Journey through the astral realm

Travel far and wide with advice from three experts, plus get behind the scenes of Netflix’s hit astral drama, Behind Her Eyes

WORDS: HIYAH ZAIDI

Out of Body Experiences don’t need to feel scary or difficult to achieve, and they give you the power to leave the realm we see and touch and enter a higher plane – the astral realms. Here your spiritual self is free to explore all corners of the Universe.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel the world from the comfort of your own home? What if I told you this is achievable through AP (astral projection)? AP is a form of Out of Body Experience – a liberating way to wander realms outside your body.

“You are not your body, not your thoughts and not your emotions “

Journey with intention

Sometimes astral projection can occur unintentionally, but knowing how to recognise an experience is crucial. Kendal from Washington has astral projected from a young age and says: “My first time AP-ing was at six years old. I couldn’t make sense of it then. It was scary… It was after I started reading up on it that I realised there was a name for what I was doing, and the more I educated myself, the more I could project.”

But for some people, it’s an experience resulting from long hours of meditating. Sumandeep from Birmingham says: “I had no clue what was going on, but I knew an opening could happen with meditation.” In both cases, astral projection has been a life-changing moment, refreshing the way they perceive the world.

Leave the physical plane

Jade Shaw is a London-based astral projection teacher. Jade had a transformative Out of Body Experience as an adult and went on to gain an
MSc in Transformative Psychology. She now teaches workshops on personal growth, including how to trigger an astral projection experience.

In a Zoom call, we discuss all things astral, including whether we can use astral projection to escape lockdown. Jade says: “Using astral projection to escape lockdown is definitely possible. I had several people book onto my courses for that reason. Some people wanted to go and visit their family, some people wanted to go visit other countries and some people just wanted to explore themselves.”

Meaning we can escape the four walls of our home and travel somewhere warmer! Jade says everyone has the ability to trigger an astral projection experience, even in a short amount of time. For her, it took a month, but a successful astral projection experience depends on different factors. “Everyone has this innate human ability and capability, but it’s easier for some. If you do practices such as meditation or you’ve worked with plant medicine, or you have a spiritual practice, it might be easier because you’re used to working with altered states and non-physical realms. Saying that, some people appear to have a natural gift.”

Go deep and with meaning

Like all things in the spiritual world, having a deep and meaningful astral projection experience requires practice and dedication to learn the trade. For astral projection, it’s vital to have a clear and steady mind, which can be achieved through mindfulness and meditation practice.

It sounds amazing, this ability to travel and connect to the deepest parts of yourself. Now, it would be great to know how to trigger an experience of our own. Jade has us covered, and says: “There’s three steps to master. The first is called ‘mind awake body asleep’. The second is the vibrational state. The third is exiting.”

‘Mind awake body asleep’ can be achieved through mental exercise and deep breathing. It’s the state of being ‘half awake’ and also known as hypnagogic, when noises and visual imagery begin to manifest. In this state, it’s vital to concentrate by focusing on the blackness behind your eyes. It’s really easy to fall asleep, but concentration is needed to pass into the next stage: vibration.

Visualise for good astral vibrations

The vibration stage can happen spontaneously, but sometimes requires visualisation. To enter this stage, imagine a white light travelling towards you, watching it enlarge with more power until it’s in front of you. When you accept it, allow it to channel through you, and imagine yourself vibrating until it feels real. When it feels real, it’s time to exit your body. The simplest way to exit your body is through visualisation. Feel yourself sitting up, peeling your astral self away from your physical body.

To experience an AP, its’s important to go through all three states, but they become easier and quicker with time. Some people can trigger an astral projection experience within a few attempts, but for others it may take a little longer.

5 tips to travel to the astral realm

Jade recommends these five steps to having a successful astral projection experience:

1 Sit in a reclined position.
2 Make sure your room is dimly lit.
3 Stay warm – having a cold foot or arm brings attention to your physical body, hindering an Out of Body Experience.
4 Try ‘Wake Back To Bed’, a technique where you attempt astral projection after sleeping for four to five hours.
5 Set a clear intention to astral project.

Reach up to higher planes

Lauren Zeiher is an astral teacher based in Colorado, USA. Lauren emphasises vibrations and intentions for a successful AP trip. She says: “Remember, you are not your body, thoughts or your emotions, you are more than just the self. Be open! To have the experience you seek is to also detach from fear. If you feel afraid, blocked or uncertain, you will struggle to make the transition to this realm.

“To access these higher realms, whether it’s the astral plane or above, is to become a vibratory match to them… setting the intention to astral project to escape your current reality won’t open up this possibility for you, it will block you. Set the intention to explore new ways of being, new realities, new experiences.”

Alchemise your projection

I also connected with Hollow Hollis from South Carolina, who has taken to social media – specifically TikTok – to discuss his spiritual journey. His experience with astral projection began with Qabalista, a pop music album said to induce AP. “It’s based on alchemy, a lot of spells – it’s meant to put you or your consciousness into a different state, and help you slip into astral projection. But I had a different experience. I ended up not astral projecting. At the time I thought I was astral projecting, but I ended up shadow projecting.” Shadow projection is projecting shadows (parts of your personality not accepted consciously) onto another soul which is thought to cause a type of energetic harm.

Hollow’s 5 tips to astral project

Hollow rarely astral projects, but uses AP to gain guidance when feeling lost. He shares these five quick TikTok tips to travel to the astral realm.

1 Be somewhere you can picture with your eyes closed, so you feel secure
and safe.
2 Sit up, so you don’t fall asleep.
3 Don’t attempt to AP when exhausted.
4 Get in touch with your spirit guides who can help guide you around the astral realm.
5 Don’t be scared or overwhelmed, this will take you straight back to
your physical body (which you’re always connected to).

Astral travel like the cast of Netflix’s Behind Her Eyes

Astral projection consultant Jade Shaw gives us the lowdown on Netflix show Behind Her Eyes

Jade advised on all aspects of astral projection, which was one of the central
themes of the programme. In the show, two women discover they can travel out of their bodies when they sleep, with some serious consequences in their waking lives.

LIVE ‘BEHIND HER EYES’, Jade’s expert commentary from behind the scenes

1 The hand check Rob and Adele do where they count their fingers is
a real trick. It is a reality check we do in a lucid dream, so if anything
weird happens while we count, we know we’re in a lucid dream.

2 To move from lucid dreaming into astral projection, we use the doorway technique, or the ‘portal technique’. Create a door in your lucid dream and set a very strong intention, or couple with a command: ‘When I walk through this door, I will leave my physical body.’ Or, if you don’t lucid dream, focus on the blackness behind your eyes. You might experience colours, patterns, dream imagery; hold your awareness and visualise a door.

3 Think about what your intention is and your motivation. Rob had a clear projection plan – what’s yours? Find your ‘why’, because you’ll need it to stay focused.

What was it like consulting on the Netflix hit Behind Her Eyes?

It was a privilege to work with the cast, they were very excited to give it a go and had lots of questions! Everyone managed to enter the ‘mind awake body asleep state’ (the first step to astral projection).

Define the difference between lucid dreaming and astral travel?

Lucid dreaming is a dream in which you know you are dreaming, it only occurs whilst asleep and you are exploring the landscape of your own mind. Astral projection usually happens on the cusp of sleep, in meditation or a deeply relaxed state but can happen when wide awake too. You connect with people and places in wider realms of reality. We can springboard from the lucid dream into astral projection like they do in the show. There is a scene in the show where Louise, the main character, creates a door in the lucid dream, and when she walks through it she enters into the real world as a disembodied consciousness.

Which actors got furthest with AP?

Tom Bateman (who plays David) was very enthusiastic and keen to astral travel right away! During the session Robert Aramayo (who plays Rob) managed to get to the vibrational stage, which happens just before you astral project. I had lunch with the cast after the workshop, and like many people Simona Brown, who plays Louise, had lots of questions about safety. I assured her it was completely safe, it’s a natural human experience that happens spontaneously, such as when we are at an emotional crossroads in life, or it can be self-induced like many traditions practise. The places we encounter in AP and the things we learn enable a new sense of self to emerge, a new way of being in the waking world. We can enter dark and light places, both of which are beneficial for our souls’ evolution.

What did the series get right and what did it get wrong? Is that ending even possible?

It is very hard to astral project as quickly as Adele does, and when Louise does it almost right away outside the burning house at the end it’s pretty unrealistic. Anything that distracts the five senses such as movement or sounds will usually bring you back immediately. The scene where Louise visits her next door neighbour is possible. However, when her son tries to wake her up whilst she’s ‘out’ but she doesn’t wake up until she’s ‘back’ is not realistic. You would wake up straight away.

Can we de-tether and swap bodies, even if we wanted to? What advice can you offer anyone scared to try LD/AT?

When we astral project, a part of our consciousness, our self-awareness – that which perceives where we are in time and space – is going beyond the body, but not all of it. Our life force remains behind. We are not leaving an empty vessel behind, so don’t worry, you won’t get lost during an OBE and you will always return to your body. You cannot get trapped in a dream because the REM dream cycle will come to an end or you will wake up. However, time is experienced differently in these states, so it can feel like you have been there for a long time when it has just been moments or minutes. This is why some dreams can feel like entire lifetimes!

What was your favourite scene in the series?

When Adele and Rob go out of their bodies and fly through the woods. Flying is so exhilarating and freeing, it never fails to take my breath away every time I do it. It reminds me of the quote by Leonardo Da Vinci: ‘Once you have experienced flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return.’ One of the most commonly reported emotions felt during astral projection is awe, and science says experiencing moments of awe can radically improve wellbeing. Now we know why it feels so good!

Can you meet anyone else on an astral plane?

It’s possible to see other people in the physical world. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is said monks would leave their bodies to attend teachings across the mountains if they were unable to travel there in the physical. It was seen
as something normal and practical. Same with some shamanic traditions, the shaman would astral project, find out where the herds had gone and come back to tell the hunters where to find them. People have reported
encounters with other astral travellers, passed loved ones and entities in other realities. They receive messages and insights that become a motivating catalyst for life change.

What might happen in series two?

I don’t know if there will be a series two, I hope so!

Jade Shaw is an Out of Body experience and astral projection teacher. She has a Msc in Transpersonal Psychology and has spoken at the Mindvalley University in Croatia.

DO YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT ASTRAL TRAVELLING? EMAIL US AT SOULANDSPIRITMAGAZINE@ACEVILLE.CO.UK