Getting Started With Astral Projection

by Bob Peterson

A lot of people want to learn astral projection (AP) or out-of-body experiences (OBEs) but they have no idea where to start. So I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Where to go for answers

First, you may have questions about OBEs. The best place to get answers is the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) article I wrote for this blog. You can read it by clicking this link. Scroll through the questions until you find what you're looking for.

Find out what to expect

If you're not sure about leaving your body, you may want to learn what astral projection is really like. Unfortunately, there's a lot of confusing terminology. If you want to find out what astral projection is really like, read books that contain OBE narratives or listen to some youtube videos that have narratives.

My favorite OBE narrative book is Jurgen Ziewe's book Multidimensional Man. Another good one is Journeys Out of the Body by Robert Monroe. Many people also like William Buhlman's books, especially his first book, Adventures Beyond the Body. Another good book that illustrates what it's really like is The Vibrational State: Three Years of Out of Body Experiences by Maverick Vardøger. It's not the best "technique" book out there, but it will give you a good idea what it's like. A lot of people also liked my first book, Out of Body Experiences: How to have them and what to expect, which you can either buy or read for free on my website at this link. Sometimes you can find these books at book stores like Barnes and Nobel, but all of these books may be purchased at amazon.com.

If you don't like books, watch some videos. For example, Todd Acamesis has some interesting OBE narratives in this video and others. Do your research and see what youtube has to offer.

Don't believe the lies and misinformation

There's a lot of misinformation about astral projection. For the most part, these are pushed by religious organizations. Fundamentalist Christians may tell you astral projection is sinful or a form of witchcraft despite the fact that the Bible doesn't support that. Although witches, occultists, and other organizations may use astral projection, it has nothing to do with witchcraft. If you're concerned about this, please read my blog article titled "Are OBEs Against Christianity?" and maybe the one titled "Meeting Jesus Christ Face To Face." If someone tells you astral projection is a sin or witchcraft, ask them to cite a reference in the Bible to support that belief, because there aren't any.

For other religions you may need to do your own research. I'm not aware of any religion that expressly forbids OBEs.

Beware of cults and religions like Eckankar that "sell" astral projection or "soul travel" as their private little secret. Religious and mystical experiences like astral projection are available to all people of all demographics. It does not favor any age, gender, race, culture or creed. It does favor people who persist in their efforts. It may favor people who test high in "absorption" such as people who are more easily hypnotized, but that's another subject for another day.

You don't need a cult or guru to teach you. You just need to do your own research, do the homework, and practice a lot.

Once you start having your own mystical experiences, you may find you become more "spiritual" than "religious." I wrote an article about that too.

Learn some AP/OBE techniques

There are many AP/OBE induction techniques; probably as many as a hundred. I've documented several in blog articles, such as:

• Wake Back To Bed (WBTB)
• Feet Zoom Technique
• Sneaking Past the Gatekeeper
• Turning Lucid Dreams into OBEs
• Almost Move Technique
• Robert Monroe's Lines of Force Technique
  

Other techniques are well documented in various books and other AP/OBE resources.

AP/OBE Resources

Different people learn in different ways. There's a plethora of information out there: books, videos, and live classes. Some of these are good and some not so much. Many charge money, but some do not. In some cases, the price may be worth it, but there's ample free information on the Internet to teach you how to do it. You don't need to spend a lot of money as long as you have access to the Internet.

• Books - There are more than 200 books about astral projection, and many claim to be "The Ultimate Guide." Some are good but many are not. Some of the good technique books are The Phase by Michael Raduga, Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce, and Adventures Beyond the Body by William Buhlman. In 2019 I published my own book, Hacking the Out of Body Experience, which I tried to make as comprehensive as possible, and it's gotten good reviews.
  
  In 2017, I published an article called "Bob's Best of Breed OBE Books" that contains a list of my favorite books for different categories. This list is still not far off.
  
  Before you buy any book about astral projection or out-of-body experience, check to see if I've written a book review for it: this link has an alphabetical index to all the book reviews I've written.
  
• Videos - There are some good instruction videos out there on youtube. I even did a "step by step" video for my blog which you can watch by clicking here.
  
• Classes - Some organizations offer classes to teach astral projection. Some are good and some are bad. Often, the better they are, the more money they cost. The Monroe Institute offers a variety of very good classes, but they come at a high cost. Some reputable OBE teachers in the United States are:
  
  1. William Buhlman
  2. Darryl Berry
  3. Patty Avalon
     
  4. Sean McNamara
     
  Some reputable OBE teachers in the UK are:
  
  1. Graham Nicholls
  2. Jade Shaw
  3. Todd Acamesis
• Blogs - There are some blogs, such as Alison Wylie's and mine. Again, search for them.
• Podcasts - There are some podcasts about astral projection. For example, Maverick Vardøger has an audio-only podcast called Evidence of the Afterlife.
• Other websites: There are hundreds or maybe thousands of websites out there. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with them all, so I can't say which are good and bad. Start with consciousness studies sites and non-profit (501c3) organizations like IANDS (International Associated for Near-Death Studies), IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences), INACS (Institute for Neuroscience and Consciousness Studies), ICRL (International Consciousness Research Laboratories), SSE (Society for Scientific Exploration), and IAC (International Academy of Consciousness).
  

Beware of pay walls and inexperienced teachers

Nowadays, lots of people pretend to be experts in astral projection and will offer classes, information, and books for a price. My blog and website are free to everyone. My first book, Out of Body Experiences, has been available for free on my website since 1997 to prove I'm not "in it for the money." Michael Raduga's book "The Phase" is also available for free on his website. There's also nothing wrong with rewarding an author for their efforts by buying their books, but again, check for a book review.

If you find an astral projection teacher or class, don't pay any money until you research the instructor to find out where they got their information. It's way too easy for unscrupulous people to read a few books about it, or take an astral projection class, then dupe people into believing they are the experts, taking classes, or buying their books based on secondhand or "book-only" knowledge. Find a teacher who has their own firsthand experiences and a proven track-record, especially the authors with four and five-star books in my book reviews.

Conquer your fears / protect yourself

Astral projection might sound a bit scary at first. Fear is definitely a show stopper. You may want to read my article titled Turning the Tables on Fear. You may "chicken out" a few times, but don't let that stop you.

Practice practice practice

Do the time. A book or teacher can only point you in the right direction. You still need to set aside time to practice the techniques. Take a lot of time, usually in a quiet place where you can be alone, and do it right. The best time to practice is in the early morning when you're refreshed after a good night's sleep.

Most importantly, be persistent and never give up. Unless you're a prodigy or born with natural abilities, astral projection is a complex skill like golfing, playing the piano, or flying a 747. You need to learn the controls, then practice it over and over until you get the hang of it. You can't expect to be good at it without lots of practice and countless failed attempts. It's like walking a knife edge: easy to fall off. One side of the knife is "fully awake" and the other side is "falling asleep." I've fallen off that knife edge at least 25 times or more for every successful OBE. Learn through practice what works best for you.

Prepare to lose some sleep

Learning to induce OBEs takes not only time and effort, but lost sleep. You may find yourself frequently interrupting your sleep or spending hours riding the edge between waking and sleeping, which means you might lose a lot of sleep. I suggest practicing on weekends so you don't impact your job. Don't forget to occasionally take breaks from practice too.

Establish Good OBE Habits

There are lots of little things you can do to improve your OBE chances, such as:

• Keep a dream journal. I wrote a blog article about it here.
• Give yourself OBE affirmations every morning.
• Saturate your subconscious with OBE intent.
  
• Read OBE narratives (stories, books, Internet articles, etc.) right before bed every night. This plants it very deeply into your subconscious.
  
• Believe in yourself and your ability to produce an OBE.
• Give yourself lucidity triggers throughout the day, like constantly questioning reality. "Am I dreaming?" And like "The next time I see this (typical dream situation which is different for everyone), I'll know I'm dreaming."
  

Use Common Sense

Above all, please use common sense. Don't believe everything you read or hear about astral projection. There's a lot of misinformation out there. Don't let anyone tell you what to believe. Experience is your best teacher. Induce your own experiences and draw logical conclusions from what you observe. Believe what you see, hear, feel, smell and taste.

Do research

There's a lot of crap out there, so use the Internet to find articles and videos about it and to separate fact from fiction and information from misinformation. Find astral projection groups on Facebook and other websites. Look for other articles on my blog. There's an index to them at the bottom of this article.

Keep Calm and Carry On

When you start to practice altered states of consciousness, you will probably encounter some really weird things. Sometimes you will "see" strange things, like flashes of light or pieces of paper with writing in front of your closed eyelids. Sometimes you will hear things, like your name being called, or threats. It may seem like your heart starts beating insanely fast. You may want to read my blog article about the Guardian of the Threshold to get an idea. Sometimes you may feel paralyzed and helpless, scared, and out of control. You may want to read my short article about Awareness during Sleep Paralysis (ASP). Just try to remain calm if you can and tell yourself, "I'll just watch a little bit longer to see what happens." Ride it out until you're completely free of your body.

React Properly to the Vibrations

The most obvious precursor to an OBE is the vibrations that may seem like you're being electrocuted. When they hit, don't panic. Remain calm and wait for them to build to a crescendo. When they reach peak intensity, try to physically sit up, roll over, stand up, etc. If it's the real thing, your physical body won't move, but your astral body will. Follow this link to an article about how to react to the vibrations.

Find some friends

Lastly, remember that you're not in this thing alone. No matter what weird things happen to you, trust that you're not going crazy. Many other people have walked this path before you.

When I started learning astral projection, I had no one to talk to about it. I felt isolated. I lost friends. Thanks to the Internet, you can now connect to like-minded people. There are many groups on Facebook and other social media where you can ask questions and find friends. A couple years ago I compiled a list of Facebook groups and put them in this article. Some of them are defunct and some have changed names, but most are still valid.

Conclusions

Learning to self-induce out-of-body experiences / astral projection can be a slow, frustrating and sometimes scary journey. It may crush your religious beliefs and force you to reevaluate what you believe and what you know. You may lose friends. You may alienate family. But I've always believed that Truth, no matter how difficult, is far better than blissful ignorance. The journey is well worth the effort. I believe astral projection / out-of-body experience is not just an important step, but an essential step, in our spiritual evolution.

Bob Peterson
19 Jan 2021

If you have ideas for blog articles related to astral projection and out-of-body experiences, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my blog articles