Death Pose alternative Options

Has anyone actually used the Death Pose, or tried it? It seems very difficult to use... The method of blackout used is not that effective. If you truly want to blackout, you can try a different version of it:
1. Bend over and grab your ankles
2. Breath rapidly in out out taking in as much air as possible. (basically, hyperventalate)
3. Stand up quickly and put your hands on your throat. You want your palms to push in on your jugular veins, and your fingers to wrap around the back of your neck to give you more leverage to push.
Tip: stand with your back facing something soft (i.e. a couch, bed, armchair), becaues you usually tend to fall backward. When you go out, everything seems like it's in slow motion as you fall back and blackout. Use that time for sigils. When you wake up, it takes second to remember where you are. This can be dangerous if you are by yourself, not to mention it's not exactly good for you (neither is any other form of blackout, though, including the death pose). This was shown to me by my friend as a stupid trick a while ago, and I thought it might be useful for something other than relieveing boredom. Good luck and be careful,
~Shonen~

I've done something similar.

Head between knees, rapid breaths, suddenly stand up and suddenly hold breath.

Overoxygenate the brain, then oxygen starve it - it'll either get you high, or make you pass out. As you said - good way to relieve boredom... also as you said, bad to have hard objects behind you. I discovered this on a coffee table. Bad way to fall.

However, I did discover (since that was the first time I'd ever been knocked out) that I'm perfectly conscious when unconscious, I'm just totally disassociated from my body. Very interesting experience - one of my most memorable mind-altering experiments. The sensation of no body and no spatial realm is quite fascinating. Everything black, but there is no black - colours don't exist... no eyes. And so on.

Not recommended for people with a family history of epilepsy. Can cause temporary amnesia and other nasty side effects (seen it happen, not pretty).

I can see why you'd want to use it for that purpose, but it's not a safe thing to do to your body. Can cause blood clots in the brain if done too much.

Yeah, I used to do this every once in a while before I found out that it's not good for you. I haven't done it since then, though. I think it would be OK to use it in magical practice, just don't over-do it.

I've done that a couple times when I was younger. We called 'em space monkeys. It certainly could be useful because your basically lapsing into a 5 second coma. Although, I'd say its definitely no good for your health.

Hello everyone (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ,

I'm finding it hard to pass out - I've been trying the death pose alternatives but I can't I JUST CAN'T get myself to get past that barrier from stopping the breath to actually fainting.

What happens is once I stop my breath I get REALLY SCARED. I just have no idea what happens when I faint (I've never fainted before) by using these techniques. Yes, it is the "heart pounding fear of death". Some questions for members who have tried the death pose and passed out:
- How long did you pass out for (minimum, maximum and average times)?
- Which specific technique did you use?
- What was being unconscious like?
- What is the likelihood of severe injury, coma or death?
- Were you okay when you awoke?


And some specific questions:
- where exactly are those jugular veins? I can never be sure whether I'm pressing down on the jugular veins, so I just clamp the whole side of my neck with my palms...
nothing happened anayway (IMG:style_emoticons/default/13.gif)
- Stupid question but...the thing that makes you pass out is lack of oxygen right? So if I could hold my breath long enough I would pass out? Why do you need to hyperventilate first?

I highly advise against anything involving screwing with your circulation to the brain. Messing with your jugular vein is a BAD idea.

The hyperventilation is to overoxygenate your blood (and, as in my post, the crouching causes higher blood pressure). The sudden shift from high-oxygen, to no-oxygen in your system (combined with the sudden standing up, which decreases blood pressure) means that your brain, which has just had a whole lot of oxygen flood through it (and expects more) suddenly gets nothing and overcompensates.

Remember - your body only has outside absolutes. By this I mean, there is a minimum and a maximum for everything, but there's no absolute "normal". If you've got a lot of oxygen coming in, your body will expect this to continue, or to slow down. It doesn't expect there to suddenly be none.

As for the other important question, severe injury, coma or death - in all probability only if you screw with your bloodflow. Regular use of the hyperventilation methods will cause damage (neural cell death, or blood clots in your brain = not fun), but sparing use is okay. Not that I recommend using anything other than prescribed drugs for inducing unconsciousness (although that will prevent any of the suggested practices during the unconscious period, since it doesn't allow for lucidity).

As for times - dunno. Probably a few minutes. Being unconscious, for me, was like having no body. And apart from the fact that I fell on a coffee table, yes I was alright.

This post has been edited by Zahaqiel: May 16 2006, 05:37 AM

Thanks for the advice, Zahagiel.

Well, I'm still trying...breathe real hard, stand up and stop breathing
as yet it's not working or my body/mind is not cooperating (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bicycle.gif)

Edit: Just tried again in the recent despair/anger/hate/loathing/madness of getting my mid-semester exam results back (28% noooooooooo), and got really close to blacking out and was numb all over...but it was not to be...

This post has been edited by Tyday: May 17 2006, 09:57 PM

Remember, it's not instant - in fact, you'll stand up, hold your breath and probably think "nup, nothing's happening". The main thing is to keep holding. It'll suddenly jump you just when you think it'll never happen.