New Member With Questions

[Leslie E.]

Hello All,

My name is Leslie.  I began to have spontaneous OBE's about six month's ago; however, I did not know what they were at that time.  I suppose I had heard of this phenomena before from television and other types of media but it was not of interest to me so I never paid much attention.  I mostly associated OBE experiences with people who claimed to have died and were returned to their bodies.  Two years ago, I had a spinal stimulator installed in my lower back to relieve pain associated with a nerve injury.  I did not find it to be beneficial so last fall I started to look into alternative treatments for pain management.  I started to meditate during the day using techniques I learned from some books I purchased at a local bookstore.  Shortly thereafter, in the evenings when I was starting to drift off to sleep I felt as if my legs were levitating.  The sensation was like nothing I had ever felt before and it was unnerving.  I found myself changing positions to make it stop.  This pattern repeated several times until one night I awoke suddenly when an enormous jolt of electricity passed through my entire body.  I clearly heard three loud knocks in my bedroom and some type of classical music playing.  My heart was racing and I was scared to death.  I was sure there was someone else with me in the room but when I sat up and looked around everything was normal.  My husband was sleeping next to me, and my dogs were asleep at the foot of the bed.  I mentioned this experience to someone I knew who also meditates and she told me that you can open yourself up to spirits if you don't protect yourself when you meditate.  I had never heard anything about this before and decided to stop the entire meditation process.  I was not into spirits, ghosts, or that type of thing but given what had happened I didn't know what to think.  Nothing else happened after I stopped meditating.

About three months later, I was talking to a woman about the experience and she told me this had nothing to do with ghosts or spirits but was an OBE.  I looked up as much information on the subject as I could and as soon as I started reading about the topic the experiences started happening again.  I am unsure of how to proceed or if I even want to.  I am an ordinary housewife with two teenage children.  I have no friends who are interested in the subject and would most certainly call my sanity into question if I told them anything about this.  However, I have to say that these experiences have honestly changed the way I view the entire world and have thrown my belief system completely off balance.  I have no idea why this has happened to me.  I have never had any physic abilities, known anyone with any, or wanted any.  I just turned 40 years old and can think of no reason why this would be happening to me at this point in my life.  However, I do wonder if my spinal stimulator has anything to do with this.  It is a permanent implant in my lower back that sends electrical signals to my body.  Has anyone ever heard of this being a possible trigger for a spontaneous OBE?  The timing seems somewhat suspect to me.  I could find no references to this in any of the literature I have read, and there is no possible way I would ever bring this up to my doctor.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and any replies would be appreciated.

Leslie E.

[personalreality]

i don't have time to respond to all that right now, but still wanted to say welcome.

[Leslie E.]

Thank you!

[c0sm0nautt]

Welcome Leslie.

When I first discovered OBEs in 2008 I found it the most interesting and exciting thing ever!   Within a week of reading William Buhlman's Adventures Beyond the Body I was able to get myself in the "vibrational state", which feels like electrical vibrations running through the entire body. Although this can be quite unnerving at first, rest assuring it is a completely harmless phenomena. I always have to remind myself that some people are abruptly thrown into these experiences with no knowledge of them at all - I can't even imagine how that would be!   

I think it can be a real blessing to be drawn to this stuff - whether it is voluntary or spontaneous.

Let me ask you a few questions -

Do you remember your dreams or keep a dream journal?
Do you have any interest in expanding your concept of reality, of exploring more of what the Universe and reality have to offer?
Do you have any interest in healing other people or of contacting deceased relatives?

OBEs can be a lot of fun. Each night could be a new adventure if your willing to open yourself up to it. We are living in truly exciting times and I think more people are being "called" in the Shamanic sense. Shaman were the seers and healers of tribal cultures who were able to initiate journeys into the non-physical reality - the place of dreams and OBES.

To further explore these topics, to get your bearing, I would recommend a few authors who have shed a lot of light on this phenomena for me. You will see that these experiences contain so much potential for self-growth, healing yourself and others, conquering fear and just pure fun.

I'd recommend checking out Robert Moss' books, a good one to start with is Conscious Dreaming. A few other good authors include William Buhlman and Robert Waggoner. Robert Monroe has a great trilogy of books, starting with Journeys Out of the Body, which is arguably the start of contemporary OBE literature.

So, don't be afraid! "Fear is the mind killer." There are a lot of experienced people on this forum who will help guide you through all of this. Your in good company.  

[Leslie E.]

Dear New Friend,

Thank you for your response.  I am very interested in speaking to anyone with experience in this area.  As I previously mentioned, I have not been able to share what has happened to me with my friends or relatives for fear of what they would think.  I can't say I would blame them, a year ago I would have thought something like this was impossible and the delusions of at worst a disturbed mind or at best a very interesting dream.  After having had these experiences repeatedly myself I know they are real but it's like anything else in life I guess -- seeing (or in this case feeling) is believing.

The first few times I endured this experience without knowing what it was were really scary.  After I was told what it was and read some books on the subject I was less frightened.  It was a relief to know there was some explanation as odd as it seemed.  I read many books but never tried any of the exercises since the OBE's were happening by themselves.  I didn't need to try to make them happen.  Since this keeps happening on it's own accord, I'm starting to feel like I would like to have some control over it, at least on a conscious level.

As to your questions:

Do you remember your dreams or keep a dream journal?

I have always been able to remember my dreams, sometimes more than others, probably just like most everyone else.  I have not kept a dream journal ever.  I have been keeping track of all my OBE experiences. 

Do you have any interest in expanding your concept of reality, of exploring more of what the Universe and reality have to offer?

I certainly do now.  I really doubted these types of things were probable but now I know they are.  It makes me wonder what else I am missing in life and what is really all around us.  My belief system has been turned around and I would like some answers.

Do you have any interest in healing other people or of contacting deceased relatives?

I would love to heal or help other people in any way possible.  Contacting deceased relatives sounds a little scary.  I'm not really sure what that is all about.

Thank you very much for listening and offering your insights and advice.  I do have one more question for you, every time I feel myself leave my body -- after all the vibrations   and such -- I find myself only in my bedroom but everything looks completely different, like someone has moved it around while I slept.  I can't seem to go anywhere else.  Several times, I have gone over to my dogs beds and they seem to notice me but don't interact with me or bark.  Any idea why?

Thank you again, and please feel free to share anything else you might think of.

Regards,
Leslie

[c0sm0nautt]

That's also where I go the times I have managed to consciously induce an OBE. It's like a version of my room but with "reality fluctuations." For example, my room will be messy when it is very neat in waking reality. A lot of authors refer to this local as the real time zone, or RTZ for short. Essentially, they consider it as the next less dense layer of reality after physical reality. I kind of see it as a training ground and launch pad for more interesting experiences. It's a place where you can earn your wings so to speak - learn that basics of navigating non-physical reality where thought=reality.

Other people who post here have different ideas about the RTZ which I believe also have merit. Another idea is that it is the subconscious impression of where we think we will go when we leave our body. Some people are able to bypass this completely and simply project, or focus, their consciousness into other environments and realities.

As far as getting out of the RTZ, I think it's all about intent and control. I've learned to fly out my window and all around my neighborhood. My next goal is to ask for a spirit guide who will hopefully give me some answers on "Why I am here and where am I going."  You can always make commands when out of body. I still need to learn to focus more which meditation has helped with.

It can definitely become a burden not being able to share these experiences with family and friends. My family and friends know I am into this stuff but for the most part probably think I'm just a bit eccentric and into "superstition." Lucky for me, I could really give a crap about what other people think of me.  When the time is right to share your experiences you will know. You kind of have to open up a little bit at a time, yea know. A good way to describe these experiences is through the lucid dream paradigm, which is accepted in today's Western science. People seem to be more open to this than the term out-of-body experience. But again, you can always share your experiences with us. 

Keeping a journal of your non-physical experiences is definitely a great start. I like to record all of my dreams, but I'm 23 and don't have kids to take care of and probably have more free time hehe. I'm training myself to re-enter my dreams for self-healing and exploration. Old dreams from years ago can be reentered. I see dreams as a form of OBE where a higher aspect of our consciousness, more wise than the waking ego mind, speaks to us through symbols.

Ok, sorry for getting off topic  . Definitely try making some commands and asking some questions the next time you are out of body. I think we always have guides with us, but they don't always reveal themselves because most people react with fear when they see "spirits."  It might be interesting for you to ask to speak to one for guidance.

[Xanth]

Hi there Leslie E.

Welcome to the Astral Pulse. 

[NoY]

Welcome to the Pulse 


:NoY:

[Greytraveller]

Greetings Leslie and welcome.
You might want to check this site's "Welcome to the Astral FAQ" section. There's a lot of info there and it could provide you with some answers.

Regards 
Grey

[stratcat96]

welcome Leslie I definitely would suggest reading Don Degracia's DO_OBE. It's available on Amazon and also free on the web. I had had experiences for years (they weren't complete OBE's) and reading that book did a wonderful job of describing exactly what I had experienced and had so much thorough information that I knew I didn't need to be "afraid" of what happened, in fact it spurred my curiosity so much that I immediately started reading like a fiend on the subject. A few other favorites of mine are Robert Bruce's "Astral Dynamics" and William Buhlman's "Adventures Beyond the Body". I'm sure others have their own favorites, such as Robert Monroe's stuff but remember that knowledge is power. The best way to control and conquer fear is by understanding it. I envy you because I'm still trying to get out! Good luck!

[Joseph kenneth]

Leslie,
What a fantastic post! In short, the spine is everything! My name is Joseph Kenneth and I teach conscious subtle body separation program with a doctoral degree in new thought ministry. (just to properly introduce myself). Lol
But, in answer to your questions, this is not super natural or even para normal. I'm quite sure the change of elements in your spine has allowed your kundalini to be easily channeled up the spine. This "electrical" feeling is simply a flow of kundalini energy that can trigger the projection reflex in your pineal gland. Again, this is completely natural to say the least and many on a spiritual path study to achieve this conscious separation. In fact, it goes back to the most ancient of civilizations. I too have amazingly
Loud classical music playing sometimes and love it!
If it does not interest you then by all means do not continue with it. Your correct that most western doctors would not understand the workings of the subtle energetic body. I will say that it is a pivotal part of the earth experience to consciously achieve a separation and will only bring light and clarity back to your life here. I hope this helps. Google kundalini and understand the five basic ways it passes through the physical body and you should feel somewhat enlightened.
Thanks again for a great post!
All my love,
Joseph Kenneth