Hello everyone...I've been visiting this site for awhile and am a newbie at posting.  I wanted to get some feedback from anyone willing to share their thoughts on to what extent I should pursue OBEs.  Here's why I ask...

I occassionally have sleep paralysis which generally is a not so fun experience and I struggle to wake myself up. This weekend I was taking a nap and found myself falling into sleep paralysis again.  I decided to not fight it this time and instead use it as a spring board for an OBE which I've read can be a very simple way to go out of body.  I told myself "You're sleeping now.  Let's try and have an OBE."  I never felt myself "leave" my body.  I was just trying to will myself to move my consciousness.  During most of the experience I could not see anything.  It was as if I was floating around with my eyes closed.  I did, however, have a very vivid sense of touch.  When I lucid dream I am always touching the surface of things to experience how real they feel.  I'm fairly certain I was in some aspect of out of body but I can't rule out that I may have been lucid dreaming.

Throughout the day I continued to think about the experience and decided at future OBE opportunities I would practice telling myself I don't need my physical eyes to see.  If I can figure out a way to see my surroundings during the experience I'll be better able to evaluate if the experience was a true OBE or some type of dream.

That night I had the following dream...

I dreamt I was flying some sort of airplane with a puppy in the front seat next to me.  While in flight I became aware of some sort of missile activity going on in the air space I was flying in.  I don’t believe it necessarily was directed specifically at me but it was in the space where I was flying and therefore was a danger.  One of the missiles hit the wing of my plane and I knew I’d have to crash land right away.  I did so successfully with no harm to myself however I soon realized that the little puppy traveling with me suffered serious internal injuries.  I was very worried and was earnestly searching for a vet to tend to this puppy.  I woke up abruptly concerned that there may be some link to the possible OBE I had the afternoon before.

My interpretation…
Airplane = OBE
Missiles = dangers/dark stuff/bad guys in the spiritual realm
Puppy = my under-developed or vulnerable soul (due to excessive fears I am sometimes prone to)

I took from this dream that perhaps it’s not a good idea at this time to pursue OBE’s.  Maybe I’m not ready and need to become stronger internally so I will know how to handle the unexpected should it present itself.   I’m thinking I should not attempt to “see” what’s really out there because maybe it's not all good.  Maybe it will happen naturally without my prompting it when I’m ready.  Or…maybe it’s just a dream and there is no spiritual significance other than an unconscious random reaction to my conscious thoughts and experiences. 

I'm very interested in all the topics on this site and would like to learn/experience more.  I'm not sure now how cautious I should be with any of it.  Maybe I'm not ready. 

Sorry for the long post.  Thanks for any thoughts!!

Hi, I would have interpreted your dream similarly. But I'm not sure about the conclusion, to step back from experimenting with OBEs. I'd say, when it happens often to you, and you're plagued by this, the best thing you could is to experiment with it. And I think it is not just a good chance to have an OBE, it is already it's first stage.

I remember only two times I had a sleep paralysis, and it was indeed very odd. I really took all my strength, I worked so very hard to move an arm or a leg, and after my body woke up I had to realize I (bodily) did not work at all, but my body just was peacefully and sound asleep and relaxed during my attempts to move my limbs . In one of those occasions, I could see clearly, as if I could move my head a little forward and see down my body (which definitely wasn't the case physically), and when I attempted to move my leg it bent in a strange way. I think it was an overlay of what I "really" saw, and what I expected to see. Many OBE'ers tell of how their expections become a sort of outside reality.

I've read of someone who as well couldn't see in OBEs, until he concentrated not so much on the physical way to see something, but to sense it somehow, more like the mind's eye, and that the spot between the eyes and/or the forehead plays a role with this way of "seeing"; attempting to open his eyes caused him mostly to wake up physically.

So, it's a challenge, yes, and can be scary. On the other side, it's an opportunity not many have, and maybe it's not just by random that you have these states of sleep paralysis, but are a natural part of your path.

Spooky

Hi,

I don't think the dream should be interpreted as a warning.  When I have a vivid dream about something in my life, it usually comes after I've already been through something and gotten over a hurdle, like the dream is just there to show me what I'd already been through rather than telling me about what's ahead.  Do you think your dream is telling you that too? 

I don't think you should be afraid of OBEing just because of the sleep paralysis.  I think that since you are noticing the sleep paralysis, it means you are advancing in your abilities.  In time you'll be having other types of out of body experiences as well, and it's likely the sleep paralysis types will cease.  I think it's just a stage.  (I've experienced them too but don't anymore). 

Lucid dreaming and OBE are mistakenly thought of as two completely different things and that if you are having one, then you can't be having the other at the same time.  It's like this...let's say I'm awake sitting at my desk, but I'm bored so I'm daydreaming about doing something fun.  And for a few minutes I'm fully submersed in my daydream to the point of not paying attention to the dog barking outside.  Does that mean that since I was not paying attention to my physical surroundings that I could not possibly have been awake?  No.  It just means that my attention was more focused on what's in my thoughts than what's in my physical surroundings. 

So just because you find yourself consciously engaging and enjoying a lucid dream, it doesn't mean that you cannot also be consciously "awake".  Physically awake, no.  But consciously yes.  All you need to do is learn to focus your awareness and attention to the fact that you can be consciously awake and aware even in a dream, and that if you want to experience a different "dream", then just use your mind to do so.  Nonphysically all we need is thought to propel and create what we experience. 

So if I'm bored with my daydream, I can change it to something else.  Lucid dreams and OBEs are the same way.  Once you learn to have an OBE you'll learn to decide what you want to experience. 

And too as in real life, if I were engaged in a situation I didn't like, would I keep myself there or would I leave?  Well, if I were consciously aware enough to know that I have a choice and realize that I don't have to stay, then yes I would change my situation.  I could simply walk away and create something else in my experience.  Let's say it's a bad movie at the movie theater.  Well, you can stay and watch til the end, or you can simply get up and walk out.  It's your choice. 

Vicky

I think I read a thank you to me (and others) earlier.. please, don't thank me whatsoever.

I am a closed minded skeptic donkey - this I do not deny, I admit it freely. Looks like the thread is moving though which is good =)

I have not logged in to this site for awhile so I wanted to say thanks to all of you who had some great observations and insights to my post.  It's great to get feedback and ideas from you all.  I have not as of yet read any of Bruce Moen’s material as I wasn’t sure where to start but I plan to.

To Bardo, I agree sleep paralysis for me is usually very scary and like you, I typically fight it and somehow, with great effort manage to wake myself up.  This instance for me was the first and only time I didn’t fight it.  I have no idea if my consciousness was actually moving outside of myself.  I didn’t feel myself moving.  I just all of a sudden was touching the surface of the bedroom door which was about 15 feet from where I was sleeping.  Again, I could have been dreaming.  If the sleep paralysis happens to you again, I would suggest relaxing and resist the urge to fight it while you maintain awareness and then play it by ear and see what happens.  I didn’t really know how to do it, I just told my consciousness to move and then noticed I was at the bedroom door.  I didn’t have any sensation of coming out of my body or even moving for that matter.  I was just there, unless of course I was just dreaming.  Good luck in your attempts.

Thanks again guys for all your great comments, insight and suggestions.  It’s appreciated.  I’ve printed all the comments off so I can refer back to them.  This is a good site.