Astral Projection

[forestofclarity]

I've had an on-again, off-again (mostly off-again) interest in Astral Projection. None of the techniques have ever worked for me. Interestingly, this one is not entirely dissimilar from certain instructions related to dark retreat. Anyone try this or something similar? 

 

Video: 

 

 

Transcript (polished by ChatGPT): 

 

Let’s be honest: most of what we see online about astral projection is fluff. Rope techniques, climbing ladders, “five easy steps guaranteed to get you out in 10 minutes”—it’s all nonsense. A lot of these people have never actually done it. They’re just repeating something they’ve read in a forum because it gets clicks.

 

But here’s the truth: astral projection isn’t instant. It isn’t easy. It isn’t necessarily difficult either, but you can’t fake your way into it. Yet it is real. And in this video, I’ll show you how it actually works based on my own personal experience. This is a detailed explanation, but every part of it is important. If you’re serious about learning this, I urge you to stay with me until the end.

 

So let’s get into it.

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The Big Reframe

The first thing to understand is this: astral projection isn’t weird or unnatural. You already do it every single night. When you fall asleep, your body shuts down, but your awareness continues. That’s what dreaming is—an unconscious form of astral projection, the human brain interpreting experiences of your true self.

 

The difference here is awareness. Astral projection is simply staying awake while the body falls asleep. Instead of being swept away into dream imagery, you remain the observer—the witness.

 

You don’t force it. You don’t make it happen. You let the natural process unfold while keeping that flame of awareness alive. The truth is, your conscious awareness never actually sleeps. The body sleeps, the mind quiets down, emotions fade—but the silent witness, the eternal eye, is always awake.

 

If you learn to rest there, you can follow the shift directly as it happens. That’s astral projection. It’s not something new. It’s something you already do—only now you’re paying attention.

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Foundation

Before you can astral project, you need a foundation—and that foundation is meditation.

 

If you can’t sit still, calm your thoughts, and relax deeply, you’ll never reach the state you need. Astral projection isn’t a quick hack; it’s a skill, like building strength or learning an instrument. It takes practice, patience, and consistency.

 

Step one is learning how to relax so deeply that the body feels heavy, almost unreal.

 

Step two is learning to watch your thoughts without getting pulled into them.

 

This is why meditation is essential. It teaches you how to sit in the observer state—the exact state you’ll carry into projection.

 

Skip it and you’ll struggle. Do the groundwork and you’ll have a real foundation. I cannot stress this enough.

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The Method: Entering the Observer State

Now, here’s the real method.

 

Lie on your back with your arms and legs comfortably spread apart, palms facing upward. Yes, you can do this in any position, but ritual sets intention, and your subconscious recognizes, Ah, we’re doing this now.

 

Close your eyes. Shift your awareness into the mind’s eye, as if you’re looking from behind your thoughts and feelings. This is sometimes called pineal gazing.

 

Now just watch.

 

Colors, lights, and patterns will flicker behind your eyelids. Don’t judge them. Don’t control them. Just observe. It should feel as though you’re trying to look through your eyelids.

 

Over time, those flickers grow into vivid scenes. It’s like watching static on a TV slowly form into a movie—and then realizing you can step inside the screen. The flat blackness behind your eyelids begins shifting into a three-dimensional space, like being in a pitch-black room where you can’t quite see but can sense the volume of the space.

 

Then come the sensations: vibrations, buzzing, floating, rocking, or sinking. These aren’t obstacles; they’re signs your body is falling asleep while your awareness remains awake. Stay calm. Let them happen. Don’t judge.

 

It can feel frightening to beginners, but no matter how intense it becomes, you are in no danger. These are the same natural processes your body goes through every night—only now you’re conscious of them.

 

Eventually, you’ll feel a shift—a snap, a pop, or just a sudden change.

 

That’s the moment you’re out.

 

You don’t “float” out—you’re simply out. You switch states between human and eternal witness in an instant. You feel more awake and alive than you ever have before.

 

It is not the dreamy, vague feeling people expect. If it is, you’ve entered a lucid dream instead.

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Lucid Dreams: The Gateway

Here’s something almost nobody tells you: before you get full astral projection, you’ll often hit lucid dreams first. Many people even mistake lucid dreaming for astral projection.

 

A lucid dream is like a halfway house—half awake, half asleep. But from there, you can transition directly into projection.

 

This happened to me in my early journeys. I realized mid-dream, Wait—this isn’t projection. This is a lucid dream. And instantly—bam—I was back in my bedroom, outside my body. There was no break in consciousness. One moment I was dreaming, the next I was fully out.

 

And that’s when I understood something visceral: the witness never sleeps.

 

There is no separation between waking, dreaming, or projecting. Only the body sleeps. Consciousness is always creating, always experiencing.

 

When you see this directly, it can be terrifying at first. You realize you are not the body, not the ego—just awareness itself. It shatters the belief that waking life is real and dreams are illusory. That can be frightening, but it’s a necessary truth on any spiritual path.

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What NOT to Do

This is where most people go wrong. They search for techniques—climbing a rope, rolling out, jumping off a swing, and so on. These tricks keep you stuck in imagination. You’re so busy pretending to climb a rope that you miss the actual process unfolding naturally.

 

Astral projection isn’t about muscling your way out. It’s about letting go—letting the body sleep while you remain the witness.

 

Don’t waste time on gimmicks. Keep it simple: relax and allow.

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Set, Setting, and Spiritual Preparation

There’s another part of astral projection that doesn’t get talked about enough: your state of being.

 

Astral projection isn’t just a mechanical trick. It’s like psychedelics—what you bring to the experience shapes what you find there.

 

Your mindset, lifestyle, and habits all manifest when you’re out of body. If you’re anxious, depressed, addicted, or neglecting yourself, you’ll bring those energies into the astral, and they’ll take form.

 

That’s why some people encounter demons, reptilians, archons, or other malevolent beings. They think the astral is dangerous when it’s really reflecting what they carry inside.

 

You are the creator of your own reality. In the astral, that truth becomes immediate and unavoidable.

So it’s vitally important to clean up your life as best you can. Cultivate a spiritual practice. Take care of your body and mind. Recognize your own power, because in the astral, that power is immediate.

 

You can create anything.

 

The difference between a nightmare, a confusing dream, or a conscious, godlike exploration of reality comes down to what you bring with you. Set and setting matter—and your inner world is everything.

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Words of Encouragement

Astral projection isn’t easy or instant, but it’s real. The more you practice, the stronger the observer becomes. Every time you lie down and meditate, you sharpen the awareness that makes projection possible.

 

And when it finally happens, you’ll know. It won’t feel like imagination. It will feel like stepping out of one room and into another—more real than your human life has ever felt. That’s when the real exploration begins.

 

If you try this method, share your experiences. The only proof that matters is your own direct experience.

 

Thank you for watching. Until next time.

 

 

[Gerard]

It's another popular siddhi but it won't happen to everyone no matter how hard one tries to develop this ability.

 
Outlined here:

 

http://www.yogasutras.com/On_Clownin_Siddhis.html

 

If it happens, cool, fun stuff but tbh better not focusing on it as it's highly distracting (like all siddhis) and there are practitioners that make money out of it and promote themselves as the ultimate teachers. This only reinforces the EGO. 

 

If it doesn't happen, even better as you won't be distracted by it. 

[Apech]

Oops

[stirling]

Quote

And that’s when I understood something visceral: the witness never sleeps.

 

There is no separation between waking, dreaming, or projecting. Only the body sleeps. Consciousness is always creating, always experiencing.

 

When you see this directly, it can be terrifying at first. You realize you are not the body, not the ego—just awareness itself. It shatters the belief that waking life is real and dreams are illusory. That can be frightening, but it’s a necessary truth on any spiritual path.

 

In my experience this is 100% the case. I have had a number of nights where I watched myself sleep and dream as a "witness" rather than a participant. It is absolutely possible to take the bare awareness of a practice like shikantaza or dzogchen and have that be present when asleep. We are ALWAYS just awareness. 

 

This is obviously the premise of Tibetan dream yogas, which I have researched. My success with inducing this is non-existent, but when it has occurred it has (2 out of 4 times) been after being on retreat. 

 

8 hours ago, Gerard said:

It's another popular siddhi but it won't happen to everyone no matter how hard one tries to develop this ability.

 
Outlined here:

 

http://www.yogasutras.com/On_Clownin_Siddhis.html

 

If it happens, cool, fun stuff but tbh better not focusing on it as it's highly distracting (like all siddhis) and there are practitioners that make money out of it and promote themselves as the ultimate teachers. This only reinforces the EGO. 

 

If it doesn't happen, even better as you won't be distracted by it. 

 

8 hours ago, Gerard said:

It's another popular siddhi but it won't happen to everyone no matter how hard one tries to develop this ability.

 
Outlined here:

 

http://www.yogasutras.com/On_Clownin_Siddhis.html

 

If it happens, cool, fun stuff but tbh better not focusing on it as it's highly distracting (like all siddhis) and there are practitioners that make money out of it and promote themselves as the ultimate teachers. This only reinforces the EGO. 

 

If it doesn't happen, even better as you won't be distracted by it. 

 

Gerard, I don't think you read the text properly, we aren't talking about the conventional way of thinking about "astral travel". This isn't a siddhi. In fact, Patanjali would absolutely agree that it is possible to see that reality is dream-like (or "a dream") in both waking and sleeping.

 

Siddhi's are only distracting for those that would use them to gratify attachment or aversion, as you suggest. They will also occur naturally of their own accord, without being sought, as the belief in the solidity of "reality" is eroded.

[oak]

9 hours ago, Gerard said:

It's another popular siddhi but it won't happen to everyone no matter how hard one tries to develop this ability.

 
Outlined here:

 

http://www.yogasutras.com/On_Clownin_Siddhis.html

 

If it happens, cool, fun stuff but tbh better not focusing on it as it's highly distracting (like all siddhis) and there are practitioners that make money out of it and promote themselves as the ultimate teachers. This only reinforces the EGO. 

 

If it doesn't happen, even better as you won't be distracted by it. 

 

Yoga Sutras 1:38

Would you like to check it?

[Gerard]

3 hours ago, stirling said:

 

Gerard, I don't think you read the text properly, we aren't talking about the conventional way of thinking about "astral travel". This isn't a siddhi. In fact, Patanjali would absolutely agree that it is possible to see that reality is dream-like (or "a dream") in both waking and sleeping.

 

 

Not sure what this is all about but I was referring to projecting outside the physical body (OBE, out of body experience) either consciously or unconsciously. 
 

2 hours ago, oak said:

 

Yoga Sutras 1:38

Would you like to check it?

 

One can meditate on the knowledge of dream or dreamless sleep.

 

Yes but nothing to do with AP/OBE. Basically meditating non-stop in layman's terms.

[oak]

10 hours ago, Gerard said:

Not sure what this is all about but I was referring to projecting outside the physical body (OBE, out of body experience) either consciously or unconsciously. 
 

 

One can meditate on the knowledge of dream or dreamless sleep.

 

Yes but nothing to do with AP/OBE. Basically meditating non-stop in layman's terms.

 

If that is your interpretation based on your experience I respect that.

[Lairg]

11 hours ago, Gerard said:

I was referring to projecting outside the physical body (OBE, out of body experience)

 

The fellow living over the road from me once told me about his OBE. When I asked him for details he recounted flying low over the landscape and up the wall of a dam and over the water.  He said it looked just like physical sight.

 

That experience seems to me to be etheric projection.

 

Astral projection differs in that there may be many strange creatures and that, since the astral is of the element water, there can be many inverted reflections that are easily misunderstood

 

 

 

 

[Neirong]

P.s. AI tools are cool, we can skip listening 10+ mins to a video, and read the entire content in few seconds. 

So, quick review.
 

He is confusing lucid dreaming and astral travel into one. While also considering lucid dreaming an inferior experience. "Because the body sleeps". The body (vessel) sleeps is the similarity - yes. Lucid dreaming is not less valuable than astral travel, and is not the same thing. Well, if you go to France, the Maldives, or the Everest mountains, those are all "geo locations" you can visit, but that is the similarity. It is not the same place. In fact, it does not end with lucid dreaming and astral travel; many practices require deep relaxation and focus, which involve turning the body off.
 

There are also quicker ways to achieve that state; when dense energy passes through the body, it can cause full paralysis. You will remain conscious, but be unable to physically move any of your limbs, fingers, or even tongue.
 

On 11.12.2025 at 6:23 PM, forestofclarity said:

Astral projection isn’t just a mechanical trick. It’s like psychedelics—what you bring to the experience shapes what you find there.

 

Your mindset, lifestyle, and habits all manifest when you’re out of body. If you’re anxious, depressed, addicted, or neglecting yourself, you’ll bring those energies into the astral, and they’ll take form.

 

That’s why some people encounter demons, reptilians, archons, or other malevolent beings. They think the astral is dangerous when it’s really reflecting what they carry inside.

 

You are the creator of your own reality. In the astral, that truth becomes immediate and unavoidable.

So it’s vitally important to clean up your life as best you can. Cultivate a spiritual practice. Take care of your body and mind. Recognize your own power, because in the astral, that power is immediate.

 

You can create anything.

 

The difference between a nightmare, a confusing dream, or a conscious, godlike exploration of reality comes down to what you bring with you. Set and setting matter—and your inner world is everything.

The author just confirmed that he had not even a single real astral projection experience. I mean, entering a state of delusional -imaginary reality where you can easily bend things to your will does not really constitute true astral projection. The astral world is the real world, and as such, it is populated by sentient beings that have their own power and will. If you don’t have enough power, skill, and experience or proper guidance, you don’t get there.
 

The problem with imaginary reality is that it is what it is, an imaginary reality; it is not suitable for progressing your cultivation. It does not have any energy source, quality, or experience that could accelerate your growth dramatically. There are things that you can get in Other Worlds that are simply impossible to find in mundane reality, or with any "meditation practice". You could gain more in 1-2 succesful trips to the Astral World than a monk in a decade of meditation practice. (e.g. Think of ingesting an expensive alchemical pill).

Sitting in a kindergarten sandbox or being locked up in your own home, believing the world is safe and nice, is one thing. But if you enter a ghetto with criminals, an Amazonian jungle at night, or explore the depths of the ocean, things are vastly different out there. A newbie will simply not survive, and the extent of possible damage and trauma energy bodies and mental state can acquire far exceeds what most people can handle. 
 

It is unethical to teach others when you have never had a legitimate education on the topic yourself. 

When I first time experienced it in my travels, and instead of a regular casual experience of flying out of body, levitating, moving around, exploring a house, I found a portal and otherworldly beings. My teacher told me back then to stop the practice immediately and train in Magic in the waking world for about 3-5 years more before coming back to it. We are talking about high-level practices with high risk and high reward ratio that require significant preparation, including having siddhis like energy vision and many other skills.

 

[Sanity Check]

When I was a teenager there were many homeless drug addicts who claimed they could astral project.

 

The X-Men series of comic books had mutant characters with psionic abilities who could travel to the astral plane.

 

And people thought they would travelling to the astral plane when they were on LSD.

 

Due to this there are probably a long list of people (myself included) who believed for decades that astral projection was a completely useless thing.

 

Its amazing to me that there are some claiming the opposite.

Edited 19 hours ago by Sanity Check