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Body separation while sitting, loaned back

The first experiences I had with this method

Performing my yoga meditations (energy feeling starting at the legs) in the early morning I observed more and more often that my legs began to float in the air, like carried by sea water. Of course these could not be my physical legs, that was evident. Having sufficient theoretic background to know about the subtle body, I got interested in this phenomenon. Soon after the first experiences of "floating feet" I was eager to increase this kind of loosening of the subtle body. Thus, when again I felt floating my legs, I tried to move my upper body as well. I was successful at once to promote a loosening of my upper body for some inches. Of course I was eager to separate my soul body, but I had no success. I had the impression to be fixed to my physical body by something, that felt like many threads of rubber. It lasted several months to increase the distance of the subtle to the physical body by means of rocking, until I could tear these threads and leave my physical body.

It was more as an experience of curiosity. It was the verification for me of having a soul, of the existence of a non physical dimension. It was the confirmation that what I have learned in yoga was right. I now had my awareness in an other body, a subtle one, as it felt like.

By the time the process of separation became more easy and at last I could step out of the physical body without any hindrance. I then went out of the room (mostly in blackness, unable to see anything, but with an excellent kind of "space feeling" - I had exact impressions of form, location and color of the objects around me. After a certain distance (it commonly was exact at the front door of the house) at once I had a clear sight. The surrounding now mostly was different to the physical world, though the street and the side streets seemed to be identical in the alignment. To my great regret these expeditions were very short of time.



Practising this method for many years I have the impression, that "stepping-out-of-the-body by will" can be performed in three related states of consciousness:

    in trance
    in the "half sleep state" (the hypnagogic state before falling asleep)
    lucidity in the state of false awakening

    Here it is how it runs


    Direct your awareness into your body. Imagine and feel the warmth streaming through your body
    Concentrate on your inner energies, feel how they are circling through your body, how they are strengthening the body. Distract your interest from outward impressions like noise etc ("all that is far away").
    Imagine to rock with your subtle body (in this part of the method it is a mere imagination)
    If everything runs well the imagination of the subtle body changes to an awareness of the subtle body.
    Now you do not imagine to rock with your subtle body, but you really rock with the subtle body.






In your imaginations you may promote the imagination of an active rocking or you may use a "passive" variation, in which you sit in a rocking chair, like in the animated drawing above.

If you want to have success, your imaginations of rocking must have as much interest, concentration and awareness, that an autohypnotic suggestion is fixed into your subconscious, so that later, lets say after half an hour, when you are less awake and less aware of the process, your subconscious will continue the process as a kind of automatism.

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    The trance method as done by me

Position:Practizing the trance method I prefered the time after midday. I used to sit comfortable in an armchair and to be leaned back at aproximately 60^o inclination. The head was leaned comfortably on a pillow, otherwise it was hurting after some while, because you may not move all the time (even if you feel unbearable tickled, a sensation which often is registered at the border of the intended OBE state).

Besides the fact of better concentration, as compared to lying in bed, sitting in an armchair has a further advantage: if you fall asleep, instead of getting into trance, the unusual sleep position somehow alarms your subconsciousness. The result of the sleeping situation aside of usual habit, very often leads to a state of false awakening, a semi-conscious state, which can be used to start OBEs as well, as I shall tell you some lines below.

Method: pay attention to your body: feel warmth or vibrations. Try to keep your attention as long as possible. If you become aware of something unusual, like partial body separation, try to step out of your physical body as if your physical was a coat, or if not possible to you, then try to loosen your subtle body by the rocking method.

Sensations: I usually felt alert all the time, though sometimes I lost concentration and was drifting away for a short while. After a while (perhaps 1/2 hour), when awareness was shifting into the etheric body, I sometimes could feel the limbs of my subtle body separating from the physical counterparts. I could feel the limbs of my double floating in the air, as if I was sitting in very salty sea-water. This feeling signaled to me to start OBE deliberately. Later on, after having gathered more experience, I started my OBE's when perceiving the slightly different consciousness indicative for the etheric body.

When trying to separate from my physical body, for several months I was hindered by something that felt as if I was tied by many rubber like strings to my physical. These strings were elastic but not easy to be torn. Therefore I tried to separate by rocking my subtle body forth and back. When I got rid of the strings there was still left a kind of fixation to the physical body, the so called silver cord.




Figure (2): Fighting against the backward pull of many elastic cords I rocked forward, until I had the impression, that I could swing far enough to have a chance for separating by a final effort. To maintain the detachment, additionally I grabbed the arm-chair and pushed myself out of the physical body.

When I became free from my physical body, in most experiences I could not see and was veiled in darkness. This handicap did not prevent me to search my path through the room and outside to the entrance of the house. I always had a kind of inner "mind-sensing", which helped me to find the right way. In a certain distance from my physical body I suddenly was able to see, from one moment to the other. Outside of the house, I lived in, I found myself in an altered surrounding, compared with the used one. Concerning myself I had my common state of mind and logic reasoning.

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Stepping out in the state of false awakening

The best time to perform this method is, when interrupting your sleep at any hour of the night. If you want to be successful, you have to keep your concentration on movement imagination or your awareness at any autosuggestive intention for at least 20 minutes before falling asleep again. I f you have success you shall continue your "meditation" without being aware that a time of sleep had passed in the meantime. You feel wake, but after going on with your meditations for a while you register strange happenings and you realize that what you observe may not happen in real world but is a fact of an imitation and typical for a state called "false awakening".

False awakening is a special category of dream. In the case of an OBE-practician false awakenings can be the starting point of a special form of OBE. In this case you feel yourself awake, sitting in your easy-chair or whatever you prefer, continuing the exercises automatically, which you have done before you fell asleep. You don´t recognize that you are in an altered state of consciousness. Perhaps you are somewhat disturbed, because you are not in trance, as you had intended before, but instead you have got awake, as you think. I have experienced this very often. Being awake and not in an OBE state as intended, as I thought by error, I tried to make the best of the situation and continued exercising with forced concentration. But just in these tricky moments I usually heard (my eyes are closed for exercise) some people entering the room, speaking loudly in an obviously very reckless way, switching on radio and lamp (my visual field was brightened by the light passing the eyelids). I often got angry and protested.

There are two possible ways of further development, as I found out:
1) If I ignore all the noise and continue exercising I slowly get aware of the situation and there is a great chance for me to have a successful OBE.
2) Otherwise, if I open the eyes and leave the easy-chair to complain about the noise, and follow the imaginary people, my level of consciousness totally drops and I fall into a common dream state.

If I succeed to get the state of false awakening under control I can choose one of two possibilities:
    stepping out of the body or
    projecting by a kind of zooming my inner sight (as looking by means of the forehead, third eye)
- (thus I can step out with my etheric body or start an astral projection ).

When "stepping out of the body in the state of false awakening", in some way this differs in experience from leaving the physical body by "stepping out in trance". As opposed to the latter technique I am not likely to feel a silver cord, my distance of travelling is not limited and I have no sensory inputs from the physical body simultaneously ("double consciousness").
    Controlled false awakening turns into a sort of astral travelling in a near-physical astral plane.
    Projecting with the third eye leads to astral travelling in far distance
    Uncontrolled false awakening turns to a dreamlike state.

As I suppose, OBE in false awakening mostly is no etheric OBE.

Some examples:

Bal.: "I was exercising "swinging" to get out of the body. After some time I felt disturbed in my intentions by An., who turned on the radio, playing music very loudly anddisturbing to me (this was a dream state and not really). Leaving my eyes closed, to prevent to fall out of deep relaxation, I protested verbally. She argued:" why not, last time I was playing radio as well and now you should go to bed and have a sleep". I ignored her. The music stopped and it became silent.
I tried to leave my body but was drawn back (by these rubberlike threads). In my second attempt I grabbed the armchair to push myself out of physical body. At last I was free and when I was out I looked around into the room, which seemed to be somewhat different from the physical one. Then I passed the bathroom, touching the towels and feeling with full intention the texture of the carpet on the soles of my feet, in order to get a good body feeling, which really increased (in accordance usually the conscious becomes more clear as well). Concomitantly my awareness increased as well, as intended. I went down the stairs and out the door. But there was no garden as it is in reality, but instead of it a just ploughed field. I crossed this field heading to a distant street, which I almost could not see, because it was a cloudy night. Arrived at the street I had a look around. It was dark all over and the sky without stars or moon, but with intimidating flash-light on the horizon. Sensing in all directions I could feel no danger, but for security reason I returned home, back into my physical body."

Bal.: "Sitting in my armchair I had the impression of a very crowded room (though I felt awake it was a dream state). For a short time I opened my eyes and saw several persons feeling at home, lying in the bed, coming and going and being very noisy. I continued exercising with high concentration to shield off the disturbance. At last I was successful, stepped out of my physical body, having a wonderful walk through an unknown, lovely countryside with meadows, rocks and waterfalls."

Bal.: "Being in the state of false awakening, but thinking to be awake, I tried to continue my exercises. My wife, as it seemed, was walking up and down the room, doing this and that. I felt disturbed, but did not stop my attempts. Now she turned on the light and the brightness was filtering through my eyelids (this all was not really but in dream). Never the less I continued my exercises. My wife came close to my armchair, bent down over my feet to turn on the heating. I became fully awake with no hope to fall again into deeper relaxation, as I thought, and dropped the hope to come to a good end in my intentions. I gave up and decided to have a rest and went to bed. I then had a common dream and when I got awake I found myself in the armchair (thus going to bed was done in false awakening). The quoted sensations seemed to be so realistic, that in the morning I actually was somewhat hesitating about what to think of the experienced situation. For that reason later on I asked my wife about this event, but she told me that she was sleeping all the time."




Body separation in lying position

Some people prefer a lying position. In this case they mostly roll out of their body.

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-- Alfred Ballabene (alfred.ballabene@univie.ac.at)

Copyright © 1997, Alfred Ballabene. All rights reserved.