The feeling of floating outside of your body is what is known as an out of the body experience. Out of body experience also known as OBE is a scientifically proven phenomenon. This experience happens frequently for those that are near death.

Those who have an OBE report they can look down upon their physical body lying in a room. In cases where it happens near death in a hospital setting, they have memories of activities going on in the room as hospital personnel work to save their lives. This type of eerie occurrence has happened to many people and been thoroughly documented numerous times. Some people refer to this out of body experience as astral projection.

During 1943 the term began to be used widely rather than the term 'projection' that was a more belief centric term. In the olden days, an out of body experience was called 'spirit walking'. Scientists are actively studying this phenomenon because they are unable to consider that it's an imaginary experience.

It has been estimated that around one in ten people will have an out of body experience at some time. With so many people having this experience and offering such a large amount of data for study, it becomes impossible to dismiss astral travel as an imaginary incident.

Sometimes a person will undergo an OBE spontaneously and other times they are brought on by some kind of physical or mental trauma, if the body is in a coma or trance, or with the use of psychedelic drugs.

You will come across many places online that promise you the thrills of astral projection and travel. Really, it's not difficult to do if you know how to go about it the right way. Astral projection is said to be a completely natural process that was used frequently be the ancients. Sadly, many of their descendents have forgotten all about the lost art of astral projection. You may find it hard to believe, but a high level of spiritual or mental power is not necessary in order to successfully have an out of body experience.

However, you do have to possess the ability to completely focus on just one point. If the conscious mind holds you back because it fears that if you project yourself from your body, you won't be able to come back. It is this subconscious fear that will prevent you from experiencing astral travel and projection.

It's believed that a person's astral body is able to leave the physical body for a short period of time. When a person truly believes that he is able to project his astral body from his physical body, he is on his well on his way to succeeding. This is because he has already auto suggested to his conscious mind to completely 'let go'. However, if there is even the slightest bit of fear that the astral body will be able to escape from the physical body and wind up in a permanent state of limbo, a person is much better off not attempting any kind of experimentation.

One you have the proper beliefs you must work on quieting the mind. You can use techniques like meditation and self hypnosis. Keep your mindset positive when trying to induce an out of body experience. Let your mind and body take over and allow the experience to unfold naturally as you hold the intention to leave your body.

Set aside a time when you will not be disturbed. Stretch out and make yourself comfortable. Place your arms at your side. Take slow deep breaths and work on total relaxation of your physical body. When your physical body and mind are in a state of deep relaxation, your astral body can depart and explore new dimensions of reality that exist beyond your present mental and physical awareness. As it prepares to leave for an out of body experience, you will notice that your body begins to tingle. Don't fight this sensation, but encourage it. Ignore any conscious thoughts you may have and focus only on taking gentle deep breaths.

An OBE usually begins with a rapid heartbeat and vibrations. Allow these vibrations to completely engulf you. Don't allow yourself to get overly excited. Concentrate on remaining calm. Allow the sensations to completely take over your body, soul, and heart. You will soon find that your astral body is leaving your physical body and you are beginning an exciting astral journey.

For some people, their astral journey ended because a fear overcame them that their astral body was not going to be able to make it back because it was getting to far away. They have also stated that then knew that they weren't dreaming because they knew that they were existing in another realm having experiences there. The key to an out of body experience such as astral travel or projection is believing that you can do it and believing that your astral body will make it back.