Yes, Astral projection and OBEs are the same. The worse that can happen is that your perception of reality could be forever altered. There are books on how you can accomplish an OBE. Like lucid dreaming, it's hard for me to explain. One popular techniques is to imagine yourself on the ceiling looking down at your body. I always found it helpful slow down your heartrate and breathing as much as possible, and then speed up the heart quickly, but not the breathing.