What are Out-of-Body Experiences?

What are Out-of-Body Experiences?

Throughout history, people have wondered if we are more than just our physical bodies. What happens when we die? Do we still exist? Do we have a soul? This fundamental mystery has underscored our theological, philosophical and scientific debates and is central to our drive as human beings to understand ourselves, our origins, who we really are and what our purpose in life is.

In both ancient and modern times, there have been accounts of people leaving their bodies and coming back to tell the tale. These have come to be called out-of-body experiences, or OBEs.

The term OBE covers a range of phenomena where a person reports being conscious outside their physical body. They seem to be triggered by different causes, and in most accounts they are described as very real and vivid experiences.

Near-death experiences

One of the most well known kinds of OBEs occurs when someone is clinically dead, or close to it. Upon revival, people have brought back memories of an existence beyond their bodies, and their accounts are often similar.

Some report floating up and looking down upon their body and everyone around it, and are able to accurately describe what was happening even though their body had lost consciousness. Others recount having a more transcendental experience: going through a tunnel towards a light, hearing beautiful music, meeting spiritual beings and deceased relatives, or having their entire life shown to them like a movie.

These kinds of occurrences, which have been termed near-death experiences (NDEs), have happened to people who had no brain activity, heartbeat or vital signs at all at the time. This is significant because it shows that we are more than just our bodies and can continue existing without them.

But not all OBEs are reported when a person is close to death; some happen with sleep.

OBEs and sleep

People have also reported experiencing OBEs in the hours of sleep and these occurrences are often categorized as a ‘sleep disorder' or ‘REM intrusion' by the scientific community. People have reported feeling strange sensations such as paralysis - a normal function that stops the body from sleep walking. In other accounts, people also report separating from their body, even floating away from it; some perceiving real life events happening in another location as well as seeing and interacting with things that would not be present to a physical observer.

Some scientists suggest this is caused by a person waking up while the brain is still in sleep mode: the brain is confused and can't discern what is real from what is a dream, resulting in very vivid hallucinations. But others suggest these sorts of OBEs are very much linked to NDEs, and since NDEs cannot be reduced to brain function, since they can occur without brain activity, these experiences cannot simply be explained biologically.

They say with sleep our consciousness separates from the body, the same as with death - the main difference being that it's not a permanent process as we return to our bodies when we wake up. By utilising this natural separation process, they say it is possible to have a self-willed OBE. This is often called ‘astral projection' and it involves focusing the mind while falling asleep, to remain aware during this separation process, enabling a person to experience going out of their body consciously with sleep, rather than just unconsciously in a dream. Another way people report having an OBE is by waking up in a dream, that is, realising they are dreaming and becoming aware they are outside their body.

Benefits of OBEs

There are different techniques people use to have OBEs, and those who report having them say they can be very profound experiences. They describe being able to float or fly, move through walls and do many things they could not do physically. One of the main benefits they say they get from this is that it shows them they have an existence beyond their body, which broadens their perspective and helps them learn and understand more about life and themselves.