What are Out-of-Body Experiences?

The term OBE covers a range of phenomena where a person reports being conscious outside their physical body. They seem to be triggered by different causes, and in most accounts they are described as very real and vivid experiences.

Near-death experiences

One of the most well known kinds of OBEs occurs when someone is clinically dead, or close to it. Upon revival, people have brought back memories of an existence beyond their bodies, and their accounts are often similar.

Some report floating up and looking down upon their body and everyone around it, and are able to accurately describe what was happening even though their body had lost consciousness. Others recount having a more transcendental experience: going through a tunnel towards a light, hearing beautiful music, meeting spiritual beings and deceased relatives, or having their entire life shown to them like a movie.

These kinds of occurrences, which have been termed near-death experiences (NDEs), have happened to people who had no brain activity, heartbeat or vital signs at all at the time. This is significant because it shows that we are more than just our bodies and can continue existing without them.

But not all OBEs are reported when a person is close to death; some happen with sleep.

Learn more about NDE research
Learn more about NDEs and the afterlife
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OBEs and sleep

People have also reported experiencing OBEs in the hours of sleep and these occurrences are often categorized as a ‘sleep disorder' or ‘REM intrusion' by the scientific community. People have reported feeling strange sensations such as paralysis - a normal function that stops the body from sleep walking. In other accounts, people also report separating from their body, even floating away from it; some perceiving real life events happening in another location as well as seeing and interacting with things that would not be present to a physical observer.

Some scientists suggest this is caused by a person waking up while the brain is still in sleep mode: the brain is confused and can't discern what is real from what is a dream, resulting in very vivid hallucinations. But others suggest these sorts of OBEs are very much linked to NDEs, and since NDEs cannot be reduced to brain function, since they can occur without brain activity, these experiences cannot simply be explained biologically.

They say with sleep our consciousness separates from the body, the same as with death - the main difference being that it's not a permanent process as we return to our bodies when we wake up. By utilising this natural separation process, they say it is possible to have a self-willed OBE. This is often called ‘astral projection' and it involves focusing the mind while falling asleep, to remain aware during this separation process, enabling a person to experience going out of their body consciously with sleep, rather than just unconsciously in a dream. Another way people report having an OBE is by waking up in a dream, that is, realising they are dreaming and becoming aware they are outside their body.

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Benefits of OBEs

There are different techniques people use to have OBEs, and those who report having them say they can be very profound experiences. They describe being able to float or fly, move through walls and do many things they could not do physically. One of the main benefits they say they get from this is that it shows them they have an existence beyond their body, which broadens their perspective and helps them learn and understand more about life and themselves.

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Understanding Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs)

Throughout history, people have wondered if we are more than just our physical bodies. What happens when we die? Do we still exist? Is consciousness just part of the brain? A large study into near-death experiences has just been launched, with scientists and researchers from the US, UK and Canada joining forces to investigate the validity of NDEs. But can science really understand this phenomenon, and how effective are their methods?

Belzebuub gives the Gnostic perspective on the latest NDE study, in an insightful article on his website.

The World's Largest Study of NDEs - how useful is it

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Experiences Out of the Body

Skeptical of Out-of-Body Experiences?
Someone once told me out of the blue that it's possible to actually come out-of-body, to move about consciously in a place called the Astral world
After listening to a lengthy explanation of the Astral plane of the 5th Dimension - a real place where one can travel outside the body - I was lost for words. I was sure that such a place was simply a figment of the imagination; "surely, wouldn't everybody know about this if it was true", I thought to myself... Keep Reading

OBEs in the Dark
I used to be afraid to go to sleep. I would leave the light on, sit up in bed and try to stay awake all night.
The strangest thing was happening to me night after night, causing my fear. I'd be drifting into sleep, or out of sleep, when I'd suddenly be seized with these bizarre sensations – I'd be completely paralysed and it felt as if my bed was shaking. Keep Reading

Out of my Body – in Reality
It was the morning, maybe 9 or 10 am. My parents had planned to go out early to run some errands, which we had discussed the previous night. By this time they would have already left. After waking up I found myself still very, very tired and I allowed myself to fall back asleep. In doing so, I became conscious of some familiar sensations attributed to out-of-body experiences - I felt very heavy yet very light and I felt gentle electric-like pulses running through my body. Very soon after the onset of these sensations I knew it was time to get up - not up in the physical world - up outside my body in the astral plane! Keep Reading