Sound & programs · 10 MIN READ · 6 SOURCE QUOTES
Guidelines: beyond Gateway
Guidelines is the Monroe Institute's second residential program, a five-day, six-night retreat open to Gateway Voyage graduates. The Institute calls it a classic that has run for more than forty years, and one facilitator who took Gateway Voyage in 1989 recalls that Gateway and Guidelines were then the only programs available. Where Gateway Voyage introduces the Focus states, Guidelines puts them to work on one goal: building a trusted, repeatable relationship with your inner guidance, which in Monroe's vocabulary is the inner self helper, or ISH.
In the Institute's description, participants continue exploring Focus 15, which it calls No Time, and Focus 21, the Bridge between the physical and the nonphysical, on a deeply meditative journey toward a lasting relationship with an inner helper. They practice setting clear intentions and sharpening their manifestation skills, learn to seek guidance from the higher self and from other intelligences, and later turn from receiving guidance to sending healing energy to others. Guidelines participants are also eligible for a PREP session, a one-person session with a trainer at the Virginia campus.
Nancy McMoneagle of the Monroe Institute puts the appeal simply: many people want to be in touch with their guidance, whatever they call it, and Guidelines gives them the skill to enter the states where that contact happens. She recalls that Monroe loved acronyms, ISH among them, and that his whole stance was to go and find out for yourself. Laurie Monroe, his daughter, calls the program often a next natural step after Gateway, a place to become more aware of that larger aspect of yourself.
Guidelines, the Institute's second program, teaches Gateway graduates to build a working relationship with their inner guidance in Focus 15 and 21.
Key points
The second step after Gateway Voyage
The Institute describes Guidelines as the second in its series of consciousness-exploration retreats designed by Robert Monroe, open only to Gateway Voyage graduates in the residential, virtual or online format, with an application. Laurie Monroe calls it often a next natural step, because participants reinforce what they learned in Gateway and become more sensitized to that larger aspect of themselves. A facilitator who took Gateway Voyage in 1989 recalls that it and Gateway were then the only programs the Institute offered.
The inner self helper, in Monroe's shorthand
McMoneagle says Monroe's cosmology included the I-There and the ISH, the inner self helper, and that he loved acronyms. In the program the term is flexible: she says you may call your guidance your guides, your inner self helpers or your angels, by whatever term. The Institute's own description speaks of developing a trusted relationship with an inner-self helper, receiving guidance from your higher self, and learning to seek guidance from other intelligences and forms of energy.
Inside or outside: the program leaves it open
Cecile Carson, who took Gateway Voyage, Lifeline and Guidelines in one year and compares the Institute's training with shamanism, notes that the work with TMI's guides lets you think of them as inside yourself or outside. In shamanism, she says, helping spirits are considered outside you unless you voluntarily merge with them, and the relationship is more sacred and ceremonial.
Focus 15 and Focus 21 as the working states
The Institute names two Focus levels for the week. Focus 15 it describes as No Time, and Focus 21 as the Bridge, the state between the physical and the nonphysical, where out-of-body experiences can occur. Participants build on Gateway Voyage skills in these states, in a deeply meditative journey supported by Hemi-Sync audio guidance and phasing signals that the Institute says derive from brain-mapping technology.
Intention, manifestation and, later, sending healing
The Institute stresses that reaching guidance takes more than asking: it also takes clear intention and manifestation skill, and the program offers many chances to practice both. McMoneagle describes the program as giving people the skill of getting into the states where contact with guidance happens. Later in the week the emphasis shifts from receiving guidance to sending healing energy to others.
PREP: the one-to-one session
Guidelines participants are eligible for a free PREP session, the Personal Resource Exploration Program, which the Institute describes as a trainer-guided session in a special chamber on the Virginia campus designed to help you lose your sense of physical boundaries. It is not offered at programs held elsewhere. A 2011 TMI Journal note describes PREP as customized computer-generated sounds and verbal guidance from a trained facilitator in a secluded cubicle, and a Monroe talk to a Gateway Voyage group calls these one-to-one sessions by appointment.
Monroe spoke to Guidelines groups
The archive includes Monroe's Saturday-night and Thursday-night talks to Guidelines groups, with examples dated from 1986 to 1990 and automatically generated outlines. The outlines point to conversations about personal growth, spirituality and nonverbal communication. Because the outlines are machine-made, use them to find a talk rather than to quote Monroe.
Where participants go next
Laurie Monroe describes a powerful dream during Guidelines in which she felt she was the child her mother had been; she realized a part of her mother had been so damaged that her whole life was affected, and decided her next step would be Lifeline, which she calls a program about service. Susan Taylor completed Guidelines, Lifeline and Exploration 27 after Gateway Voyage, while Carson took Lifeline and Guidelines in the same year as her Voyage, so the order is flexible.
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.
“Guidelines is often a next natural step for people after Gateway, because they get to reinforce some of the learning that they've done during the Gateway and really be in a place where they can strengthen or become more sensitized to or more aware of that larger aspect of themselves.”
“A lot of people want to get more in touch with their guidance, let's say, and so we have a program called Guidelines. And this is where you get in touch with, however you want to call it, your guides, your inner self helpers, your angels, by whatever term. And so … it's a program that helps … give you the skill for getting into the states to get in touch with these other forms of … informance, if you will. Informance, that's what I'll call mine: informance.”
“Although there are many differences in the forms of TMI training and core shamanic practice, there are also definite parallels: (1) a basic affirmation that “we are more than our physical bodies” underscores the shared model of a “nonlocal” Mind; (2) the active work with TMI’s “Guides” or “Inner Self Helpers” allows one to think of them as either “inside” oneself or “outside”; in shamanism, helping spirits are considered to be “outside” unless one is voluntarily merged with them, and the relationship is much more sacred and ceremonial.”
“During the Guidelines program, one of the first nights I had a very, very powerful dream in which I appeared. I felt that I was the child my mother had been. And this very traumatic experience happened. It awakened me with a shock. And I realized that a part of her had been so damaged that the rest of her whole life was affected by it. At that point, then, I decided that my next step would be to come back to Lifeline. Lifeline is a program that is about service.”
“So there is the Guidelines program, with the participation in the lab … we have what we call a PREP program, and I really wish I could remember what the acronym stands for: Personal [Resource] Exploration [Program]. Anyway, these are one-to-one sessions in, in the lab, either on neuro-mapping or our other system, where you can come here to make appointments, of course.”
“I've been a facilitator [in] residential programs with the Monroe Institute since 1993. I took my Gateway Voyage in 1989. And at that time, Gateway and Guidelines were the only programs available.”
Important things to consider
Expect your own form of contact
Accounts differ in form: a powerful dream for Laurie Monroe, guides that can be thought of as inside or outside oneself in Carson's account, and what McMoneagle calls informance. The Institute describes building a relationship over the week rather than promising a particular kind of encounter.
Treat guidance as input, not authority
Impressions that arrive in these states are subjective. Monroe's stance, as McMoneagle recalls it, was to know rather than believe, which means testing what you receive against experience. Be especially careful with decisions about health, money or legal matters, and get qualified human advice for them.
Read the prerequisites and check what is offered now
Gateway Voyage, in its residential, virtual or online form, is required, followed by an application. PREP is offered only at the Virginia campus, trainers can change, and the archive's descriptions of Guidelines date from different decades. Confirm current dates, requirements and fees on the Institute's program page.
The order of programs is flexible
Guidelines is often described as the next step after Gateway, but Carson took Lifeline and Guidelines in the same year as her Voyage, and Laurie Monroe went from Guidelines to Lifeline after a dream. Both programs list Gateway Voyage as the requirement; neither is listed as a prerequisite for the other.
What the sources do and do not establish
The Institute's description and participants' accounts document what the program offers and what people report. They do not show that guides exist independently of the person, and Carson's inside-or-outside framing shows that the program allows either reading.
Write it down
Impressions from deep relaxation fade quickly, like dreams. Keep a notebook beside you and record what you noticed, including any guidance, straight after each session; patterns across a week are more informative than any single moment.
Health caution
The Institute advises anyone with a history of seizures, auditory disorders or adverse mental health conditions to consult a physician before listening to Monroe Sound Science. Guidelines is an exploration practice, not a medical or psychological treatment.
Common questions
What is the Guidelines program at the Monroe Institute?
Guidelines is the Institute's second residential program, a five-day, six-night retreat for Gateway Voyage graduates, which the Institute calls a classic of more than forty years. Participants continue exploring Focus 15 (No Time) and Focus 21 (the Bridge), take a deeply meditative journey toward a lasting relationship with an inner helper, practice clear intention and manifestation, and later move from receiving guidance to sending healing energy to others. Nancy McMoneagle describes it as the program for people who want to get more in touch with their guidance, however they name it, and Laurie Monroe calls it often a next natural step after Gateway.
What is an inner self helper (ISH)?
ISH stands for inner self helper, one of the acronyms Monroe loved. In the Institute's usage it is the source of guidance you learn to consult, which Cecile Carson says can be understood as inside you or outside you. McMoneagle says you may call your guidance your guides, inner self helpers or angels, by whatever term. The Institute's page speaks of a trusted relationship with an inner-self helper and of receiving guidance from your higher self.
Do I need Gateway Voyage before taking Guidelines?
Yes. The Institute lists Guidelines as open only to Gateway Voyage graduates, in its residential, virtual or online form, and bookings require an application. Charlene Nicely, who took Gateway Voyage in 1989, recalls that Gateway and Guidelines were then the only programs the Institute offered, so Guidelines has long been the second stop. If you have only used the home Gateway Experience albums, check with the Institute about what counts before planning.
Are the guides real, or are they part of me?
The program does not require you to decide. Cecile Carson notes that the Institute's training allows you to think of your guides as inside yourself or outside, in contrast with shamanism, where helping spirits are usually considered outside you unless you voluntarily merge with them. McMoneagle says Monroe's stance was to know rather than believe: go and experience it for yourself, with the Institute providing a method to focus consciousness there. The accounts describe experiences; they do not show that guides exist independently of the person who reports them.
What is a PREP session?
PREP is the Personal Resource Exploration Program, a one-person session guided by a trainer. The Institute says Guidelines participants are eligible for a free PREP session in a special chamber on its Virginia campus, designed to help you lose your sense of physical boundaries; PREP is not offered at programs held elsewhere. A 2011 TMI Journal note describes it as customized, computer-generated sounds and verbal guidance from a trained facilitator in a secluded cubicle, and says it was then also available to Gateway graduates. In a Gateway Voyage talk Monroe described such one-to-one sessions as bookable by appointment in the lab.
Should I take Guidelines or Lifeline first?
Either can follow Gateway Voyage, and people have gone both ways. Laurie Monroe took Guidelines first; a dream there showed her that a part of her mother had been damaged by a traumatic experience, and she decided her next step was Lifeline, which she calls a program about service. Cecile Carson took Gateway Voyage, Lifeline and Guidelines in a single year. Guidelines concentrates on your relationship with inner guidance and on Focus 15 and 21, while Lifeline works in Focus 23 to 27 on retrieval and service, so choose by which interest is stronger.
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