I would like to add my 2 cents if I may. I go into sleep paralysis/astral projection quite often with no warning it just happens. I don't say to myself, hey why don't you get into that sleeping thing you do, my mind just does it. And I sleep on my side & NEVER on my back so not sure if that matters.
I honestly believe you have to be "heightened mentally" somehow in order to astral project. I meditate and have been doing it since about 15, this has opened my "third eye" thus resulting in it just happening.
If you want to astral project, learn to meditate, open up your third eye. Google and you tube how to open your third eye, once you've achieved this you will be able to astral project.
Anyways the key is to quieting your mind right before you go to sleep,( you learn this with meditation) right in between falling asleep and awake, I start to hear voices, can't really make out what anyone is saying, but I hear them, imagine being in classroom and everyone is talking and its loud. No screaming just talking.
Anyways I then go into sleep paralysis, I see myself, I fly around and I control it really well. Actually that's all I do is fly.
And I've gotten answers to questions that I wanted to know. I would literally ask my question out loud and a voice would just respond. I had questions about my life of when things were going to happen and I got the answers and it has all come to pass.
This is what you don't know. You can ask questions to help guide you and you will get your answer. Only problem is I don't know how to control what questions I ask, I usually ask the question of what is on my mind right before I quiet my mind when I am preparing to sleep.
Anyways I've literally raced with the Devil. Yes raced but we were fly racing like to see who could fly the fastest. It was very scary and I don't know if that part was a dream or if I was astral projecting. It felt extremely real. I go into different dimensions. I literally go from extreme to the next. There are so many different dimensions that its unbelievable.
But always remember you are in control when you astral project. You also can speak it and say I am in control then no thing will bother you.