posted January 25, 2005 03:09 PM         

I fell asleep right after going to bed at night, a very light sleep... It felt like floating in conciousness...

Then I felt really weighless, as if I was made of something airy... Then I looked below and I saw myself asleep on my bed... I saw my body... I saw my bedroom around exactly as it is in the darkness... Then I got scared, deeply frightened... I realised I was outside...

I went frantic... I thought I could never go back in... If my soul was out, if my conciousness, my spirit was seeing my body down below, I could be dead... So I lost control overpowered by terror... I started to move so fast, going around in circles around the bedroom... I started to go dizzy...

Then I made a concious effort to take control... I ordered myself to calm down... I remember repeating to myself “Just slow down and go back in”... So I did... I stopped, got closer to my body and entered somehow...

Then I woke up... Then I started to tremble, my heart racing inside... I was back in, I made it... I fought trying to stay awake, I didnīt want that to happen again... But after a while I fell asleep again until next morning.

posted January 26, 2005 03:55 AM         

That is astral travel, or an out-of-body-experience (OBE). You relayed your experience very well, and I recognize some of the elements in my own past experiences. It can be a very frightening and overwhelming experience if you have no idea what is going on, that's for sure. But if you are aware of what is happening, it can be the totally opposite experience, liberating and exciting.

If you do a little reading on the subject, it would help you to understand it a lot better. I'll be glad to recommend some books if you want.

Did you always believe this was just some strange dream, or did you somehow just know that there was much more to it? Since you felt that way, did it change the way you see things? I mean, knowing that you are more than your physical body, do you feel different or understand things differently? Sorry about all the vague questions, but I am always curious about this when someone finds out for sure.

posted January 26, 2005 12:30 PM         

So you had similar experiences... Thatīs interesting... Does it happen very often?

I only remember this one clearly but it may have happened before... I didnīt put that much attention, I didnīt look at my body below so it wasnīt so scary... But somehow I think my spirit is growing in consciousness, itīs getting stronger... So probably thatīs why I was aware last time...

Sometimes, in the middle of a dream, I realise Iīm dreaming... And I can take control... Even to force me to wake up... But that needs a tough focusing... I need to calm down (normally, when I want to wake up itīs because itīs a frightening experience) and repeat to myself “This is just a dream. Wake up” several times... And then I start to raise slowly to a more superficial level... Images start fading away... And then I feel my physical body...

I always believed in having a soul, a spirit, locked in my body... Before, I thought my spirit could only get out of my body after death... Thatīs why I got so scared... After that revealing experience I realised maybe thatīs what happen when we dream, at a different level... But I donīt understand the process...

Can the free spirit get lost and unable to come back to the physical body? Can it travel through walls? Could I get out of the room?

posted January 27, 2005 08:13 AM         

It must have felt as if I was interrogating you... But I donīt normally get the opportunity to talk about it... People look at you as if you were a weirdo, talking about Astral Travel, reincarnation and so on... Itīs bad enough to defend Astrology... I only got to tell these experiences to very, very close friends and only when they have a spiritual flair and in very special circumstances... Iīm burning with questions!!!

Iīll appreciate all the answers you can give me, even in the form of books...

posted February 09, 2005 11:00 AM         

Werenīt you going to recommend me some books?

posted February 09, 2005 01:10 PM         

I forgot. Thank you for reminding me.

At the top of the list is the trilogy by Robert Monroe ... the first two books especially, "Journeys Out of the Body" and "Far Journeys".

It has been a while since I have read these books. Some are better that others, but I can't remember which ones are the best. Here are four that I think were pretty good:

Adventures Beyond the Body by William Buhlman
Astral Voyages by Dr. Bruce Goldberg
Out of Body Experiences-- How to have them and what to expect -- by Robert Peterson
Astral Odyssey by Carol Eby