What should I make of this?

[clandestino]

Hi there !

Thanks for that great account !

quote:So, was this an actual OBE? Was I dreaming? Or was it something else entirely?

Yes, it was an actual OBE. But its another classic case of how things that aren't verified in waking life lead to doubts about the reality of an OBE experience.

It would be only fair to say that there are plenty who would disagree and say that you had a dream about an OBE...But I beg to differ.

In my opinion, the confusion you feel is a result of your pre-conceptions about OBE : you believe there is a "real time" OBE (where you float into a mirror image of the real world) and an "astral" OBE (where you travel some place).

So, when you have a real time OBE and find that some of the details you recall do not collaborate with waking life, you doubt the reality of the experience. The colour of the clothing, position of your relatives and the fact that you couldn't see your on body on the bed are enough to make most people dismiss this as a dream.

quote:but I just feel like there is more to this than meets the eye.

Precisely what I feel ! Perhaps, as I believe, there is no distinction between the "real time" zone and the astral.

The definition of an OBE isn't universally agreed on ; and it certainly isn't limited to experiences that can be verified with evidence.

Kind regards,
Mark

[coral1]

Hi Ghost Girly,

It sounds like you had a great experience.You`re like me- most of my projections occur during the day when I take a nap.If I exit into my bedroom sometimes I`ll see my physical body in bed sometimes not.It`s not something I worry about.
This was definitely actual OBE and not a dream.The fact that some of your obsevations don`t coincide with physical reality  doesn`t mean you should dismiss it as a dream.Often times a projection will have  RTZ,astral and dreamlike qualities.I agree with Mark that there`s no difference, except the level of awareness,and the energy level.We have to create distinctions so that we can objectively discuss what is after all a purely subjective experience.
I look forward to hearing more of your adventures!

Happy Trails

[Person]

In Robert Bruce's book, he explains this by saying we're dreaming and OBEing at the same time.  Upon re-entry, your brain tries to make sense of this by meshing the two memories.  
Another thing is you might be seeing their astral bodies instead of their real ones.  Your dad may have felt like he was face down while dreaming when his real body was on its back.  
Probably a combination of both, but as long as it all felt real and you were in full conscious control, it qualifies as an OBE.

[GhostGirlyNY]

Every time I lie down for a nap, I experience at least several vibrations.  It seems to be the scenario within which I am most likely to have an astral experience.  On Christmas, I decided to take a nap after having to wake up early to open presents.  I woke up after several minutes and stayed very still, attempting to have an OBE or some other type of experience.  I most like to experiment during the day, because I am extremely afraid of the dark.  While lying there, I started to experience the vibrations.  They were mild at first, and I heard several noises around me.  The loudest was that of a woman, but I ignored it and continued to concentrate.  I often get stuck at this point, so I started to repeat "I move to a higher level of vibrations" to myself as several people on this board had suggested to do.  Whenever I would say this to myself, I felt what can only be described as three intense vibrations, one right after another.  They were not like the typical vibrations.  They actually gave me an amazing sensation allover my body.  Slowly but surely, I could feel several of my body parts separating.  I was able to move my "head" and "legs" while my physical body stayed in place.  At this point, I had astral vision, and I could see almost everything around me, even though my eyes were still closed.  I continued to repeat the phrase, and I actually envisioned my astral body sort of catapulting away from my physical body.  Suddenly, it did just that.  That single jump landed me several feet from the foot of the bed.  I wasn't floating near the ceiling, but I wasn't walking either.  It was like I was gliding a foot or so above the ground.  I turned to look at my bed, but my physical body was not there.  I've given this a lot of thought, and whenever I believe that I might be having an OBE, the thought of seeing my physical body asleep in bed scares me quite a bit, although I am not entirely sure why.  Maybe I just don't see it because of that fear, because this is not the first time that my body hasn't been there.  This is where things get kind of confusing.  I "walked" to the door.  It wasn't like I was moving my legs.  I just had to think about where I wanted to go, and my body glided there with so much ease.  I walked right through the closed door and floated down the stairs into my living room.  My brother was standing near the foot of the stairs, and he had on a black sweatshirt.  My dad was asleep on his stomach on a couch with one of our dogs.  Unfortunately, I can't remember what he was wearing.  Our other dog was on the other couch.  My brother didn't acknowledge me, so I glided into the kitchen.  My mother was working at our cutting board, and she had on a pink shirt and thick glasses.  I actually said to myself, "I need to take note of what they're wearing so that I can find out if this is for real."  She didn't even look up as I stood in the doorway, so I started to head down our hallway, and suddenly, I could feel myself being pulled back into my physical body.  I tried to fight it, but it was useless.  I woke up in a sense of complete paralysis and struggled with several vibrations before actually shaking off all of the sensations.  I had to pray to God to ask for the paralysis to go away.  It doesn't scare me like it used to, but it's aggravating and frustrating, especially when it won't go away immediately.  Later that night, I told my parents about the "dream," and my dad said that he had fallen asleep on the couch with one of our dogs but that he was actually on his back and not his stomach.  My brother had been wearing a blue sweatshirt and not a black one, and he didn't think that he had been in the living room while my dad was asleep.  My mom had been working at the cutting board all day, cooking for that night, but she wasn't in a pink shirt nor glasses.  I don't know what to make of all of this.  I know that things sometimes appear different in the astral than they do in the physical world, but that leads me to question whether or not we're actually traveling or just dreaming.  My dad told me to stop reading into it so much, but I just feel like there is more to this than meets the eye.  So, was this an actual OBE?  Was I dreaming?  Or was it something else entirely?

I also have a question about an experience that my father had this morning.  He doesn't believe in any of this, so he would never come here to question it himself.  He "woke up" to see that there were two men in the room with him.  It was too dark for him to see them, but he was afraid.  He tried to throw something at them or speak, but he was paralyzed.  Suddenly, he knew that his father (whom has been dead for 30 years) was there with him, and he asked him for help.  His father made the men/women/people go away, and my dad woke up for real.  I'm wondering if this was some sort of astral experience or if he was really just dreaming.  Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read this!