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Astral Projection 101

Astral Projection 101 by Erin Pavlina

Ever wonder what astral projection is all about? Well, it’s like taking a vacation outside your body. You consciously separate your soul from your physical self and dive into the realms of the unknown.

It’s not as easy as snapping your fingers and whoosh, you’re off! It takes practice and patience, plus there are some important things you’ll want to know about before you begin so that you can stay safe.

If you’re itching to explore the cosmos and see all of its wonders this article is going to dive deep into the wild world of astral projection—how to do it, what to expect, and a few cautionary tales.

What Is Astral Projection?

In a nutshell astral projection occurs when you consciously separate your soul or astral body from your corporeal body. If the body houses your soul, as some believe, then astral projection is the separation of those two. Your consciousness goes with the astral body.

It has the same effect as an out-of-body experience, though it doesn’t happen unconsciously. An out-of-body experience is when someone suddenly, and without conscious intent, is ejected from their body. This can happen during trauma or a medical procedure for example. It doesn’t usually last very long, whereas astral projection lasts as long as you want it to.

During an astral projection your body is left behind in a sort of stasis. It’s still alive and functioning even though the astral body is gone. A silver cord, as it’s called, attaches your astral body to your corporeal body and keeps you connected. If the silver cord is cut, you die.

Anyone Can Try Astral Projection

Although I can’t say with certainty that everyone has the ability to astral project, I do know that a person can increase their chances significantly if they study it and practice as much as possible. You have to be willing to put in the work to get the result you want.

There are ways to increase your chances of astral projecting which I’ll discuss in this article. It may take time, but it can be worth it! There are also ways to prevent yourself from astral projecting if you want to avoid it.

What To Do When You Get to The Astral Plane

Once you’re successfully able to project yourself onto the astral plane, here are some possibilities of things you can do. Reading this list might make it clear to you whether these are abilities you would like to have, and therefore spark a desire in you to start practicing.

Here’s the shortlist of things you can experience while astral projecting:

  • Spy on people (although there are restrictions to spying on people while astral projecting)
  • Encounter some really negative, low-energy beings
  • Visit and converse with high-energy beings
  • Go back in time
  • Go to other planets and realms
  • Visit with friends who are also astral
  • Fly around the planet for fun
  • Engage in, um, relations with other beings (astral sex is an entire topic on it’s own)
  • Have interesting conversations with your spirit guides
  • Visit your deceased relatives

Where You Can Travel

There are a few different planes that you can astral project to:

The prime material plane: This is the plane where your physical body dwells, so you can fly around your house, look in on your loved ones, freak out the cat, visit the moon or dive into the Earth’s core.

The higher planes: Spirits, celestial beings, and angelic energies dwell here, and you can chat with them and hang out here

Through time: As an observer only, you cannot change outcomes

Incompatible planes: These are not compatible with your frequency or energy so you could lose your sight, or your hearing, and you’ll be really putting yourself at risk of getting attacked and drained by a low vibration entity. Only go to these other planes with a protective guide.

Benefits of Astral Projection

The three main positive benefits I’ve received from astral projecting are learning, exploring, and helping others such as:

  • Engaging in discussions with astral beings
  • Participating in astral instruction sessions with other humans
  • Exploring topics to better understand the universe and oneself
  • Exploring other realms and universes
  • Assisting family members experiencing bad dreams or astral distress
  • Responding to distress calls without prior awareness of the destination

 
In the past, I’ve written about the positive experiences of astral projection with a more extensive list of all the possible experiences you can come across.

Pre-Preparation Steps You Can Take to Get Started

First, if you can master lucid dreaming that will really help you! Lucid dreaming will teach you how to keep your mind conscious while your body is asleep

Second, it’s helpful to raise your vibration to a really high frequency in order to get out of your body and access the higher, more positive planes. To do that, work on moving your life in the direction of love, joy, gratitude and compassion.

Third, you’ll definitely want to learn to control and set aside fear or you’ll attract some negative entities to your bedside.

What Does Astral Projection Feel Like

It’s important for you to know that when you are beginning to astral project you will likely feel a tingling sensation and/or hear a high pitched whine in your head.

This is the sensation of being separated, but still inside your body.

I have a great story of my first experience of astral projecting when I was 15. I was pulled out of my body and felt this sensation, and besides my fear and resistance to it, my guides insisted I let it happen.

At this point, it’s time to stretch yourself up and out. You can either follow your arms out, or some people like to roll out like you’re rolling onto the floor, and other people seem to go out feet first. It takes a lot of inner will to stretch up out of your body.

The other thing I used to do with great success is teleport out at that point. So first you achieve separation, then you simply put yourself somewhere else, like on the roof of your house, or the nearby corner of your street.

If you feel fear and pull away from this sensation, you will not be able to astral project. That being said, you can continue practicing until you are successful.

The Silver Cord

Another very important thing you should know before astral projecting is that you will have a silver cord. I mentioned it above in this article already.

The silver cord is such an important and valuable part of your connection to your body and is extremely strong and durable. It’s not like someone is going to come along and trip over it and break it. The cord can stretch a really long way and not get tangled, torn, or cut.

The silver cord is what keeps your soul attached to your body. It’s like a bookmark. When you want to return to your body you can let it guide you back with a tug or a snap.

Tips For Successfully Astral Projecting

There is no guarantee that you’ll be able to astral project, but I can give you some tips to increase your chances of achieving it:

  • As I mentioned already, learn how to lucid dream
  • Take a nap midday, or wake in the middle of the night
  • Sleep on your back
  • Overcome your fear of being outside your body
  • Sleep in a hot temperature
  • If you are struggling, don’t give up!

 

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Differences Between Lucid Dreaming Astral Projection

Let me explain how you can tell if you’re having an astral experience or simply dreaming that you are astral.

Here is a clear-cut example. If you wake up in your bed, then astral project, then go flying, then you are astral projecting. But if you’re in some random dream and you take to the skies, you are not astral. You are simply having a flying dream.

In a lucid dream you are in the dream construct, the dream world. The characters in it are fabrications of your own mind and subconscious. They are not real. You can control them. You can snap your fingers and create a donut, a Porsche, or Brad Pitt, but none of those things is actually there.

Alternatively, in astral projection, you are awake and leaving your body. There are no dream elements. You are in your room or where you laid down to do it. Any beings you encounter are real and simply living on the astral plane as opposed to the Prime Material plane as it’s called.

In a true astral projection you will wake up first, in your bed or wherever you are sleeping.

You will likely be in a state of sleep paralysis, feel a strong tingling sensation in your body, achieve separation, and lift up and out of your body.

At that point, you will hover, fly, or bop around like a helium balloon in your room, eventually getting out of your room and floating around your house or down the street.

Astral projection does not take place inside your mind. It is not part of the mental construct your subconscious mind creates when you are sleeping.

During sleep is where dreams take place.

Choosing To Lucid Dream or Astral Project

Which do I personally choose to do more than the other? I get different things from both, and they have served different purposes for different periods of my life.

The sky is the limit with lucid dreaming. Anything you can conjure in your mind, you can experience in your dream.

But one of the big benefits of astral projection is that you can speak to your deceased relatives and they are really there. You can time travel. You can visit other planes of existence, and even make it to other planets and explore them.

However, with astral projection, you cannot just snap your fingers and change the scene to your liking. You would have to move your astral body to a new location, for example by flying there or teleporting there. In addition, if you come across a low vibration entity who wants to attack you, you can’t just snap your fingers and make it go away. You have to fight it, evade it, or go back to your body.

Dangers of Astral Projection

Death

A lot of people ask me if you can die during astral projection. My answer is that I don’t know since no one would come back from that experience to tell us about it. On the practical level, your physical body, while you are out of your body, is as susceptible to death as it normally would be. Someone could come in to your room and stab or choke you to death or even shoot you.

There are entities on the astral plane that can be very nasty, but can they cause death? To do so they would have to sever your silver cord and the chance of that happening is really small.

Demon Possession

A demon can only possess you if you let it, if you intend for it, if you’re vibrating so low that you easily vacate your body just for some relief from your life. Like a vampire, you have to invite it in. Still, there are entities who can suck your life force and drain you pretty good, so you want to avoid them as much as possible.

Getting Lost

You cannot get lost completely, it would be like forgetting where you live when you travel outside the country, but you can be delayed from getting back into your body.

You can get sidetracked, you can get delayed, but you will always be able to get back into your body if you want to. Call upon Source or an angel to help you if you run into a demon gang.

So, is astral projecting dangerous? I would have to say yes, it can be.

However, if you know how to protect yourself, if you can keep your vibration high, if you are skilled at psychic self-defense, and you can keep your fear in check, then you can have a safe astral experience.

Protecting Yourself While Astral Projecting

To protect your body, your cord, and your astral self, use white light, golden light and call upon your guides for protection.

Keep your vibration really high (avoid fear if you can help it) and ask for protection from your spirit guides, angelic energies, or even Source itself.

Create an astral sword that is cast with love and practice taking it out, so you’re prepared in a dangerous situation with an entity you encounter.

Encountering Entities and Astral Battle

If you’re feeling fear you have a chance of encountering low vibration entities because they thrive off of that frequency.

Going straight into battle with these entities is not the solution, since astral battle can be energy draining and leave you feeling like you have a hangover when you get back to your body. It might be necessary but it’s not the first step.

Start by avoiding it. This means that when you see or sense something waiting for you, don’t project. Go back to your body, get up for a bit, turn on a light, and wait until the being goes away.

If you can’t avoid it, evade it. Move to another location on the astral plane. You do this by raising your vibration. If you think of it like a radio, go to the “love” and “gratitude” station. Call for your angels to come help you. Or call for your guides.

There are many planes to choose from. If an entity is bothering you, go somewhere else. Usually that’s enough to change the scene and to go exploring on a more positive vibe. Often times, once I raised my vibration, I was off and running, exploring wonderful new dimensions and planes of existence.

Go on the offensive. Sometimes the entities are so nasty that they won’t leave you alone. Now it’s time to go to astral battle. Make it short and sweet.

Slash at the entity with your sword. Cast love at it (they hate that). Be fierce. Have a battle cry ready. Whatever you do, don’t show fear. Do not go back to your body until you have dispelled or banished the entity, otherwise it can pull you out of your body and keep snacking on your energy.

Finally, call for reinforcements. Sometimes you’ll encounter a being that’s either too strong or instills too much fear in you. Call on Archangel Michael to help you.

As mentioned, you can also call on Source, any ascended master, or any other high vibrational being or angel in the vicinity. Angels have the ability to remove and dispel any being you can encounter on the astral plane.

They will come. Every time.

Don’t tolerate astral bullies. Turn your back on them and tell them where they can stick themselves. If you don’t, they will begin feeding on your energy like you’re a banana cream pie.

What Stops Astral Projecting from Happening

There are ways you can prevent astral projection. Most can be overcome by practicing the skill more and more.

Here are things that can stop it from happening:

  • Fear
  • Pulling back when you feel the sensation
  • Sleeping on your side, stomach, or any position other than your back
  • Sleeping through the night (as opposed to waking up mid-sleep in order to astral project)
  • Avoiding napping
  • Avoiding meditating

Getting Derailed While Astral Projecting

Sometimes you may have a certain intention when you astral project, for example, visiting your friend’s house, but then you’re blocked along the way. Why does that happen?

Here are factors that can derail your astral projection:

Psychic Wind

There are eddies and currents on the astral plane much like there might be in an ocean, and sometimes you are simply at the mercy of these winds or tides and they overcome your will and push you around a little.

Guardians and Wards

Someone else has set up an astral guardian around the area that will attack you if you get too close. Or you can’t get somewhere because someone has placed a spell or ward on a location to prevent unwanted intruders. This is more of a force field or an energy, as opposed to an entity or creature.

Unfocused Will

You may have initially thought you wanted to go visit a friend or go to a certain location, but as soon as you’re astral you might find something else more interesting and you lose focus.

Someone Nabs You

You are not alone out there. There are other projectors out there at the same time you’re out there, plus there are conscious high and low vibration entities that live on the plane you’re visiting. One of them might purposely derail you by getting handsy, or in this case, energetically pulling you off course and into their clutches for a nefarious purpose. If this is the case, read the section on protecting yourself again.

In Conclusion

Whether you’re seeking enlightenment, connection, or simply a taste of the extraordinary, astral projection offers a doorway to explore the depths of consciousness.

But tread carefully, for with great exploration comes great responsibility.

If you’re ready to take the plunge, remember to keep an open mind, stay grounded, and always trust your instincts.

Who knows what wonders await beyond the bounds of the physical? It’s time to unlock the secrets of the universe, one astral projection at a time.
 

Download a FREE Chapter!

The Astral Projection Guidebook: Mastering the Art of Astral Travel

Dive deeper into astral projection techniques and practices.

By entering your email address, you agree to receive Erin’s Pavlina’s special offers and news

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