Based on a system called binaural beats, Hemi-Sync drops brain wave frequencies below normal waking beta state to alpha (relaxed state), delta (deep sleep), and theta (deep meditation, inner travel) frequencies. Bob Monroe, who crossed over for good in 1995, worked for years with a team of individuals to develop the Gateway Voyage and other programs that explore other dimensions of reality. Gateway is the first and prerequisite for Heartlines, Guidelines, and Lifelines, which are in turn prerequisites for more advanced courses. Laurie Monroe, Bob’s daughter, took over as president after his death and continues with her staff to develop new programs for both inner and out-of-body travel.

It is obvious they have been honing Gateway for years — it hums, literally, at a pace even it’s oldest voyagers can handle. In my group, there were several people in their seventies and one as young as 19. The cultural and generational diversity of participants is appealing and makes for a lively group interaction. In all, there were 24 of us and two trainers. The program is jam-packed with great meditations that take you to higher states of expanded consciousness and contact with guides and others who, as you affirm each time, are there to teach and protect you from negative influences.

Monroe eschewed new/old age terminology and came up with his own vocabulary to describe his mystical experiences. First of all, you go to locations called Focus points, with different numbers assigned that have no significant quantitative meaning. Focus 10 is a state of deep relaxation, with your mind awake and body asleep. Focus 12 is the state of expanded awareness, where you can sense and feel that you are more than your physical body. Focus 15 is the state of no time and space, and here you can time travel as desired. Focus 21 is the bridge to other realms of existence, and there are mini-focus levels from 15-21 experienced as color and related to levels of consciousness from plant to animal to human and beyond. There are higher Focus levels, but not for Gateway voyagers.

Like the Academy, TMI teaches participants tools they can bring home and reuse in their daily meditations. My favorite is the Energy Conversion Box, a gift from the ocean that washes ashore, in which you can place all your physical matter worries and concerns, essentially a place to dump your fears and convert them to power. At least that’s what I do with mine. There are things I no longer even need to put into this box, as the fear around them has simply disappeared. What a gift! All of the focus levels are considered tools also, and TMI teaches participants to reach these focus levels without the use of Hemi-Sync (they also provide a support tape for home use after the program, so you can remember how to get to these places). Several tools relate to TMI’s emphasis on problem-solving and creativity, including Patterning for manifesting your own reality. I was very impressed with the level of devotion to this concept. I felt empowered to own my creativity.

I nearly laughed out loud when I realized that one tool, the REBAL or resonant energy balloon, was in fact the aura (another example of Bob’s aversion to any preexisting energy terminology). Before every journey, the tapes instruct you to set your REBAL, giving those emotional bodies a little more protection during take off. Most people come to have out-of-body experiences (OBEs), at least those who have read any of Bob’s books, including Journeys Out of the Body, Far Journeys, and The Ultimate Journey. These books chronicle the fantastic voyages that inspired him to create the programs at TMI, and they are fascinating and exciting stories of life in the other dimensions of reality to which Bob traveled regularly.

So let’s get right to it. Did I leave my body or not? I’m actually not sure. I didn’t in the way I usually do, half-asleep and being pulled without directing the action myself. But I sure as heck went somewhere. In Focus 15 I visited myself in the future, and by the way I looked fabulous. Focus 21 is a bridge to anywhere, past, present or future. I tool around Focus 21 in a convertible red sports car. (I recommend having a vehicle that can do warp travel, so you can jump quickly to different places.) All of the meditations were varied and fun. They place a big emphasis on fun there, but they also support the emotional experiences that accompany deep healing through inner travel.

A few words about the physical matter realities of TMI — your bed is also your meditation chamber (CHEC unit, in Bob lingo), equipped with reading light, ready light (for alerting the trainers you have headphones on), and black drape for utter darkness. You share a room with either one or two other people, and there are a gazillion bathrooms and showers. Food and drinks are plentiful and rather good (absolutely no alcohol or drugs). A yoga instructor comes every morning for stretching. The rural land is beautiful, and every afternoon has some free time for wandering or whatever. Though it was freezing cold by chance on my visit, I spent as much time as possible on the giant quartz crystal, which is taller than me and must weigh several tons. It is the third-largest mined quartz in the world and was given to TMI by a friend of Bob’s. Shipped all the way from Brazil, this amazing gem can suck anything aberrant from your body in two seconds flat. I have later learned that some people refer to these crystals as Earth Keeper Quartz, with legendary power.

The pedagogy of Bob Monroe is complex and has a human patina, as do many belief systems. Though you are introduced to his beliefs, such as the I-there theory, which is Bob’s version of past lives, these theories are presented as an option for your consideration and are not the primary focus of the Gateway Voyage. Your own personal experience is primary, and you can share it or not with the group. Our group, as you might imagine, was filled with souls that know each other, so for most it was a happy, joyful event. We are still in contact through an electronic mailing list, like AIS Grads, and communicate the ongoing experiences with the tapes we brought home from the Hemi-Sync Store. And boy, are they fun! Hemi-Sync at home, in the comfort of your own bed. I am still enjoying the benefits of having a synchronized brain, which include greater calmness, awareness of synchronicities, present-time focus — much of what we learn at AIM In fact, TMI and AIM are highly complementary approaches, and AIM students and grads can integrate these two toolkits for greater benefit. If you can’t make it all the way to Virginia for a week, you can attend non-residential programs throughout the country (and expanding overseas). Or, do the Gateway Experience at home, a six-tape set that includes Discovery, Threshold, Freedom, Adventure, Exploring, and Prospecting. The Hemi-Sync catalog lists hundreds of tapes, CDs, and books designed for specific healing applications.

TMI teaches you a good deal about Hemi-Sync through lectures and handouts, and you come to appreciate this amazing tool for reaching deep meditative states quickly and easily. I use the various focus levels during my regular meditations and consultations to enhance my healing skills. Focus 15, for example, a wonderful state of mind for exploring the Akashik records. I will return one day to TMI, perhaps more than once. I’m especially looking forward to MC2, a new program that “helps participants increase their ability to influence time-space events through non-physical (energetic) means. This skill is applied for healing self and others, and to bring other desirable outcomes into reality.” Woo hoo! A parting gift from TMI was a tape called “Co-Creating Our World.” I now have a greater understanding of how creation works. When we co-create with others for the higher good of all and with compassion for all life, we manifest prosperity and happiness in our own lives. Peace on Earth!