--- title: "Focus 10: Mind Awake, Body Asleep and How to Reach It" description: "Focus 10 is the Gateway course’s name for “mind awake, body asleep”. It sits near sleep onset, where 15 seconds of drowsiness helped people spot a rule." url: https://shimmr.app/learn/focus-10/ --- - [Learn](https://shimmr.app/learn/) - [Meditation](https://shimmr.app/learn/meditation/) # Focus 10: what “mind awake, body asleep” means and how to reach it Focus 10 is the Gateway course’s name for “mind awake, body asleep”. It sits near sleep onset, where 15 seconds of drowsiness helped people spot a rule. The Shimmr team Updated Oct 31, 2026 5 min read - **What Focus 10 is:** the Gateway Experience’s label for a state of deep physical relaxation with the mind still alert, summed up as “mind awake, body asleep”. - **The Focus levels:** in the course, Focus 10 comes first, then Focus 12 “expanded awareness”, Focus 15 “no time” and Focus 21 “the bridge”; these are the course’s own labels, not states that science measures. - **The nearest science:** the drift into sleep, called N1 or the hypnagogic state, where people stay briefly aware; in a 2021 study of 103 people, at least 15 seconds there nearly tripled the chance of spotting a hidden rule. - **How to reach it:** lie down, relax your body part by part, keep your attention on one thing, and give it 15 to 30 minutes, with a slow theta beat if you like. - **Without the tapes:** the same steps appear in yoga nidra and NSDR, so you do not need any one recording to practise them. Hear it ## What is Focus 10? Focus 10 is the name the Gateway Experience gives to a state where your body is deeply relaxed and still while your mind stays awake, often summed up as “mind awake, body asleep”. The Gateway Experience is a home audio course from the Monroe Institute, built on its Hemi-Sync method of layered binaural beats. Focus 10 is the first big step in it. The numbers are the course’s own labels, not measurements. They mark steps along the course, much like numbered stops on a map. A [1983 US Army assessment](https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210016-5) of the course by Lieutenant Colonel Wayne M. McDonnell, now in the CIA reading room, describes how listeners are guided there: progressive physical relaxation while pink and white noise is added to the sound, designed to bring the body to “the virtual threshold of sleep”. Our guide to the [Gateway tapes](https://shimmr.app/learn/gateway-tapes/) covers the course and that report in full. ## What is the difference between Focus 10 and Focus 12? Focus 10 is relaxing the body while staying awake; Focus 12 is what the course calls expanded awareness, built on top of that. In the 1983 report, a listener who has reached Focus 10 is “now ready” for Focus 12, with more layers of noise added to the tape. In practice, Focus 10 is about letting the body go, and Focus 12 is about what the course asks the mind to do once it is there. ## What are Focus 12, 15 and 21? Focus 12, 15 and 21 are the Gateway course’s later levels, each said to build on the one before: “expanded awareness”, “no time” and “the bridge”. The home course reaches them in later Waves, after Wave I has taught Focus 10, which is why it is meant to be played in order; our guide on [how to listen to the Gateway tapes](https://shimmr.app/learn/how-to-listen-gateway-tapes/) covers that order. | Level | How the course describes it | | --- | --- | | Focus 10 | Mind awake, body asleep | | Focus 12 | Expanded awareness | | Focus 15 | No time | | Focus 21 | The bridge | The 1983 assessment describes the later levels in the Monroe Institute’s own terms. These are the course’s aims, not results: - **Focus 12:** a state of “greatly expanded awareness”, reached with more pink and white noise on the tape. The report says this is where the course’s “tools” are used, such as problem solving, where you hold a question and wait for the answer, and “patterning”, where you picture a goal as already reached. - **Focus 15:** the “no time” level, which the report describes as travel into the past. It calls Focus 15 “extremely difficult to achieve” and estimates that probably under 5% of participants fully reach it in about seven days of Gateway training. - **Focus 21:** “the bridge”, which the report calls the last and most advanced level of the training, aimed at the future rather than the past. It says this is probably reached only after months, if not years, of practice. Read the table and these notes as a description of the course, not of the brain. No study has shown that Focus 12, 15 or 21 are distinct states you could pick out on an EEG, the test that records brain rhythms through the scalp. Focus 10 is the one level that clearly lines up with something science does study. ## Is Focus 10 the same as falling asleep? Focus 10 is close to falling asleep, but the aim is to stay at the edge rather than go over. Every night you pass through a short, light stage called N1, the hypnagogic state: your muscles loosen, your thoughts drift into images, and you are still partly aware of the room. Our article on the [hypnagogic state](https://shimmr.app/learn/hypnagogic-state/) explains what happens there. This edge has real effects. In a [2021 study in Science Advances](https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj5866), 103 people worked on number problems that held a hidden shortcut. Those who spent at least 15 seconds in N1 during a rest break found the shortcut 83% of the time, against 30% for those who stayed awake. The benefit vanished in people who slipped into deeper sleep. That study did not test Focus 10 or any recording. But it shows why a state that hovers at sleep onset can feel vivid and useful: the trick is balancing on the edge without falling in. ## How do you reach Focus 10? You reach Focus 10 by relaxing your body fully while giving your mind one small job, so it does not drift off. These steps follow the same outline as the course: 1. **Lie down.** Somewhere warm and quiet, at a time you are not exhausted, so you do not fall straight asleep. 2. **Relax your body in order.** Move from your feet to your head, letting each part go heavy. 3. **Slow your breathing.** Let each breath out be longer than the breath in. 4. **Keep one point of attention.** A sound, your breath, or a simple count keeps the mind awake. 5. **Give it time.** Expect 15 to 30 minutes, and several sessions before it feels familiar. A slow beat in the theta range, 4 to 8 Hz, suits this edge, since theta is the rhythm of drowsiness. Shimmr is not affiliated with the Monroe Institute and does not contain the Gateway tapes or their Focus levels. In the app, the Tense → At Ease Shift glides from Beta to Theta over 15 minutes, and Journeys guide your attention through weight, breath and sound. Isochronic theta sessions work on speakers if you would rather not wear headphones. A Journey is a guided session: a quiet voice leads you slowly into a quieter state, leaves you a long quiet stretch, then brings you back, while the tones and soundscape change with you. Journeys are original sessions designed for relaxation. The first, Arrival, takes about 14 minutes: you notice your weight, your breath and the sounds around you, then hear a tone in your left ear, then your right, then both, where you may notice a soft shimmer between them. After that there is quiet time to practise settling on your own, and the voice can be turned down or off. ## Can you reach Focus 10 without the Gateway tapes? Yes. The state itself, a still body and a wakeful mind, is not owned by any course. Yoga nidra and non-sleep deep rest guide you to the same place with body scans and breath, which our guide to [NSDR and yoga nidra](https://shimmr.app/learn/nsdr/) covers step by step. Be realistic about the sound. A [2023 review of 14 EEG studies](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286023) found binaural beats made brainwaves follow the beat in five, not in eight, and mixed results in one. The beat can help you settle and hold your attention, but the relaxation and practice do most of the work. If you nod off, that is normal and harmless: it means your body needed sleep. Never listen while driving, and if you have epilepsy, talk to your doctor before using rhythmic sound. - [Mind awake, body asleep Let your body sleep. Keep your mind quietly awake.](https://shimmr.app/mind-awake-body-asleep/) In the app Arrival · Weight, breath, sound · 14 min The first of Shimmr’s Journeys: a quiet voice guides you through your weight, your breath and the tones, then gives you time to settle. ## Common questions **What is Focus 10?** Focus 10 is a level in the Gateway Experience audio course, described as “mind awake, body asleep”. The body is deeply relaxed and still while the mind stays alert. **How do you reach Focus 10?** Lie down, slow your breathing and relax your body from head to feet, while keeping a small part of your attention awake. Most people need 15 to 30 minutes of regular practice, and a slow theta beat at a low volume can help. **What is the difference between Focus 10 and Focus 12?** In the Gateway course, Focus 10 is the relaxed body with an alert mind, and Focus 12 is called “expanded awareness”, a wider, more open attention built on top of it. Both are labels from the course, not scientific categories. **What are Focus 15 and Focus 21?** In the Gateway course, Focus 15 is called “no time” and Focus 21 “the bridge”. A 1983 US Army assessment calls them the most advanced levels, reached by few people and only after long practice, and no study has measured either as a distinct brain state. **Can you reach Focus 10 without the Gateway tapes?** Yes, the basic state of a still body and a wakeful mind is the same one practised in yoga nidra, NSDR and body scan meditation. A theta binaural beat or isochronic tone can help you hold it. Keep reading - [Meditation The Gateway tapes: what they are, what the CIA report says and the binaural beats inside](https://shimmr.app/learn/gateway-tapes/) - [Sleep The hypnagogic state: what happens at the edge of sleep and how to stay there](https://shimmr.app/learn/hypnagogic-state/) - [Meditation NSDR (non sleep deep rest): what it is, how it compares to yoga nidra and how to do it](https://shimmr.app/learn/nsdr/) This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Binaural beats are not a treatment for insomnia or any other condition.