Every person in the world ? man, woman and child is born with the ability to astral project. This is a very real ability and practice is the only difference between those who rarely astral project or do so with difficulty and those who can astral project at will. Astral projection is something which has an extremely long history, just like yoga and meditation. There are many different names that astral projection goes by and a lot of different ways to astral project.

Lucid dreaming, for example. You already know what lucid dreaming is ? this is when you are conscious within a dream and able to direct the course of the dream. This takes practice to do reliably, but it is as simple as saying to yourself 'I am dreaming' while you are in the middle of a dream.

However, it can take some time to become skilled in the technique of lucid dreaming, making this perhaps not the best way for beginners to astral projecting to use in their efforts to astral project.

All of us have astral projected at some time in the past; maybe even many times, as it happens. When you awake from a dream and are able to remember every detail vividly, down to the very smallest elements, you have had an experience of astral projecting. You may have had this happen to you many times ? this shows you that you can astral project!

All you need to do to get started is to know that you have the ability to astral project. Each and every one of us can do this; the next step is to begin clearing all of the doubts from your mind which can keep you from being able to astral project.

Relaxation techniques such as meditation can help you prepare to astral project. Meditation is one of the best ways to prepare for astral projection ? the key is to find a regular meditation routine which can get you the relaxation you need.

Do your meditation in a quiet, comfortable room where you will not be distracted as you meditate. Clear all thoughts from your mind. Eliminate all of the worries and negative thoughts and feel yourself relaxing. Focus on your breathing. Take slow, deep breaths; inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

Now is the point where you need to reach an altered state of consciousness. You need to focus not only on your breathing but the way you are breathing. The breaths you take should come from deep down inside. As your breathing slows down, focus more and more on relaxing your body.

Start with your toes and relax your body bit y bit, working your way up to your head. You can do this by either tensing and then releasing each part of your body as you go along. Alternately, visualize all of the stress and tension leaving from each part of your body as you do your deep breathing.

With each exhalation, you should feel the tension leaving your body. Once your body is completely and totally relaxed you will be ready to move onto the next stage necessary for you to successfully astral project.

Once you are fully relaxed, you may be ready to fall asleep ? don?t doze off, you?re almost there! Repeat a phrase to yourself to stay focused. It doesn?t matter what this mantra is. Even ?around the corner? can work ? just choose a phrase which you can focus on and repeat it.

The human mind will wander when it is unoccupied by anything else; this can break the concentration necessary to astral project. To stay on track towards astral projecting, just keep repeating your phrase.

In order to astral project, you?ll need to reach an altered mental state. This can be done by simply repeating your phrase. You can also use the ?body of light? technique, which many practitioners find to be helpful. In this technique, you need to visualize your body transforming into a body of light.

There are three signs to watch for that will indicate that you are beginning to astral project. One is having a sensation of motion, followed by 'seeing' light and color (even though your eyes will be closed). You will then hear voices telling you to stop or to continue ? this is a sure sign that you are astral projecting.