I'm guessing that you are new to this subject, so please read some material from Robert Bruce (most of his work is online and free) and others, if you are so inclined towards the theory and terminology.

Best way to learn the stuff is by doing it. But my personal opinion is one should concentrate on one's spiritual development , astral projection is merely a step forward in that direction.

Best thing to do would be to read several books on the subject and search the net on the topic.
Reading these forums will help greatly too....

You let loose many of those ?


The first thing I'd do is run away with my astral tail between my legs, let alone communicate with it....

If it were a sexy babe .... aha

The heart chakra feeling, is not in any way comparable to a normal beating heart. The one time it happened to me I felt like I was literally going to explode... it was unbearable. It was not a fun, and a very scary feeling.

I can relate to that.
Relax, nothing bad can happen here.

Yes, rapid heart beat is a sign that you are very close to AP, but it also means that you are not relaxed enough and still conscious of beating heart and breathing etc.

Other times it means that its not the actual heart but 'heart chakra' that is pulsating fast, its harmless and should stop in few minutes. If you have enough practice and manage to remain conscious at that time, you will see that the pulsations are coming from something non-physical and the actual heart is calm and beating normally.

If you feel that its not one of the above, then quickly abort the process and see a doctor asap, because it can be a weak heart....Proceed only if all tests come favorable.

I guess, there is no harm in buying some books by R Bruce and Monroe, they are priceless, and rest of the stuff is well accessories....
Most of the material which can get you started in totally free and available throughout the net. Like the basics and exit techniques.

Welcome
Things are indeed silly in this field but not really so...

1 - Ya its possible, and I'm saying this just because I've read stories of this happening to the people. But those who are learning should concentrate on learning, as even if such thing happens and someone does that favor (it will take a master to search for you in astral and reach there and take you out of your body, too difficult, IMO), there is no guarantee that you will be aware of it or even remember it.

2- It does get easier, in my own experience, but again nothing is written on stone in astral. Sometimes there are long periods of inactivity (dry spells) on which you have no control. Sometime the oobes shower on you.

Best way is to go about the routine of meditations, keeping the mind clear of thoughts and intentionally creating situations where the body asleep and mind awake thing occurs. (Thats get up early and go to bed method etc)

Best of luck.

Well, I set that up like that intentionally after giving it some thought and considering the way real experiments are performed by scientists. There must be a lot of redundancy and careful planning to make it fail safe.

Problem with knowing the object before the experiment is that its not double blind this way and a skeptic will get a chance to say that the person secretly told someone or that it was only telepathy or RV,  not obe etc.

Keeping only one object in only one place doesn't make it full proof, because if you fail to find it or reach that place, you dont have any other options and you must return to the body without any info. We all know how unpredictable astral travel is.

Multiple locations also means we have more than enough positives to rule out chances and a good set of stats to conclude from.

To make it more solid, you may perform the same set of experiments many times, with different set of objects and places each time.

This is a fun experiment to do
And I won't discourage anyone who wants to try, who knows... anything is possible.

Nobody will ever know if there is life there, its always 50-50. If the poster is trying to get a verification or something like that, then its more practical to do something like this :

1- Take some objects that are very unique and very noticable, (like brightly colored hand made toys or such) and place them in indistinguishable boxes (of same color size material etc). So that you dont know which object went into which box.

2- The box must be loose (not glued) and use only a rubber band to keep it in place. It must be closed such that when the rubber band or thread breaks, it falls off and uncovers the object totally.

3- Shuffle the boxes well and place each box on the top of a popular building (school, university or a big hotel, or water tanks etc). The place should be reachable only via air (or with difficulty, so that no one disturbs it).

4- Tie some cigarette or incense stick on the rubber band and light it. Leave that place. After some time the rubber band will burn and uncover the object, but no one will know what it is.

5- Now forum members or those who are able to AP can try going to these places and report the findings here.

6- Some building where there is nothing should be named, so that it forms a control and makes it more scientific.

7- Once the trial is over, someone can go and see the objects and compare the results. 

Yes, these are the signs of astral body loosening up, vibes, 'floating fingers', etc.

Good thing is that you managed to stay aware while this is taking place, you are on the right path

The post is now old but anyway my favorite method of relaxation is to lie down in a comfortable position (not too comfortable) and progressively relax all the muscles from toes to head one by one. (contract, hold and release the muscles).

It may take 2 or 3 rounds to feel ok. After that some energy work (mostly NEW) and then breathing work to make the breathing effortless and automatic.

Once you are there, relaxing the mind starts, concentrating on breathing for a while, mantras may work for some and then inner silence.

Once you are located in head with inner silence and the body is almost forgotten, you can hear the ringing loudly and clearly. This is the time to withdraw attention from breathing or mantra or whatever physical you are doing and concentrate passive on the ringing.

The nature takes over from there.

You are almost there

All you need to do is stay calm and curious when these sensations and sounds are happening, wait a bit, till everything goes dead silent and then will yourself away from the bed (without thinking about the actual body, else you will be back there).

Even if the sensations don't subside, still try to will yourself away. Once you are away (say in another room), you can try for visuals. (Best way is to try to see your hands).

You will see that the 'will to move' operates from the area of belly button.
Good luck ....

I understand that it may take me years to get my first OOBE,

It may takes years or it may take few hours .... there are no such rules.
Your first steps should be to try to mediate and reach the body asleep and mind awake stage.
Read these forums and all the books etc.

I see no reason why it should be impossible. Physical is only a subset of Higher world, so I guess its obvious.

I've experienced something similar to physical once, although I was not so lucid that time.

Tayesin , thank you very much for such a nice info.

And Gabriel, yes these sensations are normal and all that you mentioned happens to me exactly as you said.
One peculiar feeling is, as if you have suddenly fallen from a chair you have been sitting on, the feeling is so real that you get startled. This is one of the signs that your astral body is loosening up.

Initially, the body position will be an issue, because we are not accustomed to stay still for long in everyday life. So, initial training will be only to practice on keeping yourself still for long times, without getting too uncomfortable or feeling any pain etc. Your body will soon adjust and you will be able to relax to a stage where you completely forget it.