Growing Self Esteem

Astral projection, also known as an out-of-body experience, can occur at any time to any person. The most common out-of-body experiences occur during a major trauma. However, it is possible to have an out-of-body experience by sheer will.

It would be this will power manifestation that would be the most commonly known form of astral projection. A number of people have claimed to have had out of body experiences while others make claims about being able to directly perform such astral projection powers. While the basics of these techniques are the same, the power levels can differ from person to person. Of course, there are those that question the validity of such claims.

For centuries, there have been people who have experienced the phenomenon of out of body experiences. Some of them have experienced them during sleep and ignored it, believing that what they saw was a dream. However, most out-of-body experiences are experienced during major trauma such as surgeries.

There are many accounts of out-of-body experiences that occur during near-death situations. In all cases of out-of-body experiences, the person having them state that they are able to see and hear everything that is going on in the room. These people can describe events that occurred while they were in this state and would otherwise not be known to them.

Out-of-body experiences also seem to occur as a result of the use of psychedelic, or dissociative, drugs. However, there have been some techniques to induce an out-of-body experience developed. One example is the use of visualization during a relaxed, or meditative, state. There have been studies, recently, that show that similar experiences to out-of-body experiences are able to be induced by directly stimulating the brain, as well.

Probably the most common type of out-of-body experience is dubbed an astral projection. During astral projection, a person may be able to leave the bodies and visit other places on earth. The individual may even be able to explore astral planes or even higher planes of human existence.

In the world of renaissance Neoplatonist and Rosicrucian philosophy, in addition to scores of other philosophical thought processes, it is stated that an astral body in body created by light and will link the concept of the “rational soul” and the physical body in the form of an intermediate. Within these theories it is stated that an astral plane is a world and realm devised by the same light and exist in an area between heaven and earth. The composition of this realm will be derived from spheres of stars and exist amidst a home of angels, demons, and spirits.

According to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the human soul possesses the ability to hover or float in a world outside the human body in what is commonly referred to the “Ka” which is also known as the subtle body. (Another name of this is the astral body) In most belief systems in astral projection, the astral body holds a connection with a silver cord of psychic energy to the physical body.

The Chinese Taoists developed an alchemical practice that involved creating a body of energy through breathing meditations, pulling energy into what they called a “pearl” and then circulating that pearl throughout the body to create the body of energy.

While an out-of-body experience takes place, scores of people eventually account that they have literally willed themselves to take a leave from their bodies. Then there are those that invoke the notion that they are literally pulled out of their body while some may state that they cannot even tell that the out-of-body experience has actually occurred. There are even those that have noted they wished to get out of bed and when the time came to reach for the door, the individuals realized they were unable to touch it. Upon feeling this sensation, they had looked in the direction of their sleeping area and realized they were still in a lying down still asleep.

Neurologists have tried to explain these events by saying that they are triggered by a mismatch of the visual and tactile signals. Most out-of-body experiences occur during the time between REM sleep and the time before waking. During most occasions of out-of-body experiences, the subject goes into a state called sleep paralysis. During the rime between sleep and awake, sleep paralysis can continue and dream imagery becomes mingled with input from the senses.

Many scientific studies however have been undertaken in the field of astral projection and out-of-body experiences to show that this is a very real phenomena. Research facilities in a number of different countries such as the Monroe Institute in Virginia and the prestigious Projectarium at the International Academy of Consciousness in Portugal and the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience in Switzerland have explored the subject with a number of interesting results.

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