Oh thank you for starting this thread we've been needing one like this for awhile!

I feel like I'm sounding more and more like a broken record these days, but other than chemicals the only thing I've found that gets me into an altered state is listening and practicing the Hemi-Sync tapes developed by Robert Monroe at the Monroe institute.

Forgive me if you've all read my rant on these tapes before, but they've been so successful for me I keep wanting to recommend them. For those that aren't aware, Robert Monroe was an astral projection pioneer. He first started having uncontrolled out-of-body experiences in the 1950's and continued to have them until his death close to the turn of the century. During his explorations he developed a way to induce the out-of-body state by utilizing brain wave syncronization sounds and developed a whole research institute dedicated to researching altered states.

Having used a variety of the meditations and visualization techniques others have already mentioned, the Hemi-Sync tapes are the only thing I've used that actually produces a noticeable result in my awareness within roughly 30min of doing the exercises. Granted, I haven't tried ALL avenues of conciousness expansion, but why kick what works right? I'd highly recommend them.