I want to do a 90-day trial to achieve my first out of body experience (OBE).

History

For the past 10 years I’ve had an off and on interest in astral projection. I first heard about the concept in high school when I looked up a psy-trance music group that I was interested in at the time, which were aptly called “Astral Projection”. Naturally, a Google search for those two words led me to the other meaning – out of body experience.

I became quite interested in the topic and read a couple books on the subject. I tried some techniques and had some interesting experiences but I never fully got there. For whatever reason I lost interest for a while and decided to put OBE’s on the back burner.

Over the years I’d periodically regain some interest, read more about it, and try some techniques. Without much initial success I became impatient and would move on to other things. For whatever reason though, I found myself coming back to the concept over and over. Eventually I came across the work done by Robert Monroe, and read his three books:

   1. Journeys Out of the Body
   2. Far Journeys
   3. Ultimate Journey

I was completely blown away. The stories were so amazing I wondered how anyone could make them up. Then I discovered that the institute he created, The Monroe Institute, was still alive and going strong. Supposedly, people are learning how to do this all the time!

I decided that it was worth pursuing completely. As I’ve matured I’ve realized that anything worth doing usually takes persistence and patience. This 90-day trial also fits into Steve Pavlina’s success strategy of 30-day trials, so I’ve decided to really give this my all and see if I really am “more than my physical body”.

Strategy

The plan I will be using is from Robert Bruce’s and Brian Mercer’s book, “Mastering Astral Projection” (MAP). That book provides a 90-day guide to having an out of body experience, which includes:

    * affirmations
    * writing in a journal
    * dream recall
    * relaxation exercises
    * breath work
    * mind taming (i.e. meditation)
    * energy work (i.e. chakras)
    * binaural beats
    * exit techniques

I have read many books on out of body experiences but I’ve never come across one with such a structured, day-by-day guide. I feel like this book will help stack the deck in my favor, giving me the best possible chance at an OBE. Note that each day will be different, so it differs from typical 30-day habit forming trials.

The plan is to follow the book as closely as possible to see its effectiveness. However, since I haven’t read the entire book yet I can’t guarantee I’ll follow it completely. One basic change I’ll have to make from the start is that some exercises that are meant to be done in the afternoon will likely be done in the morning, due to my schedule.

For the most part I’m coming into this trial as a newbie. I’ve been doing some meditating everyday for the past few weeks which will help with taming my mind, but that’s about it.

MAP itself suggests reading other books during this trial, to really saturate the subconscious mind, so I’ve queued up:

    * Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce (read about 50% so far at the time of this posting)
    * Adventures Beyond the Body and The Secret of the Soul by William Buhlman
    * Voyages into the Unknown, Volume 1 by Bruce Moen (I will probably get the other 4 volumes as wanted)

I’ve also signed up to various forums and communities about Astral Projection/OBE’s to try and soak up as much knowledge as I can about the subject.

Motivation

So why am I doing this? Well some people might say that it’s all just mind games, but I believe it could lead to a verification of the after-life. At the very least, I will have much more evidence supporting the belief that I am more than my physical body.

Lately I’ve been exploring what spirituality is, as I used to be an atheist. I am a pretty left-brained and a scientific/analytical type of mind, so this type of verification of a spiritual topic would be a huge validation of my beliefs. It’s one thing to believe that you have a “spirit”, but it’s an entirely different thing to know.

I feel like astral projection is almost like a Pandora’s Box for me, which could lead to a very cool spiritual journey. Some people may think it’s weird or question the whole point of exploring anything not in the “real world”. I could probably write a whole post on that point of view, but I think that growing consciously is really the whole point of life to begin with. Why close your mind off from the whole package?

Other than that, I just find this topic interesting even as a mental exercise. I’m also a pretty curious person, and I like exploring topics that are on the edges of social norms.

Public Posting

I will be posting about my experiences over the 90 days. According to the book, each week will contain a different focus so posts will be weekly at the very least. I’ll try to post daily as long as there is something interesting to report.

I’m making this experience public for many reasons, which includes:

    * increasing my chances for success. Having people read and rely on my progress will give me extra motivation to follow through with the whole 90 days.
    * exposing more of who I really am, and what I am interested in. I’m sure I’ll attract other like-minded individuals who I can share and grow with.
    * helping others who want to explore out of body experiences. This is a pretty nice topic, so the more information out there, the better.
    * having writing from a newbies point of view. Writing’s on how to achieve an OBE from the perspective of a person who has them regularly is never the same as one starting from the beginning.

Wish me luck. I’ll be starting day 1 this weekend. I’d be happy to read your thoughts.

I have read and tried MAP last year, but only did it for a little over a month.  It comes with a companion cd, but he also sells an entire set of cds that I thought really helped.  I was able to get out of my body a couple times, just floating around, but not much more than that. 

I've had great luck just working on my energy body and doing chakra meditations as well.  I will have spontaneous OBEs in the middle of the night, but end up with a feeling of dread that sends me rushing back to my physical body.  I still haven't gotten past my own fears.

Good luck to you, I can't wait to read about your experiences.

spooky2 wrote on Mar 14^th, 2010 at 1:05am:


Thanks, I have actually read that in the past, when I had first read Robert Monroe's books. It's probably worth another read though.

I'd like to try the phasing approach as well, but after I do this trial.

Alan McDougall wrote on Mar 14^th, 2010 at 8:27am:


I have a hard time believing this. If I don't try at all will I have OBE's all the time? No.. because I've never had one before.

Yeah I've heard about sleep deprivation helping but that honestly doesn't appeal to me. Thanks for the advice though!

Alan McDougall wrote on Mar 14^th, 2010 at 8:27am:


I agree with this...most of my spontaneous OBEs occurred after many sleepless nights and very little food (both of which were caused by stress).

No, don't starve yourself or deny your body sleep.  But eating lightly the days you want to try to have an OBE or getting up at 3am to try it just might help.

msagansk wrote on Mar 14^th, 2010 at 1:53pm:


Hi Sag: This is true of all effort... especially in sports... if you try too hard you lose touch with the freeflowing intuitive ability that is just there... loosy goosy is the expression I think.

But trying too hard has an upside and a downside... I set a goal to do an obe... with RB material and was quite intense... bang I had a sudden obe... into an office building somewhere... then I snapped back and was unable to do it again for months...

but intensity is a part of it... I am now aware of a level of intensity that just kind of is below the surface...

so trying hard has a technique to it that is kind of like walking a tight rope... but, you will get the feel of it as you go forward.

S.

I liked the hemi-sync better as well, but the brainwave generator certainly gave me a more spacey feeling and a feeling like my energy body was rocking and moving more so than the hemi-sync.

Calming the mind is very important, I'm a mind-wanderer as well.  Envision an object while doing the breathing exercises and do not lose focus of the object...the more you practice, the better you'll get at maintaining your focus!  Keep up the good work!!