Out of Body Experiences
Aboriginal Dreamtime art
When I was a kid, I used to totally zone out in the most random situations. It was the strangest feeling. Almost like my mind separated from my body. It wasn’t like floating and looking down at myself. More like I was someone else — someone “foreign” — seeing the world through a human body for the first time. It never scared me. It was actually quite a peaceful sensation that I came to crave. Sometimes I was able to force myself into that semi-conscious state.
I know it sounds crazy. I never told anyone about my odd “trips” because I thought they’d laugh or worry something was wrong with me. Hell, maybe I was having some kind of petit mal seizure. Who knows?
These experiences seemed to happen in waves. I’d have a bunch of them in a day or over the course of a week, then I wouldn’t have one for a while. They might last a few seconds or several minutes. I’m not sure when they stopped, but I haven’t had one in years. Until now. I’ve had two out of body experiences over the last couple of weeks. No drugs or alcohol are ever involved, just my crazy brain tripping out. I realized this morning that weird sense of detachment is sort of like the Dreaming in my JUST BREATHE novels. Is it possible that the Dreaming — the collective unconscious, if you will — is a real state of being? Can our minds shake free of their earthly bonds and slip into another realm? What could we learn from that other world?
Have you ever had an out of body experience? If so, where and when did it happen? Did you learn anything from it?
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Tags: Exhale, Inhale, Just Breathe, Out of Body Experiences, The Dreaming
Giveaways, Philosophizin' | Kendall Grey May 31, 2012
16 Comments to “Out of Body Experiences”
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By Isalys, May 31, 2012 @ 12:25 pm
I’ve never had an experience like the one you described but I do think they’re possible. I don’t necessarily consider myself a spiritual person, although I do believe in the existence of something and someone greater than us…a beyond!
Certain members of my family had (and still have) abilities. “Gifts” that go beyond logic but I think we can only tap into those if we allow ourselves. You’ve allowed yourself to have those experiences because you didn’t fear them; in fact, you relished and craved them! I am FASCINATED by ghosts and spirits, but I am also terrified of them because I was never taught how to handle them. I think if I’d been given the tools then the experiences I had as a kid would have followed me into adulthood.
I do feel that I am an old soul. I am obsessed with the past and have some pretty old-fashioned ideals. I find myself craving a time I didn’t live in and don’t know beyond what books or movies have taught me. I love the idea of reincarnation; that our souls visited and experienced life in different times makes me happy! If it’s possible for our minds to somehow disconnect from our current life and connect into something else is actually quite magical :)
?Isalys / Book Soulmates
By Kendall Grey, May 31, 2012 @ 12:32 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Isa! I agree with pretty much everything you said. I love the idea of reincarnation too. I think we are a mix of energy and matter, and when a body dies, the energy that’s left behind has to go somewhere. Makes complete sense to me that it would turn back up in some other living thing – whether another person, an animal, or a plant. I think animals have similar “energy” to ours – you can see it in their eyes sometimes. That’s kinda my feeling about the whales. They KNOW something we don’t. I truly believe that. They are intelligent beings like us. Maybe it’s not the same kind of intelligence we possess, but something is there.
By TL Jeffcoat, May 31, 2012 @ 5:24 pm
I’ve had some weird experiences, several when I was a kid. One time I grabbed someone’s hand and I was instantly staring at myself. I thought I imagined it, it was only for a few seconds. The other person freaked out and that’s when I knew it wasn’t just my imagination. I’ve a few weird moments like that but that was the only time someone could confirm it.
By Kendall Grey, May 31, 2012 @ 8:21 pm
That’s really cool, Tim. And a bit creepy! I’ve never had anything like that happen, but I’ve definitely felt like I’d been places or seen the same things before. I really think there’s something to the collective unconscious idea.
By Brenda ND/ Mia Celeste, June 1, 2012 @ 11:33 am
Grin. I don’t know if I’ve experienced this exactly, but I think lots of writers like to zone.
By Kendall Grey, June 1, 2012 @ 10:44 pm
Yep, we have our own version of the “Twilight Zone”!
By Hildie McQueen, June 1, 2012 @ 2:33 pm
My cousin jumped from the couch where he was dozing, something didn’t feel right and he turned back to see that he was still sitting on the couch asleep. He freaked out and screamed. When I my aunt ran into the room, he was on the floor shaking. It scared the poop out of him. We picked on him about it for years, but looking back, that must have been some creepy experience. whether a dream or an out of body experience.
By Kendall Grey, June 1, 2012 @ 10:45 pm
Oh wow! That’s very creepy. Did he not ever talk about it? I’d wanna know what that was all about!
By Amy @ Book Loving Mom, June 2, 2012 @ 8:34 pm
I have never had an experience like that. I have had similar type experiences while on the verge of sleep while I am still awake and aware of what is going on, but never when fully awake. I never really put much thought into it until reading this. I don’t know if mine are me actually being asleep and not realizing it or something else, but I know what you mean. It has only happened to me a few times.
By Kendall Grey, June 2, 2012 @ 10:53 pm
Yes, Amy, I think that in-between-wakefulness-and-sleep time qualifies as a pseudo-out of body experience. It’s definitely some weirdness! Maybe you’re *almost* seeing into the Dreaming. ;-)
By Amy @ Book Loving Mom, June 3, 2012 @ 9:56 am
Hmmm can I have a Gavin in my Dreaming….oh, or Sinnder!! ;)
By Kendall Grey, June 5, 2012 @ 11:27 am
Dream hard, my friend! Anything can happen in the Dreaming! ;-)
By Laura Diamond, June 4, 2012 @ 1:28 pm
That can occur where people are “between” asleep and awake. It’s similar to and sometimes called sleep paralysis because body movement is still suppressed (that keeps us from acting out our dreams), but awareness is growing.
By Laura Diamond, June 4, 2012 @ 1:26 pm
It’s called depersonalization (feeling separated from yourself). It’s not pathologic in and of itself and most people experience it.
By Laura Diamond, June 4, 2012 @ 1:29 pm
Ok. I’ll stop commenting. I think I’m crashing the party and having a “Buzz Killington” effect. ;)
By Kendall Grey, June 5, 2012 @ 11:26 am
Not at all! I love that you explained what all this stuff is. I’ve always wondered. Thanks!