For the last few months, roughly about one time a month, I have been having these episodes in which I am not sure if I am astral projecting or just [lucid?] dreaming.
Typically, these episodes occur after I have woken up to go to the bathroom or whatever in the early morning, and go back to sleep.
Some time after that, I find myself in my room, next to my bed. I do a reality check by holding my nose, and if I can breathe through pinched nostrils, I know that I am not in an "wakeful" state. Once I establish that I am not awake, I try to examine my surroundings. I'm definitely in my room, I can see the floor tiles and my bookshelves, my bed and the colored sheets. This has happened to me a few times. One time I distinctly remember walking up the stairs in my house and out the front door. I felt myself walking up each step. I faintly remember walking through the front door of my house. At this point, I suspected that I might be having an out of body experience, and I wanted to see if I could bring back some proof that I was out of my body. For whatever reason I thought that if I went into a nearby house I could remember something from inside that I can go back when awake and see if it was real. Somewhere in this logic I seemed to have forgot that you can't just walk into somebody's house in the real world for this reason. But nevertheless I remember walking around in the neighboring house and making a few mental notes of what I had seen.
That was a month or so ago, and last night I again found myself in my room when I knew I was not awake. This time I decided to check to see if I could see my physical body lying in bed. It was kind of hard to tell for whatever reason, I think perhaps because it seemed like the sheets were pulled up too high on my bed, perhaps over my face. But I do remember concluding that I did not see my physical body. I briefly layed on the bed and attempted to astral project, thinking that what I was in now was just a lucid dream. I tried for a second, felt a bit of a buzz, but got scared and stopped. I sort of remember thinking to myself "hey, you might already BE out of your body," and decided to see if I could prove it again, and knowing what I know about astral projection (admittedly not a ton) and how you can supposedly go "anywhere," I felt that I would go all out and attempt to visit the moon. I remember sort of jumping up into the air and that's when everything goes black, and I remember nothing after that.
The first time this happened I shrugged it off as a lucid dream. But since then I've been reading more about astral projection and the more I think about it the more it seems that these episodes could be out-of-body-experiences. For one, I was in my bedroom and not in some imaginary place. Secondly, I noticed that while having these episodes everything is not "dark" as it should be since I sleep in the dark. It seems like the room is lit regularly and I can see fine. This morning I was searching Google and found out that some consider the heightened "brightness" to be a common factor in astral projections. I also wonder if my inability to see my body is due to some kind of "blur" or interference that is occuring (also somewhat common if what I have read is correct?)
I've purchased a book recently and plan on starting a 90-day program to have "conscious" astral projections but I have not yet started the exercises. At first I thought that since I had not been actively practicing any techniques that these must not be true OBE's. But I've been reading theories about how EVERY dream is an out-of-body experience, whether people know it or not. If this is true then it would lead me to believe that I actually may be experiencing an OBE. It's exciting to me that I may be just beginning to experience this phenomena, but it frustrates me that I don't seem to have the control over my surroundings like so many experienced projectors seem to. Also, another thing worth mentioning is that at no time during these episodes do I recall seeing a "silver cord" of any type. Perhaps it's there and I don't see it, but I think it would be pretty obvious and stand out a bit.
I guess the reason for this post is to ask if you all think that I am experiencing an OBE or merely a lucid dream. I've weighed the evidence and I can't really come to a conclusion, but for the sake of progress I'd be very happy if I am already having OBE [somewhat] successfully. Also, if any of you have any tips or advice on what to do the next time I find myself in this state, I would be interested to hear it.
Thanks.
Typically, these episodes occur after I have woken up to go to the bathroom or whatever in the early morning, and go back to sleep.
Some time after that, I find myself in my room, next to my bed. I do a reality check by holding my nose, and if I can breathe through pinched nostrils, I know that I am not in an "wakeful" state. Once I establish that I am not awake, I try to examine my surroundings. I'm definitely in my room, I can see the floor tiles and my bookshelves, my bed and the colored sheets. This has happened to me a few times. One time I distinctly remember walking up the stairs in my house and out the front door. I felt myself walking up each step. I faintly remember walking through the front door of my house. At this point, I suspected that I might be having an out of body experience, and I wanted to see if I could bring back some proof that I was out of my body. For whatever reason I thought that if I went into a nearby house I could remember something from inside that I can go back when awake and see if it was real. Somewhere in this logic I seemed to have forgot that you can't just walk into somebody's house in the real world for this reason. But nevertheless I remember walking around in the neighboring house and making a few mental notes of what I had seen.
That was a month or so ago, and last night I again found myself in my room when I knew I was not awake. This time I decided to check to see if I could see my physical body lying in bed. It was kind of hard to tell for whatever reason, I think perhaps because it seemed like the sheets were pulled up too high on my bed, perhaps over my face. But I do remember concluding that I did not see my physical body. I briefly layed on the bed and attempted to astral project, thinking that what I was in now was just a lucid dream. I tried for a second, felt a bit of a buzz, but got scared and stopped. I sort of remember thinking to myself "hey, you might already BE out of your body," and decided to see if I could prove it again, and knowing what I know about astral projection (admittedly not a ton) and how you can supposedly go "anywhere," I felt that I would go all out and attempt to visit the moon. I remember sort of jumping up into the air and that's when everything goes black, and I remember nothing after that.
The first time this happened I shrugged it off as a lucid dream. But since then I've been reading more about astral projection and the more I think about it the more it seems that these episodes could be out-of-body-experiences. For one, I was in my bedroom and not in some imaginary place. Secondly, I noticed that while having these episodes everything is not "dark" as it should be since I sleep in the dark. It seems like the room is lit regularly and I can see fine. This morning I was searching Google and found out that some consider the heightened "brightness" to be a common factor in astral projections. I also wonder if my inability to see my body is due to some kind of "blur" or interference that is occuring (also somewhat common if what I have read is correct?)
I've purchased a book recently and plan on starting a 90-day program to have "conscious" astral projections but I have not yet started the exercises. At first I thought that since I had not been actively practicing any techniques that these must not be true OBE's. But I've been reading theories about how EVERY dream is an out-of-body experience, whether people know it or not. If this is true then it would lead me to believe that I actually may be experiencing an OBE. It's exciting to me that I may be just beginning to experience this phenomena, but it frustrates me that I don't seem to have the control over my surroundings like so many experienced projectors seem to. Also, another thing worth mentioning is that at no time during these episodes do I recall seeing a "silver cord" of any type. Perhaps it's there and I don't see it, but I think it would be pretty obvious and stand out a bit.
I guess the reason for this post is to ask if you all think that I am experiencing an OBE or merely a lucid dream. I've weighed the evidence and I can't really come to a conclusion, but for the sake of progress I'd be very happy if I am already having OBE [somewhat] successfully. Also, if any of you have any tips or advice on what to do the next time I find myself in this state, I would be interested to hear it.
Thanks.