F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

The Monroe Institute

Floating

by

Luna Float Spa (Image by Luna Float Spa)
Luna Float Spa (Image by Luna Float Spa)

“…oh, yes, they float, Georgie…they float….”

“…conducting the most dangerous experiments in the history of science…and the subject of those experiments…is himself….”

These are two thoughts that immediately came to mind (actually the second quote didn’t so much come to mind as the movie did; I was just picking a sample quote for this post…) when I undertook this little experience last Saturday (January 30th). The first quote was from Stephen King’s It, and the second from Altered States.

My Luna Dreamwave Pod. The Lights Change. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)
My Luna Dreamwave Pod. The Lights Change. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)

Well, thankfully and suffice it to say, nothing near so horrific or disfiguring occurred in my experience at Luna Float Spa, which opened in 2015.

I’d been wanting to do something like this for the longest time—ever since the movie Altered States and my research into my novel, Psychic. I’ve always been fascinated by the metaphysical  and this was an area I’d never ventured into: isolation tanks and sensory deprivation.

Now called “floating.”

In its simplest description, it’s about turning off all the lights, sticking ear plugs in your ears, and floating around in as near a zero-G environment as possible. This is to “deprive” your senses of physical existence and allow you to focus inwardly. To the less metaphysically inclined it’s to better relax the racing mind and body.

Now, there are various trains of thought into what happens when you do this, I’m not gonna entertain them all, but I am going to tell you it is one of the most pleasant experiences ever! Whether or not you’re into the metaphysical aspects of “floating,” the physical effects are undeniably incredible. The physical and mental relaxation you get is above and beyond what most can get in our every day lives. You are floating in ten inches of water infused with 800 – 1,000 pounds of Epsom salts, and many have actually reported falling asleep! I did not. You also might think there might be an element of claustrophobia associated with being “clam-shelled” into a small tank like this. I’m not prone to claustrophobia, but I felt nothing of the kind, but have read/heard that those who might be so inclined don’t seem to report that while using these pods.

I had been looking for a way to do this for over 20 years and it was either part of another package that cost a thousand or more, or the equipment had broken down (then the spa itself had shut down). I forgot about it, then Mandy, a friend of mine who also proofreads/copyedits my fiction tried it, told me about her experience with it, and that lit a fire under my ass to again look into it. To my surprise, where I had previously found none locally—I now found several!

My interest really started with Robert Monroe. Bob Monroe created The Monroe Institute (TMI), in Virginia. I’d heard of Bob a lifetime ago, with his book, Journeys Out Of The Body. Years later, while researching Psychic, I learned of TMI (curious use of the initials, yes?). I’d always wanted to attend TMI’s programs, but their rates were always just a bit out of my reach. I have, however, used various at-home programs from them—which I also recommend (but don’t get hooked on them…keep reading).

Life moved on.

The Luna Dreamwave Pod. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)
The Luna Dreamwave Pod. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)

Admittedly, I was hoping for some kind of earth-shattering experience, given my experience with the “weird” and the metaphysical in my life (see Related Articles, below), and while that didn’t happen, I did have some really cool sensations happen that I’ve detailed below. Essentially, my floating experience was like any good meditative experience I’ve ever had, so it wasn’t like the Altered States or Pennywise-the-clown’s versions. It was totally cool floating around in a near half-ton of salt water and experiencing “zero-G” moments with as much of physical reality “shut off” as possible.

And the pods are just cool looking! They reminded me of 2001: a Space Odyssey, thought they don’t look anything like the Discovery One’s EVA pods, but that’s where my mind went anyway (“Open the pod bay doors, Hal…”). Yes, I’m “troubled.”

When you arrive at Luna Float Spa, you get a tour of the place, are shown to your room (which included a rubber ducky-on-a-shelf!), asked to choose your après float tea, then are given “the briefing”: put in the ear plugs first (silicone or regular foam—I used silicone and they worked great, though a day or so later I did get swimmer’s ear), shower, dry off your head and face real good, since the Epsom salts can get in your face and eyes if you enter still wet, then enter the pod (you are recommended to do this naked, since clothing can spoil the sensory deprivation experience as you feel your clothing—but you can wear swim wear if you want to; I went naked). You can leave the cool colored lights on or turn them off (I turned mine off)…and take the rubber-ducky-on-a-shelf in with you if you want (I didn’t). Just prior to entering the pods, make sure you flip off the room’s light switch (I forgot to do this and had to get out to hit the lights; otherwise it does not get totally dark inside the pod). Inside the pod you have a fresh water spray bottle and hand towel. Use this if Epsom salts get in your face (like it did when I got up to turn off the room lights). Find a position for your arms and hands…and enjoy (I put my hands and arms above my head, but they eventually lowered to head level). Afterward, you take another shower to get all the salts off your body.

So, here is the list of effects I’d experienced while in the Luna Float Dreampods:

  1. My right side seemed to twitch more than my left, specifically my right leg and right hand.
  2. About halfway through, my entire body went through an incredible tingling, from head to toe…it was quite wild and “electric” and lasted for several moments before dissipating. I’ve experienced tingling before, but never at this level.
  3. My right leg and right arm/hand got that “expanded” feeling I typically get from good meditative sessions at home.
  4. I saw lots of patterns and shapes behind my eyelids—also what I’m used to. These were mainly a dull yellow in color, with some speckling of a bright, laser-like blue in there.
  5. Shapes: I had one “notional” male face drift by, as in it was not a “picture” of a face, but an amorphous shape forming into the shape of a face…a bearded face; lip-shaped forms (dull yellow). Then there was this…one of the most interesting things: eyes. Lots and lots of eyes. Small ones…in groups and alone…not like one big, huge one. Think of a “bowl full of eyes” then remove the bowl…and that’s what I was seeing. This lasted for quite some time…drifting in and out…came back once or twice. Quite interesting. Don’t recall anything like this in my meditative sessions before.
  6. “The Shift”: this was another curious thing, though I’ve felt similar before: I felt a curious “shift” in myself two or three times. Hard to describe…but it’s like a dull—really dull—singular internal earthquake of the body. More like an “electrical” shake or a mild “jolt.” Where the body “internally” shudders, but not physically. It was a palpable change…but I didn’t feel superhuman or anything…still don’t. I’ve felt this sensation before in meditation. I’d always just called it an “internal shift.” It’s very subtle.
  7. Respiration: this was perhaps the weirdest thing—and this I’d never before experienced—was a massive change in my respiration…or what I perceived to be a change in my respiration? This happened about three times, and the first time it actually jarred me…almost scaring me, to be honest: my breathing seemed to have stopped…but what had actually occurred was that it became quite elongated and drawn out. I’d breathe out…and didn’t feel any burning  need to breathe back in in any hurry. Nope. Not one bit: in fact—joking to myself—I was observing that I was floating there and not breathing and wondered if I’d died! It was totally weird and the first time I’d ever experienced something like this, so it really shocked me the first time it happened. This must be what Yogis experience when they slow their respiration. When it happened again and again, I just went with it…and it was totally cool. But, I don’t really know if my internal time had totally warped and I was experiencing elongated time and my [relaxed] respiration rate hadn’t really changed…or if I had truly lengthened out my breathing patterns…but for those couple of times, whatever was happening…it was wild….
  8. When I was done an hour later, my body “didn’t feel normal”—but in an extremely relaxed, good way! Moving around was slightly “difficult” and “alien,” is about the only way to put it. Another totally cool sensation. I then “messed around” in the water…trying to enjoy the feeling of weightlessness while in a sensory deprived environment, versus the trying to remain calm and still as I had for the bulk of the session. It was a fun feeling, reminiscent of scuba diving…but with a metaphysical aspect to it….

These are my experiences. Yours will surely be different from mine…but it could be similar.

My Luna Float Spa Room. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)
My Luna Float Spa Room. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)

In addition to the pod experience, at Luna Float Spa you can also utilize other aspects of the spa, like a gnarly massage chair or sauna. They have a couple of packages, but I just used the massage chair (which came with the pod float experience)…and this thing has a freakin’ living, breathing, life of its own.

I used the shiatsu massage Inada Dreamwave chair after the pod experience, but I’d recommend using it prior to it. This chair…it has 100 air cells, while your typical, commercially available chairs have 30 – 40 cells, Ana-Alycia tells me. And it has 106 body types programmed into it. Anyway, it’s simply amazing. It’s like six different people working on you at once. And I kid about the “life of its own” part, but as it works away on you, you can hear the air cells sighing upon exhaling (inflating and deflating—see, I still refer to it as if it is ALIVE…) and the material creaking and scrunching all around you as it works you.

Yeah, it’s alive.

My Luna Shower. Shower Before and After. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)
My Luna Shower. Shower Before and After. (Image by F. P. Dorchak, January 30, 2016)

After all this, I got to sit down with Morgan, one of the owners (the other owner is Ana-Alycia, Morgan’s wife). When you’re done, you get to sit in the waiting room and sip tea and reflect. I was originally going to pick this raspberry mix, but flipped the tea-card over and saw a curious mango-mix so chose that. But when it came time to have it, Morgan apologized and said that they were out of it, but he hoped I wouldn’t mind the raspberry one—

Cue Twilight Zone music!

So Morgan and I talked for some 15-20 minutes about our experiences in things-metaphysical, while watching a cool HDTV of the ocean and all its colorful creatures!

I recommend that once you experience “floating” that you write down all you experienced, however trivial they might sound to you. Give those feelings and experiences life. Solidity. Bring them out of just remaining in your head. And don’t dismiss and minimize them, because if you do, you’ll roadblock any further metaphysical development that can occur. I’m not saying floating will unlock anything in you…everyone’s different and everyone should remain open…and your beliefs will come into play…but at a minimum, your relaxation experience will be incredible. You don’t have to understand all that happens to you…just acknowledge whatever does and be open to possibilities, whether prosaic or metaphysical. Change usually comes in small increments. Subtle events. For example…let’s say that after you do this you walk into a convenience story and hold the door open for a couple…and you get the unassailable feeling that you know one of the couple…have seen them before…there’s absolutely no doubting this, so much so you almost call out to them….

The Living, Breathing Inada Dreamwave Massage Chair! (Image by Luna Float Spa)
The Living, Breathing Inada Dreamwave Massage Chair! (Image by Luna Float Spa)

But another part of you also knows that, nooo…you’ve actually never met before—in this life.

Just acknowledge that feeling…smile…and continue on your way. Don’t ignore it as “crazy think”….

Some report better sleeping the night after, and others cool, calming, and relaxing effects…calming peace of mind, etc. Personally, I noticed nothing different about myself, but I do meditate off and on and already am a “happy” and optimistic person. If I got any more so, I’d be a helluva a lot more annoying to those around me. Or myself.

Morgan and Ana-Alycia also give a discount to veterans. That was a pleasant surprise I hadn’t expected. It just came up in conversation. They are both gracious and outgoing hosts!

And one more thing: if used for metaphysical development, these kinds of things shouldn’t be used as a “crutch” in that development…but as an aid to gaining more understanding, confidence, and getting used to exploring our inner selves on our own—though a definite case can be made just for the physical rehabilitative effects! In my research for these places, I’ve read that football players—and even Air Force Academy cadets—are using it. If more people used things like this, I’m sure there’d be less violence in the world…so maybe our future world leaders will go into their careers with a slightly better, more open point-of-view about life, the universe, and everything else….

So, if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend the “float” experience—and Luna Float Spa!

The Luna Float Spa Ducky!
The Luna Float Spa Ducky!

Contact information:

Website: www.lunafloatspa.com/

Phone: 719/309-6776

E-mail: Contact@LunaFloatSpa.com

Luna Float Spa First Blog Post

Address:

Luna Float Spa
202 E. Cheyenne Mtn. Blvd., Suite R,
Colorado Springs, CO 80906

Hours: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Mountain Time

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lunafloatspa

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lunafloatspa

Related Articles

The Monroe Institute (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)

Meditation (fpdorchakrealitycheck.wordpress.com)

Five Reasons To Float In A Sensory Deprivation Tank (harpersbazaar.com)

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The Man With No Name

by

Well-Heeled Magic. (By Julien Bertrand (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
Well-Heeled Magic. (By Julien Bertrand (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
The Man With No Name.

Magic Man.

He who sports work boots and flannel.

Mows his lawn at night.

This is a character I’ve written about in two of my novels, Sleepwalkers and Psychic, and a short story, “Tail Gunner.” The Man With No Name (aka “MWNN”) is a character I had the idea for way back. He makes himself known through…well, interesting means, which I don’t exactly want to give away. I have at least one more novel planned for his appearance. It would be in line with the previous two mentioned books. And even then he won’t be finished with by any stretch. My intent was to have him pop up in various pieces of fiction—short stories and novels. A crossover character. I like that idea and it’s quite in keeping with what he does. When I wrote “Tail Gunner” it was cool how he seamlessly incorporated himself into the story (he was the carnival’s Ticket Taker). He got his second name, “Magic Man” when I’d been driving to work one morning and passed by this van with “Magic Man” on its side. It just fit.

Talking about “Tail Gunner”…it still affects me on a creepy level.

Shiver.

Chicken skin.

Every time I go to the gym and walk by that now-hurtful-decible-levels-screaming-music-for-Zumba/whatever room where I first met my tail gunner, I look to that overhead fan. Yesterday (as I originally wrote this post, May 14th) that fan was spinning in an empty room (it isn’t usually spinning in an empty room). My tail gunner must’ve known I was gonna write about this.

Anyway, back to the MWNN. He is perhaps the coolest character I’ve ever written. He gets around…knows stuff…is kinda Forrest Gumpish in a certain way (think “JFK”). And he hearkens back to some of my earliest writing (my fifth manuscript of the 12 in whole or in part in my novel-length repertoire; only five are/will-be published, counting my current WIP). Back to when I was hot and heavy into the dream of getting published. The “halcyon days,” if the term be used. I was literally in the middle of creating all these new manuscripts, one right after the other. I’d finish one…then uninterruptedly start the next one. It was a wildly creative part of my life and I loved it! Now, I’m going over previously created material and publishing the better of them. There is at least one other trunk-manuscript I’d love to rework and publish, my second manuscript, Village Idiot. We’ll see….

But, I digress.

As the MWNN is sometimes wont to do!

So, who is this man with no name?

Though his origins are detailed in Psychic, he’s very much a part of me…or I’m a part of him? He embodies a lot of how I like to think of my perfect self: wears flannel, jeans, and boots. Does what he wants, when he wants…by slightly funky means. Helps others out. Filters out the bullshit. Did I mention he wears flannel? Sometimes a trickster. Always has a sense of humor.

He explores places most people aren’t interested in going…or are afraid to.

He’s bad-ass enough without resorting to weaponry, martial arts, or whammy shots.

And I love that he mows his lawn and weeds his garden at night.

Drinks iced tea. Loves his iced tea.

He is…the best part of me.

Related Articles

 

Released: Psychic—The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory!

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© Psychic (F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design, coming mid-2014)
© Psychic (F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design, coming mid-2014)

A hotline psychic.

Ghost children.

A lost teenager.

JFK.

A man-in-black.

Remote viewers.

A Man With No Name.

The 1990s.

After 20 years, it’s finally making it out into the world!

Psychic.

I started with the idea and began taking notes and research and all that back in 1994. I started actually writing the book in earnest, in 2000. And now—in 2014—Psychic is finally released! My longest (published) work so far, at 328 pages. It has been a long, hard road, and (I must say) I’m quite happy with the result…looking forward to how it will be received!

Psychic is now available at both the  CreateSpace eStore and Amazon.com. It will be available at the following outlets in the following timeframes:

  • Amazon.com: 3-5 Business Days (already available!)
  • Amazon Europe: 3-5 Business Days
  • Expanded Distribution channels: 6-8 Weeks

I’ve talked about this a little before (I’m sure, in some other post besides this one, but can’t seem to find it…), but Psychic was not an “easy” book. No, not at all. Nearly all of my manuscript first drafts were “easy” in that I just wrote them out—without an outline—I’d just sit down, put my fingers to the keyboard, and out came the story. I like to say I “vomit out” first drafts (ask me about my “fish” story—I love to tell it!). First drafts have taken me about a month or less, but it would be in the next several years where I’d work and rework the heck out of those manuscripts. None of them was any trouble, though…it was just the necessary mechanics of putting in the time, the research, the effort.

Psychic was different.

To be honest, it was a slog. Even as I wrote the very first words, the first draft, it was like running through water…or (more like) a swamp. I can’t explain it. It was the first manuscript that took any real effort on my part. And the antagonist, Victor NMI Black…he actually scared me. Whether or not it was the actual character or the idea of such an evil man like him possibly existing out there (physically or nonphysically…). I remember taking a walk one day, in the brilliant Colorado daylight, thinking about this guy…how nasty and “evil” he was…and actually got nervous…felt…uneasy—even while chiding myself in broad daylight that he was just a frigging character in a novel I had created, and I had control over him….

But did I…really?

The very idea of this guy scared me. He was flat-out mean. It surprised me that feeling of momentary fear I felt during that walk. To the story, well, that will remain to be seen from its readers if I did the proper job of transferring that image into the novel,  but, to me, on a nonphysical, conceptual level, this character was extremely distasteful and scary.

It was like the idea of him was far too real.

Anyway, it’s not so much that I had “problems” with the story, the work, or anything “about” it, it’s just that it had a totally different energy about it. The novel involves messing around with the nonphysical in the physical. About fucking around with our sense of what’s real and what’s not. Our ability to utilize abilities that might well be considered out of our moral range. Not to mention such considerations, like, can facts change? If I really wanted to get all weird about it—all conspiracy theory on your asses—it was almost as if there really was some weird psychic conspiracy trying to keep this novel from coming out…actively and continually interdicting and meaconing me away from my efforts….

But I don’t really believe that.

Not now.

<checking outside my office…the rest of the house…all locks are locked—it is oh-dark-thirty right now….>

Sure, such considerations and stories make for great promotional copy, but the reality of it is that each book is different. Each book has its own energy, and given the nature of the story, what I experienced was and is totally in keeping with the nature of the story’s energy. The whole absolute weirdness of it all. In fact, while working on the formatting of the manuscript for upload, my formatter, Pam Headrick (of A Thirsty Mind), sent me a strange e-mail: “Wow, Frank, what did you do?” She mentioned that there were all kinds of “odd anchors” and “strange text placement,” to which I replied I’d forgotten how I’d actually had problems with the file months ago (after a system upgrade) and had to save the file in a slightly different format to get it to work. How the system kept hanging and saves took, like, 15 minutes!

Find your happy place…find your happy place….

Psychic is “an extension” of Sleepwalkers. I could call it a series, but I don’t know that that would be quite right. Sleepwalkers is quite a different book than Psychic. Sleepwalkers is a pleasant metaphysical road trip, funny, philosophical, even a bit Richard Bach-ish, while Psychic is a nasty trip on the wild side of psychic activity. More dense. I’d use the term “complicated” but am finding that term overused and trite. And the only character common to both novels is the Man With No Name. Granted, perhaps less has been made of calling a collection of books “a series,” but I just prefer to think of them as “related.” Maybe I’m just resistant to the whole “series thing,” given how trad publishing is glutting the market with them, I don’t know (and I’m really resistant to being told what to do—real or implied). So…

I’ll bill Psychic as the ultimate conspiracy theory, and leave it as that.

It’s an alternate reality not only to Sleepwalkers (and deals with the Man With No Name’s origins) but to our “known” reality. Deals with the dark side of life we may never really know about…what goes on in the shadows of our so-called truths….

It’s about obfuscation.

The evil men can do.

Perceptions.

Probabilities.

Metaphysics.

Have you ever felt a different version of you (the “you,” here and now, not in some other reincarnational existence) did something else? Behaved differently? Maybe even died earlier than the you reading this, now?

What do we really know about our reality? Our facts? How aware are we of what we think we know? How much of what we hear and read are true—or were true at some point?

Do we notice when things…change?

Or do we dismiss the seeming inconsistencies in our lives and immediately discount them, because they don’t make sense with everything else we think we know and see in our lives? What we think is a solid “fact”? Hey, I put my ring right there—where the hell is it?

Psychic says, don’t discount this stuff. Do not ignore. Pay attention. The devil is in the details. Do you absolutely remember something that is different from what everyone around you is remembering? I’m telling you, no, you may not be crazy.

Pay attention.

One might well ask: so what? What does it all mean and why should I care? Can we actually do anything about any of this? Can we effect any real change in a world that seems to be running amok?

The easy answer to that is that I’m an eternal optimist. I’ve plugged away at this novel for 14 years of my life, 20, in one way or the other. I always believe we can effect good and positive change in the world…and I believe once you’re made aware of “things,” made aware that, yes, facts really can change—that each and every one of us can change them—it opens up a new, exciting world for all of us. And…

What do you believe?

Will Psychic change the way you believe? How you perceive the world? Your life? That’s up to each reader. Life is all about beliefs.

What we believe drives how we behave.

In the end, Psychic is “just” a novel. It’s fiction. Victor Black…fictional. Yes, there are lots of facts in there, even a few facts from my own life. Weirdness, like the ring scene (yes, that really did happen, as did another similar experience, “The Grape“). And the “rototiller” and “Woomera” scenes. Facts, as you’ll see, aren’t always what they appear to be…if they ever were.

I do have a bunch of people to thank in getting Psychic released, and they’re all on my Acknowledgement page in the book, but I have to spotlight a couple of them: lots of thanks to Karen Duvall, of Duvall Design for the cover, to Pam Headrick, of A Thirsty Mind Book Design, for formatting the files…and to Joyce Combs and Mandy Pratt for copyediting and proofreading! With all the back and forth I’ve done, initially setting the novel in milieus, like 2005, then updating it for the likes of (man…the years, they pass by oh-so-quickly…) 2007, 2010, 2012, and even 2014…I finally settled upon 1994. Adding and removing all the details  for each of those years was time consuming, to say the least, and it was here that Mandy did a great job keeping me on track and proofing my work!

I am currently only doing a trade paperback book. I find that e-books really aren’t selling all that great (for me), so am putting off creating those for later. So, don’t despair, at some point in the future, I’ll do the e-book version.

Where do I go from here?

I do still have some unreleased work in the various dark places within which I keep things like these, and will be revisiting yet another one. This one will be #7 in my list. Yeah, the “unnamed” one. We’ll see how that one goes and whether or not it will get released. After that one, I may get back to work on the one I started in 2011 (#11), but that’s so far into the future and who knows what the “facts” will be by that time…where I will be in my probable and alternate realities…but I do have a ton of work to keep me busy for a number of years, and would even love to compile a collection of my short stories….

With any of my work, feel free to pass on any of the graphics from my blog posts, tweets, Pinterest, et cetera (though I ask that you render proper attribution). If you need a book or a speaker at your local library, book club, or writer’s group, either in person or via phone/Skype, please, feel free to contact me, at fpdorchak “at” fpdorchak dot com (or leave a comment in a blog post). Post reviews at your favorite websites (if you’d like a book for a book review, please contact me at the above email). Need to fill a blog post? Interview me! Direct me to a library and I’ll send them some free copies. If you come up with any ideas, again, contact me at the above e-mail address. If you’d like a signed copy, send it to the following address: F. P. Dorchak, P. O. Box 49393, Colorado Springs, CO 80949. Take my books to work or the gym and flaunt their covers! Tweet and blog about them! Any way you can all help out to get the word out is hugely appreciated! Mention me to radio shows. Local writer conferences. Reader groups. Send my social media links.

As always, thank you for all your support! I can’t thank you all enough! Publishing is a team effort, and I always manage to find a great team—but part of that team is also the readers! I love what I’m doing and all the support I’m getting from all of you!

And again…pay attention to the details of your lives…let nothing escape your notice, however “insignificant” those details may appear.

What does it all mean?

I think that’s up to each of us to figure out.

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Psychic Cover "Flat" (© F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design, 2014)
Psychic Cover “Flat” (© F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design, 2014)

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The Monroe Institute

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We Are More Than Our Bodies. By Luigi Schiavonetti (†1810).Tvwatch at de.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons.
We Are More Than Our Bodies. By Luigi Schiavonetti (†1810).Tvwatch at de.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons.
I learned about The Monroe Institute (TMI) long ago, and am not sure if it was through Jane Roberts and Rob Butts’ exploration into the nature of consciousness or from Robert Monroe’s original book, Journeys Out of the Body, published in 1971. But as I read about the world of remote viewing, I discovered that it had also been part of the remote viewing world. TMI is situated near Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, and is, according to their website, “...a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to enhancing the uses and understanding of human consciousness.” They claim no religious, philosophical, nor spiritual affiliations. Further, they state: “We ask only that you consider the possibility that you are more than your physical body.”

TMI is about exploring human consciousness. It’s about expanding what we think we know about consciousness, life, and death. Anyone who can afford the time away and fee for attendances can go and learn how to tune into the inner world, through various programs and the incorporation of cutting edge audio technical wizardry (e.g., Hemi-Sync, Spatial Angle Modulation). I’ve purchased some of the home-use material, over the years, and have loved what I’ve used. Really cool stuff. I’ve been meditating off and on since kidhood, and have read metaphysical works since same, so none of this was new to me, but I loved how Mr. Monroe, like Jane and Rob, had brought the inner world out into the mainstream. There will always be people out there to dismiss and stomp on anything, no matter the “proof” that exists, and one person’s proof is another’s myth, but I learn from experience. What I learn may not be what you learn…but there is certainly much to be learned from TMI’s (and others’) experiences.

We all have our paths to follow.

So…as my fiction writer’s mind went to work (back in the late 90’s and early 2000s) and I considered probabilities, alternate realities, JFK, psychic “mechanics,” and my next writing project, I thought, man, I’d love to write something about remote viewing and this TMI stuff. Psychic is the result of those musings. Psychic is not Sleepwalkers, but the two are related. Psychic is darker, grittier. In my novel, I created “The Center,” which is a mash-up of TMI and Fort Meade, where the government’s remote viewing projects were located. The Center is a might darker than TMI. TMI is nothing like my novel. I’ve never been to TMI. I like what it’s about, and hope for more of that kind of research to flourish and make itself known. So much good can come from that kind of exploration, spread across the globe without the guise or filters of “religious, philosophical, nor spiritual affiliations.” In my humblest of opinions, we need more non-denominational explorations into the nature of consciousness. People can and will apply that knowledge through their various personal filters, and that is as it should be, but we need to know the lowest common denominators of what it is consciousness is all about. What we make of it, how we employ that knowledge is up to us.

But, hey, let’s make the world a better place with it.

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Psychic Cover Reveal!

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© Psychic (F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design, 2014)
© Psychic (F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design, 2014)

Here is the front cover to my new novel, Psychic.

I decided to do the cover early, this time. I’m still polishing the manuscript, which, I think, still has a couple of months to go. But I’ve had such a hard time visualizing what I wanted for the cover since the very beginning of this manuscript’s creation…and, with the help of Karen Duvall, of Duvall Design, we came up with a great image, huh? I really love it.

Psychic is about a humble and angst-ridden hotline psychic who gets embroiled within a remote viewer government conspiracy, headed up by one shady, evil, Victor NMI Black. It’s an action/adventure that shows the origin of The Man With No Name (MWNN), a character from Sleepwalkers, and interlaces an alternate history storyline with John F. Kennedy. The story takes place in 1994, where JFK is 77 years old. The date is also significant, since the official remote viewer organization the government had used (in our present-day reality) was officially disbanded that year. I use a present day organization, The Monroe Institute and morph it into an alternate location, called the JFK Center, where my story’s remote viewer activities take place. The story is heavy on probabilities…the different roads that actions and people can take…or not. I play around with time…time travel…paradoxes…how scary, nefarious people can come into other people’s lives and simply take them over. How much of what you read in the news is real…or fashioned. Can “facts”…change? This is an intricate story…a gritty story (much grittier than Sleepwalkers…but it is part of the Sleepwalkers “universe”; I expect at least one more novel to come out of this universe)…and gets into the “backgrounds” of our lives and how things may—or may not—come into being in our everyday lives, however nasty those things may be….

Check out my Psychic Pinterest board for images related to this novel!

Many, many thanks go to my “cover girl,” Karen Duvall, of Duvall Design. And I hope you’ll all join me when Psychic is unleashed upon the world, and enjoy what I’m billing as the ultimate conspiracy!

Feel free to freely use the cover graphic in any (legal and tasteful) ways possible, just properly attribute ownership!

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Meditation

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Levitating, Meditating, Flute-playing Gnu
Levitating, Meditating, Flute-playing Gnu (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been meditating most of my life, off and on.

Frankly, it’s hard to do something everyday, when you’re also supposed to be doing something else every day, too. Life just gets busy. And that’s okay, you know, because that’s what living life is all about. Living. Doing things. But, recently I’d hit some rough spots and thought I’d better get back into my regimen. It was then (synchronicity) that I had actually seen a TV commercial advertising OmHarmonics on Lumosity.com. So, I checked them out. Downloaded their introductory meditation music.

Over the years, I’ve found different ways to meditate, everything from the tried and true “om” repetition, listening to your breathing, blanking your mind, et cetera. But also years ago, I’d discovered The Monroe Institute. I’d used their products for a while (they used to send free tapes of different meditation sessions, which was cool), and really liked them; would really love to do their in-person intensives. But after a while, things got busy and I fell away from them. I also believe after a while one should not need to use crutches to meditate, i.e., not have to use tapes to meditate, once you got the hang of things…but it is also fun to try different things, and I do love all the tones (I love pure sound, the pure sounds of pure tones ear docs use on you) used in their Hemi-Sync programs, so it was always fun to use them; but, eventually, I broke away. I still have some of the CDs I’d bought and recently tried them again, and they’re still great. There are so many benefits to mediation, and it’s so easy to do. The hardest part is sitting still. Being still. Being “in the moment.” But when I can do that, and do it right, I’ve had everything from feelings of mental and physical expansiveness to an actual out-of-body experience that did not last long, when I snapped back into me. It was weird, cool, and I wish I could recapture that. I’ve also done what I call “active meditation,” where I’m moving and meditating—usually it had been while working out on a cardio machine where you don’t have to worry about banging into things with your eyes closed. But, you can also do it with your eyes opened.

But, the important thing is to do it.

Yeah, along with everything else you’re doing, I know.

So, either OmHarmonics or TMI are good places to start, but I have to warn that you will get a lot of e-mails from OmHarmonics. It’s not a bad thing if you’re into that, but I’m not, so had to unsubscribe. They have great offers, lots of free stuff, links to others of the same vein, even check up on you, but I just can’t support the volume of “awsomeness” they keep asking of me.

So, give it a go, and enjoy the unplugged downtime. It might take a few weeks, it might be more immediate, but, eventually, you should feel much better about yourself, and life, in general.