My First Out-of-Body Experience
My first out-of-body experience came in a completely spontaneous manner and caught me by surprise. I was fairly young at the time and didn’t know anything about astral projection or shamanic practices, and I had never read about methods of how to do it, and didn’t have anyone explain it to me or that I could ask questions about it. So, when I did it accidentally one night while falling asleep, it kind of freaked me out, because once I realized I was no longer in my body, I didn’t know what to do or how to get back in it. The sensation of it being real was a bit overwhelming at first, although it was also one of the freest feelings I’ve ever had. Fortunately, once the panicked sensation subsided, what to do came naturally to me. I didn’t have to figure anything out, all I had to do was think about it and wonder where my body was.
When I was young and had trouble falling asleep at night, I would imagine I was flying high above the mountains and treetops, swooping down the valleys and up over the ridges. This created a very soothing feeling, and I fell asleep pretty quick while creating the feeling for having equally pleasant dreams. I did this for years and it always resulted in the same experience, until one night, as I swooped up over a mountain ridge and soared through the sky, I suddenly found myself flying effortlessly through space. At first, I got into it and revealed in the sensation, which was extraordinary, when all the sudden it dawned on me it was real. I was actually flying through outer space. I was no longer in my body, and had no awareness of my body, only the experience of being there consciously. I was actually there, flying through outer space without my body. For a few moments it felt exhilarating with an unbelievable feeling of freedom and expansion. It was the most pleasurable feeling I had ever experienced . . . when suddenly, I was overcome with sheer panic because I realized I didn’t know where my body was or how to find it.
But just thinking about it with a desire to return brought me back to my body instantly, where I found myself hovering above it, watching myself sleep. I recognized my body as being me, but I didn’t know how to get back in it. I finally used my will to enter and become centered in my body, but then I couldn’t move my arms or legs. I was concentrating on trying to wiggle some part of my body, and when I couldn’t, I thought . . . maybe I died or was gone too long. Then I started feeling the sensation of breathing, so I realized I was still alive. Then, after concentrating on the sensations I felt in my body, I was finally able to move my arms and legs, and I thought . . . good, I was able to make it back in time. I’m still alive. I still wasn’t quite sure of what had happened and what I had done differently that caused it to happen. This type of experience is very difficult to try and describe because there are no words appropriate for describing it. And explaining it is even more difficult because it comes as a direct experience that has no physical properties or sensations, it’s a pure mental experience that’s exalting.
After having that experience, I quit using that method to go to sleep at night. I started researching and investigating out-of-body experiences (OBE’s) and astral travel in whatever way I could. At that time, there wasn’t allot written about it and all research was done at the local library or by talking to people who were into metaphysical or psychic practices. But years later, when I was in school for Spiritual Sciences, astral projection, remote viewing, and Shamanic Journeying was a part of my studies. Some of the practices that referred to it as “astral projection” were extremely complicated and difficult to do, but as soon as I began learning about Shamanism, I realized, I had undergone what’s called a shamanic journey of flight into the underworld, a term used to describe the astral world which is interlaced with the physical world. It’s not above or below this realm as an actual destination, it’s parallel to it and interlaced with it energetically.
Later, when exploring the nature of death and our journey into the Afterlife (a parallel dimension that coexists within this one), when our soul separates from our body, and what is now called NDE’s – near death experiences – where you suddenly find yourself hovering above your body, watching it for a while before being drawn into what appears as a vortex of radiant light or a tunnel of spinning astral substance, and you have an experience of moving into an altered dimension while still being tethered to your body by what’s called a silver cord, which, if unbroken, serves to draw you back into your body – which is referred to as a golden cup – I realized that these were describing a similar type of experience. The only real difference is that one is self-induced while the other occurs in a completely natural and spontaneous way.
As long as the silver cord (etheric strand) isn’t broken, and remains intact and attached to your body, you’re not dead, and you can return to your body to continue your full life cycle and fulfill your reason for living. The silver cord, which is similar to an umbilical cord, only breaks when our life purpose has been fulfilled and we’re ready to transition, or when our body is injured beyond repair, or we’re killed violently, or through an accident that didn’t result from karma. When this happens, though the cord is severed and you die physically, your spirit remains in the astral plane of the Earth’s atmosphere, until your predestined life cycle ends naturally. I also came to understand how this process works through doing past life regressions as a hypnotic process, both as a direct experience where I was hypnotized and through participating in other people’s experience as their hypnotist (I’m board certified in Past Life Regression).
Once I had a true OBE using my own methods, I knew how to do it. Later, through my education, I studied several different methods of doing it, some of which were unbelievably complicated and technical, often instilling a sense of fear around what would happen if it wasn’t done properly, but the only one I found particularly meaningful was the shamanic journey of inter-dimensional flight. An important feature to keep in mind, regardless of the method you’re using, is that the body, which is normally in a trance state, can’t be moved while you’re out of it, yet, when your soul is out of your body, it doesn’t move of its own volition, because the soul is the animating force of the body. The only way it moves is if you do it while in an upright or insecure position, where you can possibly fall over, or if someone else moves you. Whenever doing an out-of-body flight, it’s important to lay down or position yourself so you can’t fall over, and if other people are around or may come into the room unexpectedly, it’s important to tell them not to move your body, which appears as though you’re asleep.
Transcendental Psychologist, Personal Transformation Mentor, and Spiritual Teacher
