journeying

[soakedinmoonwater]

hi all,
i'm new to the forum, been lurking for a while and decided it was time to start participating i'm very taken with the idea of shamanic journeys and after much reading and much preparation, i think i've finally done it.
this happens for me the easiest in the early morning once ive already awoken from my regular sleep. as suggested by the book "Seeing in the Dark", when i intend to journey i state my intention as such, usually around 3 times... something like "i intend to travel to the upper realm to meet with spirit guides and to obtain information that will be of use in my waking life" , and i usually put myself in my "special place", typically in the middle of a completely still ocean at night with a full moon shining on the water and clear beautiful stars (this has always been my special place and i recently learned that this image is a symbol for the goddess isis) , and sometime i am in a pond or lagoon and sometimes the aurora borealis is shining, either way, doesnt matter, just depends on my mood. So that is my "soft" place to clear my mind of the egos relentless chatter and allow myself to leave my body. This morning i did this and i was definitely taken somewhere.
i could feel vibration and a pulling sensation like my head was trying to leave my skull, i also heard my mothers voice at this time, and later i was just somewhere quite serene but i could feel the presence of others all around me. i was reminded of my reading and i decided to feel totally and completely and take note of these sensations, some parts were frightening because i knew i wasnt in my body, and i knew i wasnt in some simple dream. i was somewhere else after this i believe i explored the landscape a little, i saw an earth like location but it was no where i'd ever been before, it was so beautiful and the colors so vivid and i had a wonderful sense of exploration.
i'm just curious from those who may be more experienced, is this a proper journey? are there any tips or tricks to honing this skill? does anyone else do this? i'd love to hear some other experiences. like i said i'm new to the board and i'm not sure how to search to see if there is a thread already concerning this, if there is, could someone direct me there?

[soakedinmoonwater]

also, after i woke up today i went to the bathroom and when i turned off the light i got this visual hallucination like a bioluminescent jelly fish (haha just the most accurate way to describe it) and if i turned the light on and off again the same thing would happen, it stayed for like an hour... not that i continued turning lights on and off for that time lol... what could this be?

[Traumwandlerin]

This could have been a proper journey, sounds quite real to me

For me it was always exploring the landscape first before any spirit guides show up or anything really weird happens. After I obtained my first spirit guide of course I travelled nowhere alone, but in every new area I just explore first.

My sensations are normally that my eyes roll into the head and I'm falling backwards and feel quite dizzy, then vibrations or likewise.

But you shouldn't be scared at all, since it's only dangerous, when you are scared (But I guess there are people who would disagree). That's why I first explored a place where I feel totally safe and then get to know my spirit guide until I felt totally safe with him and would trust him with my life without any fear and only then traveled further.

But actually I've never read anything about shamanistic practice, I just happened to find a path for me, which resembles very much some shamanistic traditions. For example I never travel up or down or outside, I only travel inside of myself since the whole worlds lie in myself, too. And what's in myself can't hurt me.

You can read some of my journeys in my blog linked beneath. It's about regaining my soulparts I lost due to traumatization.