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Did i astral project?


Stevie-lee94

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Not exactly sure how this forum works but i hope someone here can see this and help answer my question, about astral projection.

I have been able to lucid dream from a young age, ive never been able to do it on demand it just comes to me a few times a year, and i became aware of this as a teen, telling my friends my crazy vivid dreams they always said my dreams were different, so i looked it up and found out i had a gift of dreaming like not many other people can, ive had passed loved ones from my family (and complete strangers) come to me in my dreams to help them say goodbye to loved ones, and even had dreamss of events that the very next day unfolded infront of my eyes. Ive always known ive dreamed differently to a lot of people but when the word astral projection was mentioned i was skeptical, and must admit i still sort of am, i dont fully understand it ive done a bit of research today on it for the first time, because i THINK I astral projected lastnight while sleeping, but am not 100%.sure, this is my experience and i hope someone more experienced in the dream world can help me out.

So i was asleep, i didnt feel like i was half asleep when this all began which is why im unsure, because i read your half asleep/ concious while astral traveling, but i felt asleep as it was happening.

First it came on like waves of vibrations, it was an intense tingiling (i have felt this sensation before whilst medutating with crystals) only it was different, my head was spinning even though i couldnt see anything and i couldnt snap myself out of it or move, it almost felt sickening.

Then it was like i was dreaming but i floated out of my sleeping body and could see my partner and my body in bed, the room looked how it would look if i was sleeping, only everything seemed more "black and white" is the only way i can explain it, it was quiet and eerie, i was slowly floating upward toward the ceiling when i started to freak out, it felt as if there was someone evil in the room pulling me up even though there was nothing there, i struggled in the air trying to get back to my body, it was very distressing. I felt the distress in this "dream state" and in my physical body, i then eventually fell back into my sleeping body below me on the bed and immediately woke up (for real) in the same position in bed next to my partner.

I dont know if it was a dream or astral projection, i was concious i wasnt in my body however. I had disturbing nightmares after that but i dont think they link because they felt different, and were definitely in the dream state. 

Can someone please give there insight?

Hope this makes sense

 

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Hello Stevie, welcome to the boards.

 

Yep you had a full on astral projection. That vibration feeling was an exit sign. What ever part of you that separates during projection does so during that vibration stage. Should it happen again spontaneously like that, you would do yourself well to drop the fear.

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You ever had a described astral projection Clair? It's no dream. Im at work so I'll have to find it later, but there was a study done that showed you don't use the parts of your brain that dreams during astral projection. You use the parts that you use while awake an walking around.

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There is a reason for the most part this section of the boards isn't run by the skeptics

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11 minutes ago, preacherman76 said:

You ever had a described astral projection Clair? It's no dream. Im at work so I'll have to find it later, but there was a study done that showed you don't use the parts of your brain that dreams during astral projection. You use the parts that you use while awake an walking around.

Yes I have. And yes, it was a dream. But sure, post that study when you can, I would like to read it.

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Clair to be fair that article is not a study and was written by the deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer. That's like a vegetarian writing about carnivorous diets. There is a neat link in that article on OBE's though which is a great read.

And to the OP: Good luck finding a non-biased answer (no offense). When it comes to fringe theories you either get a "yes" or "no" response and both sides will be just as crazy. The only true answer here is "I don't know." One thing I will agree with in Clair's link is there is no real evidence for astral projection. I'm inclined to suggest this isn't what folks (who are for the idea) think. But like I said I don't know. 

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1 hour ago, Clair said:

Stevie-lee, it was most likely a lucid dream or hallucination brought on by sleep paralysis. There is no evidence whatsoever to support astral travel, regardless of how vivid the experience seems. You might want to read this article: http://www.livescience.com/27978-astral-projection.html

Agreed.  That's what it sounds like exactly.  Since astral projection isn't real, or, at least, hasn't been proven to exist, it's safe to assume that's not what it was.

Besides, why does something like this HAVE to be paranormal, when many others have the same thing or something similar happen and they don't immediately jump to wild conclusions about it?

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19 minutes ago, internetperson said:

And to the OP: Good luck finding a non-biased answer (no offense). When it comes to fringe theories you either get a "yes" or "no" response and both sides will be just as crazy.

Really, what how are they just as crazy?  How is an explanation that is natural, proven and common and actually unbiased crazy?

OP, good luck getting an answer that you would want to read.

19 minutes ago, internetperson said:

The only true answer here is "I don't know." One thing I will agree with in Clair's link is there is no real evidence for astral projection. I'm inclined to suggest this isn't what folks (who are for the idea) think. But like I said I don't know. 

It's easy to rule what it isn't.  And first thing to eliminate is astral projection.

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I definitely could've explained myself better, my bad. My apologies if anyone was offended, will post here again later but got a busy day today.

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3 hours ago, internetperson said:

I definitely could've explained myself better, my bad. My apologies if anyone was offended, will post here again later but got a busy day today.

No worries.  I look forward to your next posts about it.

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5 hours ago, internetperson said:

Clair to be fair that article is not a study and was written by the deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer. That's like a vegetarian writing about carnivorous diets. 

Granted it's not a study, but there's a smattering of research behind it. There's an actual study done in Canada though that you might find interesting (PDF version is provided below). Apparently, it was the first time that a voluntary OBE experience was analyzed scientifically. By 'voluntary' I mean that the person had trained themselves to experience it.

The findings are interesting. The fMRI showed a strong deactivation of the visual cortex while activating the left side of several areas associated with kinesthetic imagery, which includes mental imagery of bodily movement. This is the part of the brain that gives us a sense of where our body is in relation to everything around us.

The experience was real in so far as the subject experienced what she claimed she did, but it was not proof of her soul (or whatever) leaving her body for a little jaunt about town. If anything, this study further convinced researchers that astral travel is a type of hallucination triggered by some neurological mechanism, and that some people are able to activate this mechanism at will.

Voluntary OBE Experience: An fMRI Study - http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cns/resources/Frontiers_OBE_fMRI.pdf

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6 hours ago, Clair said:

Yes I have. And yes, it was a dream. But sure, post that study when you can, I would like to read it.

Forgive my doubt, but if you have ever had the classic astral projection experience, same as the ones Ive had, there is no way you could without hesitation confidently say it was definitely a dream. BTW there is no evidence what so ever that says what people experience during sleep paralysis is a hallucination. Best ive seen science do is describe what a sleep paralysis experience is like, then they just call it a hallucination.

 

To many people have described encountering the same exact entities for it to be a hallucination. The amount of people who have described the shadow known as the Hat man alone is enough to boggle the mind.

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6 hours ago, internetperson said:

Clair to be fair that article is not a study and was written by the deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer. That's like a vegetarian writing about carnivorous diets. There is a neat link in that article on OBE's though which is a great read.

And to the OP: Good luck finding a non-biased answer (no offense). When it comes to fringe theories you either get a "yes" or "no" response and both sides will be just as crazy. The only true answer here is "I don't know." One thing I will agree with in Clair's link is there is no real evidence for astral projection. I'm inclined to suggest this isn't what folks (who are for the idea) think. But like I said I don't know. 

I gotta respectfully disagree with you here internetperson. Ive met a few people, couple on this board who have more then proven themselves trust worthy, who have had several confirmations that their consciousness extended beyond their physical body. White Crane Feather, who unfortunately doesn't come here anymore, has had a few really good experiences that were confirmed by seeing things that ended actually being so, including going on an adventure with his son, who remembered the experience same as he did.

I myself had a confirmation the very first time I projected.

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6 hours ago, Thorvir Hrothgaard said:

Agreed.  That's what it sounds like exactly.  Since astral projection isn't real, or, at least, hasn't been proven to exist, it's safe to assume that's not what it was.

Besides, why does something like this HAVE to be paranormal, when many others have the same thing or something similar happen and they don't immediately jump to wild conclusions about it?

Why would you call it paranormal? If our consciousness can exist out side of the physical, then astral projection would be as natural as anything.

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1 hour ago, Clair said:

Granted it's not a study, but there's a smattering of research behind it. There's an actual study done in Canada though that you might find interesting (PDF version is provided below). Apparently, it was the first time that a voluntary OBE experience was analyzed scientifically. By 'voluntary' I mean that the person had trained themselves to experience it.

The findings are interesting. The fMRI showed a strong deactivation of the visual cortex while activating the left side of several areas associated with kinesthetic imagery, which includes mental imagery of bodily movement. This is the part of the brain that gives us a sense of where our body is in relation to everything around us.

The experience was real in so far as the subject experienced what she claimed she did, but it was not proof of her soul (or whatever) leaving her body for a little jaunt about town. If anything, this study further convinced researchers that astral travel is a type of hallucination triggered by some neurological mechanism, and that some people are able to activate this mechanism at will.

Voluntary OBE Experience: An fMRI Study - http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cns/resources/Frontiers_OBE_fMRI.pdf

So basically they set out to prove it was just a dream, an when that was proven false, they fell back on the old hallucination theory.

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1 minute ago, preacherman76 said:

Forgive my doubt, but if you have ever had the classic astral projection experience, same as the ones Ive had, there is no way you could without hesitation confidently say it was definitely a dream. BTW there is no evidence what so ever that says what people experience during sleep paralysis is a hallucination. Best ive seen science do is describe what a sleep paralysis experience is like, then they just call it a hallucination.

To many people have described encountering the same exact entities for it to be a hallucination. The amount of people who have described the shadow known as the Hat man alone is enough to boggle the mind.

I know full well what I experienced. It was a hallucination during an episode of sleep paralysis that ended the moment I properly awakened. Even though the experience felt extremely real, it was not. Verification of that was easy to obtain as my home in real life was not exactly as the one I floated around in during my supposed OBE.

As for science, whilst there isn't a great deal of definitive research on OBEs, neuroscientists do know that in many cases the experience of one can be caused by brain traumas, NDEs, psychedelic drugs, dehydration, sensory deprivation, sleep, and electrical stimulation of the brain (among other things).

Finally, as for people encountering the same thing, guided imagery may be one explanation.

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2 minutes ago, preacherman76 said:

So basically they set out to prove it was just a dream, an when that was proven false, they fell back on the old hallucination theory.

Read the study and determine that for yourself.

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25 minutes ago, Clair said:

I know full well what I experienced. It was a hallucination during an episode of sleep paralysis that ended the moment I properly awakened. Even though the experience felt extremely real, it was not. Verification of that was easy to obtain as my home in real life was not exactly as the one I floated around in during my supposed OBE.

As for science, whilst there isn't a great deal of definitive research on OBEs, neuroscientists do know that in many cases the experience of one can be caused by brain traumas, NDEs, psychedelic drugs, dehydration, sensory deprivation, sleep, and electrical stimulation of the brain (among other things).

Finally, as for people encountering the same thing, guided imagery may be one explanation.

Not according to this guy.

 

 

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If it makes you feel more comfortable calling these experiences a hallucination, then so be it. But there is no proof its actually a hallucination. Its just as likely that under certain situations like you mentioned that you are dialing in to real things otherwise not normally seen in this reality. Like tuning a radio. Heck the folks who have experiences NDE, have seen an known things they couldn't have possibly known that happened while they were clinically dead.   

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3 minutes ago, preacherman76 said:

If it makes you feel more comfortable calling these experiences a hallucination, then so be it. But there is no proof its actually a hallucination.

Yes there is. Where the proof is lacking, is that it is not.

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19 minutes ago, preacherman76 said:

Not according to this guy.

In spite of Hufford's academic credentials, he's not the penultimate authority on sleep paralysis. I am aware of his views and the supernatural component to them, but I am not convinced by them. There are other explanations for similarities in sleep paralysis hallucinations, just as there are for similar hallucinations in people with Parknsons. Scientists, for example, have been able to induce hallucinations of shadow people by tapping certain parts of the brain. It wouldn't surprise me that if they tapped around a little more, they would be able to trigger some of the other common hallucinations as well.

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Can some one explain to me why the techniques for astral projection are similar to lucid dreaming?

 

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1 hour ago, Clair said:

Yes there is. Where the proof is lacking, is that it is not.

They call it a hallucination because they are basing all this on pre conceived notions. From their limited POV, it couldn't be anything but. That doesn't make it so.

 Even considering it to be anything else instantly makes who ever is doing the research a lunatic. Theyd be hard pressed to continue getting funding after that. 

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15 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Can some one explain to me why the techniques for astral projection are similar to lucid dreaming?

 

Basically cause the idea in both cases is to remain conscious.

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