Ive been reading forums on the site about astral projection, lucid dreaming, and even out of body experience. Is there a way for my actual soul to leave this physical body without the body dying? I want to get out and really be free but I dont want my physical body to die. I tried meditations, and other similar methoods with no luck. Ive tried being "physically free" with hiking and such but it made me feel more isolated and limited.
When I was practicing with astral projection, I found that the easiest entry for me was through sleep and lucid dreaming. To clarify, lucid dreaming is simply when you know you are dreaming while you are dreaming and you are able to control the dream world around you. It is from this point where I would generally attempt to enter the astral plane, a plane which I believe to be very similar to the one we live on day to day, except that it is a bit more ethereal, I suppose. I find it easier to communicate with spirits and otherworldly presences on this plane as well as simply exploring.
To get to either stage though takes a lot of practice. I would generally meditate before bed on wherever it was I wanted to go. I never became an expert as I had to stop for other reasons, but I did start to get sort of a pattern down. While I was asleep, I would have to notice I was dreaming somehow, usually by looking for some kind of pattern in my dreams. If you have any recurring dreams or recurring experiences in your dreams, these are probably what you should look for. Once I started to feel that sort of familiarity with whatever was taking place in my dreams, I would know that I was asleep.
The second most difficult part was not just immediately waking up at this point. That one really just took practice. I don't have any specific advice for it.
Beyond that, while I was attempting to get into astral projection, I would try and enter someplace familiar. My childhood bedroom tended to be my go-to, but whatever place you feel you know well is a good starting point. Then I would try to find a door wherever I was, and I would tell myself that when I opened it, I would be in my childhood bedroom. This happened a number of times. At first, I tried simply teleporting, but that didn't work. I found the door to be more successful for me maybe because in my own subconscious I viewthem as a threshold or an entry to someplace new. Again, you may find something else to work better for you, but I would give this a try.
It did begin to work for me a few times before I quit. The most successful was actually in the apartmentI was staying in at the time. I was fully aware of my body, sleeping in the other room: everything from the position I was sleeping in to an awareness of each limb, even down to my fingers and toes. And yet I was not in my body, I was one room over viewing the rest of my apartment. It was a very surreal experience.
In short, yes it is possible to do this without your body dying, but it is a short term thing. You cannot live your entire life this way, if that's what you mean. It is a good meditative experience, but it takes a lot of practice and a lot of focus. It is not an easy thing to accomplish, let alone master.
If it is freedom you are after, my suggestion is not to try to enter the astral plane from lucid dreaming at all. Instead, while lucid dreaming, just go wherever you heart desires most and do whatever you want. For me, this is usually flying, a feeling of general weightlessness in the clouds and cool, wet air brushing alongmy face as I soar. It is one of the most relaxing and truly freeing feelings I have ever had.
