To experience the out-of-body phenomena can at first be very scary. If you have no idea what’s happening to you, then yes, of course, it can be frightening. In science, this experience is called sleep paralysis. If you have experienced these states, you, like the rest of us, will have experienced something very magical and spiritual.

What Is Sleep Paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon in which a person either during falling asleep (Hypnagogia) or awakening (Hypnopompia), temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak, or react. It is a transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, characterised by muscle atonia (muscle weakness). It is often accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (such as an intruder in the room) to which one is unable to react due to paralysis, and physical experiences (such as strong current running through the upper body). One hypothesis is that it results from disrupted REM sleep, which normally induces complete muscle atonia to prevent sleepers from acting out their dreams. Sleep paralysis has been linked to disorders such as narcolepsy, migraines, anxiety disorders, and obstructive sleep apnea; however, it can also occur in isolation.

So, what is really going on? This to me just explains one point of view. Normally to those who have never experienced such states will use this term. You may find an out-of-body experience (OBE) is a call to you. Is something trying to tell you something? What messages will you receive?

How To Achieve An Out-Of-Body Experience?

You can seek this phenomenon within your lifetime by actually seeking it. For some people, it may happen naturally or by putting the body under extreme conditions.

In some cases, it may have been passed to you through heredity. One or a line of your ancestors may have experienced it throughout their lifetime and passed it down to the next generation (you) through genetics. If you have experienced this without even trying, you may be in this group and now are seeking the answers as to what is happening to you.

Some conditions that might provoke this state;

  1. Extreme tiredness
  2. Poor sleep patterns
  3. Sleeping on your back
  4. Excessive training (bodybuilding, running, jogging, high endurance activities) which causes the body to build and repair over weeks, months and years of training
  5. Meditating and going beyond the 4th state
  6. Imagery techniques.

 

These variables can put your body into a state of falling asleep and waking up at the same time. To experience this state is the doorway to achieve the out-of-body experience. This can happen if you’re resting on your bed, on the sofa, on public transport or anywhere else you may be snoozing. However, you want to try and achieve this state through imagery techniques or meditation. This is safer and you have more control over the experience.

Using Imagery

Imagery is a technique used in combination with meditation. This is the best way to look at any type of long-term results. Although meditation is slightly different, they both tend to resonate at the same frequency. Here is a list to help you achieve the journey of flight;

  • Find a quiet place without any distractions
  • Look at a clock or watch and note the time
  • Tell yourself that you want to wake up 30 minutes from now (like when you set your human alarm clock before bedtime and then you wake up just before the alarm goes off)
  • Close your eyes and relax
  • Breath slowly and look through yourself (Don’t look inwards at the dark, look outwards through your eyelids) for the next 5 minutes
  • Now start to build the room you’re sitting in (within your mind)
  • Add the windows, the doors, the furniture
  • Now start adding in small details – textures, patterns, the chips of paint on the skirting board
  • The more detail you add the better
  • Project yourself sitting in the room
  • Walk around the room and look out the window
  • Sit back in yourself and stand back up and walk around again
  • Practise this until you can vividly see the world in your mind as a reality
  • Now ask yourself what the time is? Do you need to wake up yet?
  • Do you feel lightness, asleep, yet awake?

Practise this until you feel a change in frequency* over your body. You should experience a path to an out-of-body experience.

*There are four brainwave states that range from the high amplitude, low-frequency delta to the low amplitude, high-frequency beta. These brainwave states range from deep dreamless sleep to high arousal. The same four brainwave states are common to the human species. Men, women and children of all ages experience the same characteristic brainwaves. They are consistent across cultures and country boundaries. Reference.

Tricking Your Body Clock

The best way or more simple way to achieve this state is to think about it before you go to sleep while sitting up (or placing your head on 2 to 3 pillows) on your bed. The bedroom is comfy, familiar and safe. These factors are important because they make you relax. Now try this;

  1. Look at the time on your alarm clock
  2. Tell yourself that you want to fall asleep but wake up in about 1hour
  3. Close your eyes and fall asleep
  4. Keep reminding yourself that you need to be up soon
  5. Fall asleep but fight it a little (You can do this by opening your eyes every so often)
  6. Keep doing this over and over but keep reminding yourself that you need to be up soon.

 

What you’re actually doing is tricking your body into a false sense of sleep mode. You’re keeping your mind active but letting your body fall asleep. This can activate the sleep paralysis mode that we talked about earlier. If you wake up and find your body is asleep and it feels like you are being held down, well done! you have just reached the first step into the full flight mode. Don’t be scared of this, it’s normal to actually feel scared, worried or panicked. On the first instance, you will fight to wake up and pull yourself from this occurrence.

You should be able to achieve this state by practising the above over and over. Once you can get there it’s now time to move onto the next step.

out-of-body-experience

An Out-Of-Body Experience.

Here is a journey of sensations and feelings to help sustain and obtain an out-of-body experience.

  • You have awoken and found your body is numb and you can’t move
  • It feels like someone or something is holding you down or sitting on your chest
  • You can see the room and know you are safe
  • You can detect a very high pitched noise (frequency) inside your mind and ears
  • Relax and let that frequency get louder and higher
  • Go with it, don’t reject the motion it delivers to you
  • Don’t break out of the numbness and try and sit up
  • You are safe and you’re now starting to feel free
  • Cycle the frequency inside your mind and let it build up to an explosion
  • Once the frequency stops or flatlines you will hear a perfect silence
  • You should now feel light and start to rise from your body
  • Go with it and don’t be afraid
  • You have reached the beautiful and heightened state of the out-of-body experience
  • Float around your room, open the window and venture outside a little
  • When you’re ready to come back and lie back over your body – do so…
  • You should now softly wake up and be mesmerised about what you just achieved.

You have controlled your inner fear and completed something that not many people can achieve. This type of personal achievement can lead to a spiritual awakening. If you are cycling these states often, make use of them because it’s the only way to fly and they don’t last forever. They tend to leave you and become harder to achieve. Sometimes, as life goes on, they come back and remind you that life is not what you think it is.

Can Your Soul Leave The Body While Sleeping?

Your soul is an energy source that cannot be broken in this dimension. Once it’s born into this reality it builds a conscious to help accept that this state of life is all real. The human skeleton is a ship and the energy inside your mind is the captain. You are here to explore, learn, give, understand, communicate and bend the reality you live in – to obtain an experience. knowing your soul is energy, helps you leaving your ship within the dream world, through meditation and by having the out-of-body experience. There are many variables linked to these words that you read before you. Anyone can write a paragraph and say yes! the soul can leave the body while you’re sleeping. However, in order to experience it, you need to seek it and actually try it.

The dream world works on a slightly different frequency, you are entering into a different dimension that bends time and helps your conscious deal with the reality it is bound to for this short time.

What Does Out Of Body Feel Like?

Have you ever felt like a slave in this modern-day system? You are a tiny, insignificance, in a clock that keeps ticking. Breaking free is all in your mind, hence the seeking of something beyond the normality of this ideology. The out-of-body experience feels like;

  1. Freedom
  2. Escapism
  3. Light
  4. Peaceful
  5. Exciting
  6. Alive
  7. Quiet.

 

Not all of us seek these things, many of us are happy with the reality that’s in front of us. Some of us know and seek something that goes beyond the realms of this fantasy, and some of us know the answers.

What Does An Out Of Body Experience Mean?

This type of experience can have an infinite amount of meaning to the person receiving them. It depends on their culture, education, religious status or other variables that are relative to their being. Assumptions and conclusions can be made that changes their life plan, direction or it could give them the answers to situations that happen in the future. It can mean nothing or it can mean everything.

As the writer of this article for my website, I can tell you that when I first started to experience this phenomenon (around 16years of age), it scared the life out of me. I thought I was being abducted by aliens in the middle of the night. It took me around 2 years to accept the high frequencies until they exploded and I had the full out-of-body experience. I thought everyone had them until I started discussing it with friends and family and they thought I was mad. At that time, the experiences didn’t really mean anything, however, I now understand they are linked to: mediation, life cycles, dreams, alternative dimensions, the future and deep thought processes that build the entirety of this website and books I’ve completed and still working on.

out-of-body-into-the-universe

From A Scientific Perspective

From a scientific perspective, an out-of-body experience (OBE) is a phenomenon in which a person feels as though they are observing their own body from a location outside of it. These experiences can be vivid and realistic, and individuals often report a sense of floating or hovering above their physical body.

There are several theories in neuroscience and psychology that attempt to explain the phenomenon of OBEs:

Multisensory Integration Theory

This theory suggests that the brain integrates information from various sensory modalities (such as vision, proprioception, and vestibular senses) to create our perception of self and body position. During an OBE, this integration process may temporarily malfunction, leading to a sense of detachment from one’s physical body.

Temporal Lobe Activity

Some researchers propose that OBEs may be linked to abnormal activity in the temporal lobes of the brain. The temporal lobes are associated with processing sensory input and are also implicated in certain altered states of consciousness.

Role of the Angular Gyrus

The angular gyrus is a region of the brain involved in processing sensory information and is associated with self-awareness. Some research suggests that dysfunction in this area may contribute to OBEs.

Virtual Reality Hypothesis

This theory suggests that OBEs may be a result of the brain’s misinterpretation of sensory input. Similar to how virtual reality can trick the brain into perceiving a different reality, certain circumstances or conditions might lead the brain to generate a sense of being outside the body.

Neurochemical and Neuroelectrical Factors

Some studies have explored the role of neurotransmitters and electrical activity in the brain in inducing OBE-like experiences. Changes in brain chemistry or electrical patterns may influence how sensory information is processed.

Moreover, while these theories provide potential explanations for OBEs, the phenomenon is still not completely understood, and experiences can vary widely among individuals. Additionally, not all scientists agree on the validity of these theories, and more research is needed to gain a comprehensive understanding of OBEs from a scientific perspective.

spiritual-out-of-body

A Spiritual Perspective

From a spiritual perspective, an out-of-body experience (OBE) is often interpreted as a separation of the consciousness or soul from the physical body. Different spiritual and religious traditions have their own interpretations of OBEs:

Astral Projection

Many spiritual beliefs posit the existence of an astral body or energy body that is distinct from the physical body. During an OBE, it is believed that the individual’s consciousness can leave the physical form and travel in this astral form. This is often associated with the idea of exploring other realms or dimensions.

Near-Death Experience (NDE)

In some spiritual views, an OBE can occur during a near-death experience, where a person’s consciousness leaves their body as they approach death. People who have had NDEs often report a sense of peace, a feeling of being outside their body, and sometimes encounters with deceased loved ones or spiritual beings.

Mystical and Meditative Traditions

Various spiritual practices, such as meditation, deep prayer, or certain rituals, are believed to facilitate altered states of consciousness, including OBEs. In these traditions, an OBE may be seen as a means of transcending the limitations of the physical world and gaining deeper spiritual insights or experiences.

Reincarnation and Past-Life Regression

Some spiritual beliefs incorporate the notion of reincarnation, where the soul undergoes multiple lifetimes. During an OBE, individuals may believe they are accessing past-life memories or connecting with other incarnations of themselves.

Spiritual Growth and Transformation

Some spiritual perspectives view OBEs as opportunities for personal growth, self-realization, and spiritual evolution. Experiencing life outside of the physical body can lead to a broader understanding of existence and one’s purpose in the universe.

Interpretations of OBEs vary widely among different spiritual and religious traditions. While some embrace these experiences as evidence of the soul’s separateness from the body, others may view them as illusions or manifestations of altered states of consciousness. As with scientific perspectives, beliefs about OBEs are highly subjective and influenced by cultural, philosophical, and personal factors.

5 thoughts on “An Out Of Body Experience

  1. Tony says:

    Ive recently started writing a personal book about my life and different experiences I’ve gone through. (In Spanish) I’ve had many OBE though never really felt them as more than dreams that just happened to become reality. Not entirely sure what to call them. Anyway in the first chapter of my book i talk about my birth and what my mother went through. Ill be brief but maybe you can help me understand what she saw.
    I was born 3 days before one of mexicos biggest earthquakes. Sept. 1985, one night before the quake my mother woke up during midnight and saw a women in the corner of her hospital room. The women had the same bracelet, same haircut and taking a better glance my mom realized it was her self crying. She closed her eyes and prayed until she fell Sleep. My father was in the room that night and said he too woke up during midnight with a strange chilly sensation. He says he saw my mom crying in the corner of her bed but in a very distinct manner. Something felt strange and he decided to close his eyes and cover himself rather than checking if his wife was ok. The next morning my mom went into the shower and felt the same feeling sha had the night before.this time she imagined the hospital falling and thinking what could she do to save her newborn in such case… after her shower she returned to bed and was informed within minutes by the nurse that mexico city was complete chaos. An earthquake had just brought down buildings and the death toll was high.

    She was just recovering from giving birth, she had lack of sleep and posible under meds. All these im sure factor in. Is it possible it was more than that? And possibly she passed something along to me, explaining my own experiences?

    • D. J. Irvine says:

      Hi Tony, thanks for stopping by, and I hope your new book is coming on well. There could be many explanations as to why your mum saw herself after giving birth to you. It sounds like she may have been very scared and unsure at that moment we define as a present state of reality. Those feelings could have projected through her OBE experience. She was just seeing a state of her subconsciousness. Feelings can create a power ripple across your timeline and define moments that will never be forgotten. I don’t think it ment anything for your or her future but defined that moment in time as memorable. The fact you were born into a moment of conflict can define change and a prosperous future life. Nicola Tesla was born on a night of a wild thunderstorm and changed the world with his inventions; what will you do? šŸ˜‰šŸ‘

  2. Pingback: What Are The Different States Of Meditation? – Paradoxical Vista – Poetry & Wisdom

  3. Eli says:

    Just came across this article and everything youā€™ve described fits me. Iā€™ve suppressed it for years because I walked through a red wall that shook me like crazy. It didnā€™t hurt as I walked through it but I was suddenly in someone elseā€™s house. Standing in their kitchen area. I heard someone moving around in the back bedroom and it scared me so much that I ā€œshotā€ back into my body.
    Iā€™ve recently experienced seeing through my eyelids again but I stop there. I canā€™t do it. Where does it all lead to and what do I do with all this??
    Thank you for the article!

    • D.J. Irvine says:

      Hi Eli, an out-of-body experience normally comes as part of your spiritual growth or journey while here on Earth. You may be seeking alternative answers because you are questioning your state of reality. Walking through walls, seeing through your eyelids, feeling fear and jumping back into your body are good signs for you. Explore your senses as they are showing you there is more to life than what you are doing. Your higher state of consciousness wants you to seek an alternative. It might be education, fitness, a new job, travelling or even using your creative side to express yourself. Listen to your intuition and do!

Leave a Reply