I remember in one of his books, Carlos Casteneda was taught by his nagual teacher Don Juan Matus to think of seeing his hands while in a dream, then he could make it a lucid dream and do what he wanted in it.

   When I was a member of Eckankar, I learned that you have to shed your etheric and astral bodies before you can reach the Soul plane. Once you reach the soul plane then out of body travel is no longer necessary. You travel as yourself, or soul (atma).

   This is how we should be to reach the God worlds.

I'll tell you where all the explorers are:  on the Astral Dynamics and Astral Pulse forums!  Those forums are swarming with explorers: verterans,  rookies, and everyone in between.  Granted, those forums have far more members, but it seems they also have a much higher percentage of members actually exploring and posting their experiences.

I see that several members on this site also post on those other sites, and I see why.  There is too much speculation without experience here; on the AD and AP forums there is a higher percentage of theory based on or backed by personal experience.  As I recall, there have been members from these other forums who come here and are immediately turned off by the know-it-all and intolerant attitudes of several members here; on the other forums it seems that posts are more experience-oriented and therefore more helpful and knowledgeable.

I must admit, however, that certain members here definitely know what they are talking about, and this forum seems to have a more personal touch, perhaps do to its smaller population. 

Perhaps it is good to note that this forum might serve different purposes than one devoted more exclusively to 'exploring'. Many types of searchers find their way to this forum, grieving all kinds of personal losses, fighting suicidal feelings, confused over religious issues, etc. etc. We have grievers and dreamers and singers and debaters. Just a grab-bag of possibilities here, and not always focused on the nitty-gritty details of exploring.

But that is not to say that more explorers would be unappreciated. What becomes confusing for some people is that the types of exploring can be so numerous. OBE, F27, etc. etc. are terms which don't always have meaning unless someone is actively searching for that meaning. There are overlaps and disagreements in understanding of terms, just to start off.

So, perhaps we are fortunate that we achieve any exchange of a meaningful nature. I think if a person is sincerely practicing opening up, they will find a suitable location to learn what is needed. Sometimes a more 'challenging' learning environment is just right for some purposes.

For me, a huge benefit to this forum is that the activity is heavy enough to remain lively over time, but light enough to be followed fairly closely, without a huge investment in personal time. This allows me to notice interactions which I might have missed on a larger or differently focused forum. But I can easily see that improvements could be made, anytime, by anyone who would like to contribute.