Hi everyone.. I am new to the site and saw this thread. I have had a lot of experience with Astral Travel/ OBE and what I can say is that those experiences have been easily the most incredible of my life. I think everyone should try to have them if they can. It makes the idea of the spiritual realm a reality rather than a concept. I saw my own astral body on the first attempts, I saw my astral arm coming out of my physical arm and my astral leg coming out of my physical leg and when the first happen it freaked me out enough that I went right back into my body. It took time to learn to stay out of body longer like Opmmur referred to, getting back in the body is not the hard part, getting out and staying out is the hard part.(btw, my astral limbs looked to be made up of millions of tiny blue lights and at the time I did not know other travelers had seen the astral body like this)..
For many years I would begin the first stages of Astral Travel spontaneously and since I didn't know what was happening to me (thought I was being posssessed, for real, not knowing what it was was frightening). I would go to bed and then have sleep paralysis and then would feel the most incredible vibrations through my body like electric voltage but so much greater than anything I have ever felt before, every time it happens it (still) surprises me how powerful it feels. An amazing sensation. When I used to fear it I would fight it until I sort of got myself out of that state. But then a few years ago I happened to hear an interview on Coast to Coast radio (youtube) with an author on Astral Travel, named William Bulhman and he wrote two books 'Adventures Beyond the Body' and 'Secrets of the Soul', both very good reads. So I heard him talk about the 'vibrational state' as an early stage of OBE and how many people become afraid and fight it so they don't get to have the experience. He talked about ways in which (when that happens) you can allow and guide yourself out of your body (by saying things to yourself like 'now I am out of body' over and over).. and gave other tips..
So finally I found out what has been happening to me for so long and I think next time it happens I will try to do relax and let it happen etc. So not long after it happens and when I feel that sensation (really unmistakable) I remember to say 'Now I am out of body' and sure enough I start to feel myself lifting out of my body and that's when I saw my arms and legs and got freaked out by that! LOL. Also he says that if you just think about your body you go back to it and I found this to be very true.
Anyway I got his books and started to have more experiences and each time I was able to progress a little more, it was def baby steps for me and I found you really had to learn to keep your mental focus concentrated on your goal for it to happen. At first I just walked around in my apartment and tried to touch things and watched my hand go through objects! Crazy! AND I saw my cat's astral body once walking around too and I saw his silvery cord going back to his actual body lying on the chair in the corner.
And then I started to leave the apartment through the roof. I heard about flying and I really wanted to try that. At first I would get stuck in the layers of the attic and roof and see them (very weird) and then I was able to float above my house (apartment is top floor of a house) and then finally fly! And flying was AMAZING! I learned (from the books) to say 'I want to fly' and keep thinking that and it would happen, but as soon as I lost the focus I would sort of float to the ground and then when I hit the ground I would be back in my body.
Later on I was able to visit other places, where I went I really don't know, places I have never seen before. I think once it was another planet or maybe dimension, I felt I was flying through space. In some instances I felt I no longer had an astral body but was more like pure consciousness, no form. And once in that state I merged with this great white light and felt very powerful love...
Anyway I have heard this explained in different ways.. like it's just your consciousness (however you want to define that) moving to different places (So your FOCUS is outside of your body when it is normal inside) and so you don't really 'leave' your body in terms of your soul/spirit (so you stay alive still), others say you leave but are still connected (with the cord). So many interpretations. All I know is it very unlike dreaming or even lucid dreaming for me. In Astral Projection my senses are very strong like in waking life (even sharper vision than waking life for me but my dreams have very hazy vision), colors are intense, I can FEEL sensations as if I had a body BUT BETTER because the WEIGHT of the body is not there, coming back into it I feel how combersome the body really is! And I think 'ugh, this old thing again!' LOL.
I even started on my last trips to meet and speak with other travelers. I have had these experiences for different lengths of time, sometimes it seems short there and here an hour passed or the other way around, it's hard for me to explain that part. Also I have yet to be able to will the experience, it still happens to me on it's own, but if I am thinking about it a lot and reading about it, it starts to happen more. (but not necessarily the night I am reading, maybe a few nights later).. And it happens in between sleep and wakefulness, so while drifting off or waking up in the middle of hte night and trying to go back to sleep. so I guess this is called the 'theta' state of mind. Some descriptions of Remote Viewing sound similar to me, but I have been learning some remote viewing recently with a CD course and have had flashes of seeing things in other places (but not sure where) while in a kind of theta or alpha state but it did not feel like AP, not exactly, a little similar, but different still.
So I thought I would share this with everyone! I have written down each experience after they happen so I am keeping a log.
Hasn't happened in a few months though, I would like one again soon, so much fun! Esp, the flying! I got so when I felt the vibrations, first thing I would say is 'I want to fly' or 'I am flying' and forget that I also wanted to find guides and ask serious questions etc, nope, just want to fly! LOL.
Happy Travels!