Getting to know these bodies will also help you as it has helped me, so I've included some techniques to help you get in touch with each of your 5 'bodies'.
YOU ARE MUCH MORE THAN YOUR PHYSICAL BODY, so much more, if only you could see with your physical eyes who you really are, you would be astonished. You are actually a series of overlapping, multidimensional "bodies". These bodies are described differently in different traditions, but essential amount to 5 different layers: The Physical, Etheric, Astral, Mental and Spiritual. Let's take a look at these core elements of YOU, and how they effects your experience in both your physical life and your astral travels.
1. THE PHYSICAL BODY
Your physical body is the most dense of all, vibrationally speaking. Of course we know this because we can see and touch it. Thus the physical body also has the slowest and lowest vibration.
For most of us, doing an exercise to 'get in touch with' our physical bodies isn't necessary. Most of us already walk, talk, see, smell, hear and touch. But what we generally don't do is get in touch with the neurological experience of the physical body. So here's something you can do to connect with your physical body in a way that will re-awaken your awareness of the nature of this, most dense of the 5 bodies.
"Building Muscle Memory"
Can you remember what it was like to learn how to ride a bike? How about learning to drive a car, catch a ball, jump rope? These are all activities that require the brain to build new neural wiring so that the muscles and nerves know what to do and when to do it. So when you first got on that two-wheeler, you probably teetered and fell a few times before your physical body (your brain and your and muscles) could figure out how to balance, pedal and steer - all at the same time. With practice, you built those neural 'networks' and then could stay up on two wheels.
Every time you learn a new physical skill, you get back in touch with your physical body in a kind of primal way. These physical skills (the new ones and the one's you've mastered) are often called 'motor skills'. Now, if you're old enough to read this, you've probably already built and refined the majority of the motor skills you'll need through life. But here's a fun little experiment you can do to remember what it feels like when your physical body is learning something new.
"The 'Mork from Ork' Muscle Challenge"
Do you remember that old TV show with Robin Williams? The one about the alien living on earth? He used to have a hand signal that became popular with school kids. He'd hold his hand up in something similar to a Vulcan greeting ('a la Star Trek'). In this gesture, the fingers are straight and formed into a 'V' by creating a space between the middle and ring fingers.
Now, if you learned this when you were young, you've already build the physical wiring and muscular response to do this with ease. BUT, have you ever tried to switch the fingers so that they become more like the letter 'W', with the middle and ring fingers next to each other and the pinkies and pointer separated? Go ahead and try it. See if you can alternate between 'V' and 'W' while keeping all fingers in alignment. Not too easy, is it? But if you practice long enough, you'll actually train your physical body - adding specific wiring to your physical brain - to do this easily, without even thinking.
Learning to astral project consciously is basically about programming yourself, just like you did when you learned to ride a bike. YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO PLUG INTO YOUR OBE ABILITIES, PLUG IN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS PLUG, FLICK THE SWITCH AND HEY PRESTO YOURE THERE!
2. THE ETHERIC BODY
The etheric body isn't often talked about in day-to-day life or even in the world of astral projection. But by getting in touch with your etheric body, you'll have a better ability to deal with and understand some of the unusual phenomenon that can happen during your astral projection sequence.
Arthur Powell and Max Heindel described the etheric "double" as a medium between the astral and physical realms. Ether is the 'vital force' that physical forms need to exist on the Earth. So when you see your physical body asleep you are not technically speaking in the astral but in a kind of buffer zone that links the astral with the physical.
Your etheric body always remains close to your physical body. There's no consistent agreement about the function of the etheric body, but one that makes a lot of sense is that it serves as a kind of recharge battery and protective sheathing for the physical while your astral body (discussed below) is away. Astral Projection expert Ann Moss explains the Etheric Body's function this way:
"When the [physical] body goes to sleep, the etheric expands, the chakras open, and we receive energy and restore our depleted supply. This is why it is also referred to as the vitality sheath or health body."
Being aware of this body can help so much during astral projection with enough practice you may even automatically wake up focused in this body ready to project. SO TAKE TIME TO DO THIS EXERCISE, TAKE TIME TO WORK WITH YOUR ENERGY, FEEL IT, SENSE IT, GET TO KNOW IT LIKE A FRIEND FOR IT TRULY IS.
Here's an exercise to help you sense your etheric body
"The Brushing Hands Technique"
This technique comes from well-known author, teacher and long-time astral projector Robert Bruce. In his book, Astral Dynamics, he offers many techniques for activating your different energy bodies. By using these regularly, you actually increase the bioelectric activity of these bodies. This exercise is a particularly effective way of actually sensing your etheric body.
Sit comfortably and place one hand on a table or your lap, palm up.
With the other hand, stroke the surface of you hand from wrist to finger tips a few times.
The trick here is to memorize the sensations in the receiving hand while you are doing this exercise..
After about 20 seconds, stop and try to 'feel' the same sensations with your mind alone. Focus your attention totally on what you are doing.
Do this for about a minute or so, until you can really sense the same, stroking feeling.
You might also feel tingling, pressure or even buzzing in your hand. When you do, you know you've activated your etheric body in your hand area. Well done! You're well on the way.
You can continue by doing the same exercise on the other hand, and then the bottoms of your feet.
3. THE ASTRAL BODY
So what exactly is the astral body? This is the body that, not surprisingly, travels in the astral. Your astral body has the ability to be both entirely connected to your physical, and the capacity to exist at infinite distances from it. Your astral body can travel into the past, the future and even other dimensions. For the majority of us, in order for your astral body to remain away from your physical body, your physical body has to remain deeply relaxed and quite still. Have you ever had that sensation of falling that wakes you suddenly? This is usually a case of your astral body returning quickly to the physical. It can be caused by anything from a fly tickling your nose to a sudden muscle spasm.
In the astral body you can fly like a bird, dip and dive, YOU CAN CRUISE THE AIRWAYS ENJOYING THE VIEW OR YOU CAN TRAVEL FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT.. BREATHTAKING!
You can visit the past and future, you can consult the Akashic Records just like the British Intuitive, Dion Fortune, who was born in 1890. She used astral projection to read Akashic Records. She claimed to be able to operate consciously on the etheric and astral planes and project her consciousness at will
In Lesson 5 I'll be teaching you three powerful techniques to help you begin your conscious astral travels. But in the mean time, here's a little exercise that will help you to begin to 'sense' your astral body; expanding your Astral Body. Again, take time to do this exercise, commitment is essential to Astral Projection success.
Do you remember that Pink Floyd song called 'Comfortably Numb'? Singer/Songwriter Roger Waters may have been talking about inner angst and cultural alienation, but there's one line that's always made me think of a common, astral experience - expansion.
Astral expansion happens naturally for some people. In fact, you can use it as a way to separate from your physical body. But for this exercise, that's not necessary. Here's what you'll want to do:
Sit comfortably in a place where you won't be disturbed.
Using whichever method you prefer, take yourself into a mild, meditative state.
Begin to imagine your astral body expanding to the very edges of your physical one.
As you continue this visualization, start seeing your astral body expand beyond the edges of your physical body.
Now you want to try to focus on any sensations you might be having. For example, some people feel suddenly 'fat' or swollen. Sometimes the edges of the astral body can feel like they're slightly buzzy or even numb.
Stay with this sensation and observe it in as much detail as you can, until you feel like you've memorized it.
When you're ready, bring yourself back to normal, waking consciousness.
You can practice this as often as you like and please do, the more you practice the more you are programming yourself to leave your body. You can do it first thing in the morning or at night before you go to bed, or ANY time that's convenient. The more you practice this exercise, the more you'll recognize the feeling of your astral body. This will help you tremendously when you're ready to begin your astral journeys.
4. THE MENTAL BODY
Have you ever heard of 'remote viewing', basically it is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, e.g. extra-sensory perception (ESP) or sensing with your mind. Your mental body is the part of you that's capable of remote viewing. During a mental body projection, there's none of the weird stuff, distortions etc, that you might find during an astral projection. Nor is there any sense of actually 'traveling' from point A to point B. You simply arrive with your mind. When the mental body journeys, it experiences no "thought litter" the way the astral body can. You do not experience emotion so there is a lot less interference. The mental body transcends both space and time. It can be called a pure state of awareness. Advanced remote viewers, using their mental body, are able to communicate telepathically.
Traveling in the Mental Body is like nothing in this world, you may have experiences that you can't put into words because they are truly too incredible for words. IMAGINE EXPERIENCING SOMETHING BEYOND WORDS, YOU CARRY IT WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
"Strengthening your Mental Body "Muscles"
The best way to build awareness of your mental body is by developing the ability to maintain intense focus on a single subject or object while in a deep state of relaxation. With this 2-part exercise, you'll learn how to build your capacity for detailed awareness and then transfer that power, in a remote viewing-like fashion, during meditation.
"The Focused Awareness Technique Part I"
In part one of this exercise, choose an object that you'll be able to examine in great detail. Something in your home or garage, or a family member's home, is best. Ideally, it should be visually interesting, with some different parts, colors, shapes or details.
Once you've decided on your 'target', spend about 10 minutes examining it with as much focused concentration as possible. If you need to take a short break in the middle of this, that's fine. The important thing is to build focus and devote enough time to studying the characteristics of the object so that you can memorize them.
"The Focused Awareness Technique Part II"
In a separate space and time, you'll go into a meditative state. Once you're in that state, begin to conjure up the object you had studied. Again, go over it in as great of detail as possible. Try to remember it's exact feel, shape, color and parts. If it was something you held, try to remember its weight and texture in your hands. Do this for about 5-10 minutes and then rest, or come out of your meditation.
You can do this several different times with different objects - or with the same object. With practice, your ability to experience the object as if you were actually seeing and holding it will become so strong that it will seem real. This experience will give you a clear understanding of the nature of the Mind Body.
5. THE SPIRITUAL BODY
The spiritual body has been described as A GLOBE OF LIVING LIGHT, PULSATING AND RADIATING, SENSITIVE TO ALL IMPRESSIONS FROM ALL WORLDS. Quite incredible, not even close to the astral body, it is so totally different. Reaching it, I have to admit, is not easy, but it is of course something to work towards.
Your spiritual body is the deepest, most expansive and least tangible of all. This is the part of you that is actually one with all that is. Some people call this God, others call it the Universal Mind, others, the Infinite. Whatever you call it, your spiritual body is the direct link between this and the 'you' you experience in your waking, sleeping and astral life. To connect with and sense your spiritual body is surprisingly simple. It's simple, but for most people, it's not easy at all. Why? Because to connect with your spiritual body requires you to experience the 'spaciousness' of pure consciousness. And this is done through the ability to be 100% focused in the present moment. It requires a movement of your consciousness beyond thought entirely and into the silent space between thoughts.
See? Simple, but not easy.
"The Spacious Breath"
Here's an exercise that will give you a taste of the sensation of spaciousness. Don't worry about the thoughts flooding in - this is normal. Just stay with the steps below and you really will have some feeling of this spcaiousness.
Sit comfortably in a place where you won't be disturbed.
Bring yourself into a light, meditative state, in whichever way you prefer.
Bring your attention to the breath.
Inhale to a slow, 4-count. Hold for 2-3 seconds, then exhale at the same, 4-count pace.
At the end of your exhalation, gently but quickly force any remaining air out of your lungs.
Now, in this moment of total emptiness, just BE. Invite spaciousness just for this empty moment before you take the next inhalation.
Continue this for 5 or 10 minutes, or however long you like. As you practice this regularly, what you'll find is that you'll be able to transfer that 'spaciousness of empty mind' from the breathing technique to your daily life.
In the next lesson we are moving on to a very important subject and one which I receive an incredible amount of emails about. What are the biggest blocks people face when learning how to astral project?
We have so far talked a lot about astral projection, so much so that you may want to get started right away, if you don't want to wait you can try Explorations Beyond the Body today.
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