Mind In The Gutter - Early Experiences With Astral Projection

[Edit - For clarity we define astral projection as having a pseudo-sensory component as opposed to mental wandering which involves the mental body only and is associated with much larger distances.]

‘When I was a kid I used to astral project all the time. Most of the time it was within the confines of my home and sometimes in the very local area. It happened when awake, when asleep (although this crosses over with the lucid dreaming phenomenon) and also in that hinterland between wake and sleep. I saw things that I could later check thus making it a verifiable experience. Many children experience this and then, like me, for various reasons go on to lose the skill as they move in to adulthood.

This skill isn’t on my wish list as such, but as I worked with my energy body more intensively I got a sense that it would be possible. After a number of unsuccessful attempts I found a hack that facilitated my escape from the physical.

I am rather scared of heights and one way to mitigate this when you are at height is to focus on another object at the same height. For example, if you are on a rollercoaster that runs through trees, focusing on the tree tops offsets the fear sensations in a way you couldn’t if there were no tall objects in the vicinity and you were just looking down at concrete below. So you move from a fear sensation to this kind of weird sense that the high object near you provides a protective touchpoint, although in reality you couldn’t reach it to protect you from falling. It is this weird connection that facilitated my astral projection.

I was lying in bed looking out of the window and from there I could see the neighbours’ guttering. Not exactly the mystical object you might think would facilitate a mystical experience. It felt almost close enough to touch but in reality it was well out of physical reach. So I reached out with my astral body and there it was, I was flying again just like when I was a kid.’

So there you have an incredibly useful hack to escape the shackles of the physical plane and explore the astral. Once in a meditative state, reach out to something that feels close enough to touch but is in reality out of physical reach. Maybe the addition of the sensation of height and reaching across that void is also a catalyst.

Astral projection instructions often come with safety caveats, sometimes these are important, others somewhat silly. What is true though is that when you are practicing this skill you are effectively leaving your physical body to it. You are more divorced from the physical than during sleep so may not react to any physical cue that you need to do something to keep yourself comfortable and safe. You are therefore going to want to be as comfortable and undisturbed as you can be and aware of any risks, particularly as the astral is a timeless or at least a time dilated environment.