Astral projection in theory is not difficult in itself, as easy as staying awake when falling asleep, sounds simple doesn’t it? However, it can take practise. Just lay in bed and keep your mind awake while you fall asleep. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve tried this technique but have been too tired to hang on to my mind, sometimes I manage it sometimes I don’t. After all, sinking down into sleep is such a pleasant sensation when it’s cold outside and the bed is just so warm and cosy.
I had my first conscious out-of-body experience using this method, but I was actually tring to lucid dream I wasn’t practising astral projection. I didn’t feel I was ready to leave my body at that time but obviously someone thought differently, I remember how wonderful it felt to slowly sink down and let my body fall asleep while I was quietly observing in the background, then as my body fell asleep I felt all tingly with energy and before I knew it I was floating above my body.
So how did I do it, how did I manage to keep my mind awake while my body fell asleep?
The first thing to do is make sure you are not too tired, so make sure ou have a few hours sleep before trying, practicing this technique as soon as you go to bed is not a good idea as your mind may not want to play until it has zoned out for a few hours. When it begins to surface again is an excellent time to try for an OBE, your body is still tired but your mind is ready for a bit of action. A good thing to do is just get up briefly to tune your mind in, don’t do too much or your body will wake up too much, just go to the loo or walk around the room. When you try to astral project don’t lie in a position that is too comfortable or you may just drop off due to habit.
I will now describe what I did that first time I went from mind awake/body awake to mind awake/body asleep. I started to imagine myself in a lift going down and down, always further down, I tried to feel as if I was going down not just visualise it. I reproduced the sensation in my body, forever further down. The trick is to keep your mind awake but without concentrating too hard, the mind should be like a quiet observer in the background, concentrating too hard will keep you awake, yet you do have to remain gently focused or your mind will wander off into thoughts, wonderings and eventually into sleep.
As you sink down it is essential to keep a check on your emotions any strong emotional reactions, positive or negative will pull you out of your relaxed, focused state, so whatever happens stay cool, calm and collected during the whole process. You may see weird stuff, colours, shapes, you may hear noises, voices etc, just accept it all as normal and remain quietly present through it all. Things may even seem to get ‘physical’ in that you may feel sensations that you are not used to, it may feel as if your heart is pumping its way to a heart attack but this is your heart chakra (energy centre) not your physical heart. You may or may not feel varying degrees of vibrations, these can vary from very strong vibrations to a slight tingling sensation again stay calm, if you panic or react strongly you will wake up.
Just go with it all, you can scream and shout when you wake up but while it’s all happening remain calm. Once you feel you are in the mind awake/body asleep state focus your attention on the window or any point away from your physical body, try to feel yourself floating above your physical body and over to the window. Keep the experience short for the first few OBEs then you will have more chance of remembering the whole thing when you re-enter.
If you don’t succeed the first time, keep trying, each time you wake up during the night try again, don’t get disheartened, it took me a lot of practice before I had any success. Whatever you do, don’t give up.
i had an odd experience with this method this morning. i’ve been using it before bed but i tend to let my mind drone on and on instead of letting it be a quiet observer. so last night i tried letting go of expectations a bit more.
well, i was up and down all night, not getting consistent sleep or dreaming well. each time (at 2am, 330, 450) i went through my intention and relaxation program and just let go.
finally i find myself in a quasi-lucid dream about inanimate objects coming to life. then the dream is over, i’m awake on my back, eyes still closed and for the very first time ever i feel very strong vibration, hear a loud techno-sound and feel my whole body levitate in one very purposeful wooosh.
wow! i assumed i was out. i was not afraid but i wanted to see so i opened my eyes and it ended. i tried to keep the vibrations from fading, or to rebuild them but that was it.
i felt such a feeling of universal love, appreciation, validation that my years of effort had finally confirmed what others had told me about! also, there was no going back to sleep. too much energy.
but now i wonder how to build on this. will it always be so spontaneous? can i induce the transition from wakefulness now that i’ve felt it or must it always be a wake-up surprise after a restless night?
any ideas would be appreciated.
The universal love feeling is truly incredible, it is difficult to know how to build on these experiences. Maybe we are meant to bring the feeling into our physical lives. My OBEs are sometimes induced sometimes spontaneous, sometimes I don’t even feel like it or if they happen too often I feel I need time to consolidate.