First of all, I’d like to thank you for coming to our site and showing an interest in this subject. It is a massive subject and one worth investigating, especially if you’ve ever felt that pull to explore what may lie beyond this physical existence. We hope that you join our community, and help us further research this fascinating field. For Astral Traveler Institute’s first article, it would be prudent for us to start at the beginning. Since we’re aimed at helping everyone from any walk of life understand what astral projection is and how it is accomplished, we’ve put together the following information to hopefully cover some of the popular starting questions for this practice. For those that have heard of the term before and aren’t entirely sure what it means then please continue as we will be covering as many of the commonly asked questions as we can, which we will expand on in future articles.

What is Astral Projection?

When it comes to the general term for this practice we can define it simply as your conscious awareness, or focus, moving from this objective waking reality to something entirely other. It has been described also as your soul or spirit leaving your earthly physical body, or your “phantom” leaving your body as described in older literature. Whatever the case may be, your perception in the classic sense of the term is shifted into what could be called another dimension, frequency, or plane that could look anywhere from earthlike to entirely alien and indescribable.

What is the “Astral”?

Even though these questions are basic they are still shrouded in mystery. We can take guesses based on experiences and guess what is going on, but as of right now we cannot say for 100% certainty what all of these things are, how they have come to be, how they are created and what are they comprised of. That being said when it comes to the “Astral”, it is a general term given to dimensions of energy that are outside of this physical reality.

There are many authors on the subject all with varied theories on what is happening and varied definitions and labels when it comes to different layers of energy and how they behave regarding each other – but for simplicity's sake, at the moment you can just think of the “Astral” as levels of energy being outside of this physical reality. Where you are exactly when you’re in the Astral is another matter, sometimes being difficult to determine, and a complex topic altogether that requires more study.

How do you Astral Project?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to the practice, and completely understandable. Who wouldn’t want to know how to explore something completely outside of our reality, all from the comfort of our own home? In truth, there are many ways that someone could go about having this out of body experience and we’ll briefly cover the two main buckets that these techniques fall under:

Direct Methods

For this particular group of methods one king reigns supreme at the top of everyone’s list of desired ways to get out of body, and that is meditation. Most of the new people coming into the subject wish to get out of body in this manner. It is a seductive route for astral projection experiences. You get to choose a time, get comfortable, and lay down all with the hopeful outcome of eventually getting into a mind awake body asleep state where you can separate from the physical.

However, it’s usually not as easy as it sounds for most people. There are people for which meditation is a successful route to astral projection, but from our experience, the vast majority can get close or get some effects but seem to plateau and are unable to continue past a certain point for a variety of reasons. All things considered, meditation itself is a powerful practice and is recommended when it comes to mental health in general and overall feeling of well-being. Is it a requirement? No. But, it is a nice tool in general to have in your life.

Another source that could be considered a direct way to get out of body experiences is the use of psychedelics. While this is true and you may get a variety of experiences some of which may be what we’d call an astral projection, the mechanism isn’t as reliable. Generally with the use of these mind-altering substances you’re shown something rather than having any control over your situation. It’s also a danger of becoming a crutch if it does work for an individual, it is much safer and consistent to use other methods, especially the ones in the following category.

Indirect Methods

This group of methods comprises the gold standard of ways to get out of the body. Instead of trying to stay aware for the entire process like in a direct method, with indirect methods you’re attempting around your sleep cycle. In sleep your physical body is already at rest, half of the “mind awake body asleep” requirement to go out of body. The only thing that remains is to awaken the consciousness, which can be accomplished the easiest upon waking up from sleep. A huge array of indirect methods incorporate these ideas, many of which try to induce a lucid dream state as a jumping-off point. Here are some acronyms for some well-known methods in this category: WILD, DEILD, WBTB, MILD, DILD. The “LD” stands for Lucid Dreams. WBTB however, or Wake Back To Bed, is a very common and effective method, and the one that Astral Traveler Institute modifies to instill astral projection in our Wake To Projection Blueprint.

What Does Astral Projection Feel Like?

If I had to sum up the entire experience into one word I’d probably pick the word “strange”. Not strange in a bad way but just completely different and outside of any kind of relatable waking experience. At times it can almost be difficult to put how it feels into words, but we can try giving some examples. When it comes to exiting the body, there can be a wide variety of effects and sensations that can happen. One of the more well-known effects is that of vibrations. These can often be described as an electrical buzzing sensation and even can be a strong feeling of physically shaking and vibrating back and forth. Audible effects are also a very common sensation. You can hear a number of sounds such as groups of people talking, radio stations, loud noises that don’t hurt the ears, or your own name to mention a few. 

Is Astral Projection Safe?

From our own testing and from the experiences of authors and people in communities we’ve helped it seems like this practice is completely safe. There are a lot of myths that surround astral projection, many of them coming from questionable sources or seeming like a complete fabrication in the first place in order to spread fear or control the topic, so many in fact that we have an entire video dedicated to the topic in our Foundation Course. 

What should I expect during my first astral projection experience?

For a good first astral projection experience you should keep your expectations to a minimum. Only expect that you’ll have a favorable, enjoyable experience. You’ll most likely encounter some of the effects we mentioned above, or maybe you’ll experience none at all and spontaneously and seamlessly enter the astral. One thing you can expect is to feel slightly different which is difficult to explain. You could feel more floaty, or even heavier, preferably the former since that would make it easier to move around and explore. 

Unfortunately, for the majority of people, their first experience will be rather short. Since it’s so outside our frame of reference, being in that space for the first time with all the different feelings and sensations - it can end up surprising you because it is so strange. This off feeling seems to cause a lot of first-time explorers to fight it, sometimes just as an uncontrollable instant reaction, and then end up waking up very quickly. My first experience was short-lived because I was so in awe of what was happening that I failed to stand up in my astral room and go explore.   

What are the benefits of astral projection?

This question deserves much more research. Currently, we’re not sure just how many things you can accomplish with this tool. From a variety of experiences that people have reported there seem to be many things you can do that would be considered beneficial. Some have reported being able to study the energy of their own physical body, determining ailments and ways to fix them. It’s been said that the thought-reactive areas can supposedly be used to confront or gain insight into your fears and traumas in a therapeutic way. If this is true then it would be a breakthrough in psychiatry once this practice becomes more accepted by the scientific community. 

Some of the other benefits are much more apparent and easy to realize. Astral projection allows you to directly confront a fear of death. Once you experience how it feels, and how high quality it can be in comparison to this reality, then this waking life can appear to be the dream. Many people have reported seeing dead loved ones as well, who tell them that they are doing fine and there’s nothing to worry about. If I had to choose any particular benefit it would be astral projection enabling me to be less anxious about death in general. It is obvious to me now that there is much more beyond this waking life. 

How long does it take to successfully astral project?

When it comes to the length of time required before having your own personal experience it can vary and generally is entirely up to the individual. Your state of mind is very important here. Do you have your own doubts about the practice? Any preconceived notions? Any existing beliefs surrounding it or what is required before you have a projection? All of these things play a part in how long it will take before you have your first out of body experience. Generally, less is more. Try not to have any doubts or pre-existing expectations when it comes to the practice, this will shorten the time necessary before you have that first breakthrough. Some people are able to get out on the first or second night of trying, while others may take a bit longer. One of the reasons we made the Wake To Projection Blueprint in the first place and made it freely available to everyone is that we really believe it is one of the shortest paths out there in order to get out of body consistently. You don’t need to be born special to achieve this. Everyone has access to it, the only thing that gets in our way is ourselves. 

How can I improve my chances of having an out-of-body experience?

As we mentioned before a lot of your success stems from you and your subconscious. A lot of people tend to trip over themselves when they come to this practice either with the information they’ve taken from the web, from friends, or from other online teachers who give out numerous requirements to fulfill before they are “ready”. These all must be removed from the mind. Any doubt as well is poison when it comes to getting out of body in any appreciable amount of time. Fear is another huge one, fear and anxiety, even if you don’t actively think it, can be a large hurdle if your subconscious thinks it. 

If you’re new to the site or found us through this article, give yourself a chance and go through the free Wake to Projection Blueprint course we have available. We go over these topics as well and give you all the tools you need in order to get out of body in the shortest time possible. As mentioned earlier this is a natural process that everyone already unknowingly does and was born to be able to do. There is nothing stopping you outside of any fears, anxieties, and concerns that you’ve had before. The only thing you must have is a strong desire and belief that you are completely able to do this practice. Outside of that, as we go over in the course, consistency is key. You don’t go to a gym expecting to gain muscle overnight, it is a process that requires dedication and consistency to see results. Astral projection is no different. Like anything it is a skill that must be built over time, and just like with exercise the moment you stop for a length of time the more it takes again to get back into that groove. 

We hope that this article has been informative in answering some of the introductory questions you may have had when it comes to astral projection. It is an immense topic and one that spawns many more questions than answers, so we hope that you participate in the Blueprint and give it your best shot for at least a month. If it is something that you’re serious about and want to pursue further then you may want to consider joining as a member and explore this field with us so we can gain more understanding about what is happening in these vast expanses of consciousness, and bring that understanding back to share with others. Thank you for reading and we hope to see you, in the astral!