by Leslee Dru Browning

Before you can begin to astral travel, you need to start recalling your dreams. To do this put a piece of blank paper by your bed and a pen. Tell yourself before retiring that you will dream, and that you will remember your dream upon waking. When you begin to stir in the morning, keep your eyes closed and lay still for a few minutes to see if you are able to recall anything you may have dreamt. No matter how insignificant it may seem write it down. You may have seen a color, or a flower, or a person, or a rock. Once you recall what it is you saw then write it down and date it. Do this every night. This will be the beginning of your dream journal. It may take you a day to begin remembering your dreams, or it may take a month. But, if you follow this procedure nightly you will begin to recall your dreams. I also recommend that if you need to set an alarm to wake up, use music and not a buzzer. A buzzer is too abrupt and distressing for remembering dreams.

We all astral travel in dream. De-Ja vu is simply something you dreamt of the future, but if you have not kept track of your dreams in a journal, you probably will not recall that you dreamt it ahead of time. Purchase a book on symbols. I recommend "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional SYMBOLS by J. C. Cooper, 1978, Thames and Hudson Ltd. London". This book is spiritual in nature, and gives the meaning of symbols for almost every belief system. For example, if you dreamt about a dog, this book gives over 15 meanings for the symbol of a dog, each pertaining to a various culture. This is important and why general dream books contain definitions which do not pertain to some thing’s, or some people. A Christian dreaming of a dog means something entirely different to a Native American dreaming of a dog. I find most people dream in symbols of their own chosen belief system, so unless you understand the right definition, you will not be able to decipher the meanings of your dreams.

Now that you are remembering your dreams keep your daily journal up to date, and leave a fair amount of space between each dream for making later entries on what the dream may have actually meant. Use the symbol book to see if you can decipher your dreams. If something happens in your life that pertains to one of your dream, know that you were astral traveling in your sleep and glimpsed your future. Enter this below your prophetic dream. This will also help you discover you own personal dream symbols. For example, I have a few psychic friends, we all have prophetic dreams; yet we each have completely different symbols for the same meanings. You need to discover yours.

Dress in loose clothing then find a comfortable place to either sit back or lay down. Have the lighting in the room set low. Remove a watch if you are wearing one. Quiet is very important, so make sure you are in a location where you do not need to worry about loud and abrupt noises.

Have someone in the room with you in case you need a lifeline. A lifeline is someone you trust and who will sit quietly with you watching for signs that you may need help coming back, or who can gently awaken you to a normal state if you are panicking.

Close your eyes. Relax your body. Begin by concentrating on your toes, stretch and release them, then stretch and release your legs, continue to do this to your entire body until you have worked up to the crown of your head. Quiet your mind and slow down your breathing. Deep, slow breathing will put you in a state of complete relaxation.

By now you should be in a meditative state. Concentrate on any image that may come into your mind. Allow the image to expand and flow. It will eventually take on movement, followed by other images, and soon it will seem as like you are watching a movie. Stay calm and let the images move by, they will not hurt you, it is just a movie.

As you watch the movie you will deepen your state of relaxation. See if you can clear your mind. Observe your field of vision through your closed eyes. Do nothing except for looking through your closed eyelids. You may see light patterns, which will eventually disappear to make room for seeing out of your third eye. At this point you will be seeing images with your intuitive eye only. By now you should be completely unaware of your body, which is the state you need to be in before you can leave your body.

Now that your are completely relaxed and unaware of your body you will enter a state of vibration. This is the most important part of astral traveling because everything is a vibration. You may feel mild tingling, or electrical sensations, or a shooting of energy through your crown chakra. This is where you will begin to leave your body.

Begin with just allowing a little separation of yourself emerge from your crown chakra. You need to be able to control your vibrational state. Practice by allowing some energy to flow out of your crown, then bring it back in and push it down to your toes. Practice doing this –energy in, energy out, until you feel you can master and control your spiritual body. Once you have learned to control this vibrational state, you will be ready to leave your body entirely and astral travel with complete confidence that you are in control, and can return back into your body whenever you so desire.

Now you are ready to dissociate yourself from your body, leaving through your crown chakra. To do this think about getting lighter and lighter after you have entered your vibrational state. Think of yourself flying through the air. Imagine how wonderful it would be to float upward into the sky. Let no other thoughts enter your mind.

At this point you should have an OBE. It should occur completely naturally. Now, once you are out of your body, and since this is the first time you are out, explore something close, like another room in your home. After you are able to explore a few rooms of your house come back to where your body lies in a state of pure relaxation and enter back into it.

I suggest baby steps. Keep your first astral explorations close to home and about 5 minutes in length. With each additional astral travel venture out a little farther than you traveled before. Once you become adept in your travels, and all your fear is gone, then you will be able to travel anywhere. Just think of a place and you will be there. Keep a journal of your travels; they are fun to read through at later dates.