Have you ever had an out of body (OBE) experience? Sometimes when you are just about to enter sleep, in the twilight area between drifting off and waking have you experienced a jumping sensation that woke you? This is believed by some to be the spirit going back into the body. Others believe this is a quick jump out, jump in sensation that is caused by the person being afraid to actually leave their body.

There have been many instances that people have had near death experiences and have reported being outside of their body looking down at themselves. They have related the things that happened while they were watching their own body that they would have no way of knowing. Another term for this is astral projection. This form of spirit walking is one of the unexplained phenomenon for which scientists do not have an explanation.

About one in ten people experience this OBE at some time in their lives. They may not call it OBE but what other explanation could there be for the floating sensation and ability to see their own body especially during a near death experience. There have been many attempts to try and produce this experience by direct brain stimulation. Those who have experienced this sensation have said they used their mind to project themselves out of their body while others say they feel as if they were pulled from their body. Most people report feeling like they were paralyzed before the OBE.

On the other hand, some people do not even realise they have had an OBE until after the fact. In cases where the person has experienced a traumatic event such as a vehicle accident and have been near death, they can recall being on the outside of the vehicle watching the scene unfolding before them almost as if it were a dream.

They can see their own body, watch the rescue workers and recall the ride to the hospital. They see the nurses and doctors working on them and can remember what was said. Many times they report seeing a loved one who has passed on before them who they may have had a sensation of wanting to follow. However, the feeling that the time is not right is conveyed either through the mind or a sort of conversation, not of the typical sort one would think of as conversing.

When exploring the world of out of body experiences, there have been many who have used meditation to act as a catalyst to the experience. They meditate and put themselves in a dream like state and use certain imageries to pull themselves out of their body. This is a practiced technique that is not necessarily easy for everyone to use, especially those who have a hard time relaxing.

There have been other methods of using drugs to induce this state. Whatever the reason or method used, the same feelings have been reported by many people. They feel weightless, like an observer, and can see and remember everything that went on while they were ‘out of their bodies.' Some say this is nothing but a dream-like state during which the person is asleep and dreaming the events. However, this explanation does not fit the ability to see and hear everything and know what treatments were used to bring the accident victim back from the brink of death.