There are a small number of people who can, at will, step out of their physical body and travel around in a "double" or duplicate body or "Astral Body" with their full conscious faculties intact. This is known as astral projection or astral travel and is also known as out-of-body experiences or (oobe or obe).

Astral Projection or out-of-body experiences are not like near death experiences in that you can produce them at will or nearly at will (you don't have to almost die to experience what people experience in near death experiences). However it takes knowledge discipline and persistence to achieve your first out-of-body experience.

You will not achieve a clear, fully conscious Astral Projection by drugs, pills or alcohol - in fact if you take any drugs or alcohol it may take several days or weeks for the effects to fully wear off before you can achieve an out-of-body experience. You should avoid salt and reduce your intake of sugar and carbohydrates also your protein intake should be just enough to replace protein lost through metabolism. Your goal should be to attain a clear mind in a body which is always slightly hungry. This has the effect of lowering your blood pressure and pulse rate.

Now, some people swear that they have had out-of-body experiences while doing certain drugs, but what they often achieve is combination of projection and hallucination at the same time - you need a clear mind to study and understand Astral Projection and the phenomena of the Astral plane not a mind dulled and confused by drugs.

You will find it difficult to have a projection on a full stomach - when your pulse rate and blood pressure are both high. Also you should begin a program of exercise such as brisk walking or jogging and walking - this will help bring your blood pressure and pulse rate down. If you smoke you should quit, smoking makes your pulse rate and blood pressure rise.

The only way to quit smoking is to replace it with something - daily walking/jogging will give you the best results. For the first few months you should avoid going to restaurants (or bars) with friends who smoke.

At this point you may be thinking "ok, so what are the advantages
of having out-of-body experiences?" Fair enough ...here's a small partial list of some of the incredible experiences that await you:

You will know for sure that you survive death. Once you have stepped away from your physical body and look back at it, you realize you are independent of it, you then know it's only a vehicle that you use - like a car. Your physical body is a kind of shell that you use and discard when you die.

You may meet friends or relatives who have previously died. It truly is an experience to meet a friend who has died. When you're in your Astral Body on the Astral plane you can shake their hand or hug them - you're both as solid as you where on the physical plane.

You can travel around in the Physical/Astral planes and see places you've always wanted to see.

You can look at your Astral body in the mirror - yes! it really is an exact duplicate of you. This is an amazing experience, especially when you realize that you are looking at a ghost - your own ghost!

You can practice walking through doors and walls. You just walk up to a closed door and push your body against - you'll find yourself walking through it.

You can fly, well, actually you can move in three dimensions - you can travel down into the ground and back up. The same thing with water. You can see clearly the whole time you're doing this.

You can see amazing colors around objects - for instance you may see the heat from your breath as you breath on your blanket or pillow - it's red and shrinks as the heat dissipates.

If you have bad eyesight or are blind ...you will have perfect eyesight in your Astral body.

If you are handicapped, you will have no handicap in your astral body.

If, after having read the above, you're serious about experimenting with astral travel you should first secure a room with a single bed where you can lock the door if necessary to keep from being disturbed. Being suddenly disrupted in the middle of an out-of-body experience can give you an unpleasant shock - particularly if you're a long way away from your physical body. If you have a serious heart condition or very high blood pressure or have had a stroke, it may not be advisable to attempt to produce an out-of-body experience.

The following sentence summarizes the task of achieving separation of your astral body from your physical body:

Basically, if your subconscious mind can be made to be consumed with the idea of moving while your physical body is made to be as incapacitated as possible, your subconscious mind can be made to move your astral body independently of your physical body.

We will devote the next few paragraphs to preparing your subconscious mind and producing maximum incapacitation of your physical body.

Before you begin seriously attempting to produce out-of -body experiences, you should use as many of your senses as possible to make your subconscious mind become consumed with attaining separation of your astral body from your physical body. The subconscious mind should be stimulated  strongly and repetitively through the senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch.

You will achieve the best results by devoting a bedroom to your experiments - you should make it into a meditation room using incense, pictures, music or sounds and a few selected books about astral projection (put them into a drawer where no one but you can touch the books).

You can use your own procedure about implementing the incense, viewing of pictures, listening to music or sounds and touching and reading your books. It will probably work best if you make a ritual out of everything. Remember, this whole exercise is to make your subconscious mind become consumed with "getting out-of your body".

Part of your ritual should be practicing the slowing down of your heart rate and breathing - count your heart beats slightly slower than it is beating and you will find that it begins to slow down as you count. Simultaneously you should make your breathing slower and more shallow. Practice this over and over every night and you will find that you can make your heart rate and breathing slow right down.

If you don't have access to a "meditation room"  you can dispense with everything and just read  a book on astral projection and use it to help focus your subconscious - it may not work as well but should work sufficiently if done before each attempt at getting out-of-your-body.

You may have to confine your experiments to the weekends - where you can sleep-in. The reason for this is that you may find yourself exhausted after a trip out-of-your-body; this is because consciousness uses up energy. When you have an out-of-body experience you are conscious and continuing to use energy rather than sleeping. When you sleep your astral body goes out of coincidence slightly with your physical body and recharges like a capacitor with what seems to be a cosmic energy. By the way you may notice you have to have several dreams during the night in order to have a fully refreshing sleep.

If you have taken any drugs alcohol or smoked any cigarettes or had coffee/tea you may have to wait until the effects have worn off - they all affect your heart rate also remember cigarettes increase blood pressure and heart rate and you need your physical body to be as incapacitated as possible before attempting projection. Also you should not eat anything for several hours before attempting projection as eating food makes your heart rate increase.

Problems can arise if you're sharing a bed with someone; it can be very difficult if not impossible to achieve an out-of-body experience. This is because most people shift position or make noises during the night which will disrupt any attempts at achieving projection.

Now, lets proceed with the method that will probably give you the best chance of attaining a fully conscious out-of-body experience:

We'll assume that you've worked seriously for 1/2 hour-1 hour every night for a week before going to bed at making your subconscious possessed with the idea of having an out-of -body experience using the above mentioned techniques.

You should not be too tired - or you'll just fall asleep - also, you may find waking up in the early morning better to initiate your out-of-body experience.

Lie down on your back preferably, or on your side. Next, reduce your heart rate and breathing as low as you can. Clear your mind of troublesome or negative thoughts and be at peace with the world - if  you are having trouble doing this - don't try to have an out of body experience you may create depressing or irritating thought forms. Please make note, in the Astral, thought forms have actual physical form.

When your heart rate and breathing are as low as you can get them, let your mind drift towards sleep but keep conscious - you will notice disjointed images appearing in your mind. At this point or just before, strongly visualize yourself attempting to roll or step out of bed but do not move your physical body - you may hear little crackling sounds and you will feel a surging feeling as if you are getting up; keep up this procedure and you will eventually find yourself getting out of bed - not in your physical but in your astral body. You will likely have to repeat this procedure many times before you "get out", but it's well worth it.

When you do get out, you may have to struggle to get away from your physical body and your vision may not be clear, but struggle to get away and all your problems should clear up at a distance of about ten feet from your physical body. Walk on a familiar route, say up to your front door, then push and you should find yourself walking through the door easily. Walk out onto your front yard and street, say fifty feet from your physical body  and you will find yourself completely calm and alert. If you find resistance when trying to go through the front door, make a pretense of opening the door and you should be able to walk through the door - it sounds strange but it works.

Your biggest problem will most likely be fear. When you start to get out, usually fear of the unknown, will make your heart rate climb and you'll suddenly find yourself back in your body. The only thing to do is keep on trying - remember not very many people ever succeed in having a fully conscious projection in their lifetime. Also be aware that if you see anything odd or unpleasant during your out-of-body experiments, it's most likely a thought form that you yourself have created - just ignore it or better still direct thoughts of peace and tranquility towards it and carry on.

It's worthwhile to be aware that very few of even the most intensely pious and religious of people have ever experienced a fully conscious out-of-body experience - they are forced to have faith - you will have knowledge.

If you think that you will achieve Astral Projection easily you will probably be disappointed. It usually takes repetitious attempts and practice. For some it can be easy but for most they have to put in time and devotion to achieve it - sometimes years of attempting it several times a week. But remember, its real and well worth the effort.

The more times you successfully project - the more chances you will have to increase your knowledge. There is a whole cosmos out there to learn about and explore.

Questions and answers:

Does the Astral body wear cloths?
Sometimes it wears cloths sometimes nothing sometimes it wears a kind of tunic or shroud.

How do you know when you are "out of your body?"
Sometimes you're not sure - especially if you've forgotten to look back at your physical body. The best way to be sure is to walk up to a closed door and attempt to "push" through it. If you find yourself walking through the door you know your in your Astral Body and are successfully "projected out".

Do drugs or alcohol help you have an astral projection?
No! If your seriously interested in achieving Astral Projection - just completely forget about doing drugs you can take alcohol but in moderation - you may have to wait 1-2 days after taking alcohol before attempting Astral Projection.

Can your physical body be "taken over" when you project?
No. If anything comes near your physical body while your projected your subconscious brings your Astral Body back instantly.

What happens if you (or someone else) project and try to visit someone's home without their permission?
Usually your own subconscious mind creates thought forms and you see them instead of what's really there.

How long is the usual projection for?
That varies remember when you project you are using up energy that sleep replaces. What happens is that you become more and more tired and are eventually drawn back to your physical body like it or not.

What is it like to see your physical body when projected?
Pretty much the same as when you look in the mirror except the image is as other people see you - not exactly as you see yourself in the mirror.

What does your astral body look like?
After you achieve projection go and look in the mirror...it's amazing you will see your Astral Body looking back at you and it's an exact duplicate of your physical body.
 

Strange occurrences that may happen when you are out of your body:
You may have to struggle to get away from your physical body.
Your vision may not be clear at first.
You may see scenery that you think should not be visible..
You may be conscious but not as conscious as normal
You may have trouble getting through walls doors and windows.
You may not see your physical body even though you are looking where it should be.

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