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How to Astral Project and Have
Out of Body Experiences

Astral projection (or astral travel) is an esoteric interpretation of an Out of Body Experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a spirit that can separate and roam freely beyond the physical body. The idea sounds bizarre and so far the closest we have come to rationalizing it is that astral travel is a type of lucid dream. Indeed, there are many astral travelers who believe just that...

What is Astral Projection?

I have no doubt that many millions of people have experienced what some call "astral travel". I have experienced it myself almost accidentally while practicing meditation and lucid dreaming techniques. It is an all-consuming experience.

It can be defined as a feeling of floating as you fall asleep at night, or even waking up to find you are literally floating six feet above your bed. Advanced astral travelers report incredible flights of fancy around planet Earth and into alternate realms, communicating with alien life forms and deceased spirits.

The main thing to appreciate about astral travel is that it occurs at night, when our minds slip from the logical waking world, to a world of fanciful dreams and impossibilities. If you were a spiritual person, you might say your astral experiences prove the existence of an afterlife. However, a rational person might say it is too subjective and shares many common elements with a Wake Induced Lucid Dream.

So who's right? No-one can definitively tell you what astral projection is until we understand the science behind the underlying mechanism: the out of body experience. So the question is, what are out of body experiences?

What are Out of Body Experiences?

Out of body experiences have been reported in clinical conditions where brain function is compromised - such as stroke, epilepsy, head trauma and drug abuse. These may also be described as Near Death Experiences (NDEs).

However, OBEs can also be induced through meditation and without any hint of brain damage. Around 1 in 10 people have had an OBE at some stage in their lives.

In 2007, neuroscientist Dr Henrik Ehrsson at University College London deliberately induced out of body experiences in volunteers. The study, which was published in the journal Science, created a unique illusion that mimics an OBE.

Ehrsson used head-mounted displays to enable participants to watch a live film recorded by two video cameras behind their head. This enabled them to see their own back from the third-person perspective of someone sitting behind them.

The researcher then prodded the volunteer, while moving a second rod towards where the illusory chest was located. By giving the brain these multiple sensory cues, the volunteers reported the experience of sitting several feet outside their physical body and actually seeing it from that location.

Dr Ehrsson said: "Out-of-body experiences have fascinated mankind for millennia. Their existence has raised fundamental questions about the relationship between human consciousness and the body, and has been much discussed in theology, philosophy and psychology...

"The invention of this illusion is important because it reveals the basic mechanism that produces the feeling of being inside the physical body. This represents a significant advance because the experience of one's own body as the centre of awareness is a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness."

You can read about this study in full at Out of Body Experiences at UCL.

What is The Difference Between Astral Projection / OBEs and Lucid Dreaming?

Scientific research and personal experience suggests that all three events are types of inward experiences created by the mind while the body is asleep.

I don't believe a soul literally travels outside of the body, as described by fans of astral projection. I think we are all very capable of manipulating our dreams and exploring them consciously, and this can give the illusion of leaving the body, into another dimension - which is really an internal dreamworld.

Many people will tell you otherwise... and this is where we cross over from science into faith. That's because a lot of people believe in the soul and the afterlife, and astral projection aligns with this notion. At the end of the day, you can interpret a real experience of flying through clouds as a lucid dream, as a spiritual journey out of the body, or as something else altogether (how good is your imagination?)

Modern scientific research supports these events as being extensions of the lucid dream world, and until I have further evidence, that's my position too...

How to Astral Project

So we know that out of body experiences can be artificially produced in waking subjects, and that astral projection is most likely a form of WILD lucid dream.

Based on this, it's time to try an experiment of our own. We're going to mediate and reproduce this same sensation of moving our full awareness out of body:

Step 1 - Relax Your Mind and Body

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Make sure the room is quiet and there are no distractions. You must be able to shut off from the outside world and not be startled by anything - including voices, telephones and footsteps.

Begin to meditate, either naturally or using brainwave entrainment. I recommend the Astral Projection MP3 for this purpose. The idea is it relaxes you deeply and provides a point of focus for your brain while your body falls asleep.

Take some deep breaths and clear your mind completely. Don't think about anything - allow your thoughts to pass by in their own time.

Starting from your feet, tighten and then relax every muscle group in your body. Spend more time on your face, jaw and neck where you hold most tension. Keep going until you can no longer feel anything and begin to disassociate from your body. You may begin to feel floating limbs or that your arms are in different positions than they were previously. This shows it is working.

Step 2 - Shift Your Awareness

After 5-15 minutes you will be extremely relaxed. When you have little bodily sensation left, shift your awareness away from your body and gaze into the black space in front of you. Visualize distant stars and planets if you like, and be aware of the images arising in your mind's eye, beyond your field of vision. This is also known as "falling asleep consciously". You are tricking your body into thinking you have gone to sleep. Don't move a muscle - stay fully relaxed.

At this stage you may feel the effects of sleep paralysis, as if there is a lead weight moving over your body. Let it come, knowing that your attempt to astral project is working. However, some people never feel this at all, because their awareness is already focused well beyond the physical body.

As your mind wanders further into the blackness, you may be startled by a loud vibrating or humming noise inside your head. This is just another phase in the out-of-body process. Think of this as the static noise on a radio between two frequencies. Ignore it. (Actually, the first few times this will be very difficult to ignore because it can be deafening. It will likely ruin your first few attempts to astral project but it is an important landmark to reach nonetheless.)

Step 3 - Move Out of Body

The humming noise, however deafening, will pass in a matter of seconds and once that happens, you will be free to move your awareness outside of your physical body. You are now in a lucid dreamworld, where your thoughts become extremely powerful and control all movement.

Being careful not to move your physical body at this crucial moment, use one of the following methods to leave your body:

• Float out - visualize your viewpoint has risen a few feet into the air.
  
• Swing out - visualize a swing, forming longer arcs as you gain momentum.
  
• Sink out - imagine your dream body slowly dropping through the bed.
  
• Roll out - visualize yourself turning on your side and rolling over.
  
• Teleport out - imagine another location and engage your senses.

You will naturally regain your vision when your awareness leaves your physical body. Some astral travelers claim that this is the key difference between astral projection and lucid dreaming; it is about quality of vision. If things appear blurry or vague, I recommend using these techniques to enhance your lucidity.

Final Thoughts

What is astral travel like? To learn more, I recommend a book called Journeys Out of The Body by Robert Monroe. This is an engaging introduction to out of body experiences, relating how Monroe began having involuntary OBEs in the 1950s and first thought he was going mad. He includes some shocking diary excerpts from a rational scientific perspective. He went on to found The Monroe Institute, a non-profit education and research foundation dedicated to exploring human consciousness. Monroe died at the age of 79 in 1995.

Although a scientist at heart, Monroe took a spiritual perspective of his experiences beyond the body. Even so, his journals make a fascinating read and I have no doubt the experiences, though internal, were real enough to warrant close inspection.