Ever hear of an out-of-body experience (OBE)? You’ve probably heard of injured people having a near-death experience and hovering over their body. Or, you’ve seen Dr. Strange force Spider-Man’s astral body out of his physical body. All of these are examples of astral projection. So, how do you astral project?
In your astral body, you’re free to fly anywhere at the speed of light. Everything manifests instantly, and you can talk to other entities in the astral realm. Sounds too good to be true? Plenty of people have been doing it for generations. Let’s get into how you can astral project too.
What is Astral Projection?
Basically, astral projection is an out-of-body experience. It’s an event where your astral body (sometimes referred to as your spirit, soul, or consciousness) separates from your physical body, and enters the astral plane. The astral plane is a realm of higher existence, where you can interact with other entities and travel anywhere you set your mind to.
There are multiple levels of reality, and the astral plane is said to be in the fourth dimension. The fourth dimension is the same as our reality, except time isn’t linear. It makes sense since you are not bound by time when you astral project. Some people say they can visit the past and the future, and it feels like time moves faster.
Think about it like this: Do you believe in life after death? That your soul will leave your physical body and travel to some other place – heaven, Valhalla, or some other realm? Astral projection is a similar experience (don’t worry, you’re not dying), except there is a silver string attaching you to your physical body. You are always attached to your body, and can come back to it anytime. The silver cord is infinite and unbreakable, so it doesn’t limit your travelling; it’s just keeps you tethered to home.
Scientific Research
Astral projection is a skill that can be learned and practiced by anyone. In fact, there are numerous government research projects trying to understand astral travel so they can use it as a form of reconnaissance. Sounds freaky, but it proves that the science backs it up.
Take the famous CIA documents. They conclude that astral projection is very real, not that they call it that. The only reason the program ended was because they couldn’t use it for intelligence like they had planned. If it’s no good for spying, what’s the point? Notice the sarcasm.
History
In all parts of history and the world, there are similar accounts of astral travel and out-of-body experiences. It doesn’t matter what the underlying beliefs or religions are, they all speak of the soul leaving the body. Kind of wild, right?
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyption traditions have many different aspects of a person. One of them is ba, best described as the personality. A part of the soul that could travel between the living world and the dead. It was often depicted as a bird with the head of a man hovering above the physical body.
Indigenous Culture
Many indigenous peoples believe that their Holy people have the ability to communicate to the Higher Powers by travelling out of their body. I’ve actually read stories about Frank Fools Crow, a Holy man who had done this multiple times, and recounted his travels in a book written by Thomas E. Mails.
Japanese Mythology
If someone had a really intense grudge, their soul could manifest temporarily in front of the person they’re angry at to torment them. This resentful astral body was called an Ikiryō. It was distinctly separate from the souls of the dead, called Shiryō. Ikiryō could also manifest when a person was very sick, and therefore had no bad intentions.
Benefits of Astral Projection
There are lots of benefits of astral travel, like meditation in general. Astral projection just takes things a step further and allows you to really connect on a deeper level. These are just some of the benefits of these experiences.
1. Release fears
Have you ever been afraid of the obscurity of death? Not knowing if there’s anything after we pass on often gives people anxiety for the future. Astral travel teaches you about higher realms, giving you first hand experience in what it’s like after life on Earth. Many people agree that they feel a sense of peace after astral projecting, being comforted by what they saw.
2. Communicate with guides
The astral plane is full of spiritual entities that you can interact with. Among these beings are your spirit guides, angels, and all that good stuff. You are free to ask them for guidance directly, which (to me) is super helpful and an unforgettable experience.
3. Enhance psychic abilities
Similar to other forms of meditation, astral travel enhances your psychic abilities. Like anything, the more you practice astral projecting, the easier it becomes. You refine your meditation skills and learn more about yourself in the process. It’s a journey of self-discovery and of the higher realms.
How to Astral Project
It’s a pretty common phenomenon in new-age spiritual practices, and there are a ton of resources out there to teach you how to astral project. The process is simple enough, but the steps themselves can be tricky at first. Like anything in life, it takes practice to be consistent.
1. Relaxation
Like any spiritual travelling method, your body should be as relaxed as possible while your mind stays awake. Scientifically, this meditative state is called hypnogogia, and it’s the best state of consciousness for instant manifestation, lucid dreaming, and many other spiritual practices.
There are lots of ways to relax your body without completely falling asleep, so I’ll list a few here. The key is to keep your body still to trick it into sleep, while keeping your mind buzzing. Feel free to experiment and find what works best for you.
- Count backwards from 100.
- Tense and relax your body, from your forehead to your toes.
- Repeat a mantra, like “body asleep, mind awake” in your head or aloud.
- Lay down in an unusual position to keep yourself from quickly falling asleep.
- Listen to a guided meditation or soft music.
2. Vibrations
Most people who enter a deep hypnogogic state experience vibrations: it feels like your whole body is vibrating. This happens to me personally when I am in the body asleep, mind awake state, but it doesn’t happen for everyone. If you don’t have this symptom when attempting to astral project, don’t sweat it. No one’s experience is the same!
If you do notice the vibrations (they are very hard to miss), try to enhance them. This can be a very intense feeling, but it’s the last big step before exiting your body.
If you don’t feel any vibrations but believe you are in a deep meditative state, focus on visualization. Instead of using vibrations, use your intention and imagination to truly feel like you’ve left your body behind. If you’re in a hypnogogic state, it’s much easier to manifest; use this to your advantage.
3. Separation
Once you feel you are ready (the vibrations are extremely intense), it’s time to separate from your physical body. Typically, a visualization method is used here, but you can also use affirmations, a mantra, or anything else you think will push your astral form out of your body – whatever works best for you. Have you caught the emphasis on do what works best for you? It’s very important when it comes to any sort of spiritual practice, notably astral projection, reality shifting, and manifestation.
To help you get started, I’ve listed a couple common methods for astral projection. All of these techniques assume you are laying down, and require some visualization skills.
The rope method
Imagine a rope hanging in front of you, within reach. Grab it with both astral hands and start climbing the rope, up and out of your physical body. Keep climbing higher until you feel you’ve completed exited your body.
The roll over method
Imagine your astral body rolling over, separating from your physical body. Keep turning over until you feel detached from your body.
The displaced awareness method
Imagine the room you are in; see in from your point of view. Slowly feel your awareness circle around to where your feet are, your point of view of the room rotating with you. Really feel your surroundings from your new viewing point. Your astral body is now in this position, with your head where your feet used to be. The idea is to make you forget where you really are. When you’re ready, try moving your astral body up and away from where you were laying.
4. Stabilization
Like any spiritual travel, it can be really emotional when you arrive at your destination! So, it’s important you focus on grounding yourself in the astral to avoid getting overwhelmed and sucked back to your body.
Think about your goals for this experience. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to meet? Start your journey with the firm intention of doing something. This gives you a goal to focus on instead of becoming too scared or excited to be in the present moment.
Just like that, you’ve astral projected! Of course, I would be surprised if you did it on the first try (unless you’re a prodigy – congrats!). I don’t say that to discourage you, but rather to remind you not to get discouraged. Keep practicing, and you’ll get there.
It’s good to note that people have perceived levels in the astral. The lower levels vibrate at a lower frequency, which is where you’ll find negative beings that want to scare you. They cannot harm you, but seeing scary things isn’t fun. If you do see one, ignore it and think about raising your vibration. Keeping a positive vibe will help you stay in the higher levels, where the kind beings dwell.
Summary
If I had to give you advice about astral travel, I’d say give it a shot. It’s the most eye-opening experience I’ve discovered so far, and it will help you with so many aspects of your everyday and spiritual life. Even if you don’t make it to the astral, practicing deep meditation like that is useful for every aspect of your life. It’s the base for most spiritual practices. On that note, try it out for yourself tonight. Or, if you think you’re already wise enough, get some sleep instead – you deserve it.
