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Question about switching


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We tried switching, and I wanna ask, is this right?

 

1. I still can feel everything that's happening, except Joe is the Main voice and POV (at least I think he is. I was able to think of other stuff while he was doing something else entirely, but only for a short time)

2. By the time we got home and I'm in control, Joe needed to rest for a while

 

I just want to make sure we got it right

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Possibly, the end result of switching is that the host is basically equivalent to a tulpa, for the duration. Though until you're very experienced with switching, the host will have a much easier time associating with the front and the tulpa may get tired after some time (and, most likely, won't be able to stay switched after sleeping).

 

But with enough practice (how much? At least a few weeks, maybe even months of consistent practice) anyone in our system for example can stay switched 24/7 for as long as we want, and we've done so for as many as 2 months straight! But, that's just our preference, we distribute our time based on who wants it or sometimes who's best suited to deal with something. You guys don't have to switch so often by any means, but it does get easier the more you do it

Hi guys, plain text is just me now! We've each got our own accounts: me, Tewi, Flandre, and Lucilyn. We're Luminesce's tulpas.

Here's our "Ask Thread", and here's our Progress Report (You should be able to see all of our accounts on the second page if you want)

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In my opinion that sounds more like full-body possession than switching.

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It was a little vague to say for sure. "I can still feel everything that's happening" could be confused for simply being aware of it, though more likely implies not being fully dissociated.

 

Aside from a successful switch entailing the host basically being a tulpa for the duration, on the tulpa's side, they should be the one thinking in the "place" the host normally does. That's not so easy to describe in words, but basically the host is pushed to the side (presumably - they're just "wherever" the tulpa usually is) and the tulpa is front and center.

 

While getting tired quickly will be normal, even from the first successful switch it should be pretty clear to the tulpa that they're experiencing being in the host's position for the first time. There is still room for blending issues of course, though, which would likely be an unsureness of who is actually the one fronting/thinking. While it's awesome if you can avoid that entirely, I think experiencing it does mean you're on the right track to learning switching. Possession can still lead to blending, but is far less related and natural to occur.

 

(For people who do possession and have blending issues - you're probably doing the kind of possession we consider very similar to switching to begin with)

Hi guys, plain text is just me now! We've each got our own accounts: me, Tewi, Flandre, and Lucilyn. We're Luminesce's tulpas.

Here's our "Ask Thread", and here's our Progress Report (You should be able to see all of our accounts on the second page if you want)

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If you think you're switching, then go with that and work to make it more solid. At some point the tulpa may lose the host and will actually have to force them. We have never full body posessed and our switching is definitely solid, we even made the host go dormant, that was a trip and a half.

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It sounds more like switching than possession to me. Whose POV the body's perceptions are from, who feels like they *are* the body, is a key difference. But the matter is a bit ambiguous and difficult to describe precisely in words. "Is this right?" isn't the best question for a personal experience. The "right" way for your system is the way that is effective and fulfilling for everyone involved.

 

Any of us that are awake can all perceive everything that is happening equally well at all times, regardless of switching. If Joe can feel everything that is happening while switched out, then it should not be surprising if you do as well.

 

If you have to think about Joe in order for him to be active and thinking, then, if he's switched in, he should probably need to think about you in order for you to be active and thinking. If he interrupts you routinely when you weren't thinking about him or tells you about things he was doing inside while you weren't paying attention, this may not apply.

 

Since hosts are accustomed to leaning on the power of the front to support their thinking, while tulpas are natives of the mental realm, you probably won't be as good at thinking while switched out as he is until you gain experience. Frequently dropping unconscious while switched out is common in many systems, especially at first.

 

Tiring within a couple of hours of switching in is common for those who have not done so many times or who do so very rarely.

 

-Ember

I'm not having fun here anymore, so we've decided to take a bit of a break, starting February 27, 2020. - Ember

 

Ember - Soulbonder, Female, 39 years old, from Georgia, USA . . . . [Our Progress Report] . . . . [How We Switch]

Vesper Dowrin - Insourced Soulbond from London, UK, World of Darkness, Female, born 9 Sep 1964, bonded ~12 May 2017

Iris Ravenlock - Insourced Soulbond from the Winter Court of Faerie, Dresdenverse, Female, born 6 Jun 1982, bonded ~5 Dec 2015

 

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It also matters more what you hope to achieve with switching. For me it was the opposite, I hoped to prevent myself from triggering on subjects that didn't effect my tulpas. In completely distancing myself from the subject and letting them answer, I was in effect disassociating, and it was extremely effective. After doing this for several weeks we realized that I was in fact switching out.

 

In our case we've identified five independent positions of switching.

 

1. Co-fronting: this is an advanced concept for someone not familiar, but simply, you are 'sharing' the front and switching back and fourth as appropriate. Whoever is furthest front identifies with the body and their perspective drives memories, this is key, when memories are brought back, the host remembers the headmate as being in control at that time, and they are mostly or partially dissociated from the body, even if for brief moments.

 

2. Watcher position: you are, for many senses of the word, unconscious, except you're still awake in the sense that your memories are still registered to you. Many will say, "I felt like I was watching a movie" or "I felt like I was sitting on the shoulder". The key features of watcher position is that it's a passive position, you do not think when not forced by the fronter. Strictly speaking you will never interrupt the fronter, you do not react to stimuli, you are watching and listening, perhaps even feeling, but there is no ownership of those senses at all. Also, in this position you do not express or share emotions, ever.

 

3. Tulpa position: in the classical sense, this is what most people talk about, where you are substantially like your tulpa, you may interrupt because you may self-force, as mature tulpas do, but this may not happen right away, it's learned. You have reactions, and in many cases, can emotionally bleed forward.

 

4. Way back position: for all intents and purposes you are in wonderland. You don't even care what's going on in front. Memories from this position are yours, but memories of the front are also accessible in retrospect, but they are exclusively the fronter's. They are from their perspective and when you access them, you feel as if you are them during that time, even your body image is theirs. From way back, you can have incomplete memories, but some have reported that memories are just as vibrant as if they were fronting. So in essence, there are two distinct and separate memory streams simultaneously in time, but experienced separately.

 

This experience is rare enough nowadays that in many sub-communities it is frequently denied. If you read some early switching guides, this was their objective. We have achieved this dispite pushback from the community, but we also have experienced dream-like memories of either front or wonderland depending on the level of attention required by one or the other.

 

In this state, separate problems can be worked independently, but interestingly enough, not math or certain other activities. These are very linear in nature as far as useage.

 

Most importantly, from this position, you do not feel the body at all, neither emotions or pain, those are burdens of the fronter. You are in many ways lucid dreaming, but limited by your own imagination level of immersion, and it takes effort. I use this position to wash myself of emotions or intrusive thoughts, I only need to make the switch momentarily to do this, and when I return to the front, any emotions or thoughts are reset, hence we call it 'autoreset.' It's extremely useful.

 

5. Finally, just like 4 in many ways but you are completely gone. If you go dormant, you will have zero memories of being dormant. When you return you can access memories of the fronter, but you will definitely get a feeling that this wasn't you. When we do this, I often think, "hey, they're not supposed to do that" or, "in these memories, I am them in every way.

 

Hope this helps.

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It sounds more like switching than possession to me. Whose POV the body's perceptions are from, who feels like they *are* the body, is a key difference. But the matter is a bit ambiguous and difficult to describe precisely in words. "Is this right?" isn't the best question for a personal experience. The "right" way for your system is the way that is effective and fulfilling for everyone involved.

 

Any of us that are awake can all perceive everything that is happening equally well at all times, regardless of switching. If Joe can feel everything that is happening while switched out, then it should not be surprising if you do as well.

 

If you have to think about Joe in order for him to be active and thinking, then, if he's switched in, he should probably need to think about you in order for you to be active and thinking. If he interrupts you routinely when you weren't thinking about him or tells you about things he was doing inside while you weren't paying attention, this may not apply.

 

Since hosts are accustomed to leaning on the power of the front to support their thinking, while tulpas are natives of the mental realm, you probably won't be as good at thinking while switched out as he is until you gain experience. Frequently dropping unconscious while switched out is common in many systems, especially at first.

 

Tiring within a couple of hours of switching in is common for those who have not done so many times or who do so very rarely.

 

-Ember

 

Yeah. That sounds right. Thanks for clearing everything!

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