Why does this happen?

[Spiritualism]

When i try to astral project my heart always beats really fast when i'm getting close to separation and it scares me because i think i'll have an heart attack or something?
Is this common? and why does this happen?

[EscapeVelocity]

There are a few reasons possible for this happening, but it is very common during early practice. With repeated attempts you will find the effect diminishes.

It could simply be nervous excitement building as you start to actually feel some of the exit symptoms. It can also be a sign that your heart chakra is energizing to some degree, if you are open to the concept of chakras. It could be that your "energy" body is activating. It could be a combination of any two or all three.

[Lumaza]

When i try to astral project my heart always beats really fast when i'm getting close to separation and it scares me because i think i'll have an heart attack or something?
Is this common? and why does this happen?

This is a "exit symptom", but it seems to also seems to be a fear test. Many Meditators/ AP Projectors have experienced this. So many that there have been medical tests performed on Meditators while they are meditating to see if there really is a rise in heart beat. No changes in heart rhythm/beat have been recorded though.

[ThaomasOfGrey]

I have had the rapid heart beat a number of times. I haven't been able to conclusively tell what it means yet. Sometimes when I check my physical heart I find that it isn't beating fast, other times I have found that it is.

The beat sometimes extends beyond the heart, I have had it in the stomach and the throat before. These feelings aren't non-physical either, I have tested my body with my fingers and even when the beat isn't in the heart it is physically real. I don't know how or why that happens.

[Lumaza]

These feelings aren't non-physical either, I have tested my body with my fingers and even when the beat isn't in the heart it is physically real. I don't know how or why that happens.

Just curious Thaomas, how do you check your physical body and still maintain your NP focus? I know there are devices like EEG monitors that can do that, but I would think that the moment you put your focus back on your physical body, that anything you tested would be from a physical body oriented stand point, thus negating any true statistics during a NP focus, shift/projection.

I have experienced a rapid heart beat many sensation many times, but I just stay the course and it soon subsides. One of the famous authors of AP, I think it might have been Robert Peterson, says that when you AP, you need to have the mindset that if this is the end, so be it. It was either Robert Peterson or Robert Monroe that said it. Come to think of it, it might be both of them.

[Kzaal]

Just curious Thaomas, how do you check your physical body and still maintain your NP focus? I know there are devices like EEG monitors that can do that, but I would think that the moment you put your focus back on your physical body, that anything you tested would be from a physical body oriented stand point, thus negating any true statistics during a NP focus, shift/projection.

I have experienced a rapid heart beat many sensation many times, but I just stay the course and it soon subsides. One of the famous authors of AP, I think it might have been Robert Peterson, says that when you AP, you need to have the mindset that if this is the end, so be it. It was either Robert Peterson or Robert Monroe that said it. Come to think of it, it might be both of them.

I did this multiple times too, I just check my heart if it's not beating too fast physically while in hypnagogic state. I don't really mind losing the focus, sometimes even in hypnagogic my position is way too uncomfortable and I have to adjust. Then I either start trying to focus again or stop everything. And yeah, every time I've had a successful AP was because I just didn't mind anymore and eventually told myself that even if I'm about to die I'll still keep going. I've always had the feeling that I actually die even for a fraction of a second while AP'ing(because it goes completely insane). I don't know how long but I think it's some kind of trigger. It feels like you're dead so you're living everything really slowly. Then it goes back to normal speed and you probably end up in your dream (Within a Lucid dream).
So you wake up at 3AM when you had your Main AP at let's say 11PM but you think you've been in the AP all that time even tho your AP was from 11:01 to 11:02, yet you've had all that surge of information in the matter of a minute and went back straight to your lucid dream from 11:02 to 3AM.
To me it's just like death, There's way too much stuff going on at the same time to be still in the physical realm.

Or it's some kind of really quick and temporary coma.
I can't explain it really. Even scientists have no idea.

[Xanth]

Just curious Thaomas, how do you check your physical body and still maintain your NP focus? I know there are devices like EEG monitors that can do that, but I would think that the moment you put your focus back on your physical body, that anything you tested would be from a physical body oriented stand point, thus negating any true statistics during a NP focus, shift/projection.

A handy tool is something like a Fitbit Charge HR.
It has a Heart Rate monitor on it and it tracks all day long, 24/7 as long as you're wearing it.

My Fiance got me one for my birthday this past year.  I don't really get the increased heart beat thing anymore, but I used to... but people could give that a try.

[ThaomasOfGrey]

Just curious Thaomas, how do you check your physical body and still maintain your NP focus?

The testing method isn't very scientific, I just use my physical hand and feel around. If I find that my heart isn't beating fast I assume I must have been feeling "heart chakra" or something else since the heart shouldn't instantly return to a resting rate. In some cases I have found that my heart actually was beating fast, in fact my entire body is beating.

I really have no idea what it means yet, but I do know that the same feeling of physical beating in my stomach was induced by an "auric healer" using a large smoky quartz crystal. The only other time I get this feeling is after doing the Wim Hof method.