Embodiment · “Being Precedes Having”
Indirect Technique
Enter ‘the phase’ (Raduga’s neutral term for the lucid-dream/OBE state) by immediately, without moving, cycling through several separation and sensory techniques the instant you wake.
Wake naturally (ideally after a WBTB window) and don’t move. Immediately try to separate (roll/float out). If nothing in ~5s, cycle techniques 3–5s each — phantom wiggling, watching images, listening in, rotation — until one comes alive. Amplify it, then attempt separation again.
What it is
Michael Raduga’s flagship method exploits the first seconds after waking. Instead of one technique, you cycle rapidly through several — trying each for a few seconds and immediately switching if nothing happens — until one “catches” and you can separate into the phase.
He calls it indirect because you don’t try to enter the state from full wakefulness; you piggyback on a natural awakening when the brain is still REM-primed. Raduga strips away “astral”/esoteric language and frames everything as a practical, repeatable state (“the phase”).
The Method
A. Set up (the night before / WBTB). Intend to wake naturally and stay motionless. The indirect technique works within ~5 minutes of waking from sleep of any length, provided you’ve barely moved. B. On awakening — do NOT move, don’t open eyes, don’t think about the day. Immediately:
- Attempt separation first (one quick try): try to roll out, get up, float up, or climb — without using physical muscles. If you separate in 3–5 seconds, you’re in. If not:
- Cycle the techniques. Pick 3–4 and rotate, ~3–5 seconds each, until one produces a strong effect, e.g.: - Phantom wiggling — try to move a body part (hand, foot) that isn’t physically moving. - Observing imagery — watch the blank visual field for hypnagogic images to form and intensify. - Listening in — strain to hear/amplify internal sounds (buzzing, roaring). - Imagined rotation — feel yourself spinning around your axis. - Phantom rope/swimming — feel yourself pulling on a rope or swimming.
- When one technique “comes alive” (the phantom limb moves freely, images become vivid, sound roars), stay with it and amplify it, then attempt separation again — roll, climb, or stand out of the body. C. If nothing works in ~a minute, stop, relax, and either try again on the next awakening or drift back to sleep with the intention to retry.
Source & Lineage
Michael Raduga founded the School of Out-of-Body Travel and the Phase Research Center. He set out the indirect technique and the cycling-of-techniques approach in his School of Out-of-Body Travel guidebook and The Phase (2015).
His distinctive contribution is deliberate de-mystification — treating OBE/lucidity as a trainable neurological state and optimising the protocol empirically (he reports high beginner success when the WBTB + cycling protocol is followed exactly).
Common refinements
Moving or opening eyes on waking — even small movement collapses the window.
- Sticking with one technique too long — the whole point is to rotate fast.
- Thinking/analysing (“am I doing it right?”) — kills the half-asleep state.
- Skipping WBTB — indirect techniques depend on a fresh awakening from REM.
- Giving up after one failed morning — Raduga stresses many attempts; success rates climb with practice and dream recall.