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The Out-of-Body Experience: Without the Near-Death Part

The Out-of-Body Experience: Without the Near-Death Part

Last updated on: September 19, 2026 at 1:58 pm by Tom Rapsas

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The Out-of-Body Experience: Without the Near-Death Part 2026-09-19T13:58:11-06:00 Tom Rapsas

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What if your awareness isn’t anchored to your body? The weird realm of the out-of-body experience. Image by Gemini.

A Four-Step Guide to an Out-of-Body Experience

If I asked you where your consciousness resides, you’d probably point to the center of your head, right behind your eyes. Or, if you’re influenced by Eastern spirituality, you might point to your heart. Either way, you probably think of your sense of awareness as something that’s firmly contained within your physical body.

Yet, there are countless instances when a person’s consciousness appears to detach itself from the body and travel elsewhere. This is the fascinating realm of the out-of-body experience (OBE).

Most often, OBEs are spontaneous. It can happen when an individual is in deep meditation, under medical anesthesia, or in near-death moments when someone standing at the precipice of life feels their mind loosen its attachment to the body. In these cases, the separation isn’t a choice. It just happens.

Which brings us to a far stranger category: the intentional departure from the body. This type of OBE is based around the ability to leave the body on purpose and can be done virtually on demand. Enter Robert A. Monroe, the modern pioneer of the self-generated out-of-body experience.

Robert A. Monroe went to places few go.

Monroe was an unlikely visionary. A suit-wearing radio and TV executive based in New York City, his life changed dramatically in 1958. He began experiencing spontaneous, unexplainable states where his awareness seemed to separate from his physical body. Rather than dismissing these events as hallucinations or a trick of the mind, Monroe began studying the phenomenon.

As it turns out, there have been stories of out-of-body experiences from the beginning of time. They are reports from ancient Egypt of leaving the body during sleep and similar tales in early Vedic texts from India. Indigenous cultures around the world describe shamans deliberately detaching their awareness from their physical frames to travel to spiritual realms.

Monroe began taking detailed notes of his own out-of-body journeys. He shared these experiences in a trilogy of books, starting with Journeys Out of the Body. There, Monroe describes the first time it happened. He wakes up in the middle of the night sensing that something is wrong and unfamiliar. He realizes that he is pressed up against something, but it isn’t a wall. It’s the ceiling. He describes it like this:

There, in the dim light below me, was the bed. There were two figures lying in the bed. To the right was my wife. Beside her was someone else. Both seemed asleep. This was a strange dream, I thought. I was curious. Whom would I dream to be in bed with my wife? I looked more closely and the shock was intense. I was the someone in the bed!

This, quite naturally, freaks Monroe out and he is zapped back into his body. But then the OBEs happen a second, third, and fourth time. He learns to calm himself during the experiences. He finds he can drift through the walls of his home, visit friends in other places and later accurately report what they were doing and wearing. He even visits realms inhabited by souls who have passed away and encounters otherworldly spirit guides in parallel dimensions.

Monroe’s influence continues today.

Monroe would go on to establish The Monroe Institute in Faber, Virginia. It is still active today as a non-profit educational and research organization dedicated to exploring human consciousness. Following Monroe’s death in 1995, William Buhlman became one of the leading voices keeping Monroe’s legacy alive through bestselling books like Adventures Beyond the Body.

In that book, Buhlman talks about his own self-exploration of consciousness. Like Monroe, he finds he can leave his own body at will. In his case, he is able to “float” into the apartment above him as well as explore the neighborhoods of his suburban Baltimore hometown.

Like Monroe, Buhlman begins searching for answers. He determines that the universe is multidimensional in nature, and while most of us are only aware of one dimension, he is able to slip into other realms. He believes these dimensions account for the existence of present-day mysteries such as extrasensory perception, telepathy, apparitions and channeling.

Buhlman begins exploring these other dimensions. During one memorable OBE, he encounters a man sitting on the sofa in his living room. The man calls his name, saying “Willie, it’s good to see you.” It’s his Uncle Hilton who had passed away years earlier, but to Buhlman “appears twenty years younger and much thinner than when he died.” The following dialogue ensues:

He (Uncle Hilton) seems amused by my stare and says, “Hey, I’m just as surprised to see you as you are to see me.” His tone becomes more serious. “Willie, how did you learn to do this?”

I’m surprised by his question and respond, “I just tried it and it worked.” He replies, “There aren’t many who can do what you do. All of us are quite surprised.”

A Simple 4 Step Guide to an Out-of-Body Experience

Both Monroe and Buhlman offer instruction in their books on how to achieve an out-of-body experience. And while they believe anyone can do it with a little practice, I can tell you from personal experience it’s not easy. So, what follows is a simplified, four-step practice tailored for your first taste of an OBE. With this exercise you aren’t trying to travel. You’re just giving your awareness permission to hover a few feet above your bed.

1. Pick the Right Time

Don’t try this at night when you’re exhausted. You’ll just fall asleep. The easiest time is first thing in the morning upon waking up, or before an afternoon nap. Your body is already relaxed and primed to slip into deep rest, but your mind is fresh enough to stay awake.

2. Let the Body Fall Asleep, Not the Mind

Lie comfortably on your back and let your hands rest at your sides. Close your eyes and focus on the dark space behind your eyelids. (Monroe recommends imagining you’re looking at a point a few feet away.) Take a few deep, slow breaths. Then, consciously tell your muscles to power down—from your toes up to your jaw—until your physical frame feels still and at rest.

3. Look for “The Buzz”

As your physical body drifts off, you might feel a sudden lightness, a gentle hum in your ears, or a subtle vibration or tingling sensation running through your chest. Some astral travelers call it “the buzz.” It’s a sign that your physical body is asleep while your mind is still awake. Quietly observe it.

4. Let the Mind Rise

Instead of thinking about going somewhere, use one simple thought: lightness. Imagine yourself as light as a feather or a helium balloon. Focus purely on the sensation of rising upward two or three feet above your bed (like the man in the image above). Hold that floating feeling for a few seconds. No need to open your eyes. Just enjoy the quiet, weightless sensation of hovering.

A Tip: If you catch yourself getting distracted or feel like you’re anchored to earth, don’t worry. Simply being at the threshold where your body is resting deeply while your mind stays quietly aware is a great start.

Near Death Experience (NDE)

out-of-body experience

Robert Monroe

The Monroe Institute

William Buhlman

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