply IM techniques, I'd constantly remind myself not to put the cart before the horse. Some time later I realized my error, and revised the reminder: "There is no cart, there is no horse. There only IS."

[nightdiamond]

Hi bmlyeryk,

Everyone's posts are right about this.....

Feeling you have to do everything right when doing something the first few times is normal, so feeling you've made too many mistakes is also going to be normal. Usually it's the result of the mind overacting. Once you practice you will feel comfortable doing it and will feel free to do it in your own way and still feel you're doing it correctly.


Wondering if you can't move if something itches, if you're breathing the right way, or if you are in the alpha state, might actually push you out of a relaxed state, simply because of the slight stress those thoughts cause.

So a good way to approach this is for example, don't worry about them- don't be afraid to scratch yourself or move when you want, it won't affect your altered state. Think of the times when you were drifting off to sleep and you frequently turned over or moved and still drifted off to sleep rapidly.

The same would be for how you position yourself- make yourself as comfortable as you can if you like... practice different eye positions and use one that's comfortable for you....you are doing it correctly.... you're not doing it correctly when you're worrying too much if you're doing it correctly

The real progress comes from how much attention you put on visualizing and thought....

Here's one thing that really helped me with this... before you practice again, you can strettttch each part of your body for about 10 seconds each, from your feet up to your eyebrows. By the time you start, that should make your physical body feel very relaxed and limp-like...

Take care and good luck...