Need help, just had a few OBE's

To provide some back history I've had sleep paralysis for the last 8 years or so and I'm 24. The experience of the paralysis has evolved and progressed over the years, there is always a similarity but it's interactions with my dreams and psyche have become stronger. What I just experienced a few minutes ago was not the same thing. It felt in the same vein but this is the first time I was as conscious as I was and that I was able to control anything. I was not put back into my body immediately and found I could exert some manner of power over the situation.

Last night I had sleep paralysis (SP) twice, within a few minutes of each other. I am staying at my parents house and every time I visit (once a month or less) I have SP. This time was more vivid than normal. The paralysis will manifest in my dream and usually isn't random or unaccompanied. I can identify the auditory and visual hallucinations but not until I'm just about to wake up. It's very real up until then. As I said these two times were more vivid.

When it started I was on some sort of court, either basketball or tennis. But once the experience began and I looked behind me I could see my bed. About five feet in front of my bed was a door way. The size of the opening was a standard door and from the inner frame it extended out about two feet. So it was like a thick outline of a staple. It was paper thin and unconnected to anything else. I felt as if I was walking backwards through it as something was pushing me towards my bed, which lie on the other side of the doorway. It felt like I was shoved back into my body, which is normal. But I don't normally watch myself being pushed towards my bed when it happens. Pretty much the exact same thing happened once I woke up (i'm 100% I did after the first time). That, was somewhat normal, what just happened to me was not.

I am downstairs lying on my parents sofa and my younger brother is on the other one. Oh, and there is also a large thunderstorm going on where I am. So I'm laying here and start to get an odd feeling. It's like the couch and my body started moving in waves, and I would get the feeling of dropping down like an airplane responding to turbulence. I would total at least 5 separate OBE feelings during this time and each one started like that. I also heard a crackling (not thunder, i heard that too) just below my left ear, as if it was coming from my neck. I could feel myself start to rise, like an arm would shoot up in the air as if someone was holding it up. I could start to sit up but couldn't control my direction very well. I found that when I exhaled I would start to fall down towards my body and when I inhaled I would move up. I started keeping my exhales slow and steady as to not jolt back down and freely took in my breath to rise. I would experience these things and wake up, even talked to my brother, go back to sleep and have it almost immediately happen. I know it wasn't congruent because I would lay down and think about what just happened, thinking it wouldn't occur again because I had fully awakened.

It happened a few more times but even more striking. At one point I became horizontal and was a few inches from the fan in our living room. I started to worry that I would strike the blades but nothing happened. Once I realized that I calmed down a bit. Another time I completely turned myself around so that my head was opposite of where it had been, hanging over the couch (it's one of those two seaters with a big ottoman that's just as wide and close to the length of the couch). I was hoping my brother could see this or notice any movement, but I knew he wouldn't. I was able to sit up from this position and looked towards my front door area.

..... continued.....

There is a table there with my laptop case on it. My cats love to get into it and fall asleep. It was difficult to concentrate on one object like my cat. Everything else was a greyish haze, moving like light in a very hot environment. Or one of those old movies where they held a colored bottle in front of the projector. I put all my concentration on the cat and it looked like he was being lit with a flashlight. It was the only bright object and I could see this whitish glow around him. The back of his legs and tail almost looked transparent, it was like molten steel with bits of solid still floating, in that there were occasional dark spots within the body but it was somewhat fluid. That was the last of the experiences and I finally got up.

The first of the 5 or 6 'OBEs' I had little control, and actually the first time I heard the crackle and felt the waves it scared me enough to make myself wake up. The following times I had to calm myself down and just go with it.

Like I said before I've experienced sleep paralysis and this was different. In SP you can't control anything and it's over relatively quickly. And I never sense myself leave my body only when I come back in. This was totally opposite. I also have a degree in psychology and know a great deal about the brain and hallucinatory experiences. Like in my first sleep paralysis I heard someone yelling 'you motherf***er' a lot, which was freaky and never happened before, but I know it was an auditory thing. After years of having this happened i've become more adept at post identification. But this string of experiences was way different and I don't know what to think about it. I'm just hoping someone can relate or explain something to me that is currently beyond me. Thanks for reading my post and offering your advice. If I didn't have a place like this I think I'd go crazy.

i've always wanted an obe but not due to a severe injury or death, but a controlled one. i had a friend who claimed he could meditate to a state resulting into an out of body experience. one major key he told me was to close your eyes and picture the room as it was before you closed them. focus in and out in your mind so it feels you' re either rocking back and forth or the physical world is vibrating. needless to say i never got out but i did visualize the room vibrating. next you would feel weightless and free and be able to visually travle out of body. i think i was to concerned about not getting back lol. no experience is interpreted the same for any two people so i hope you find a way to use these obe's or at least enjoy the ride you go on. and always remember where you parked the meat suit, yur gonna need it to keep continuing the spirits physical experience here on planet earth.

Anyone?

I know some people on this forum have had a OOBE, your thoughts or opinions would really help. Thanks for your reply mrRviewer, I do the vibrating and rocking feeling to distract my mind when I can't sleep, which is a lot of the time. Maybe I've stumbled upon something without really knowing it. I used to fear not coming back, or if something would be standing there watching me if I exited. It took me awhile to relax when I would feel the sleep paralysis start. Only recently have I experienced that particular state of consciousness without fear and allowed myself to concentrate on my breathing. The OOBE's i recently experienced are on a new level. I'm only an observer with SP but I was partially in control during the OOBE's. And in a much different way than in a lucid dream, it felt like a newborn fawn trying to walk, I didn't really know how to orient myself or propel without legs.

[edit on 20-7-2007 by Parabol]

Parabol, just a preliminary question. Were you on any sort of substances when this happened?

No, I didn't have anything in my system that would have strongly affected me. Not even caffeine. It was an odd mid day nap after looking around ATS. I had the computer in front of me when I fell asleep so I was able to get on and type a minute or two after I woke up.

Someone? A thought?

Shameless two line bump...

I once made myself feel like I was rocking back and forth, lying on a foton(footon?phooton?)(they're confortable...), anyways i really felt like I was rolling/rocking back and forth. I never thought about doing an OBE, but i guess I should have. I've never had an OBE. I'm also afraid of getting back "in" when you're out.

If you can gain enough control back up while rising above your body and see if you can feel any others present huddled around your body. I have two thoughts:
One – you are near a portal, being a door portal is NOT a good thing. Particularly if the opening leads down a bit or opens from a black vertical line.
Two –never ever practice during a storm.

Sounds interesting, tell me what are your spiritual beliefs?

Comforter
Next time I experience it I will try to look for others around me. As far as I know I didn't see any one. I felt like I was only focused on trying to orient or move so I wasn't externally sensing as much as I may have been able to, not sure.

1.
So my house is near a door portal? I am almost guaranteed to have sleep paralysis when I sleep there and that was my most reality altering experience I've had. The door frame I saw didn't lead down or open from a black vertical line. It looked like someone had taken a 3 ft thick black marker and drawn a door, with the opening being a standard door size, and it was paper thin. I was a bit disturbed by the feeling of being forced back towards my body through the door and the voice cursing at me. I've never had a negative paranormal experience beyond my initial fear.

I know the voice was female and had short blond hair, I felt like she was pale and wearing a red top with a bluish bottom. I couldn't turn to see her because I heard her speak right before I was about to be fully in my body. To clarify, I'm referring to my sleep paralysis the night before the OOBE's. But somehow I was aware of her in the sense that, I couldn't turn my head, but I was able to move my awareness where my eyes couldn't see. It felt like she was standing around 10 ft away to the left of my bed. That's all I can remember about that part.

2.
I wasn't practicing, it just happened. I've been doing the rocking sensation since I was a child. It always amused me how it could feel like my bed was on the ocean and I was being tossed around. I used to practice controlling it, changing the direction, length, or time of the waves. I never really questioned why but it helped me fall asleep. It wasn't until a few years ago that I started reading about the general subject that I learned about its use or paranormal connection.

As a musician I've had to teach myself that if I consciously 'try' something I'm affecting the natural flow. It's like swinging at a fast ball, you have to just do it without thinking. Of course you have to practice and become familiar with the skill to get to that point. I still use the rocking to put my mind in a relaxed state and hopefully sleep but I don't try to have OOBE's or anything. I assume that if I try it will disrupt my concentration and breathing (I'm a singer so I practice that as well).

3.
I was raised Christian and believe in God, though not the literal interpretation of the Bible God. I pray almost every night and I'm comforted by my faith at times when these events scare me. I think people focus on the wrong issues in religion rather than being concerned with having a personal relationship with Him and yourself, which I consider almost one in the same. I think that prayer is His way of showing us how to produce and focus positive energy in this world. That's just an example of how I see certain connections between Christian ideology and what we experience as reality. As to what this energy is or how everything works I don't know. But I would be naive and arrogant to think that there isn't an aspect of this universe beyond my perception. I consider myself a listener and observer, not one to move in with force or control.

Parabol,

You might have experienced your first OBE. You can enhance your experiences by practicing some easy relaxation techniques or meditation.

A technique that I have used over the years is to practice expanding your "etheric". This "etheric field" pervades and surrounds all beings and can be manipulated and trained so-to-speak.

First lie down flat with your arms at your sides and begin a slow easy, rhythmic breathing. Then imagine a light coming out of your crown chakra,"top of your head", and begin to trace around your body, slowly, starting from the crown chakra down the left side of your head, neck, shoulder, arm, hand and fingers. Back up under your arm and down your side to your hips and legs and also around your feet. Do this up the right side of your body all the way back up to your head. Trace around your body completely, even up between your legs and so forth. Take your time and concentrate on each area of the body as you trace it. This will enhance your perception of the "etheric field".

Once you have reached the top of your head, inhale very deeply and feel this etheric body expand. At first it will feel like it's stuck, but with practice you can fill the whole room with it. It's a very exhilarating feeling. This is the "etheric body" which surrounds you and is always there. This is the "body" that actually makes the OBE and comes back.

Once you have stretched the etheric you can practice rocking it back and forth, first try rolling it the left and then to the right. Most people have trouble making it go one way or the other but with practice it will move the way you direct it.
During these exercises you may notice your tension in your throat and heart chakras, this is normal and nothing to be afraid of. You may also feel quite a bit of rocking, this is from those chakras becoming energized.

You can practice making this "etheric" you stand up and turn around and even roll within your body so that it's facing you while being in you. It can be a little unsettling but not harmful. It's like exercising apart of your body that doesn't get used much, but it is fun too.

These exercises teach you to manipulate a living part of your being that is truely forgotten. Many people talk about their "space", that place around themselves they consider inviolate and safe in. This "space" is occupied by this "etheric", most people don't exercise it and so they don't often understand what it is, but they know that they have it. With practice it becomes less sticky and will expand farther around you.
I'm sure you have met people that you intuitively know have power, that is your perception of their "etheric". Many of them are not even consciously aware of this, but they instinctively know they are powerful.

This "etheric body" is the vehicle you use during an OBE. I'm sure this sounds like the ramblings of a fool to some. My experience with this is purely personal and completely subjective. My numerous experiences with it tell me it is very real none-the-less.

If you are this far down the road you are not traveling alone, you have guides and fellow travelers. You are not alone and there really isn't anything to be afraid of.



[edit on 24-7-2007 by sharkman]

sharkman

Thank you for your comments and advice. What you mentioned at the end about not being alone was touching. I am comforted by my writing and I'm always amazed at where inspiration or creativity comes from. I don't feel like anything I write is good because I never feel like the one who writes it. Though I suppose all artists and writers achieve this sense of separation from the origin of their work, but I love that part. I would like to share a short piece I wrote a few weeks ago that helped me out. It wrote it in as much time as it took to type so it still needs editing and pacing help but I like the message.

"The man unknown to himself is forever alone, he races to consume and drain his surroundings before others take what could be his.
The unknown man is his own best friend, he stands deserted as a rock in a river of rushing men, as he knows what is already his.
While others gorged to fill their hollows, the unknown man placed himself inside the missing space and found he was the one thing that fit. What was once an empty cave is now a mountain. Rivers will always flow, cutting deeper into the earth, always moving forward yet always falling down. The mountain will always stand, not to look down on others but to give young streams a chance to rise. A moment to dry their feet and step from the frothy current onto a shore with no where to go but up. And when the unknown man is joined by his friends on the mountain he will see that he was never alone; he was the first to arrive."

This feeling of alone applies more to my friends and family here than whatever spiritual guides or forces may be out there. I can't let the fears or misconceptions of others hold me back from exploring the world around me. If I have to be the first of my peers to search and discover something so that I can share it with them, then that is what I will have to do. I have to find myself before I can help others.

1. If you are game place a mirror or mirrors in front of the portal area. Rose water is a good protective sent to have over your sleeping area.

2. I too liked to rock to music. Good natural meditation. You may consider getting a copy of “The Root of Chinese Chi Kung” by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. I would avoid contact with the gentle man though because of some of the people around him. A bit dangerous for a new practitioner. But I found it a great system, pay attention to rooting with your feet. Walking meditation is very strengthening.

3. There is much missing from Christianity but you are on the right path. Part of what you are now experiencing is how the harvest or rapture will come about. If you do not fear to leave your clay shell or vessel when the time comes it will be easier there will be no time for delay. But understand this: some portals allow the Sons of Darkness (Gargoyles) into the Wolds of Light. There is a war far older than mankind between these and the Sons of Light (Angels). At the harvest people like yourself that leave their earthly vessels must stay together until an escort or harvester (Angel) comes to guide them to Megiddo. No one should look back or delay in any way simply go. There will be a tower covered in crystal hovering about four inches above it’s original base. It will be there for one day to all how watch from outside but inside you and others like you will have one thousand years before we must leave this world. A horrible war is coming, much worse than recorded by the Bible. It is better to go to a new and better world. Be ready and do not become overcome by the false weights others in this life would place on you. Hold no anger ever to Judaism but embrace her teachings and people. This is important.

Comforter

1. When you say portal area do you mean the approximate place the portal would be in relation to my bed? When I saw the portal my room didn't have any walls, it was just my bed and the dor. But the area where the portal would be in my actual room has a mirror facing towards me. Does that change or affect it somehow?

2. I was so surprised at how much singing is like mediation when I first started. It's such an internal process that I quickly lose sight of the outside world. I'm so nervous before I sing in front of people but the moment I open my mouth it's like I'm teleported elsewhere. Not literally, but just a place where I think about the song and what it means. It's the happiest, most relaxed place I can find. That is, when my voice is cooperating

3. Is it wrong to be supremely confident that evil can't touch me? I still have a general fear but in my head I always feel that God or His light will protect me. I'm as human as the next person but my intentions for this world are genuinely good. I choose to pursue my education in psychology to help others. I write almost everyday in an attempt to share some of the peace and strength that I've found from years of thought and experience. As corny as it sounds, I just want make the world a better place. I'm slowing letting go of material attachments and trying to find 'real' truth. Knowing I think like this makes me feel like if there are spirit guides (i use it as a general term of any positive energy beyond this reality seeking to influence or help us) that they would be attracted to me, or help me use my skills and mindset to help others. Sometimes at night or when I'm playing I'll send out a general loving thought that if any beings, spirits, entities, etc. are out there that they can be in my presence and help me think, write, or play. I usually preface it with declaring they should be positive in their intentions and right with God. If they are negative they should leave this area and are not welcome. I feel a little crazy when I do but it relaxes me in a way. I imagine that if I was on the other side I would love to play piano or guitar, so I'll ask if any musicians would like to influence my playing. I try to not think about my hands or their direction, just let it happen. If anything, it takes my prodding conscious out of the picture. Though as much as I believe, I think my scientific mindset has me still slightly on the fence.

On the spirit guide subject again, I have had two dreams which have stuck with me. One I person was behind me to my right, with their hand on my shoulders. I had been lead to a path in the woods with them in tow. We stopped and I looked up towards the trees overhanging the path. Cut out of the leaves was a pyramid with three circles underneath it, equally spaced. The light source was behind it and shone through them brightly. In another dream I was lying on a table and groggily woke up within the dream. It felt like I was having surgery and came out of the anesthesia for a moment. I could see a man next to me. He was bald, greyish colored, but looked like a 6'5" athletic man, definitely strong. I heard him say to another that my "purple energy is low" and then I fell back into my 'sleep'. The way I saw that man is how I imagined the man with his hand on my shoulder looked, though I never physically turned around to see him in the first dream I mentioned. Not sure what to make of all that.

i once had one , we where walking and all of a sudden i saw us walking from about 50 ft way ,

realizing i saw my self walking with my friends i thought this is not possible , , , and i was almost like beamed back to my body ,


it was a wierd experience happend with in a second , since then i have not knowingly experienced the same thing ,

always been puzzled to as how it happend...

Yes, Parabol, the mirror(s) facing you are fine.
Look into “Lucid dreaming” as I was going to recommend this to you even prior to your last post.
I suggest you place a pen and paper near your bed to capture your dreams when you awake. Think of the pen and take it with you into your dreams. Use it to write ideas on objects in your dreams. Later add a light to your pen of your dreams so you can guide spirits that are trapped in this world over to the vine of light and to either rebirth or immortal life. Facing the entrance of the vine the first is down the tunnel to the right and the second is found by going to the left.
The portal you have is most likely that of a trapped spirit. Someone who clung onto a desire that kept the spirit from passing on and created this small entrance to the space they spend most of their time. There are many of these even in the walls of the vine. At the entrance is often a vestibule followed by a winding path to their “home”. The winding path is easy to follow in yet nearly impossible to find ones way back over, it is in essence a lock to keep others in. Never journey beyond the vestibule area, never follow such a path. Such spirits as these are often deceitful so do not become one of their followers.
We all go through the invulnerable years and some even survive to an old age despite them. Have no fear, fear only slows a person and causes injury or worse.
Know that ignorance is the greatest sin and it is wise to gather knowledge just as one packs thoughtfully before a long journey.
Live well, what you place in your back pack of life is more important than the pack it’s self. A pack becomes tattered and worn then is thrown out but our spirits are immortal.

I often lucid dream, and when I don't I'm usually aware that I'm dreaming, just not in control of everything. I write down my dreams sometimes, but only when it's something interesting. I always lay in bed for awhile and go over my dream, or try to stay in the half awake mode as long as I can. Basically I have to set my alarm a lot earlier than I need to be up. But I feel like I need the time. I feel like i'm still stuck in the dream world when I have to wake up and immediately be somewhere. Almost a dream hangover.

I'm a little confused on the vine concept. Its just always 'there' or it's branching off of the portal I saw? I'm not sure that I've ever seen the vine. And I've never had direct contact with another spirit in that manner. I feel like that's the next milestone is making a conscious confirmation. I have 'felt' weird things or thought that I may have heard someone speaking to me mentally. I asked for a name and I heard the name Victoria. I'm a psych major and very aware of my mental processes and there was nothing that day or in recent memory that referenced the name Victoria. I've called myself out a lot for thinking something like that happened but realizing it was still controlled by me. Hearing that name is the only thing I couldn't other wise explain. I checked to see if I had any relatives by the name and I don't, so I'm not sure what that was.

Hmm...very interesting story.
I have a question....
Did you grow up in the house you were in?
if so, this may be why you have more experiences there. You probably feel relaxed and content at your parents house, therfore having a more profound experience such as this.

I often Lucid dream as well. Much of what you are describing happens to me in dreams. I have never had an "awake" OOBE that I am aware of, but, most of the sensations you describe I am familiar with.

When you felt like you couldn't move because you didn't have legs to propel, did it feel like you were a point of consciousness or did you have a sort of dream body? If you fly in your dreams I would recommend using this technique the next time this happens, you might find a similar way to propel.

Thanks for sharing!

When you get that feeling of weightlessness, that is one of the closest stages to the OOBE. I usually get that feeling minutes before I get one.

But anyway, I have always struggled with getting a Lucid Dream. Are there any tips for me to be able to do that?

IMAdamnALIEN

I've never lived in that house at all. My parents have been living there for about 5 years but they moved there after I went to college. And it's not even close to where I used to live, actually about 4,000 miles away.

It felt more like a dream body because I do remember trying to move my arms and feeling separate parts of my body rise, but I get what you're saying about the point of consciousness thing. I don't fly much when I dream, guess I never think to. I actually try to play music a lot of the time. In my dreams I don't have tension or other thoughts to get in the way of playing guitar or piano, I love it. But I'll see if I can practice flying to get used to the feeling.

TechnoFan21

Mine normally come about pretty natural but I've heard of a good technique. During your waking hours make periodic reality checks. For instance, read a few sentences of book, look away, and then read them again. Then confirm in your head that they are the same thing and that it is not a dream. As you get used to doing this during the day the routine should carry over into your dreams. A lot of my lucid dreams begin with reading something or noticing some problem with reality. Then you get that 'aha!' moment where you know you're in a dream. Hope that helps.