Astral Projection

[haloedorchid]

If anyone has any experiences with astral projection, I would be interested in reading them.

Like everyone, I've had dreams about flying, but I'm not sure what the difference is between those and astral projecting.

Thoughts?

[The General]

I have recurring sleep paralysis, which is supposedly related. 


I only ever once 'left my body.'  I was hanging out in my apartment, in the living room, just thinking and doing whatever... and I realized that I had already gone to bed.  I felt really funny, and I remember being frustrated because things didn't seem right.  I then realized that my body was in bed, and I wasn't.  Seriously.  I know, I know, you think I just had a dream, but this was different.  Once I realized that I was out of my body, I INSTANTLY was jerked back into my bed and bolted up wide awake.  I ran out to the living room and knew I was just there, without my body.  Scared the living HELL out of me, I really don't ever want it to happen again.

[haloedorchid]

What happens during your sleep paralysis? I've never had an episode but know a lot of people that do, so I'm always curious about that.

I think your astral projection experience sounds fairly typical for what I've read. By that I mean it does sound like an astral projection, not a dream. What did it feel like going back into your body? I've heard it's like a violent slam -- more powerful than the feeling of jerking awake from sleep.

This morning I dreamt I was flying and I knew my body was still on the ground, but I didn't want to see it. Eventually I knew I had to return but I woke up before I reached it.

[The General]

What happens during your sleep paralysis?

For me, sleep paralysis is terrifying.  I wake up from sleeping, or I'm just dozing off, and all of a sudden I'm 100% conscious but I cannot move or speak.  I try to make a noise vocally, in my throat, to wake my body up, and the sound that comes out of my throat is strained and eventually I can make a noise and that seems to snap me out of it.  When it happens, it seems like I can see the room around me even though my eyes are closed.  It hasn't happened for a while, thankfully.  It sucks.  It seems like it is more likely to happen if I'm not getting enough sleep.

What did it feel like going back into your body?

It was a violent slam.  I was immediately jolted up in bed and my heart was POUNDING.  Not at all like waking up from sleep.  I don't know how some people do it at will and enjoy it.  They're braver than I am I guess.  I have had flying dreams before but I never really equated it with astral projection.  That's interesting. 

[Treading Water]

Quite, General.  But I don't think terrifying is "enough" of a word to describe it.

I've experienced sleep paralysis for as long as I can remember.  It usually happens when I lie flat on my back and start to drift off to sleep.  I wake frozen in place.  I'm pretty sure my eyes are closed, but I can see the room around me.  I also hear people whispering.  I don't know what they're saying, just that they're speaking to me.   And moving toward me.  I know I have to wake myself up before they reach me.  So I concentrate everything on moving my arm. 

That's how I wake up.  My arm sticking straight up in the air.  Usually, I'm covered in sweat and trembling. 

I haven't slept on my back ON PURPOSE for a very long time.  That's how I found Coast.  I leave the radio on all night so I don't hear the whispers.  And, no, I don't think I'll die if I finally understand what they're trying to tell me.  I just think it would be a very bad thing. 

I was pretty scared most of my childhood, until I figured out it was the sleeping on the back thing. 
So now that I acknowledged this, I'll have to really prop up my pillows and comforters for a few weeks.  I haven't had an "episode" for a while.  Don't want to rock the boat.

That's my unpleasant experience, haloedorchid.  Ick.

[The General]

Now that you mention it, my experiences have always been while lying on my back too.

[cwarner]

I'm really interested in how people try to distinguish sleep paralysis from astral projections/OBEs.

I've experienced sleep paralysis a number of times, but it's never been as marked as what you guys have described. Basically, I'll wake up and have the sense that half my brain is awake and half is asleep. This creates a feeling of tension as it seems like the waking and sleeping parts of my brain are at odds with each other. I can feel myself slipping back into sleep, but as that happens the tension increases and is accompanied by a buzzing in my ears as well as what I'd describe as a feeling of vibration throughout my body. The buzzing and vibration increase as I get close to falling back asleep. I've never actually let myself fall back asleep during this, because it hasn't happened for me to feel comfortable with the experience. But I do get the sense that if I let myself drift off, the buzzing and vibration would culminate into some sort of strong, crashing acute event.

Now, all that sounds exactly like how some people describe the beginnings of astral projection. They would say that this crashing acute event that I feel coming on is when my soul or what have you leaves my body. On the other hand, a neurologist would tell me that what I've experienced is sleep paralysis and the the buzzing sound is just one of the many different auditory/visual hallucinations that people experience during sleep paralysis.

The thing that doesn't follow with me though is why in more classic cases of sleep paralysis people hallucinate concrete, identifiable things like a demon, aliens, whispering etc., whereas in other cases (such as mine) it's just this general buzzing sound?

Incidentally, when people take DMT, the onset of the experience often involves a rushing/buzzing sensation that increases until they enter the full blown experience.

[haloedorchid]

Thank you, Treading Water. I'm so sorry you have to experience that. I can't imagine. Both my husband and my brother have sleep paralysis. My husband has also told me it most frequently happens while he
is on his back. He tries to move his arm the same way you described. I asked him if he's ever sensed anything flying around -- he said no, but once there was something running around back and forth at the foot of the bed. He also mentioned it happens a lot when he goes to bed particularly exhausted.

Of course most if the medical literature chalks it ip to something physiological, but I was curious if you guys think it's something beyond that. I mean the sheer terror of it, and the sense of a being flying around, running, or an old hag, etc... that seems to point to something beyond the mind's tricks.