I was planning to go on a trip to a foreign country a few months ago. I ordered my flight ticket and received the flight details with the name of the airport where the plane was due to take off. On the big day, before heading for the airport I checked my flight once more, just to be sure everything was all right, and I was surprised to see that my plane had been directed to another airport in the city.

That came as a shock because I had checked on the previous day and no changes had occurred yet. Fortunately this did not interfere with my plan and everything went smoothly ? I got to the airport just in time to catch the plane ? but this incident made me take a moment and think more thoroughly of the connections that human mind can establish with other minds. In this case the message may have been sent to me spontaneously by someone who found out of the change before I did or by the airport staff.

This was a typical example of spontaneous telepathy, the kind of connection that is established irrespective of the receiver's or sender's will. However, telepathy can be practised intentionally and the effects are the same. A message reaches the receiver because the sender wants him or her to get it and mentally concentrates on that purpose. This is called deliberate telepathy and there is a very good exercise that beginners may do in order to learn how it works.

Here is a typical telepathy exercise for beginners. Choose someone you feel comfortable with, a very good friend you have a lot in common with. It is easier to send and receive information to and from someone you know well. Your friend should sit in the opposite corner of the room. Grab a pack of cards and start looking at one of them, trying to make your friend 'receive' the image of that very card. Your friend will then write down the impression he or she has got from this attempt of yours. Do the same with another card and so on, till you have 'sent' the images of the whole deck of cards to the receiver. Check your friend's notes to see if he or she has got the right messages. Then reverse roles and be the receiver yourself. In this way you may understand how good you both are as senders and receivers. After practicing this with all the cards twice or three times, you should have a break so as not to get bored. When you have seen some improvement in the quality of the messages sent, you may as well practise this exercise long distance if you and your friend agree to a certain time and each of you tries sending an image for five minutes. Next time you meet, you can compare the results.

Some people are better senders; others can receive messages more easily. There is also a certain number of people who can do both at a very high level. They say 'practice makes perfect' which is fairly true about telepathic exercises as well. The more you practice the more details you are likely to send or receive and in time you will be able to 'manipulate' more complex thoughts between you and your partner.