Body & Soul Response

from Dr. Jeanette, licensed psychologist, alternative approach

practical, psychological, holistic help for emotional, mental, physical, spiritual issues

Question

I had an out of body experience and I really don't know how to explain it. Was it just a dream or do we really have them. I have been told different things by my friends. Some say you had one, and other say that it was only a dream. I would really appreciate your input.

Thank you, Jay Eure

Answer

First and foremost, honor that which happens to you, no matter what anyone else says or thinks. Your experience is valid and who knows, maybe it is happening to you first before anyone else! You may be the one on the cutting edge of something. With that said, I also know how comforting it is to connect with others who have experienced similar things.

Since a lot of my work is forced on getting people into their body, I am going to let Jenna Catherine, author of "Conversing With the Future," answer this out of the body question. Here's Jenna.

Hi. I didn't really realize that I was having out of body experiences until I listened to a tape by Carol Liaros who was associated with Edgar Cayce's organization, A.R.E. In this tape she defined what they were. More on this in a minute.

First, I'd like to tell you what I experienced about 10 years ago or so. While I was sleeping, having lucid dreams (you know you're dreaming), I was having some pretty unusual circumstances. During my dream I would feel this swirling feeling, very strong, like a jet taking off. I could feel it build up inside of me and then suddenly I would go flying out into space at an enormous speed. The first time I experienced it I told someone that I was just "soaring through the universe" (last night when I was dreaming).

I didn't know what to make of it but was definitely more intrigued than scared. In fact, I told a lot of people about it, realizing it was very different, not a typical dream. I continued to have these experiences and started to look forward to them because there were feelings of euphoria and ecstasy, as well as a sense of freedom, inherent in this new found and most unusual experience. It worked like this: I would be "asleep," start to have this energy build up, then leave my body. After soaring through space, I would then "land" somewhere and be conscious of my surroundings.

A couple of strong memories I have now were (1) landing in Italy inside of a teller's cage in a bank, and (2) landing in upstate New York where some logging was occurring. Regarding the former, I say cage because that's what it was, made of brass like a small elevator, and it was clearly in a time frame before I was born. In the latter, I looked at a license plate on a logging truck and it said New York. Somehow I just knew what was going on (logging) and where I was, that is, upstate. The time period here was past but unclear. Another time I landed in shower with someone who was taking a shower! Yet another, I landed in a living room where some women were talking about AIDS. I had the distinct impression in this one that it was the future. So my impression based on my own experiences is that our out of body experiences can transcend time. Again, I am talking about having these "strange dreams" during lucid dreams.

I have since gathered that what I was doing is called spontaneous out of body experiences, in other words, not planned. Some people, though very few, are able to do it with conscious intent and in the waking state. Robert Monroe was one of them and you may want to check out his books, and/or his institute called the Monroe Institute in Virginia, which studies consciousness.

The important thing to remember is that it is not dangerous, and frankly, in my opinion, expanding -- and exciting! The book I have written, "Conversing With the Future" (Wild Flower Press, May 30, 1998) is about life in the year 2020 when we are all living our potentials. ENORMOUS changes have occurred by this time. Some of the big differences between then and now are that people are much more aware, much more loving, and just as what we have been talking about, using their consciousness in new ways: time traveling; physically manifesting what they want with their minds; communicating telepathically; and teleporting themselves at will, all of which will be preceded by spontaneous out of body experiences (OOBEs).

So we are back to now and some of what we are currently experiencing. My guess is that this will be one of the first things we will experience, as we progress into this more evolved state.

I t would not be surprising that people would be frightened by out of body experiences since they ARE so different, but they are very safe. In fact, as soon as one becomes frightened, one returns to his or her body. Fear and out of body experiences don't mix, just as fear and sex don't mix. So the idea is to let go, as Dr. Jeanette would say about just about everything, and I concur here with OOBEs. Enjoy them! You are not going crazy or dying.

Now here's what Carol Liaros has to say about out of body experiences, which she distinguishes from remote viewing, on her tape, "Mind Traveling, Remote Viewing": First of all they are also called astral projections. A distinctive characteristic when this happens is "there are two of you." Part of you leaves and part of you stays. For example, maybe you are lying on your bed awake (or asleep) or sitting in a chair. Your physical body remains where it is, while your conscious leaves your body. Usually it's spontaneous or unplanned. Very few can do it consciously although many books have been written about it. It often occurs when people are under a lot of stress or very relaxed, or in her terms, "inward thinking." People report hovering over themselves, standing next to themselves, floating up in a corner of the room, looking down at themselves. In addition to separating, Liaros states that you will experience where you go (where your consciousness goes) just as it is with sounds, sights, and proportions being the same (as they are in `real' life.)

As with all experiences, each one of us has something valid and worthy to report. I hope this has helped. You know, the idea is to use our minds and bodies, not just computers .