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When I was three or four I lived on a steep hill and when I was running on the sidewalk I slipped and slid down the hill on the side of my face. I watched it all happen from above and across the street. When I was ten or eleven I was using one of those pogo balls that was popular in the eighties. I was doing tricks with it on the stairs and I took a tumble and rolled down the stairs and broke my arm. I watched that happen from above as well. Never went to an astral plane though.
About 10 years ago, we were staying in a hotel room that was on the 35th floor. Across the river was a smaller city that I was interested in visiting and learning about it. I was asleep in the bed when I felt myself start to astrally project myself across the river. Part of me was excited to do it while the other part was terrified. I kept thinking about being on the 35th floor---never mind that it wouldn't be my physical body that was going to do this. In the end, the terrified part of me won out. I ended up whimpering which woke up my husband. I tried to talk to him but I was in the sleep paralysis phase and I was surprised that I had made noise out loud.
Too bad I didn't feel confident enough to let it happen as it would have been an interesting experience.
I also believe that people do astrally project when they are asleep. My brother told me this story---Our Dad lived with my brother and sister-in-law for a few years. He then moved into a retirement community. One day, the family dogs were standing at the entrance to the room where our Dad stayed. There was no one in the room at the time yet the dogs were all growling and looking up. The next day, Our Dad called my brother and said "I saw the dogs last night and they didn't recognize me." Upon hearing that, my SIL got goosebumps.
About 10 years ago, we were staying in a hotel room that was on the 35th floor. Across the river was a smaller city that I was interested in visiting and learning about it. I was asleep in the bed when I felt myself start to astrally project myself across the river. Part of me was excited to do it while the other part was terrified. I kept thinking about being on the 35th floor---never mind that it wouldn't be my physical body that was going to do this. In the end, the terrified part of me won out. I ended up whimpering which woke up my husband. I tried to talk to him but I was in the sleep paralysis phase and I was surprised that I had made noise out loud.
Too bad I didn't feel confident enough to let it happen as it would have been an interesting experience.
I also believe that people do astrally project when they are asleep. My brother told me this story---Our Dad lived with my brother and sister-in-law for a few years. He then moved into a retirement community. One day, the family dogs were standing at the entrance to the room where our Dad stayed. There was no one in the room at the time yet the dogs were all growling and looking up. The next day, Our Dad called my brother and said "I saw the dogs last night and they didn't recognize me." Upon hearing that, my SIL got goosebumps.
Did you feel tethered or anchored to anything, as you started travel? Did you have the sense that you were leaving your physical body?
When I was a teenager, I decided to try transcendental meditation. I'd found instructions in one of those ladies magazines...like Redbook...or something like that, of all places.
After a week or so of practice, the first 'experience' happened. The point of meditation is to get to a very very relaxed state, and you say a mantra, as you focus on every part of your body. So...the first experience felt like the 'heavy' part of me was sinking down into my bed, as the 'lighter part of me' stayed where it was. It was a pleasant experience.
The next time I did it, the experience felt the same, except more like the 'heavy' part of me just stayed where it was, and the lighter part of me floated up a little bit. Still...not an unpleasant experience.
The next time it happened...it started out like the other times...the separation between the heavy and the light...but then I went somewhere. It wasn't a place I'd ever been before. But I'm walking down this dirt road, with deep forest on each side of me, walking toward a gate. The gate is huge, with ornate carvings all over it. It kind of reminds me of Aztec designs. As I'm walking toward the gate, there's voices in the woods, murmuring and the closer to the gate I get, the more excited and louder the voices get, telling me "DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! It's clear to me the voices want me to go through the gate. When I actually get to the gate, the voices are really loud and really excited...and it scares me, and I'm wondering why the voices want me to go through the gate so bad...and I decide I'm not going to do it.
The next thing I know, I'm back in my bed, and my bed is shaking violently. Like someone is picking it up and dropping it. It happens like 4 or 5 times. That whole thing was a bad experience, and I gave up on the meditation. It scared me pretty bad. I even told me mom about it.
At the time, I didn't know anything about Astral travel...but after subsequently reading about it, I'm wondering if that's what I was experiencing.
^^^^ Oh wow! You had quite the experience! FWIW, if I was told to go through some gates, I wouldn't have done it. As I was reading your story I wondered if going through those gates would have meant permanently crossing over to the other side---yikes!
As for my experience, I did feel that I was starting to leave my physical body. At that time, I didn't see the "silver cord" that keeps you attached.
I do think that once my grandson astrally projected to visit me. He was two years old at the time and when we would visit, he loved to cuddle with me. We were staying in a hotel and as I started to wake up, I could feel him lying next to me in bed. It felt so real that when I fully woke up, I expected to see him next to me.
Some people can astrally project with ease and always have good experiences. I deliberately tried to do it a couple of times when I was in college but what happened was before I could get too far, my body would shudder and I would snap out of it. I haven't deliberately tried to do it again.
I can understand that after your experience with the gates just why you don't want to try again.
The Monroe Institute (monroeinstitute.org) do research into Out of Body Experiences (same as Astral Travel) and have developed a whole range of audio products and techniques for doing this and other stuff too.
Robert Monroe who started the Institute wrote a series of books about his experiences which you may find interesting. He wrote up each experience when it happened and his approach was pretty scientific, or as scientific as you can probably get for this kind of thing in those days. The books tell you how to do it and what to expect and the website has some free audio media and various courses on different aspects of their work.
Of course there are many other books on astral projection and OOBEs too but I found his books were particularly good. Different from the normal as they started with his spontaneous OOBE where he had no idea astral projection existed and thought he was having some strange mental problems.
At the time it happened to me, I had no idea about astral travel either. Honestly, when I felt like the bed was being so violently shaken...I thought maybe demons were 'bothering' me, and followed me, since the whole gate thing was creepy and scary. It's why I told my mom about it...it really spooked me.
But then I'd read that for people who are new to Astral projection or travel...getting back into your body can be bumpy...so then I thought "well...maybe THAT'S what was happening...
And even the separation part, the separating the light part of me from the heavy part of me...I thought it was just the feeling of such deep complete relaxation, but not sleepy.
Robert Monroe wrote a series of books. The first one is the easiest to read and it describes the process of maintaining awareness while going to sleep.
Thanks for the book suggestions. I think I'll check into them on my Kindle. Thanks folks.
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