Near death, explained

New science is shedding light on what really happens during out-of-body experiences -- with shocking results.
MARIO BEAUREGARD
SATURDAY, APR 21, 2012
http://www.salon.com/2012/04/21/near_death_explained

This article was adapted from the new book "Brain Wars", from Harper One.

In 1991, Atlanta-based singer and songwriter Pam Reynolds felt extremely dizzy, lost her ability to speak, and had difficulty moving her body. A CAT scan showed that she had a giant artery aneurysm—a grossly swollen blood vessel in the wall of her basilar artery, close to the brain stem. If it burst, which could happen at any moment, it would kill her. But the standard surgery to drain and repair it might kill her too.

With no other options, Pam turned to a last, desperate measure offered by neurosurgeon Robert Spetzler at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Spetzler was a specialist and pioneer in hypothermic cardiac arrest—a daring surgical procedure nicknamed “Operation Standstill.” Spetzler would bring Pam’s body down to a temperature so low that she was essentially dead. Her brain would not function, but it would be able to survive longer without oxygen at this temperature. The low temperature would also soften the swollen blood vessels, allowing them to be operated on with less risk of bursting. When the procedure was complete, the surgical team would bring her back to a normal temperature before irreversible damage set in.

Essentially, Pam agreed to die in order to save her life—and in the process had what is perhaps the most famous case of independent corroboration of out of body experience (OBE) perceptions on record. This case is especially important because cardiologist Michael Sabom was able to obtain verification from medical personnel regarding crucial details of the surgical intervention that Pam reported. Here’s what happened.

Pam was brought into the operating room at 7:15 a.m., she was given general anesthesia, and she quickly lost conscious awareness. At this point, Spetzler and his team of more than 20 physicians, nurses, and technicians went to work. They lubricated Pam’s eyes to prevent drying, and taped them shut. They attached EEG electrodes to monitor the electrical activity of her cerebral cortex. They inserted small, molded speakers into her ears and secured them with gauze and tape. The speakers would emit repeated 100-decibel clicks—approximately the noise produced by a speeding express train—eliminating outside sounds and measuring the activity of her brainstem.

At 8:40 a.m., the tray of surgical instruments was uncovered, and Robert Spetzler began cutting through Pam’s skull with a special surgical saw that produced a noise similar to a dental drill. At this moment, Pam later said, she felt herself “pop” out of her body and hover above it, watching as doctors worked on her body.

Although she no longer had use of her eyes and ears, she described her observations in terms of her senses and perceptions. “I thought the way they had my head shaved was very peculiar,” she said. “I expected them to take all of the hair, but they did not.” She also described the Midas Rex bone saw (“The saw thing that I hated the sound of looked like an electric toothbrush and it had a dent in it … ”) and the dental-drill sound it made with considerable accuracy.

Meanwhile, Spetzler was removing the outermost membrane of Pamela’s brain, cutting it open with scissors. At about the same time, a female cardiac surgeon was attempting to locate the femoral artery in Pam’s right groin. Remarkably, Pam later claimed to remember a female voice saying, “We have a problem. Her arteries are too small.” And then a male voice: “Try the other side.” Medical records confirm this conversation, yet Pam could not have heard them.

The cardiac surgeon was right—Pam’s blood vessels were indeed too small to accept the abundant blood flow requested by the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, so at 10:50 a.m., a tube was inserted into Pam’s left femoral artery and connected to the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. The warm blood circulated from the artery into the cylinders of the bypass machine, where it was cooled down before being returned to her body. Her body temperature began to fall, and at 11:05 a.m. Pam’s heart stopped. Her EEG brain waves flattened into total silence. A few minutes later, her brain stem became totally unresponsive, and her body temperature fell to a sepulchral 60 degrees Fahrenheit. At 11:25 a.m., the team tilted up the head of the operating table, turned off the bypass machine, and drained the blood from her body. Pamela Reynolds was clinically dead.

At this point, Pam’s out-of-body adventure transformed into a near-death experience (NDE): She recalls floating out of the operating room and traveling down a tunnel with a light. She saw deceased relatives and friends, including her long-dead grandmother, waiting at the end of this tunnel. She entered the presence of a brilliant, wonderfully warm and loving light, and sensed that her soul was part of God and that everything in existence was created from the light (the breathing of God). But this extraordinary experience ended abruptly, as Reynolds’s deceased uncle led her back to her body—a feeling she described as “plunging into a pool of ice.”

Meanwhile, in the operating room, the surgery had come to an end. When all the blood had drained from Pam’s brain, the aneurysm simply collapsed and Spetzler clipped it off. Soon, the bypass machine was turned on and warm blood was pumped back into her body. As her body temperature started to increase, her brainsteam began to respond to the clicking speakers in her ears and the EEG recorded electrical activity in the cortex. The bypass machine was turned off at 12:32 p.m. Pam’s life had been restored, and she was taken to the recovery room in stable condition at 2:10 p.m.

Tales of otherworldly experiences have been part of human cultures seemingly forever, but NDEs as such first came to broad public attention in 1975 by way of American psychiatrist and philosopher Raymond Moody’s popular book Life After Life. He presented more than 100 case studies of people who experienced vivid mental experiences close to death or during “clinical death” and were subsequently revived to tell the tale. Their experiences were remarkably similar, and Moody coined the term NDE to refer to this phenomenon. The book was popular and controversial, and scientific investigation of NDEs began soon after its publication with the founding, in 1978, of the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS)—the first organization in the world devoted to the scientific study of NDEs and their relationship to mind and consciousness.

NDEs are the vivid, realistic, and often deeply life-changing experiences of men, women, and children who have been physiologically or psychologically close to death. They can be evoked by cardiac arrest and coma caused by brain damage, intoxication, or asphyxia. They can also happen following such events as electrocution, complications from surgery, or severe blood loss during or after a delivery. They can even occur as the result of accidents or illnesses in which individuals genuinely fear they might die. Surveys conducted in the United States and Germany suggest that approximately 4.2 percent of the population has reported an NDE. It has also been estimated that more than 25 million individuals worldwide have had an NDE in the past 50 years.

People from all walks of life and belief systems have this experience. Studies indicate that the experience of an NDE is not influenced by gender, race, socioeconomic status, or level of education. Although NDEs are sometimes presented as religious experiences, this seems to be a matter of individual perception. Furthermore, researchers have found no relationship between religion and the experience of an NDE. That is, it did not matter whether the people recruited in those studies were Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist, or agnostic.

Although the details differ, NDEs are characterized by a number of core features. Perhaps the most vivid is the OBE: the sense of having left one’s body and of watching events going on around one’s body or, occasionally, at some distant physical location. During OBEs, near-death experiencers (NDErs) are often astonished to discover that they have retained consciousness, perception, lucid thinking, memory, emotions, and their sense of personal identity. If anything, these processes are heightened: Thinking is vivid; hearing is sharp; and vision can extend to 360 degrees. NDErs claim that without physical bodies, they are able to penetrate through walls and doors and project themselves wherever they want. They frequently report the ability to read people’s thoughts.

The effects of NDEs on the experience are intense, overwhelming, and real. A number of studies conducted in United States, Western European countries, and Australia have shown that most NDErs are profoundly and positively transformed by the experience. One woman says, “I was completely altered after the accident. I was another person, according to those who lived near me. I was happy, laughing, appreciated little things, joked, smiled a lot, became friends with everyone … so completely different than I was before!”

However different their personalities before the NDE, experiencers tend to share a similar psychological profile after the NDE. Indeed, their beliefs, values, behaviors, and worldviews seem quite comparable afterward. Importantly, these psychological and behavioral changes are not the kind of changes one would expect if this experience were a hallucination. And, as noted NDE researcher Pim van Lommel and his colleagues have demonstrated, these changes become more apparent with the passage of time.

Some skeptics legitimately argue that the main problem with reports of OBE perceptions is that they often rest uniquely on the NDEr’s testimony—there is no independent corroboration. From a scientific perspective, such self-reports remain inconclusive. But during the last few decades, some self-reports of NDErs have been independently corroborated by witnesses, such as that of Pam Reynolds. One of the best known of these corroborated veridical NDE perceptions—perceptions that can be proven to coincide with reality—is the experience of a woman named Maria, whose case was first documented by her critical care social worker, Kimberly Clark.

Maria was a migrant worker who had a severe heart attack while visiting friends in Seattle. She was rushed to Harborview Hospital and placed in the coronary care unit. A few days later, she had a cardiac arrest but was rapidly resuscitated. The following day, Clark visited her. Maria told Clark that during her cardiac arrest she was able to look down from the ceiling and watch the medical team at work on her body. At one point in this experience, said Maria, she found herself outside the hospital and spotted a tennis shoe on the ledge of the north side of the third floor of the building. She was able to provide several details regarding its appearance, including the observations that one of its laces was stuck underneath the heel and that the little toe area was worn. Maria wanted to know for sure whether she had “really” seen that shoe, and she begged Clark to try to locate it.

Quite skeptical, Clark went to the location described by Maria—and found the tennis shoe. From the window of her hospital room, the details that Maria had recounted could not be discerned. But upon retrieval of the shoe, Clark confirmed Maria’s observations. “The only way she could have had such a perspective,” said Clark, “was if she had been floating right outside and at very close range to the tennis shoe. I retrieved the shoe and brought it back to Maria; it was very concrete evidence for me.”

This case is particularly impressive given that during cardiac arrest, the flow of blood to the brain is interrupted. When this happens, the brain’s electrical activity (as measured with EEG) disappears after 10 to 20 seconds. In this state, a patient is deeply comatose. Because the brain structures mediating higher mental functions are severely impaired, such patients are expected to have no clear and lucid mental experiences that will be remembered. Nonetheless, studies conducted in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States have revealed that approximately 15 percent of cardiac arrest survivors do report some recollection from the time when they were clinically dead. These studies indicate that consciousness, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings can be experienced during a period when the brain shows no measurable activity.

NDEs experienced by people who do not have sight in everyday life are quite intriguing. In 1994, researchers Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper decided to undertake a search for cases of NDE-based perception in the blind. They reasoned that such cases would represent the ultimate demonstration of veridical perceptions during NDEs. If a blind person was able to report on verifiable events that took place when they were clinically dead, that would mean something real was occurring. They interviewed 31 individuals, of whom 14 were blind from birth. Twenty-one of the participants had had an NDE; the others had had OBEs only. Strikingly, the experiences they reported conform to the classic NDE pattern, whether they were born blind or had lost their sight in later life. The results of the study were published in 1997. Based on all the cases they investigated, Ring and Cooper concluded that what happens during an NDE affords another perspective to perceive reality that does not depend on the senses of the physical body. They proposed to call this other mode of perception mindsight.

Despite corroborated reports, many materialist scientists cling to the notion that OBEs and NDEs are located in the brain. In 2002, neurologist Olaf Blanke and colleagues at the University Hospitals of Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland described in the prestigious scientific journal Nature the strange occurrence that happened to a 43-year-old female patient with epilepsy. Because her seizures could not be controlled by medication alone, neurosurgery was being considered as the next step. The researchers implanted electrodes in her right temporal lobe to provide information about the localization and extent of the epileptogenic zone—the area of the brain that was causing the seizures—which had to be surgically removed. Other electrodes were implanted to identify and localize, by means of electrical stimulation, the areas of the brain that—if removed—would result in loss of sensory capacities, linguistic ability, or even paralysis. Such a procedure is particularly critical to spare important brain areas that are adjacent to the epileptogenic zone.

When they stimulated the angular gyrus—a region of the brain in the parietal lobe that is thought to integrate sensory information related to vision, touch, and balance to give us a perception of our own bodies—the patient reported seeing herself “lying in bed, from above, but I only see my legs and lower trunk.” She described herself as “floating” near the ceiling. She also reported seeing her legs “becoming shorter.”

The article received global press coverage and created quite a commotion. The editors of Nature went so far as to declare triumphantly that as a result of this one study—which involved only one patient—the part of the brain that can induce OBEs had been located.

“It’s another blow against those who believe that the mind and spirit are somehow separate from the brain,” said psychologist Michael Shermer, director of the Skeptics Society, which seeks to debunk all kinds of paranormal claims. “In reality, all experience is derived from the brain.”

In another article published in 2004, Blanke and co-workers described six patients, of whom three had experienced an atypical and incomplete OBE. Four patients reported an autoscopy—that is, they saw their own double from the vantage point of their own body. In this paper, the researchers describe an OBE as a temporary dysfunction of the junction of the temporal and parietal cortex. But, as Pim van Lommel noted, the abnormal bodily experiences described by Blanke and colleagues entail a false sense of reality. Typical OBEs, in contrast, implicate a verifiable perception (from a position above or outside of the body) of events, such as their own resuscitation or a traffic accident, and the surroundings in which the events took place. Along the same lines, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson of the University of Virginia commented that “We cannot assume from the fact that electrical stimulation of the brain can induce OBE-like illusions that all OBEs are therefore illusions.”

Materialistic scientists have proposed a number of physiological explanations to account for the various features of NDEs. British psychologist Susan Blackmore has propounded the “dying brain” hypothesis: that a lack of oxygen (or anoxia) during the dying process might induce abnormal firing of neurons in brain areas responsible for vision, and that such an abnormal firing would lead to the illusion of seeing a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Would it? Van Lommel and colleagues objected that if anoxia plays a central role in the production of NDEs, most cardiac arrest patients would report an NDE. Studies show that this is clearly not the case. Another problem with this view is that reports of a tunnel are absent from several accounts of NDErs. As pointed out by renowned NDE researcher Sam Parnia, some individuals have reported an NDE when they had not been terminally ill and so would have had normal levels of oxygen in their brains.

Parnia raises another problem: When oxygen levels decrease markedly, patients whose lungs or hearts do not work properly experience an “acute confusional state,” during which they are highly confused and agitated and have little or no memory recall. In stark contrast, during NDEs people experience lucid consciousness, well-structured thought processes, and clear reasoning. They also have an excellent memory of the NDE, which usually stays with them for several decades. In other respects, Parnia argues that if this hypothesis is correct, then the illusion of seeing a light and tunnel would progressively develop as the patient’s blood oxygen level drops. Medical observations, however, indicate that patients with low oxygen levels do not report seeing a light, a tunnel, or any of the common features of an NDE we discussed earlier.

During the 1990s, more research indicated that the anoxia theory of NDEs was on the wrong track. James Whinnery, a chemistry professor with West Texas A&M, was involved with studies simulating the extreme conditions that can occur during aerial combat maneuvers. In these studies, fighter pilots were subjected to extreme gravitational forces in a giant centrifuge. Such rapid acceleration decreases blood flow and, consequently, delivery of oxygen to the brain. In so doing, it induces brief periods of unconsciousness that Whinnery calls “dreamlets.” Whinnery hypothesized that although some of the core features of NDEs are found during dreamlets, the main characteristics of dreamlets are impaired memory for events just prior to the onset of unconsciousness, confusion, and disorientation upon awakening. These symptoms are not typically associated with NDEs. In addition, life transformations are never reported following dreamlets.

So, if the “dying brain” is not responsible for NDEs, could they simply be hallucinations? In my opinion, the answer is no. Let’s look at the example of hallucinations that can result from ingesting ketamine, a veterinary drug that is sometimes used recreationally, and often at great cost to the user.

At small doses, the anesthetic agent ketamine can induce hallucinations and feelings of being out of the body. Ketamine is thought to act primarily by inhibiting N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors, which normally open in response to binding of glutamate, the most abundant excitatory chemical messenger in the human brain. Psychiatrist Karl Jensen has speculated that the blockade of NMDA receptors may induce an NDE. But ketamine experiences are often frightening, producing weird images; and most ketamine users realize that the experiences produced by this drug are illusory. In contrast, NDErs are strongly convinced of the reality of what they experienced. Furthermore, many of the central features of NDEs are not reported with ketamine. That being said, we cannot rule out that the blockade of NMDA receptors may be involved in some NDEs.

Neuroscientist Michael Persinger has claimed that he and his colleagues have produced all the major features of the NDE by using weak transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the temporal lobes. Persinger’s work is based on the premise that abnormal activity in the temporal lobe may trigger an NDE. A review of the literature on epilepsy, however, indicates that the classical features of NDEs are not associated with epileptic seizures located in the temporal lobes. Moreover, as Bruce Greyson and his collaborators have correctly emphasized, the experiences reported by participants in Persinger’s TMS studies bear little resemblance with the typical features of NDEs.

The scientific NDE studies performed over the past decades indicate that heightened mental functions can be experienced independently of the body at a time when brain activity is greatly impaired or seemingly absent (such as during cardiac arrest). Some of these studies demonstrate that blind people can have veridical perceptions during OBEs associated with an NDE. Other investigations show that NDEs often result in deep psychological and spiritual changes.

These findings strongly challenge the mainstream neuroscientific view that mind and consciousness result solely from brain activity. As we have seen, such a view fails to account for how NDErs can experience—while their hearts are stopped—vivid and complex thoughts and acquire veridical information about objects or events remote from their bodies.

NDE studies also suggest that after physical death, mind and consciousness may continue in a transcendent level of reality that normally is not accessible to our senses and awareness. Needless to say, this view is utterly incompatible with the belief of many materialists that the material world is the only reality.

Excerpted with permission from “The Brain Wars: The Scientific Battle Over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof That Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives.” Courtesy of HarperOne.

Mario Beauregard is associate research professor at the Departments of Psychology and Radiology and the Neuroscience Research Center at the University of Montreal. He is the coauthor of "The Spiritual Brain" and more than one hundred publications in neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry.

School of Out-of-Body Travel (SOBT)

A Practical Guidebook http://research.obe4u.com/practical-guidebook

This FREE ebook is the result of our study of the phase phenomenon. It’s about how to achieve it, how to control it, and how to use it in everyday life. All facts presented in this book have been proven by vast numbers of practitioners and years of research around the world. And there’s no theorizing, but only hard facts and methods. There are several translations into other languages, which you can find at the link below (Spanish, Russian, Czech, Bulgarian).

Download FULL version for FREE!
http://obe4u.com/files/SOBT.pdf
http://www.konformist.com/2011/SOBT.pdf

(Buy a hard copy as a donation)
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/OBE

Foreword

This guidebook (SOBT) is the result of ten years of extremely active personal practice and study of the the phase (lucid dreaming + out-of-body experience (OBE, OOBE) + astral projection), coupled with having successfully taught it to thousands of people. I know all of the obstacles and problems that are usually run into when getting to know this phenomenon, and have tried to protect future practitioners from them in this book.

This guidebook was not created for those who prefer light, empty reading. It is for those who would like to learn something. It contains no speculations or stories, only dry, hard facts and techniques in combination with a completely pragmatic approach and clear procedures for action. They have all been successfully verified by a vast number of practitioners that often had no prior experience. In order to achieve the same result, it is only necessary to read through each section thoroughly and complete the assignments.

The book is beneficial not only for beginners, but also for those who already know what it feels like to have an out-of-body encounter and have a certain amount of experience, as this guidebook is devoted not only to entering the state, but also equally dedicated to controlling it.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing difficult about this phenomenon if one tries to attain it with regular and right effort. On average, results are reached in less than a week if attempts are made every day. More often than not, the techniques work in literally a couple of attempts.

Michael Raduga
Founder of OOBE Research Center

Table of Contents:

PART I: LEAVE YOUR BODY WITHIN 3 DAYS

PART II: 100 OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES

PART III: A PRACTICAL GUIDEBOOK

PART IV: CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION

Proposals regarding translating and publishing this book and other works of M. Raduga may be sent to obe4u@obe4u.com

Alien Abduction Experiment

Michael Raduga
OOBE Research Center
October 25, 2011
http://research.obe4u.com/ufo-experiment

It has long been theorized that encounters with extraterrestrials are nearly always the result of spontaneous out-of-body experience. The OOBE Research Center has proven this by means of an experiment. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!

The experiment was developed and conducted by Michael Raduga, founder and head of the OOBE Research Center. Place and time of the experiment: October 7-9, 2011; UCLA Covel Commons, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Aim of the Experiment

Test the theory that most “encounters” with UFOs or extraterrestrials arise from hyper-realistic experiences when in subwaking states of consciousness, and out-of-body experiences or lucid dreams in particular. Method for collecting evidence: induce controllable contact with UFOs or “extraterrestrial beings” using techniques for achieving out-of-body experiences.

Test Subjects

20 volunteers were recruited from both the general population and those who have had experience in out-of-body travel or lucid dreaming. Preference was given to those who fall asleep quickly and enjoy sound sleep. Male/female ratio: 70/30 (%).

Methods

The method of cycling indirect techniques developed by the OOBE Research Center over 2007-2011 was employed in order for test subjects to achieve an out-of-body experience within the shortest frame of time. The method consists in attempting to separate from the body immediately upon awakening. If unsuccessful, the subject then alternates special techniques for 3 to 5 seconds over the course of a minute. If some technique begins to yield results, then the subject should keep with it, intensify the sensations, and once again try to separate from the body. The method is described in detail in the book School of Out-of-Body Travel. A Practical Guidebook (free).

After exiting the body, subjects were instructed to find “extraterrestrials” or UFOs in their room, in neighboring rooms, beyond the window, or outside.

Outcome

The majority of subjects underwent at least one full or partial out-of-body experience, while some experienced several. Subjects who became conscious while dreaming were instructed to transform the “lucid dream” into an out-of-body experience by returning to the physical body in order to separate from it.

Visual contact with UFOs or “extraterrestrials”: 10 cases for 7 volunteers (35%)

(Some other volunteers were close to achieve the same result, but were unable due to overwhelming fear in the right moment)

The fact that UFOs and extraterrestrials may be deliberately encountered in a controlled manner and within a few days proves that such experiences are a product of the human brain. It was the first experiment to ever prove that close encounters with UFOs and extraterrestrials are a product of the human mind. The experiment also demonstrated that alien contact is not indicative of the existence of otherworldly civilizations, but rather of a poorly studied state of consciousness that people occasionally fall into inadvertently (the Phase).

Comparison of ET Encounter Descriptions

The experiment results differ from typical cases of “alien abduction” only in that here, both entrance into the necessary state and contact were intentional. The resultant range sensations and experiences was identical in all other aspects: sleep paralysis, fear, vibrations, flight, etc.

Alexander N.

After getting myself ready and going to sleep, I woke up and made an attempt – and it worked!

I got up from my body in my own room. However, my physical body was no longer to be found in my bed. I tried to employ “deepening” and scrutinized everything around. I lost my bearing and everything naturally became somewhat awkward.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I tried to find aliens. Three of them materialized right before my eyes. They seemed more like creatures from the movie “The Thing” than tadpoles with eyes like Princess Jasmine. They wanted to scare me, not to “make contact”. As a result, I was extremely frightened and regained awareness in my own body.

Craig P.

I took a nap from 10:40 am to 11:20 am. I tried to fall asleep so I could practice upon awakening. I was having difficulties in falling asleep so I thought nothing was going to happen. After awhile I must have fallen asleep as I noticed a floating type of sensation. I then decided to separate however I felt like nothing was happening. Then I noticed I was looking down at some drinking glasses that are on the top shelf. I realized I was out of the body.

Things were not very clear so I tried to start looking at objects and feeling them. I told myself to go see aliens. The next scene I was near a mountain in a clearing with trees around it. There was a space ship. There were two aliens with helmets on. They also had a type of robot with them. It was about 7 ft tall and was silver in color. The aliens did not appear to be friendly. When the alarm went off I felt like I was 100 miles away and it was difficult to come back to the physical body.

The following week, I fell asleep again, but became aware of my body being asleep.

I decided to separate from my body in the first five seconds. I felt my inner body leave and go to the corner of my room near the ceiling.

I decided to look for aliens. I found myself in the same place as the week before in a forest clearing. There was a flying saucer in the clearing. Two aliens were near the flying saucer. The next thing I remember was lying on the grass near the flying saucer and that there were people that looked like children in a circle around me. They were circling around me. The circling motion caused me to leave my body. I was then flying though the sky and over mountains.

Eugenie S.

After 6 hours my alarm went off; I did something for 15 minutes and went back to sleep. Upon awakening I didn’t move. I aggressively performed the visualizing the hands technique and immediately found myself standing in my bedroom. I realized I was in the phase (an out-of-body experience).

I went to the hallway and looked at myself in the mirror. I was dark and the shape of my face was slightly distorted. I didn’t concentrate on this, and looked at the wall.

There was a creature the size of a human head, it looked like a huge weird insect and was doing nothing but changing colors constantly. Then I thought, “How will I be able to return back to my body?” and immediately woke up in my body.

Sasha M.

On Saturday October the 8th, I went to bed at 10:45pm and set my alarm clock for 7am. I spontaneously woke up in the middle of the night, presumably at around 4am. Upon waking up I felt intense heat in my body, and used that sensation to try to separate from it. I was immediately successful. I then sat up in bed, stood up, and turned around to watch myself lying there.

Realizing that I had separated from my body, I left my bedroom and went to the window, beyond which was an unusual sight. As I observed the scene, I gradually began to see aliens lurking in the bushes or going about some business. There were at least three different kinds of them, all of which I was familiar with beforehand from movies. They all looked extremely realistic and I was able to see everything in fine detail. After some time, I feel back asleep.

Half an hour after that separation experience, I was able to make another successful attempt. However, this time I didn’t feel any heat or anything unusual. After separating, I left my room and went through the hall to the balcony and back again. As soon as I stopped and pondered what I was doing there, I feel back asleep.

Michael R.

I awoke in the middle of the night and recalled that I needed to try to leave my body and see aliens. Mortal terror suddenly arose within me. I was now in the fetters of sleep paralysis, with high-frequency vibrations coursing through my body and a loud hissing sound filling my ears. I began having second thoughts about going through with the experiment, but was then able to force myself to attempt separation from my body. After that was unsuccessful, I began employing the technique of rotation. Despite the feeling of terror, I was able to spin around and then sit up in bed.

At that moment, I already somehow felt that THEY were in my room. I made myself open my eyes and I saw a typical-looking extraterrestrial at the other end of my bed: it had a huge head with large eyes, a small body with thin arms, and dark-green skin. Meanwhile, everything was even more realistic in terms of sensation than in my normal waking state. Once I understood that there was no turning back, the fear fell away. Moreover, I understood that there was nothing to be afraid of – there was no danger at all.

The creature turned out to be good-natured. After greeting one another, a white screen appeared in front of my eyes, suspended in the air. Some important information was flickering across it, but it was encoded and I couldn’t understand it. I began to peer into the screen, and my awareness gradually faded out, after which I don’t remember anything else.

Lydia M.

I get up in the middle of the night and walk around. Everything is misty, and I see in the corner a large object that looks like a person with a large head and a huge hunch-back. It is hardly moving, yet present. Then I wake up, shocked back into my body.

Tatyana K.

I woke up a bit disappointed because it was time to get ready for our second session and none of the techniques worked. I was in my LA hotel room. I went to the shower and noticed that the water drops on the shower walls were dark in color. I decided to stop showering and then when I was back in the room, getting ready, everything felt so real that I don’t even know why I decided to check if it was the phase (out-of-body experience).

Imagine it yourself: yesterday you went to bed, then you woke up this morning, showered, got ready, did this, did that and then decided to check if it was the phase – and it turned out that IT IS (!)

So I decided just for the heck of it to test if it might be the phase by “breathing with the nose pinched” technique and of course it did not work at first, because I had been doing it with the “how can it be the phase, everything is so real” thought. But I kept trying and after a third attempt air got out from somewhere behind my ears and I happily confirmed for myself that I was totally in the phase.

I felt very happy. I started rising in the air and flew in a couple of circles under the ceiling. Then, I felt the need to deepen and I really focused on that. I looked a few times at my palms. Then I started touching everything in the room. Since perception was back to 100%, it was time to go look for aliens. They were not in the room. I looked outside of the hotel window. Aliens were not there either. So I decided to get into the corridor, I opened the door, it was really dark inside, even the light from the room could not penetrate it. I thought, aliens must be there, so I stepped into the darkness… At least 3 tiny hands touched my shoulder… I totally freaked and woke up…

Validity of Results

Over its extensive didactic and analytical experience, the OOBE Research Center has developed indicators and procedures for distinguishing real out-of-body experiences from fabrication and fantasy. No dubious responses were included in the statistics, and the probability of a subject fabricating or exaggerating an account is estimated at less than 10 percent. This experiment’s data is thus vastly more reliable than that of typical alien encounter “eyewitness accounts” that never undergo verification.

Mass Alien Abduction Experiment in Los Angeles

Many were contacted by “aliens” during an experiment conducted by the OOBE Research Center at UCLA. It was the first experiment to ever prove that close encounters with UFOs and extraterrestrials are a product of the human mind. October 26, 2011
http://www.prweb.com/releases/alien/UFO/prweb8910454.htm

Many were contacted by “aliens” during an experiment conducted by the OOBE Research Center at UCLA. It was the first experiment to ever prove that close encounters with UFOs and extraterrestrials are a product of the human mind.

20 volunteers assembled at UCLA on October 7th, 2011. They were instructed to perform a specific procedure upon overnight and early-morning awakenings over the next few days. More than half of the volunteers experienced at least one full or partial out-of-body experience as a result. 7 of them reported making visual contact with UFOs or extraterrestrials. Meanwhile, the sensations they described were identical to those of accounts by “alien abduction survivors”. By some estimates, up to one million Americans experience such encounters every year.

According to the researchers, the term “out-of-body experience” is used to refer to the sensation of having left the body, and not a real exit of some essence from the physical body - although this is just the impression often had by test subjects.

The fact that UFOs and extraterrestrials may be deliberately encountered in a controlled manner and within a few days proves that such experiences are a product of the human brain. Experiment author Michael Raduga explained, "We tried to right a common misconception with this experiment - the issue at hand isn't extraterrestrials, but hidden human abilities. If you've encountered UFOs or aliens after sitting or lying down, it can now be unequivocally stated that you've had a spontaneous out-of-body experience. We have proven this."

It has long been theorized that encounters with extraterrestrials are nearly always the result of spontaneous out-of-body experience. However, scientific proof would have to wait until the discovery of methods for inducing the out-of-body state. In September 2007, the OOBE Research Center started to conduct hundreds of experiments on thousands of people in 5 countries. That work resulted in the development of a procedure allowing anyone to have an out-of-body experience within the first several attempts. This procedure in turn allowed for the OOBE theory of extraterrestrial encounters to be tested and proven correct. The experiment was led by Michael Raduga, founder and head of the OOBE Research Center, as well as the author of 10 published books, the best-known of which is School of Out-of-Body Travel. A Practical Guidebook, freely available online.

A full report: http://research.obe4u.com/ufo-experiment/

The Art of Astral Projection

http://www.theartofastralprojection.com/

What is astral projection, and how can you experience it?
The strange origins of astral projection.

What do the ancient Hindus, medieval civilizations, countless modern-day scientists and spiritual leaders have in common? They’ve all extensively documented the theory of astral projection, or out-of-body experiences (OBE) — the theory that it’s possible for a person to leave the physical body, and experience something beyond the physical realm.

This theory extends across the history of human civilization, touching virtually every corner of the globe — from the above-mentioned civilizations to Inuit, Amazonian and Japanese cultures. Various chapters in the Bible directly reference astral projection. The Yoga Vasistha, an ancient Hindu text, repeatedly speaks of leaving the confines of the physical body. In ancient Chinese scripture, the great Daoist sage Han Xiang Zi was said to have projected his consciousness into a room of people, as he lay fast asleep next door.

Fast forward to today, and you’ll realize similar experiences continue to be reported. The Dalai Lama has said that “consciousness can be trained to leave the physical body”. Studies have suggested that up to 5% of Americans have experienced some form of astral projection. And scientific journals have documented experiments where participants can be induced into an out of body experience.

Can you really induce an out of body experience?

Science Magazine, 24 August 2007

In August 2007, Science Magazine published a study by neuroscientist Dr. Henrik Ehrsson, who had devised an experimental method to induce an OBE in healthy participants. The experiment, involving a total of 42 people, was conducted at the UCL Institute of Neurology.

Dr. Ehrsson conducting an out-of-body experiment.

Participants were requested to sit in a chair and wear a pair of virtual reality goggles. The goggles had two small screens which showed live film recorded by two video cameras, placed side by side, two meters behind the participant’s head.

The image from the left video camera was presented on the left-eye display and images from the right camera fed to the right eye, allowing the person to see a stereoscopic (3D) image of their own image from behind.

In full view of the participant, Dr. Ehrsson stood beside them and used two plastic rods to simultaneously touch the participant’s actual chest out-of-view and the chest of the illusory body, moving the second rod towards where the illusory chest would be located, just below the camera’s view.

“It was quite a vivid experience for most people,” said Dr. Ehrsson. “Many of them giggled and said ‘Wow, this is so weird!’”.

*

Welcome to the world of astral projection. If you're new to this fascinating phenomenon I'm sure you have a ton of questions, which I hope this website can help you with. I've been astral projecting since I was a 17-year-old kid in military school, and since then I've gained a variety of qualifications and trained thousands of people across the world with my unique brand of astral projection through hypnosis and meditation.

Astral projection is a breathtaking, eye opening and life-changing adventure. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and once you learn how to do it, I know you'll feel the same. So thanks for dropping by, and remember to sign up for your complimentary Beginner's Guide to Astral Projection. It's the best way to start your journey!

Steve G. Jones
M.Ed., Clinical Hypnotherapist

*

“It’s like having your arm fall asleep.”

“There are several theories as to why people have OBEs,” says David Wilde, a scientist leading a study on OBEs at the University of Manchester. “A common link between them is the idea that in certain circumstances the brain somehow loses touch with sensory information coming in from the body. This triggers a series of psychological mechanisms which can lead to someone having an OBE.”

“It’s a little bit like if you sleep on your arm and lose sensation in it. Only with an OBE, the sensation loss is in the whole body and the brain’s response seems to be to create a feeling of separation from the self.“

The spiritual explanation of astral projection.

The above experiment is however only the tip of the iceberg compared to what many people have reported experiencing. A 1992 Gallup Poll suggested that up to 5% of Americans have experienced at least some form of astral projection. Today, countless people across the world claim they are able to use this phenomenon for a variety of purposes. Some say it gives them spiritual clarity, some use it to enhance their intuition, some to gain a deeper understanding of the people and circumstances surrounding them, and some even to experience hyper-realistic dreams that allow them to project their consciousness to any location in the world.

The key to experiencing astral projection for yourself is to learn to see beyond the physical. Astral projection operates on the belief that all living beings possess an astral body.

It is connected to the physical body through the umbilicus (your belly button) along what is known as the silver cord—and it is this astral body that you must learn to control.

Once you do, imagine the possibilities. Imagine being able to effectively part from your body and travel to another world where time, space, gravity and many other “laws” that exist in the 3rd dimension can no longer limit you. Imagine being able to tap into a sea of infinite wisdom, and use it to both elevate your spirituality, and your physical experience in tandem.
It is believed astral projection can give you sensations, emotions, intuition and knowledge that you’d never otherwise have access to — and that’s why many call it the ultimate spiritual experience.

What happens when we cheat death?

Have you ever heard of someone who experienced a near-death situation – like a car crash or major surgery – and emerged transformed? Tens of millions of people across the world have reported going through the phenomenon known as a near death experience (NDE)–yet to this day, science still cannot fully explain its true nature.

In fact, according to the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, as of 2001, almost 600 adults per day in the United States experience an NDE.

Is an NDE a hallucination? A glimpse of the afterlife? The only thing we know for sure is that this phenomenon often has profound effects on those who experience it.

The nature of these experiences vary greatly from person to person.

Some report floating freely in dream-like abstract worlds, where the laws of physics no longer apply. Some claim to meet deceased loved ones, like their mothers, spouse or children. Some see alternate versions of themselves that chose different paths in life. And some claim to gain a new lease on life through profound personal revelations or wisdom.

Based on these descriptions, it’s clear that NDEs and astral projection share many similar traits–and many theorize that NDEs are in reality a form of astral projection.

The good news is that with astral projection, you don’t need to come close to death to experience these profounds visions and revelations.

How to induce conscious astral projection.

In essence, astral projection is a conscious out of body experience – and it can be triggered through both meditation and hypnosis. Once you learn to master these modalities, you can start astral projecting whenever you want. And your astral projections aren’t a result of an external situation or circumstance which you have no control over, like surgery or with drugs.

Instead, you are choosing to achieve that state willingly; which is astral projection in its truest form. And this is what astral projection expert, Steve G. Jones, has dedicated his life to mastering.

Steve’s experience with astral projection.

At the age of 15, Steve began an adventure that would change his life forever. When other kids were out playing, he was diving into books about hypnosis and mind power. Before long he had a working knowledge of the powers and applications of hypnosis—a skill he would soon put to good use.

Steve serving in the army.

A couple of years later, when he was attending Riverside Military Academy (1982-1985), something extraordinary happened. Steve had always wanted to travel the world, to see the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and the Eiffel Tower — but he never had the money or the time.

What he did have was knowledge. Applying everything he knew about the human mind, he achieved a state of hypnosis that led him to consciously astral project to wherever he wanted to go in seconds.

Since then, Steve has spent the past 25 years refining and testing his methodologies to a point of perfection. One of Steve’s most profound astral projection experiences came six years ago, when he had a vivid astral experience involving his deceased mother. He subsequently felt an intense and lasting sensation of joy, relief and peace—one that had eluded him since her death.

Today, Steve is a renowned astral projection and hypnosis trainer, with thousands of students across the world.

He’s authored over 22 books on hypnotherapy, and is the President of the American Alliance of Hypnotists.

Steve worked with a variety of Hollywood celebrities, including Tom Mancewicz, the writer of Superman: The Movie, and Danny Bonaduce.

Steve’s students have reported using his astral projection training to:

Achieve their first astral projection experience.

Taste the nature of their true selves and achieve deeper spiritual clarity.

Experience hyper-realistic dreams.

Channel more positive energy into their careers and relationships.

Feel more intuitive and creative in their careers and personal lives.

Gain a better understanding of the people and situations surrounding them.

Take your first step towards astral projecting.

If you’d like to start astral projecting for yourself, sign up for the FREE Beginner’s Guide to Astral Projection on this page.

Don’t worry, you don’t need any prior experience or any form of meditation training whatsoever—just an open mind and a willingness to learn.

This program is by far Steve’s most popular introductory material. It’s been downloaded over 45918 times worldwide since he released it in May 2010.

You can get started in minutes. Just sign up below for your free copy, and follow the simple instructions which will be emailed to you.

Why is Steve giving away this beginner’s guide for free?

“Astral projection is my passion, and I’d love nothing more than to share it with you. Plus once you understand it more through this beginner’s guide, I’m confident you’ll want to continue your journey with me through the programs I offer online. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.”

Here’s what you’ll receive when you sign up:

The 6-Part FREE Beginner’s Guide to Astral Projection

Part 1:
Preparing for lift-off

Preparation is key, so you’ll begin your journey by learning all the basic principles of astral projection, including a summary of benefits, the 5 stages of astral projection, and what exactly happens when you astral project.

Part 2:
Have you astral projected without knowing it?

A 1992 Gallup Poll showed that at least 5% of Americans have experienced some form of astral projection—have you? Find out the 10 tell-tale signs of astral projection, so you can be aware of it the next time it happens.

Part 3:
Your 5 bodies – The Physical, Etheric, Astral, Mental and Spiritual

Your physical body that you can see and touch is just the tip of the iceberg. Learn about the 4 other types of bodies you possess, and why they hold the key to both a better physical life and exhilarating astral journeys.

Part 4:
The 10 inhibitors of astral projection

Hidden subconscious fears, like the fear of not being able to return to your body, could be preventing you from experiencing astral projection. Learn 10 of the most common fears, and how to put them to rest for good.

Part 5:
3 essential techniques for astral projection

There are many ways to achieve conscious astral projection, and you’ll need to experiment before you can find the one that suits you best. Here you’ll get to try 3 of the most widely used astral projection techniques for beginners.

Part 6:
The Chakra and Kundalini factor

A handy recap of the first five lessons, followed by a how-to guide on the final step for successful astral travel—raising your Kundalini energy, and clearing your energetic ecosystem (the Chakras).

Disclaimer: The information posted here by theartofastralprojection.mvedit.com is not purposed to replace professional medical diagnosis, treatment or even advice. You should always consult a qualified healthcare professional with questions about any medical condition.

Published by MindValley LC, 3155 E. Patrick Lane, Suite 1 Las Vegas, Nevada, 89120-3481 USA info@mindvalley.com

Hypnotherapy & Out-of-Body Experiences

http://www.naturalnews.com/025062.html

December 12 2008
Hypnotherapy, Out-of-Body Experiences, and Their Therapeutic Uses
by Steve G. Jones, M.Ed., citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) An out-of-body experience, or OBE, involves the feeling of floating outside of one`s physical body. Some people report being able to see their physical body while having an OBE. According to researchers an OBE has therapeutic benefits for people including helping them cope with stress. ScienceDaily reports that one in ten people will have an out-of-body experience in their lifetime.

There are several different types of out-of-body experiences. One occurs during sleep. People who have had an OBE during sleep have also reported having a lucid dream prior to the OBE. They also said that their sleep was not deep. Another type of OBE occurs in near-death experiences. It is thought that either mental or physical traumatic events could cause such an OBE to occur.

Out-of-body experiences can also be induced mechanically, chemically, or mentally. Mechanically an OBE can be induced by binaural beats, electrical stimulation, and sensory overload. Chemically, an OBE can be produced with hallucinogens. Lastly, an OBE can be induced mentally through hypnosis and meditation.

An OBE coincides with astral projection is the belief that your mind can be separate from the body. Often times, people who have had an OBE state that they have looked at their own bodies when they have managed to separate themselves from it. It's difficult to determine exactly what causes an OBE but researchers say that hypnosis can help induce such a state.

In 2004, an article appeared in the American Journal of Psychotherapy about hypnosis and out-of-body experiences. The article addressed a study that had been performed on three individuals where out-of-body experiences were induced through hypnotherapy.

Researchers involved in the study wanted to see how out-of-body experiences would affect the patients view of themselves and if it would influence their behavior. The three participants in the study each had different issues to be addressed.

The researchers concluded that an OBE greatly improved the therapeutic benefits for each of the patients. The article said that an out-of-body experience works best with highly suggestible people.

There are several reasons why out of body experiences work so well in a therapeutic treatment. When someone is treated for anxiety issues, an out of body experience helps the patient better cope with these issues. Also, a form of treatment is to have the patient "separate" themselves from the issues they are having; an OBE can have tremendous benefits in this situation.

It can focus on the idea that we generally are never able to truly see ourselves the way others can. With hope, the mind can alter states for the better and truly change the life of the person experiencing it.

Source

Meyerson, J. & Gelkopf, M. (2004). Therapeutic Utilization of Spontaneous Out-of-Body Experiences in Hypnotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 58(1): 90-102.

Virtual reality out-of-body experiences

http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1347212.php/Virtual_reality_used_to_create_out-of-body_experiences

Virtual reality used to create out-of-body experiences
By Stevie Smith
Aug 24, 2007

Somewhat creepy tech-related news today that follows the exploits of scientists at University College London who have successfully created the sensation that people are said to feel during an ‘out-of-body’ episode, reports the Guardian Unlimited.

An out-of-body experience could be described as when a completely conscious person is suddenly able to view their body as if it were a completely separate entity. Some claim the phenomenon to be indicative of a brush with death, and it has been reported that moments of out-of-body existence do occur during times of extreme physical trauma, drug abuse, epilepsy, or when brain function has been compromised following a cerebrovascular incident (a stroke).

Dr. Henrik Ehrsson, a neuroscientist that headed the experiments to recreate the out-of-body sensation, points out that while such experiences have indeed been reported as occurring across a variety of clinical situations, understanding of the out-of-body phenomenon is still unclear from the point of view of neuroscience.

"Out-of body-experiences have fascinated mankind for millennia," explained Dr. Ehrsson, who is now based at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, "their existence has raised fundamental questions about the relationship between human consciousness and the body, and has been much discussed in theology, philosophy and psychology."

However, using perfectly healthy volunteers, Dr. Ehrsson and his team claim to have utilised a system of cameras hooked up to a head-mounted VR display in order to help analyse exactly how the human brain processes exterior information to accurately determine body positioning – and thus recreated a form of out-of-body experience.

Normal circumstances see the brain processing sensory information passed to it from the body in order to formulate and build a sense of where the body is physically located in space. Through the application of jumbled sensory inputs during the experiment, Dr. Ehrsson wanted to test whether the human brain could be fooled into thinking the body was in a completely different location, adding weight to the notion that errors in the brain’s processing of sensory information causes out-of-body experiences.

Willing volunteers first donned virtual reality googles, which contained a video screen situated in each eye. These two screens then received separate images via camera units pointed at the volunteer from behind. The brain, upon processing and combining both of these images, subsequently caused the participant to firmly believe they were actually viewing a three-dimensional image of their own body.

Other physical experiments combining both the camera system and display goggles with the application of physical touch also caused participants to believe they were watching interaction with themselves from across the room. Dr. Ehrsson believes that such techniques, apart from aiding in the scientific understanding of out-of-body experiences, could have a significant bearing on the likes of medical and videogame technology.

Describing the technique as a form of projection or teleportation, Dr. Ehrsson offered that it could potentially see videogame interaction reaching a level far beyond current achievements while doctors could even perform remote surgery through the control of their virtual selves: "If we can project people into a virtual character, so they feel and respond as if they were really in a virtual version of themselves, just imagine the implications."