Zero assist guide to OBE's

[Sirius]

Peace my friend, the paranormal board is the woo department.

I'm not deflecting, I agreed with you.  It always involves time travel.

I have no wisdom for you...Once I got pulled towards the ocean like it was sucking me in, the horizon was dystopian, heavily industrialized, no good vibes...I went "wow wtf" and got scared.  More recently I was at some really big terraces with a field,  this time I was "wow neat" and then wolves came and it wasn't so neat any more.

ps, the astral plane is real

[midicon]

Peace my friend, the paranormal board is the woo department.

I'm not deflecting, I agreed with you.  It always involves time travel.

I have no wisdom for you...Once I got pulled towards the ocean like it was sucking me in, the horizon was dystopian, heavily industrialized, no good vibes...I went "wow wtf" and got scared.  More recently I was at some really big terraces with a field,  this time I was "wow neat" and then wolves came and it wasn't so neat any more.

ps, the astral plane is real

Peace to you too!

I hadn't realised this was was in the Paranormal forum. I shouldn't be here!

I hope the thread does well for you.

[Ray1990]

The muscle tensing thing is also a pain management technique called progressive muscle relaxation, it makes sense that pairing it with a meditation technique will aid in achieving a highly relaxed state.

I'm not exactly sure how to initiate an OBE personally but my own experiences have always been like a detour before finally falling asleep, my suspicions have always been around hypnagogic states and relaxation. I can't say if the experiences are real or imagined but I will say having access to dream levels of imagination whilst being conscious is fun, if that's all it is.

It's fascinating stuff... The techniques mentioned do have practical uses and I'm sure medical experts do know that 'woo' things can happen when we toy with certain parts of the brain or chemistry within the body. The effects of these techniques can be measured in blood tests, they do work for pain, insomnia, stress etc.

There's a perception around seeing things though, doing it in a controlled environment is ok and literally everyone hallucinates just before sleep. Belief can be a powerful thing and the whole sightseeing thing and opening your mind isn't for everyone.

[Maxmars]

The point is that you aren't leaving your body.

Not to be confrontational and all... but that's a hard statement to embrace for some technical reasons...

That depends on how you define "you."  Are "you" only the confines of your body? (rhetorically.)  

Many quite sane and reasonable research outcomes have proven that there is data supporting the idea that there is more to human consciousness than what we have been able to boil down to the numbers.  There is at least some evidence which takes us into the realm of "woo-woo."  (Not as much as some would like... I still have reservations.)

If such things as remote viewing, telepathy (or it's equivalent,)  etc. are measurable.   Then it means that OOBEs, at least in theory, are a 'real' phenomenon.  I don't proclaim to be well-versed in the nuts and bolts of it... and the nature of it remains open to interpretation.  Here in the forum, I can never hope to provide you with anything approximating proof... (sort of like UFO experiences.)

The whole point of OOBEs and the exploration is about that element of nature which manifests in a way science and materialism can't explain.  It doesn't mean that suich things don't exist.

Just my humble opinion.

[UltraBudgie]

Also note that the state of what is called 'hypnogogic hallucinations' can be deliberately entered and sustained, with practice or meditation:



These are actually quite fun if you can deliberately do them but can be terrifying if out of control or unexpected.

I think that sometimes people call these "OBE"s, accidentally?

Peace to you too!

I hadn't realised this was was in the Pranormal forum. I shouldn't be here!

I hope the thread does well for you.

This is hilarious, like popping into a pub for a quick pint and realizing that everyone in there is a bloke.

[Sirius]

If the rational explanation helps, call it a controlled dream state.

Box breathing works as an exercise to train the mind to be still and focus, the mind will want to wonder and you will forget to focus on breathing.  Eventually you start catching your mind when it wonders allowing you to focus.  One side effect is falling asleep, the other is being able to summon intense focus. With practice!

The relaxation exercise is to make you aware of your body, every part of it.  You also become aware of how it changes while falling asleep.

You learn the state changes and then you can control them.  The mind and the body is dumb, it can be tricked.  Smile and you are happy.  Breathe quickly if you want anxiety...

BUT, here's the thing, OBE's doesn't just happen while people "sleep". An NDE would be an extreme case and so is a heightened emotional state, such as grief or terror.

[Ray1990]

If the rational explanation helps, call it a controlled dream state.

Box breathing works as an exercise to train the mind to be still and focus, the mind will want to wonder and you will forget to focus on breathing.  Eventually you start catching your mind when it wonders allowing you to focus.  One side effect is falling asleep, the other is being able to summon intense focus. With practice!

The relaxation exercise is to make you aware of your body, every part of it.  You also become aware of how it changes while falling asleep.

You learn the state changes and then you can control them.  The mind and the body is dumb, it can be tricked.  Smile and you are happy.  Breathe quickly if you want anxiety...

BUT, here's the thing, OBE's doesn't just happen while people "sleep". An NDE would be an extreme case and so is a heightened emotional state, such as grief or terror.

Mine are always before sleep. I'll enter a super relaxed state and start seeing myself in bed. I'm fully conscious but also fully relaxed. I usually just check out something in the bedroom in super high definition wondering if this is actually a perception or my mind's imagination creating details that are much greater than my senses would normally allow...

Yeah, I ain't sleeping and I have my doubts I'm imagining it, I'm not that imaginative usually.

I try to look at it from multiple angles. OBEs are definitely more than just dreaming, it's far too easy to point at mental illnesses too although I do like to understand things from that clinical pov since the psychology can easily tie into philosophy and "far out" beyond.

I've seen the connotations surrounding OBEs and related stuff send people a bit crazy though. I'm far from an expert on this but I would say there's the possibility of experiences creeping into everyday life in the form of psychosis, schizophrenia or even things like Alice in Wonderland syndrome. I couldn't say if it's a consequence of the experience or a continuation/development of an undiscovered psychological issue. It's probably the latter but I honestly don't know.

At the least it's escapism, that's usually a good and healthy thing now and then. It could be a much more too but the most important thing to me is it's natural and everyone can do it.

[putnam6]

I took mushrooms 20 years ago! I watched myself in front of a mirror for 5 hours!

All I know is that my mind floated but I never moved away from the mirror!

Never again! Lol

Yeah, this is different than drug-induced psychedelic experiences for me.

in my youth, i did mushrooms a few times and blotter acid a couple of times. Hell I couldn't sleep at all and while they were good "trips" they were exhausting and I felt completely worn out the next day.

My dream state experiences Im sleeping well if not getting loads of deep REM sleep. Still, Ive sometimes had active realistic though obvious dreams, like an ex-girlfriend swore I did my sales presentation for about 30 to 40 minutes one night, she said it was incredibly detailed with part numbers and descriptions, etc. 

but that is just an incredibly vivid dream, this doesn't feel like a dream per se.

[quintessentone]

I'm curious as to the purpose of this exercise. What is to be gained?

I assume you have experience as you are offering guidance so what have you gained?

I can't think of a single thing. Is the purpose just to meaninglessly float around?

During one of my OBE's I went to the top of a very tall mountain and jumped up into space and yes floated around then got scared and came back down. Never again because it's way too tempting to get lost in time and space.

So what was gained? I learned that grass is way to much greener and I was ill equipped to navigate my way around.