Introducing our friend Clive, a member of this board who will oft pass on something for me to share with you all, I oblige, as I consider his explorations noteworthy and can add my two cents after his.
 Clive says:  I feel like I should pass on what I have learnt
 because it may be of some use to someone. If even it's just
 one person it would be worth posting.
So without further ado....this is a mixture of advice that
 has been sent to me or I have sent to others.
Spirit guides exist at a much higher vibration than the
 physical. So they either have to drop theirs or you have to
 raise yours. You stand a much better chance of raising yours
 than waiting for them to lower theirs and say hi (although
 that happened to me).  
Hemi-sync tapes are a good way to start that raising
 process, for me the most powerful experiences came in the first
 couple of listens. What ever happens for you hang in there
 and don’t pull out of the relaxation, go with the flow and
 see how far the rabbit hole goes. You can jump around the
 room AFTERWARDS, shouting “YES, I knew it”. 
The Gateway tapes (Focus 0-21) will get you so far. The
 Going Home tapes (Up to Focus 27) can take you further and
 there are Focus 35 CD’s around if you know who to ask 

Read Bruce's or Bob Monroe’s books before sleep. They put
 you in the right frame and mind and will increase your
 chances of success. 
For me there are two parts of the day where I will try
 contact, when I'm overly tired before bed and when I return to
 bed after a trip to the bathroom at 4am in the morning. The
 thing about these parts of the day is you are already
 halfway into that trance like state and your not even trying!
I have recently identified that the morning as being the
 best for me. This time of day thing is widely overlooked as
 if it can provide the beginner with a few minor experiences,
 it’s so motivating. It will keep you going for ages.
Especially useful if you have trouble relaxing or not
 enough time in the day etc…  
Ears, for me my ears go first. By that I mean while
 meditating or listening to a hemi-sync tape you could like Bruce
 Moen get a rushing sensation, like a fast/loud wind passing
 your ears. It’s quite disconcerting and can startle you out
 of what would be going to happen, which could be an O.B.E
 type experience.
The other thing with ears is that when or before you enter
 Bruce’s 3D blackness or some like to call “the void”, mine
 seem to stop working, like an artificial silence, this has
 started to be a cue for me to calm down and relax and go
 with it because something is about to happen.
While in a meditative state (focus 10), imagine a column of
 light coming out of the top of your head, crown chakra,
 (nearly always red in colour),and say over in your mind "I
 want to say hi to my spirit guides". 
This is the kicker tho, guides cannot and will not tell you
 what to do next, this is your life and you have to make
 the choices. So don't ask pointed questions about directions
 to take in the physical. Saying hello I thought was a good
 way to start! 
Be calm! I spent many a month hearing things, like a male
 voice saying “hi”, only to get so excited I pulled out of
 the trance state. It will take some practice, especially if
 you hear loud bangs or screams, LOL.
But it will be worth the effort as for me, I can say “It
 was a pivotal moment and totally fantastic”.
All my guides said (in a funny voice) was a very faint "Hi
 Clive, we are your spirit guides". I took advantage of the
 situation and asked cheekily “Is there anything you can do
 to make this easier for me to do?” 
But that as they say is a different story……..
So hang in there and keep trying. Don’t go to far and start
 to do 5 hemi-sync tapes a day sort of thing, I got the
 impression once while doing just that, we are here to live out
 our lives, not to spent a majority of it feverishly trying
 contacting the next. We will all get there soon enough!
I don't recommend this, but it can yield faster results. 
The trance or deep meditative state can be easier to
 achieve if you A) Starve yourself, like don't eat for a day or so
 and/or B) Deprive your body of sleep or mess up your sleep
 pattern deliberately. 
Hope this helps and that it’s of some use to someone!
Clive.