Definitely better said on video than trying to write that all out!

What you experienced was an OBE (oobe) like you thought. They're not that uncommon and can be pretty scary sometimes. A Buddhist monk I knew used to say that our consciousness is wherever we want it to be, just most people only know to keep it in their body! Most spiritual or very feeling people I know can do this to some extent.

If this is something you want to pursue you can teach yourself to do it, and also to get "back in" easier. I'd recommend a metaphysical, paranormal site on the internet. This OBE or astral travelling ~can~ be slightly "spiritually dangerous", specially if drug induced, but don't worry about it too much, no real/permanent damage can happen.

If you go out on accident again and have that frozen feeling I recommend focusing all your will on moving one of your fingers. It sounds simple but once you reconnect your mind and body a little bit the rest of you sorta snaps back in.



[edit on 23-9-2009 by notreallyalive]

Making a video is a nice approach to journaling dreams.

What you report is typical of mild "REM intrusions" (searchable). You were apparently drifting in and out of wakefulness during this episode.

The incident of experiencing yourself "frozen" on the stairs appears to be dream incorporation (searchable) of your actual circumstances: the normal muscle atonia typical of REM sleep. You became aware of it, and built that into your dream. You couldn't walk, and you tried to shout, but couldn't achieve voluntary breath control. In fact, you really couldn't do those things, and these features became story points in your dream.

There is nothing at all unusual about dreaming that you are somewhere other than where your body actually is, but nevertheless the place is familiar to you. It is routine for friends to have friends sleep over. When that happens, the guest is often accommodated on a couch. In your dream, you misidentified who was on the couch. Similarly, cats go where they want to go.

So, there is nothing that distinguishes your report from other REM intrusion narratives, except that it was your personal first time.

Hope this information is helpful to you as you sort out your experience.

This sounds like first stage OOBE/Projection to me. I started having these when I was about 14. There is a science behind them but they are also very real, and real results/effects can be obtained though learning to control your subtle body during these experiences and taking a look around.