Some advice around first Astral experience

I apologise if you are regular posters to this board and that my post is yet another newbie trying to make sense of everything- I really don't know much about these things and honestly don't know who to talk to or what to do about it- so I'm hoping for some guidance...

I'm going to preface this post by explaining that most of my life I have been a very closed person- as an adult I was not spiritual at all and was incredibly cynical.

I did however have a smoking cessation hypnotherapy two years ago- which I was open to but thought it would only be a shallow experience for me- but I realised that I was actually very susceptible to the trance and went very deep (and never touched a cigarette again-success)- it was such an intense change and this kind of blew my mind and made me more open to things we don't understand about the mind and body.

Recently I have started to think about my beliefs and whether or not I believe in God. I came to a point (very recently) where I started to believe in 'energy' and feel that the world is surrounded by energies we don't 'see' immediately and also the power of positive and negative energy.

Anyway, I suppose I feel that as soon as I started thinking in this way I started to experience this 'energy' quite easily- although not really knowing what I'm talking about or what to do about it.

I have also occasionally in the past experienced 'Sleep Paralysis' and have always had extremely vivid dreams most nights.

I by chance came across a brief description of Astral Projection through reading about sleep paralysis a few days ago and found it an interesting read. I didn't consciously think 'I'm going to try that' but I guess my subconscious chose to give it a go because that same night I had an experience which now days later I am consumed with trying to understand.

I was in and out of sleep in the early morning and I suddenly entered that state where I was aware but my body was still asleep (like a deep meditation or hypnotic trance) and I got the urge to move out of my body. I felt an extreme tingling (like pins and needles) all through my body and I moved both arms and my head and shoulders up. I came aware that I could see this other body and it was glittering like stars as if the tingling was causing this spark- it was a kind of sparkling gold- that's all I can describe it as. It was really hard to move it- like it was very heavy and weighed down. My mind suddenly felt that I didn't want to go any further- It's not like I was 'afraid' but I was just a bit unsure and was worried about having a negative experience like my sleep paralysis- I could see my bedroom and there was nothing different but I just decided 'no' and I snapped back into my body and then to sleep.

I remembered the feeling vividly when I woke up and have never had a feeling like this. And since then I have felt quite tranquil and full of a deep love- and so so intrigued to go further and try again.


Except, I don't know if I should or not...I am a little worried by some of the negative experiences people have described and want to make sure that I am in control and positive if I try it again- I felt so confident and in control for the first five seconds and it felt really positive but then I stopped it.

I honestly just don't know what to do or who to talk to- any advice would be welcome- even if you think it sounds like I didn't really have the experience I think I did