The ability to astral project is something which every person already possesses; we are in fact born being able to do this. So why are there those who can astral project at will and those who have much less success with the technique? The answer is simple ? practice. The practice of astral projection has a very long history, just like meditation and yoga. There are many different names by which astral projection is known and many ways that you can astral project.

Lucid dreaming is one of the ways that you may astral project. You already know about lucid dreaming; this is the ability to become conscious of your dreams while you are dreaming and start controlling the course of your dream. You can start lucid dreaming by just telling yourself 'I am dreaming' while you are in the midst 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.

Even if you are unaware of having done so, you have astral projected before. Think of those times when you awoke from a dream able to remember every detail down to the smallest things. In these cases, what you were doing was astral projecting, not dreaming! We?ve all had this experience before and this is one of the ways that we astral project.

The first step to astral projection is having the knowledge that you can do it. Affirm to yourself that you can do this; this will clear away all of the doubt which prevents you from being able to astral project.

By practicing relaxation techniques including meditation, you can prepare yourself to astral project. Meditation is perhaps the most effective technique to prepare yourself to astral project. The important thing is finding a meditation technique which allows you to become completely relaxed.

You should do your meditation in a quiet room where you have a comfortable place to sit and will not be interrupted or distracted. Start freeing your mind of worry and tension. You can?t astral project when you have these negative energies in your mind. Begin to eliminate all thoughts from your mind and focus on your breathing. You want to take deep, slow breaths ? in thorough your nose, out through your mouth. If you can remain focused on your breathing, you?ll begin to feel yourself relaxing.

Breathe slowly, taking deep breaths in through your mouth and exhaling through your mouth. Your breathing should become deeper and slower as you become more and more relaxed.

Work your way up from toes to head, relaxing each part of your body as you go. There are two ways that you can do this. You can visualize each part of your body relaxing as you go, telling yourself they are relaxing as you do so. You can also tense, then release each part of your body, feeling this tension leaving your body as you exhale.

You?ll start to feel heavy as you become relaxed. After you have relaxed your entire body, you?ll be able to begin the next step towards astral projecting.

Your body and your mind will be completely relaxed and it would be very easy to fall asleep, but don?t! To stay alert, you can repeat a phrase to yourself. It doesn?t matter what this phrase is ? it could be as simple as 'walk the dog, walk the dog'.

When the human mind is unoccupied, it will tend to wander; this will ruin the concentration you need to astral project. Just keep repeating your phrase to yourself and taking slow, deep breaths.

There are a few different ways that you can reach the altered state needed to astral project. You can attain this state by continuing to repeat your mantra. Many find the 'body of light' technique to be very effective as well. In this technique, you imagine yourself transforming into a body made of light.

There are three signs which will let you know that you are successfully astral projecting. One is that you?ll experience a sensation of motion, followed by seeing light and color even though your eyes will be closed. Finally, you?ll hear voices urging you either to continue or to stop what you are doing ? this is a surefire sign that you have managed to astral project.