Can You Really Have Out Of Body Experiences?
by Roger Grant

Astral projection is also known as an out-of-body experience and it is an event that can occur to a great many people at various times. These events will commonly occur during a major trauma although many people report having experienced such events through their own sheer willpower.

It would be this will power manifestation that would be the most commonly known form of astral projection. A number of people have claimed to experience out-of-body sensations while others make claims about being able to directly perform such astral projection powers. While the basics of these techniques are the same, the power levels can differ from person to person. Of course, there are those that question the validity of such claims.

For centuries, there have been people who have experienced the phenomenon of the out-of-body experience. Some of them have experienced them during sleep and ignored it, believing that what they saw was a dream. However, most out-of-body experiences are experienced during major trauma such as surgeries.

There have also been scores of accounts of out-of-body experiences occurring during frightful near-death situations. In all of these cases of out-of-body experiences, the person experiencing them notes that he/she is able to see and hear everything occurring in the real world even though they were not conscious at the time.

Out-of-body experiences are also known to occur as the result of taking psychedelic drugs or those drugs known to deliver a dissociative effect. Yet, there are also a great many techniques needed to induce an out-of-body experience. A common example of this would be the use of visualization while in a highly relaxed and meditative state. Many studies have shown that there can be similar experiences to out-of-body experience that can be brought about through the direct stimulation of the brain.

Probably the most common type of out-of-body experience is dubbed an astral projection. During astral projection, a person may be able to leave the bodies and visit other places on earth. The individual may even be able to explore astral planes or even higher planes of human existence.

The renaissance Neoplatonist and Rosicrucian philosophy, as well as many other philosophies, state that an astral body in body created by light and links the "rational soul" and the physical body as an intermediate. It also states that the astral plane is a world created of the same light and exists between Heaven and Earth and is made of the spheres of stars and planets, which are believed to be home to angels, demons, and spirits.

According to many ancient Egyptian beliefs, the soul presents the common ability to hover, or float, outside the body in the "Ka" which is also referred to the subtle body. This has also been known as the astral body. In most common beliefs in astral projection, the astral body is associated with a "silver cord" of psychic energy that is linked to the physical body.

The Chinese Taoists developed an alchemical practice that involved creating a body of energy through breathing meditations, pulling energy into what they called a "pearl" and then circulating that pearl throughout the body to create the body of energy.

While an out-of-body experience takes place, scores of people eventually account that they have literally willed themselves to take a leave from their bodies. Then there are those that invoke the notion that they are literally pulled out of their body while some may state that they cannot even tell that the out-of-body experience has actually occurred. There are even those that have noted they wished to get out of bed and when the time came to reach for the door, the individuals realized they were unable to touch it. Upon feeling this sensation, they had looked in the direction of their sleeping area and realized they were still in a lying down still asleep.

Neurologists commonly try to explain such events as being due to a mismatch of the visual and tactile signals of the brain. A great many out-of-body experiences will occur during the time that exists in between the REM sleep and the actual time prior to waking. During the great many instances of out-of-body experiences, the subject will venture into a state known as sleep paralysis. During this time that exists in between being sleep and awake, sleep paralysis can continue onwards as dream imagery intermingles with input deriving from the senses.

However, a great many scientific studies in the field of astral projection and out-of-body experiences have been undertaken over the years. There are many studies showing that out of body experiences do really happen. There are several top research facilities found in many different countries, including the Monroe Institute in Virginia, as well as the Projectarium at the International Academy of Consciousness in Portugal and the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience in Switzerland.


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