Gateway practices · 12 MIN READ · 8 SOURCE QUOTES
Clicking out: a gap in recall
Clicking out is Monroe Institute shorthand for losing awareness partway through a Hemi-Sync exercise. You are following the guidance, then suddenly the recording is near its end and you remember nothing in between. The Hemi-Sync Journal defined it in 1990 as a period of time during an exercise of which the subject has no conscious memory, and Explorers were using the phrase in laboratory sessions by 1984. Gateway Voyage participants use it with each other. Many newcomers assume it is simply falling asleep.
Not everyone agrees. Some participants describe clicking out as more sudden than sleep: you are aware, then you are not, and time collapses. Paul Citarella of the Monroe Institute says that something is happening, that it is not sleep, and that people usually cannot bring it back. Dr. Rosenthal, quoted in the Journal, explained the gap as state-dependent memory: the boundary between states is so significant that the memory does not cross. The article adds that repeated trips between states make crossing easier. No measurement in the sources separates clicking out from ordinary sleep, so the term describes an experience rather than a measured state.
The 1983 Army assessment of the Gateway Process uses the phrase in a different, theoretical sense: a moment in every energy oscillation when energy clicks out of time-space. Some listeners link the two uses, but the report is not describing a lapse in recall. In practice, clicking out is a gap to notice, shorten and learn from.
Clicking out is a stretch of an exercise you cannot recall afterward. It is common, not a failure, and a few habits help you stay aware.
Key points
The Institute's definition is a gap in memory
The Fall 1990 Hemi-Sync Journal, in an article on similarities between Hemi-Sync and hypnosis, defines clicking out as a term used at the Monroe Institute for a period of time during a Hemi-Sync exercise of which the subject has no conscious memory. The same article lists falling asleep as a separate similarity, which treats the two as distinct experiences. The definition says nothing about what happened during the gap, only that it cannot be recalled.
Dr. Rosenthal: state-dependent memory
The article quotes Dr. Rosenthal saying the boundary between states is so significant that on returning to waking consciousness you cannot retrieve that memory. The memory is state dependent. But after repeatedly moving between states, familiarity is gained, the boundary is more easily breached, and memories can be brought across and incorporated into one's sense of self. This is the explanation the Journal gives for why gaps happen, and it offers a practical reason for repetition: the more often you cross the boundary, the easier it is to bring something back.
Participants describe it as sudden, with lost time
A speaker on a podcast about a Gateway retreat first assumed clicking out was just sleep, then changed their mind. The description: you are meditating at some Focus level, you completely lose awareness for a little while, it is like lost time, and you are suddenly back in the meditation feeling that you missed something. The speaker found it different from sleep because it is so sudden, and wondered whether brain-wave records would show a measurable difference.
Citarella: something happens, but it is hard to bring back
Paul Citarella of the Monroe Institute, speaking on Jordan Crowder's Conscious Observers podcast in an episode posted in 2026, said that usually when people click out they are having some kind of experience they cannot bring back, either because it was far beyond ordinary experience or because they were not in the right frame to carry it across. He said it is not sleep but something different, that you suddenly find yourself at the end without feeling that any time has passed, and that click outs are not bad.
Explorers used the term in the 1984 lab
In an April 1984 laboratory transcript an Explorer reports that the count on the tape lost them at eight and they never heard nine or ten. Something definitely was going on, they say, and then they snapped out of it, unsure whether they had clicked out. There was a whole bunch of visual material they could begin to remember. It is a first-hand account of the pattern: the count fades, something happens, and only fragments return.
It can happen to a whole group
On an episode of Area 52's DEBRIEFED posted in 2024, a retreat participant described a Focus 15 session that moved up to 15, down to 12, up to 15 and down to 12 again, after which the entire group of 13 had clicked out. Nobody had anything to report. In the hallway afterward they compared notes and found that every one of them had clicked out. Nothing in the sources explains it, but it shows clicking out is not a personal failing.
The 1983 report means something else by it
Lt. Col. Wayne McDonnell's 1983 Analysis and Assessment of Gateway Process uses clicking out for a physics-flavored idea. Every oscillating energy form must reach rest points at the ends of its swing, and for an infinitesimally brief instant there the energy clicks out of time-space and joins infinity. Citing Bentov, he argues that human consciousness oscillates so fast that its click-outs run together almost continuously, so that a portion of consciousness can keep gathering information beyond time-space. He also describes skilled out-of-body travelers deliberately clicking out part of their consciousness. It is a theory about energy, not a description of a memory gap.
The Institute reports fewer click-outs with newer audio
Citarella said the Institute is seeing fewer click outs with its newer program format, which he credits to being more engaging and immersive, since monotony makes it easy to tune out. Earlier in the conversation he explained that the newer Gateway Voyage online audio keeps its entrainment signals moving through a simulated three-dimensional space, so the brain keeps attending instead of habituating. Host Jordan Crowder agreed that brains lull when a stimulus is monotonous. These are impressions, not published measurements, but they agree on the cause: an unchanging stimulus is easy to drift away from.
In their own words
Quotes are checked word for word against the recordings and documents they come from. Bracketed words correct transcription errors; “…” marks an omission.
“This term is at TMI to [describe] a period of time during a [Hemi-Sync] exercise of which the subject has no conscious memory. “The boundary between states is so significant,” explained Dr. Rosenthal, “that on returning to [waking] consciousness you cannot retrieve that memory.” The memory is state dependent. However, after repeatedly moving between states, familiarity is gained and the boundary is more easily breached, allowing memories to be “brought across” and [incorporated] into one’s sense of self.”
“So what clicking out [is] like: you're meditating, you're in whatever Focus level, and you just completely lose awareness for a little bit, and it's like lost time. And then you suddenly are just like back in the meditation, and you're like, “Oh, I missed some stuff.””
“He lost me at eight. Going into the tape, I never heard him say [9, 10]. And then something definitely was going on. And then it's like I snapped out of it. [I] wasn't sure whether I clicked out at that point. But there was a whole bunch of visual stuff going on, which I can begin to remember. And, oops, click out, and this one's gonna pay attention. And so that's really all I remember, too.”
“Again, like, usually what happens when you click out is you're having some kind of experience; it's just not something you're able to kind of bring back with you, for whatever reason, whether it's you experience something that's just, you know, far beyond, or you're just not in the right frame to kind of bring it back. Something is happening, because [it's not] sleep. It's something different.”
“Without these points of rest, an oscillating wave pattern would be impossible, since the points of rest are required to permit the energy to change direction and thus continue vibrating between rigid limits. But it is also true that when, for an infinitesimally brief instant, that energy reaches one of its two points of rest it “clicks out” of time-space and joins infinity.”
“We'd relax and we'd let go, but we weren't gonna sleep, because we had to tell him what we were doing. So you had to stay awake. And Bob always said, “Well, the secret is to go to sleep and stay awake at the same time.” That was a line that Bob always said.”
“I usually drink some strong coffee before I do this. And that helps you to stay awake. And I turned the volume up higher than I normally would, so [that] way I don't click out and go to sleep. And I make it a point to remember while it's going on; that's important.”
“I'd like you to know that you are perfectly able to stay awake while your body is so relaxed. And to welcome in the energy that is tingling.”
Important things to consider
Notice the shape of the gap
Sleep usually arrives as a gradual fade, while some participants describe clicking out as a sudden cut. After each session, note the last thing you remember, the first thing you recall on returning, and whether the gap felt gradual or abrupt. A few weeks of notes will show whether your gaps cluster at one point in an exercise, at one time of day or after one kind of meal. The pattern tells you more than any single session.
Set the intention to remember, then write it up
A presenter at a 2000 Monroe Institute seminar said that making a point of remembering while the exercise is going on is important, and that after doing sessions at night they write them up at the computer the next morning, remembering things they had forgotten as they write. Dr. Rosenthal's account suggests why intention helps: memory has to cross a boundary between states. Tell yourself before you start that you will stay aware, keep a notebook within reach, and capture fragments, since a single image or phrase can be all that returns.
Adjust the setup that invites sleep
The same presenter turned the volume higher than usual so as not to click out and drinks strong coffee beforehand; that is one person's routine, not a recommendation. Ordinary adjustments help too: listen when rested rather than late at night, avoid heavy meals beforehand, recline instead of lying flat, and use stereo headphones in a quiet room. Never listen while driving.
Give your attention a job
Tom Campbell recalls that subjects in Monroe's lab could not drift off because they had to tell him what they were doing. At home you can borrow the idea by following the count actively and silently naming what you notice at each step. A changing stimulus gives attention something to follow; a monotonous one is easy to tune out.
Remind yourself you can relax and stay awake
A monitor told an Explorer who reported heaviness, tingling and sleepiness that they were perfectly able to stay awake while the body was so relaxed. Campbell quotes Monroe's own formula: the secret is to go to sleep and stay awake at the same time. Believing that a relaxed body means a sleeping mind is the trap; the exercises are built on the opposite, mind awake and body asleep.
Do not read a mystery into every gap
A gap in memory does not tell you what happened. Citarella reads click outs as experiences you cannot bring back, while the podcast speaker who first assumed sleep remained unsure. The 1983 report's use of the phrase is a theory about energy, not evidence about listeners. Record the gap, resist both easy explanations, and let the notes accumulate.
Listen only where it is safe to lose awareness
Use the exercises seated or lying down at home, never while driving or operating anything. If gaps are frequent and you are tired during the day, the simplest explanation may be that you need sleep, so rest first and listen when you are fresh.
Common questions
What does clicking out mean?
Clicking out is the Monroe Institute's term for a period during a Hemi-Sync exercise that you cannot consciously remember afterward. The Fall 1990 Hemi-Sync Journal defined it that way, and listeners describe a sudden loss of awareness: one moment you are following the guidance, the next you are at the end of the recording with a gap in between. Participants use the word with each other at Gateway Voyage programs, and Explorers were using it in laboratory sessions by 1984. It is separate from the 1983 report's use of the phrase, which is a theory about energy.
Is clicking out the same as falling asleep?
The sources disagree, and nothing measured settles it. The Journal lists falling asleep and clicking out as separate similarities between Hemi-Sync and hypnosis. One podcast speaker first assumed it was just sleep, then decided it feels different because it is sudden: aware, then not aware, with time collapsing. Paul Citarella says it is not sleep but something different, usually an experience that cannot be brought back. A practical test is whether you faded gradually or were cut off abruptly, and whether anything at all returned afterward.
How can I stay aware during Gateway exercises?
Start with the basics: listen when rested, avoid heavy meals, recline rather than lie flat, and use stereo headphones in a quiet room. Tell yourself before you start that you will stay aware and remember; a 2000 seminar presenter called making a point of remembering while the exercise is going on important, and turned the volume a little higher than usual. Remind yourself, as a monitor did in the lab, that you can stay awake while the body relaxes; Tom Campbell recalls Monroe's line that the secret is to go to sleep and stay awake at the same time. Give attention something to follow, such as the count, and repeat the exercises so crossing between states gets easier.
Can I recover what happened while I clicked out?
Sometimes fragments return. The 1984 Explorer found visual material they could begin to remember after snapping out of it, and the Journal says memories can be brought across once moving between states is familiar. Citarella says people usually cannot bring the experience back. Podcaster Jordan Crowder suggests setting an intention to remember before sleep or in a short meditation afterward, on the theory that the information is retained though not remembered; that is his interpretation, not a tested method. What is reliably useful is writing down whatever you do have right away and again the next morning.
What does the 1983 CIA report mean by clicking out?
The 1983 Analysis and Assessment of Gateway Process, written by Lt. Col. Wayne McDonnell of the Army and now in CIA archives, uses clicking out for a theory about consciousness, not a lapse of memory. It says every oscillating energy form reaches rest points at the ends of its swing, and for an infinitesimally brief instant there it clicks out of time-space and joins infinity, drawing on Bentov and Planck's distance. It proposes that consciousness oscillates so fast that its click-outs run together almost continuously, and that proficient out-of-body travelers can deliberately click out part of their awareness. Some listeners connect that idea to their own gaps; the Journal's memory-gap definition is a separate usage.
Does everyone click out, and does it mean I am doing it wrong?
It is common enough to have its own word. Explorers described it in 1984, the Institute defined it in print in 1990, and one retreat participant reported that every member of a group of 13 clicked out in the same Focus 15 session. Citarella says click outs are not bad, and that the Institute is seeing fewer of them with its newer program format. A gap is information about attention, fatigue and monotony. Notice when it occurs, adjust your setup, set an intention to remember, and keep practicing.
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