Gateway practices · 12 MIN READ · 6 SOURCE QUOTES
The Gateway waves
The Gateway Experience, the Monroe Institute's home-study course, is organized into albums called waves. Each wave holds about six Hemi-Sync exercises, and each assumes you have absorbed the tools of the one before, which is why the publisher says the albums must be used in order. Wave I, Discovery, teaches Focus 10, mind awake, body asleep. Wave II, Threshold, adds Focus 12 and tools to use there: problem solving, patterning, color breathing, the energy bar tool and the living body map.
From there the course widens. Freedom (Wave III) and Adventure (Wave IV) work in Focus 12 on perceiving and directing energy and on self-directed exploration. Exploring (Wave V) reaches Focus 15, the state the publisher calls no time. Odyssey (Wave VI) goes to Focus 21, and Voyager (Wave VII) runs from Focus 21 through Focus 23, 25 and 27. The publisher now sells the series as eight albums under the title Waves of Change, adding Union, which explores Focus 27 and beyond. Bob Monroe's recorded voice guides the first four albums, and A.J. Honeycutt's voice guides the last four.
The albums are the home counterpart of the Institute's residential work. In his Gateway Voyage talks Monroe introduced exercises such as Lift Off, and the publisher says Voyager is based on the Lifeline program and Union on Exploration 27. An unsigned 2012 overview of the focus levels, archived with the Institute's web resources, describes the arrangement simply: the first wave establishes Focus 10, and the later series gradually move the listener further from ordinary physical awareness.
Gateway's home course is a sequence of albums called waves that leads from Focus 10 to Focus 27. Each wave builds on the tools of the one before.
Key points
Wave I, Discovery: Focus 10 and the basic tools
Discovery is the foundation. Its exercises are Orientation, Introduction to Focus 10, Advanced Focus 10, Release and Recharge, Exploration Sleep and Free Flow 10. The publisher describes the album as introducing the mind awake, body asleep state and the basic mental tools, and lists Orientation as a Focus 3 exercise. Hemi-Sync Journal articles show how widely the album travels: a 1992 pilot study in experiential psychotherapy used tape two, Introduction to Focus 10, to help clients relax, and a midwife who wrote about birth support in 1996 had first met Hemi-Sync through Discovery.
Wave II, Threshold: Focus 12 and its tools
Threshold moves from Focus 10 into Focus 12, the state of expanded awareness, and gives you tools to use there. The exercises are Introduction to Focus 12, Problem Solving, One Month Patterning, Color Breathing, Energy Bar Tool and Living Body Map. The unguided Free Flow 12, which group programs in the Journal pair with Threshold tapes, is listed by the publisher on Adventure, not Threshold. The 1983 Army assessment of the Gateway process describes the same techniques as tools used in Focus 12, along with remote viewing, which the publisher lists on the Freedom album. Patterning has its own page on this site.
Wave III, Freedom: perceiving and moving energy
According to the publisher, Freedom uses Focus 10 and Focus 12 exercises to teach you to perceive and control your nonphysical energy. The exercises are Lift Off, Remote Viewing, Vectors, Five Questions, Energy Food and First Stage Separation. Monroe described Lift Off plainly in a Gateway Voyage talk: it was not designed to get you out of your body but to give you the feel of the vibrational state he first met in 1958. A 1998 Hemi-Sync Journal guide to tapes by theme lists Five Questions, with Adventure's Five Messages, for readers asking who they are and why they are here.
Wave IV, Adventure: directed exploration
The publisher presents Adventure as the ultimate expression beyond Freedom, an adventure you control and direct yourself. The exercises are One Year Patterning, 5 Messages, Free Flow 12, NVC I, NVC II and Compoint 12. The publisher spells out NVC as non-verbal communication and describes Compoint 12 as setting up a reference point for communicating with higher consciousness. A Gateway Voyage participant who wrote about the five messages exercise described apprehension before inviting messages from Guidance or the Higher Self.
Wave V, Exploring: Focus 15 and intuition
Exploring moves from Focus 12 into Focus 15, which the publisher describes as a no-time state and a way to reach the source of your intuition. The exercises are Advanced Focus 12, Discovering Intuition, Exploring Intuition, Intro to Focus 15, Mission 15 Creation and Manifestation and Exploring Focus 15. Focus 15 has long had a reputation for being hard to reach: the 1983 Army assessment estimated that probably fewer than five percent of participants fully achieved it during about seven days of training.
Wave VI, Odyssey: Focus 21
Odyssey is the first album set in Focus 21, which the publisher calls the bridge to other energy systems. It invites you to embark on an odyssey of self-discovery, with high-adventure exercises in dimensions beyond physical time-space reality. They are Sensing, Expansion, Point of Departure, Nonphysical Friends, Intro to Focus 21 and Free Flow Journey in Focus 21. Free-flow exercises, here and in earlier waves, give you unguided time in the state to explore on your own.
Wave VII, Voyager: Focus 21 to 27 and service
Voyager is based on the Institute's residential Lifeline program. The publisher describes it as teaching service to self and others: you travel to Focus 21 and on through Focus 23 to 27, where you can contact people who have died but remain static, in the publisher's word, and guide them to a reception center. The exercises are Explore Total Self, Intro to Focus 23, Intro to Focus 25, Intro to Focus 27, Retrieval and Messages From Beyond. A practitioner writing in the Hemi-Sync Journal in 2002 paired exercises labeled Wave VII with Lifeline in personal work in Focus 21 and 27.
Wave VIII, Union: Focus 27 and beyond
The publisher's current edition adds an eighth album, Union, based on the Institute's Exploration 27 program. It describes a journey beyond time and space through the infinite space of Focus 27 and areas outside the Earth life system. Union is the one album with eight exercises: Special Tour, Meeting the Entry Director, Educational Opportunities, Healing and Regeneration Center, The Planning Center, Coordination Area, Inner Earth and The Absolute.
How the waves build on each other
The structure is a ladder of Focus levels: Focus 10 in Discovery, Focus 12 in Threshold through Adventure, Focus 15 in Exploring, Focus 21 in Odyssey and Focus 23 to 27 in Voyager and Union. The publisher states the rule directly: the albums are meant to be used in order because each builds on the tools and techniques of those before. A facilitator at a 1993 Institute seminar gave a small example, saying participants got less from Color Breathing and the Living Body Map if they had not first reached Focus 12.
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.
“In particular, the set of tapes (Wave I) of the Gateway Experience is geared towards establishing the Focus 10 state, while subsequent series (Wave II to VI) gradually increase the phase shift away from the physical.”
“Tonight you're going to do an exercise called Lift Off. And this particular exercise is not designed to help you get out of your body, but to get you the feel of what happened to me back in 1958.”
“Gateway helps you explore the borders, the edges of human consciousness, as we know it. The tools we provide, again, help you do and perform that exploration.”
“Part of me cringes at the thought. Am I afraid of hearing something? Is that “something” my own [inveterately] self-critical voice? Or is it rather that I'm afraid of hearing nothing at all—that I'll discover there's only emptiness inside, the same silence that we are supposedly cultivating this morning on the outside. I'm not a little apprehensive. As the exercise begins, I can feel myself flinch, as if ducking a feigned punch, as I invite messages from my unnamed source.”
“More recently, my work while reabsorbing identity has extended into explorations in Locale II, Focus 21 and 27 (Gateway Experience, Wave VII, Free-Flow 21, and Lifeline).”
“I think that they do not get as much out of Living Body Map and Color Breathing if they don't get into Focus 12. And one, it is a beautiful experience with these people to have them go, 'Oh my gosh, there is more than my physical body.' It's a really interesting event to be with them.”
Important things to consider
Use the waves in order, and repeat exercises
The publisher's rule is that the albums be used sequentially, and the structure supports it: Introduction to Focus 12 comes before the tools that depend on Focus 12, and Intro to Focus 15 before the Focus 15 exercises. Repetition is normal. A group program described in the Hemi-Sync Journal in 1994, for example, encouraged participants to keep using Release and Recharge, Exploration Sleep, Problem Solving and One Month Patterning on their own over the following weeks and to record their insights.
Names, numbers and track lists differ between sources
The publisher's current page numbers the albums as Gates 1 to 8 and calls the series Waves of Change. Hemi-Sync Journal articles use Roman-numeral waves up to Wave VII, and a 2012 overview refers to Wave II to VI. Track assignments can differ too: a 2002 Journal article files Introduction to Focus 21 and a Focus 21 free flow under Wave VII, while the publisher now lists both on Odyssey, Wave VI. When you compare or buy, trust the track list printed on the album you are holding.
Albums and residential programs are not the same thing
The Gateway Experience albums are an in-home training series. The Gateway Voyage, Lifeline and Exploration 27 are residential programs at the Institute. The publisher says Voyager and Union are based on Lifeline and Exploration 27, so the albums borrow their subject matter, but the publisher's page lists no residential prerequisite and does not claim the albums replace the programs.
Higher waves are not a scoreboard
In his welcome talk to a Voyage group, Monroe says Gateway does not guarantee an out-of-body experience, and the 1983 assessment observed that only one tape in the whole course is devoted to out-of-body technique. Read the later waves as new subject matter rather than ranks: energy and perception in Freedom, intuition in Exploring, other energy systems in Odyssey, and the states of Focus 23 to 27 that the publisher ties to the afterlife in Voyager and Union.
What is and is not established
The wave descriptions come from the publisher, the Institute and participants. The retrieval, messages and contact exercises in Voyager and Union concern reported nonphysical contact, which the Institute presents as exploration rather than demonstrated fact. Hemi-Sync Journal articles that use single exercises in therapy and counseling are case reports, not controlled trials, and nothing in these sources promises a particular result from any wave.
Health and listening basics
The publisher advises consulting a medical professional before starting if you have any medical condition, a tendency toward seizures, an auditory disorder or an adverse mental condition, or if you take medication that affects your ability to relax. Hemi-Sync uses binaural beats, so use stereo headphones, and never listen while driving or doing anything that needs your full attention.
Common questions
What are the Gateway Experience waves?
The Gateway Experience is the Monroe Institute's in-home course, and its albums are called waves. Wave I, Discovery, teaches Focus 10. Wave II, Threshold, adds Focus 12 and tools such as problem solving and patterning. Wave III, Freedom, covers perceiving and moving energy, including Lift Off and Remote Viewing. Wave IV, Adventure, is self-directed exploration with One Year Patterning and Five Messages. Wave V, Exploring, introduces Focus 15 and intuition. Wave VI, Odyssey, works in Focus 21. Wave VII, Voyager, runs from Focus 21 to Focus 27 and is based on the Lifeline program. The publisher also lists an eighth album, Union, based on Exploration 27. Each album holds about six exercises and builds on the one before.
In what order should I use the Gateway albums?
In order, starting with Discovery. The publisher states that the albums must be used sequentially because each builds on the tools and techniques of the previous ones. Inside Discovery, begin with Orientation and spend time with Introduction to Focus 10 and Advanced Focus 10 before moving on, since everything later starts from that state. Within Threshold, take Introduction to Focus 12 before the tools: a facilitator at a 1993 Institute seminar said participants got less out of Color Breathing and the Living Body Map when they had not reached Focus 12 first. The publisher gives no schedule, so how long to stay with each exercise is your call.
Which wave teaches patterning, remote viewing and the out-of-body feel?
Patterning first appears in Threshold as One Month Patterning, returns in Adventure as One Year Patterning, and Exploring includes Mission 15 Creation and Manifestation, which the publisher describes as exploring Focus 15 as a state of creation and manifestation, without calling it patterning. Remote Viewing is an exercise in Freedom, and so are Lift Off and First Stage Separation, the exercises closest to out-of-body territory. Monroe was explicit that Lift Off is not meant to get you out of your body; it gives you the feel of the vibrational state he first met in 1958. Gateway as a whole does not promise an out-of-body experience, and the 1983 assessment noted that only one tape in the course is devoted to that technique.
Are there seven Gateway waves or eight?
It depends on the source. Hemi-Sync Journal articles in the archive name waves up to Wave VII, though one 2002 article files Focus 21 exercises under Wave VII that the publisher now lists on Odyssey, and a 2012 overview speaks of Wave I followed by Wave II to VI. The publisher's current page lists eight albums, called Waves of Change and numbered Gate 1 to Gate 8, with Union as the eighth. Union is based on the Exploration 27 program, while Voyager is based on Lifeline. If you are buying, count the albums the publisher currently sells; if you are reading older accounts, you may find them naming fewer.
Do I need to attend the Gateway Voyage to use the albums?
The publisher presents the albums as an in-home training series and lists no residential prerequisite. The Gateway Voyage is the Institute's separate residential program, where Monroe gave evening talks and introduced exercises such as Lift Off, and the home albums carry versions of that material. The later albums, Voyager and Union, are based on two other residential programs, Lifeline and Exploration 27. Hemi-Sync Journal articles show therapists, midwives and listeners working with the home albums on their own, so the Voyage is a choice rather than a requirement for using the tapes.
What is the difference between Discovery and Threshold?
Discovery teaches the state; Threshold teaches what to do in a deeper one. Discovery centers on Focus 10, mind awake, body asleep, with Release and Recharge and Exploration Sleep as applications and Free Flow 10 for unguided time. Threshold moves to Focus 12, which the Institute's materials describe as expanded awareness, and adds the tools: problem solving, patterning, color breathing, the energy bar tool and the living body map. An unsigned 2012 overview puts the whole arrangement this way: the first wave establishes Focus 10, and the later series gradually increase the shift away from the physical.
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