Have you seen the Marvel movie, Doctor Strange? In the film, titular character Doctor Strange enters the “Astral Dimension” – a plane where one’s soul is able to exist without its body.
Though the possibility of real-life astral projection is still a hot topic of debate among scientists and practitioners of the esoteric arts, it’s been studied, written about, and attempted since time immemorial. The most commonly cited example is the experience of “hovering” over one’s bed and watching one’s body sleep.
If you’re curious about achieving a similar out-of-body experience, read on to explore the art of astral projection.
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What Is Astral Projection?
According to Parasych.org, “astral projection” is a term used to describe the feeling of one’s “self” travelling to another location apart from where the physical body is located. It’s also been called an “out-of-body experience”.
Since the time of Aristotle, philosophers and researchers have studied the concept of the astral plane, pooling information from Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Greek Neoplatonist spirituality. Some studies mention the use of meditation, music, hypnosis, sleep, and near-death-experiences in order to reach the astral dimension.
Is astral travel real? Though it is next to impossible to find any hard evidence on the success of such experiments, practitioners insist that with enough practice and determination, one’s consciousness could be separated from the body through sheer will.
How To Astral Project
There are many different ways you can try to astral project. Here, we’ll talk about the five most common techniques. But bear in mind that there are almost a hundred variations on astral projection – meaning it can take you a while to find a technique that delivers results.
Displaced-Awareness Technique
The idea behind this technique is to confuse or “displace” your sense of direction.
To do this, first, you must shut your eyes and try to relax. Next, visualise the room you are in. Project your whole room into your consciousness.
Now, envision your astral body gently rotating 180 degrees. Afterwards, your astral body and your physical body should be opposite each other. Look up and, with this new perspective, survey the room once more.
The Monroe Technique
Dr Robert Monroe, the man who developed this technique, was a researcher and radio broadcaster who was prominent in the ‘60s and ‘70s for his research on out-of-body experiences and astral projection.
Monroe’s technique involves first closing your eyes and relaxing your body to the point of becoming sleepy. In the half-asleep, half-awake state (also called the hypnagogic state), you must then begin to free your mind of negative thoughts and distractions, then let the darkness envelope you.
Next, you enter the “vibration state”. Coax your body to emit certain vibrations and control the intensity with your own willpower. You must intensify the vibrations in order to reach the next step: the separation.
The Rope Technique
Robert Bruce, an author on astral travel and out-of-body experiences, invented this technique. With this technique, you must first enter the hypnagogic state again. Once you’ve done so, you must imagine an invisible rope overhead, leading towards your ceiling. With your eyes closed, you will then use this rope to “pull” your astral body outside of your physical body.
Reach out to the rope with your “dream hands”. Now “climb” the rope as if you would a physical one. You will begin to feel vibrations, even a sense of disequilibrium as you do this. This will increase as you climb, and will eventually encompass you until all you feel are the vibrations.
Soon enough, you will find that you have freed your astral self from your physical body. With enough success, you will find yourself floating over your physical body.
Watch Yourself Going To Sleep
Lie in bed facing the ceiling and close your eyes. Now, try to relax and sleep while still keeping your mind alert. Instruct yourself to maintain awareness while you submerge your body into a “trance”. This is sort of like putting yourself in a hypnagogic state again.
Now, as your body relaxes, observe as it drifts into sleep. Feel the heaviness of your entire body. You may even experience pulsations from your head to your toes. These are warning signs that you’re nearing an out-of-body experience.
Then, you need to imagine how it feels to float. Envision your body rising upwards. Make these visualisations as clear as possible. Soon enough you will find yourself hovering up over your body.
Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreams are dreams that you are in full control of. When you’re in a lucid dream, you’re completely aware that you’re dreaming and aren’t simply a passive component of it. But in order to achieve this, you need to spend some time conditioning yourself that you will enter the state of lucid dreaming. You need to really will yourself to desire the state of lucid dreaming.
You can also read up on books or articles about it. The goal is to imbibe your everyday thoughts with the desire to complete a lucid dreaming experience.
Once you’re in that lucid state, you can then take control of your astral vehicle or body, which you can will out of your sleeping body.
Astral Projection Gone Wrong
Though astral projection is considered a generally safe practice, isn’t without its risks. It usually impacts you psychologically, rather than anything arcane or spiritual, despite the many jump scares the Insidious franchise has dished out throughout the years.
Obsession
Upon understanding and practising astral projection effectively, you may get the feeling of wanting to do it excessively. Having this excess or imbalance in your life can greatly affect your psyche and your everyday way of life.
Improper Grounding
One struggle commonly faced by those practising astral projection is “grounding” themselves with the physical world. Grounding, or centring oneself with nature and all that is tactile, can help strengthen the person’s astral projection, as well as reduce the danger of experiencing anxiety when you’re in the astral plane. Grounding can easily be done by heightening your self-awareness, as well as doing lots of research.
Exhaustion
By not following and practising the aforementioned steps, you may find yourself extremely tired and lethargic from the travel. Make sure to be mindful of your well-being all throughout the process.
Conclusion
Astral projection should not be feared. Genuinely taking the time to learn and correctly care for yourself throughout the whole process can eventually cultivate self-awareness and growth. Not to mention the fact that it’s a pretty cool way to spend your free time!
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