A Visionary Guide to Lucid Dreaming

Out-of-Body Experiences

Stepping into New Awareness

ut-of-body experiences are described as exactly that: individuals experience themselves stepping out of, floating over, or otherwise exiting their bodies. Most often, out-of-body experiences take place just after going to sleep because they are associated with the NREM sleep phase, which can cause dreaming and wakefulness to happen at the same time.

The reason you may experience the sensation of leaving your body in a lucid dream is that your brain still thinks you’re awake, but your brain also has a copy of your body in the dream simulation. Your brain doesn’t understand that you are in fact asleep. Dreamers experience a kind of dual awareness in which they can feel and sense things in the dream world while they also feel and sense things in the waking world as they lie in bed. Of course, this is just one explanation for out-of-body experiences; there are many that you can read about and explore to come up with a conclusion of your own.

Astral projection is taking the out-of-body experience of lucid dreaming to a deeper level. Often people describe that in their astral experiences, they have the ability to travel to other worlds or the land of the dead or to learn from the Akashic Records. I have also experienced this and can honestly say that it’s breathtaking.

Though there may seem to be differences in states between a lucid dream, an out-of-body experience, and an astral projection, they are all part of the same process. When we are in one of these states of awareness, we are sensing differences based on our shifting of awareness from one state to another. In truth, they are all happening simultaneously. This would mean that we are dreaming, traveling out of our bodies in the astral realm, and awake all at the same time—in fact, what is changing is our shifting awareness, not our consciousness nor the realm in which we imagine ourselves.

For me, having out-of-body experiences is not completely reliable. Some days I’m more successful than I am on others. Sometimes I have lucid dreams without having the experience of leaving my body. On other days, I transition from a lucid dream into an out-of-body experience. Each person’s experience is personal, and that requires us all to do our own work and understand ourselves—what factors seem to support each type of dreaming experience—in order to feel successful in our out-of-body experiences.

This chapter takes a practical approach and is generalized enough that each key point will contribute to your success in moving through these states. These tools are based on many people’s trials and errors as well as research conducted in the fields of neuroscience and sleep science. There may be additional steps (that you won’t find in this guide) that help you improve your chances of having an out-of-body experience, but those tactics are specific to you and will likely change over time.

WHY BOTHER?

A family member recently asked me why I would want to have an out- of-body experience. I related it to a familiar experience: how it feels to travel to a new country and explore, and how that visit may change us. People who travel know that it can be transformational; they want to discuss the upcoming trip, they want to learn about the culture and try new foods, and they want to explore. The same is true with an out-of-body experience.

Out-of-body experiences allow us to look at ourselves and reality in a new way. They allow us to peek inside of everything we know and see something more. It’s an exploration of the soul and mind at the same time, a connection to the unknown. This may be the highest level of exploration, a true personal adventure. Out-of-body experiences also offer lessons about reality and our own psychology. With all that out- of-body experiences offer, who wouldn’t want to do this?

The important question to ask yourself before you start on your practice is the same as for lucid dreaming: Why? Why do you truly want to have an out-of-body experience? What drove you in this direction? The more honest with yourself you are, the easier it will be to start to practice and the more likely it is that you will have success. Honesty now will lead to better out-of-body experiences later.

WHAT WAS THAT?

When I had my first out-of-body experience nearly fifteen years ago, my first thought was, What was that?

I didn’t even know that out-of-body experiences were possible, and I was pretty confused. I had had many lucid dreams before my first out- of-body experience, but that first experience still totally changed my life. The main questions I asked myself at the time were:

What was the experience I just had?
Was the experience real?
How do I have that experience again?
When I do have that experience again, how can I control it?

SIX-STEP PROCESS FOR SUCCESS

In previous chapters, we have reviewed many ways to experience lucid dreams. Now let’s approach how to have the experience of being out of your body. What we want to focus on here is how to repeat an out-of-body experience with as high a success rate as possible. We use a simple six-step process with these elements in mind:

Set a strong intention to have the experience.
Get good rest.
Wake up and go back to bed.
Strengthen the intention again.
Go back to sleep.
Exit the body.

Step One: Set a Strong Intention

The most important thing you can possibly do in order to have any type of dream experience, be it lucid dreaming or an out-of-body experience, is setting the intention. This one attitude shift is key to training your mind to notice the effects of an out-of-body experience and reminding you that this experience is important to you. Additionally, focusing on the idea that dreams are important allows the mind to see reality in another light.

We find an exemplar of valuing the dream experience in Tibetan dream yoga. The importance of these experiences in Tibetan Buddhism seems to affect not only people’s ability to have out-of-body experiences but is also at the root of the concept that all things are experienced first in the mind. Everything we do, think, and feel—all forming a shared reality—is simulated in the mind as we take information into the dynamic system of the mind, which in turn creates a dynamic virtual world that is then projected into the dynamic system of reality. Tibetan dream yoga works with this concept, playing with the malleability of thoughts and dreams. Jung suggested that, considering their extreme plasticity, memories and thoughts about those memories are actually fictitious versions of our own consciousness. Dreams, then, are more closely related to reality than we might think. Perhaps we should place more importance on dreams and less on what we deem real.

With that in mind, set your intention to be strong. Think that tonight you will have an out-of-body experience and that tonight you will remember it. Think about why you want to have an out-of-body experience and what one specific thing you would like to do during the out-of-body experience. Make this one thing easy to remember, with perhaps just a word to represent it, so that when you are there you can easily recall what it was you wanted to do. At this point, it’s important to firmly believe that you will have an out-of-body experience and that you have no doubt that it will happen. This belief may be all you need to take the next step!

Step Two: Get Good Rest

This next step is easy. Go to sleep. Getting five to six hours of good rest each night is key to successful—or possibly any—lucid dreaming. Remember, you must achieve some quality rest before attempting to break yourself out of a sleep cycle. A well-rested brain and body are crucial for staying awake, staying aware, and being fully present when the time comes to experience the out-of-body experience.

Step Three: Wake Back to Bed

When you wake up after sleeping for those five or six hours (you might want to use a vibrating alarm to wake more gently and not disturb any sleepers nearby), you should be pretty groggy. That’s why I suggest you get up for no less than forty-five minutes: you want your brain to wake up to the point that it thinks it’s time to be active. As you become more awake and aware, the more conscious control you’re likely to have as you trick your brain into going back to sleep. Use this time to write some emails, read, or do easy exercise. The more active, the better the results.

Step Four: Strengthen Your Intention

As in step one, reaffirm your intentions for an out-of-body experience. Think about what it may feel like or what you expect to see. Keep your mind open, and keep the thoughts easy and clear.

Step Five: Go Back to Sleep

Lie down and relax. It may be hard to go back to sleep at this point due to all the activity. That is perfectly normal. This active mind will allow for active memories. If you can lie still and not focus on your internal dialogue, you should start to see hypnagogic images (although if you don’t, that’s okay, too). This means your brain is doing its job and you are almost asleep. If you focus long enough, you should encounter vibrations, ringing in your ears, or sensations such as falling or floating. Do not focus on these sensations too much, as they are just distractions; keep relaxing until you are asleep (but still aware).

Step Six: Exit the Body

Once you are asleep and aware, you may find yourself in an odd state. Sometimes this can be tricky because our brains are masters at making us feel as if we are awake and that we have failed in our attempt. You might even have the sense of getting out of bed at this point, but in fact, you are having a false awakening and are in an out-of-body experience state already. If this happens, the thing to do is to take control of the out-of-body experience and exit the body.

Sensations

You may experience other sensations at this time, too, such as feeling locked into your body or having a shadow figure or presence in the room—in other words, sleep paralysis. Though this can be scary, remember this is perfectly normal. Additionally, the concept of a shadow figure or being pushed down or held down into your bed is often an effect of the brain being confused about your physical body and your astral body separating. Simply ignore these feelings; allow yourself to relax and think about floating a distance away from your body. This should relieve any frightening sensations and allow you to continue on with your exploration.

Use Voice Commands

When you can move away from your body, recall your initial intention, and use a word or phrase to call yourself into the experience you wished to have. I often use a simple word that connects to a feeling or movement, such that I can experience the effects of that word. These experiences, and thus your word choice, are personal for each of us. It’s important not to focus on what others experience, or you will likely confuse yourself. Focus instead on your unique experience.

There are countless additional effects that you might experience during this phase. The essential things to remember right now:

Do not fear, no matter how strange or scary the experience may be.
Try to relax and let things play out naturally.
Try to move away from your body either by floating or by using thought.
Use voice commands to call yourself into the experience.

FURTHER REFLECTION

Now that you have had an out-of-body experience, you can wake up and reflect on what happened. If you were unsuccessful during the night, don’t worry! You always have another night to try to achieve your goals. Often I will find that a few nights go by where nothing happens; if so, I work on relaxing more and learning from my previous experiences. Sometimes things are going on in my life that are stressful, and that is not the right time to have an out-of-body experience. It’s a good idea to take care of any pressing matters before you start working on out-of- body experiences.

As with any practice, it’s important to remember that failure is only one step closer to success. There is no such thing as truly failing; there is only learning. You can practice throughout the day by imagining yourself waking up from a dream and remembering what it was like, thinking about your daily intentions, or experimenting with the mindset that your thoughts and daily life are also dreamlike. Doing this regularly will bring you better lucidity during the night and help you continue to progress.