Last night was the first night in which I was able to intentionally astral project. I have had many spontaneous encounters with astral projection, but never through sheer force of will. It was a profound experience, one that is difficult to put into words, so I will try to paint as clear a picture as I can. Before I attempted to project I listened to a very effective audio entrainment track - R.E.M. & Lucid Dream Enhancement - which served as the basis for my separation process. After around twenty minutes I could feel my consciousness drifting and I knew it would be malleable enough for astral projection. I began the process by lying on my back, relaxing my muscles, and clearing my mind. There was a certain point where my mind and body were unified and I felt my consciousness slipping. It was difficult, but I held this point for as long as I could, and that's what caused the process to begin.
I remember seeing in my mind's eye this white object - almost like the tendrils of a nebula - reaching out of my body towards the ceiling. Then came a humming noise that rose gradually in both frequency and volume. I became aware of my astral body though I had not yet lost connection to my physical body, which resulted in an intense feeling of being at two places at once. My astral body proceeded to be lifted from my physical body until it was hovering just above it. Upon that moment, the humming sound reached the end of its crescendo, and my consciousness seemed to be jolted with a bright flash of light into my astral body. At first I was blinded and I could only sense and feel the dream environment, but as I learned from my experience with lucid dreaming, I needed only to feel the texture of the wall before my vision came to me. I was excited, of course, when I realized what I had achieved, but I kept my focus. As with most of my projections, I was in a room that very closely resembled my own, but several things were off. I noticed a jacket which I had never seen before hanging over a chair, so I walked over to it and observed it closely, realizing that I could see its texture clearly, down to the finite debris that had settled on it.
My first experience did not last long, as the dream scene faded quickly to black. However, when I awoke I was still vividly aware of my astral body, a lingering sensation that made me feel like I was composed of two parts. This meant that I was capable of making further attempts at projection, and I did. The second time I tried, I sat up in bed, and though it was exceedingly difficult to do, my astral body was still flexible enough to project. After that experience ended, I woke up and rolled onto my side. For some reason I had an urge to grab the side of my bed and pull my astral body free. To my surprise, this method was extremely fluid, and I had next to no trouble separating. I found myself on the floor, and after running my hands along the carpet, my vision came to me. These first few projections were brief and lacked some clarity, but I was extremely fortunate and found that I could project at will upon awakening.
I saw many things during my experience - I left my house to find that the mountains had caught fire, spoke to apparitions of people and to strange creatures resembling humans, changed into a number of forms, and reached new depths in meditation. I actually found myself wanting to stop it towards the end, and I had to fight my way out of the state just to wake up. I am very content with my experience, which for once came in abundance. I had to push my limits, but now I know that I am capable of projecting at will, which I find to be very exciting.
