Before anyone really begins to learn astral travel, it is best to learn everything that comes with it. The benefits of conscious astral travel are many and each time you leave your body to travel in an alternate dimension or plane, you reap their benefits. There are a lot of possibilities when it comes to out of body experiences and each of these experiences teaches you something new.

Access Alternate Dimensions and Realities

There are a lot of different dimensions and planes that exist in the world simultaneously. Accessing these planes can often be impossible. However, if you perform astral travel, the projection can take you to one of these alternate dimensions. These physical planes could be the locations where you existed before you were actually born in your present life. Often, on one of your astral projections, you will also be able to see the planes and dimensions where you may travel to after your physical body has died. During these journeys, you may also have chance encounters with other people who may have passed on from this world themselves. You may even have met some of them in your own life. You may speak with these people and get their wisdom for yourself.

Improved Understanding of Your Fears

When you are traveling away from your body, and your soul has unlatched from your physical form, you will be able to observe your shortcomings and your fears more closely. Astral travel gives you the opportunity to get the wisdom which you may not be able to experience otherwise. Most of those, who project themselves, are able to understand their fear of death and loss, finally being able to come to terms with it. If someone close to you has recently died, and you are not able to come to terms with this loss, travelling to an alternate plane and observing the alternate dimensions where they would remain ever present can help you overcome this feeling of loss.

Recalling Past Lives

The more astral projections you experience, the more control you have over them. You can learn to utilize your own energies using meditation and self-hypnosis. Recalling past lives can infuse you with therapeutic energies. Past life regression is a scientific therapy in itself, and can be achieved through hypnosis. However, if you are able to achieve astral projection, you may not have to get assistance of a hypnotherapist for past life regression. In almost all theories of reincarnation, the notion of astral projections has been discussed. When you have control over your outer body experiences you learn to draw lucid therapeutic energies from the astral planes in which you are traveling. If you have an intention of helping someone else through your travels, you can even transmit these therapeutic energies to them through your projections.

You can also improve your own psychic abilities with the help of astral projection techniques. Since these projections help you get inner peace and improve your spiritual sensibilities, you can improve your psychic powers by simply performing astral travel every now and then.

Before you can proceed to a life altering astral projection, it is imperative that you prepare your mind and body for it. While it may seem like a simple task, actually preparing for such a projection can be really difficult. The more prepared you are for a projection, the easier and more fulfilling your astral travel will be. The preparation needs to be thorough so that your body can be prepared and brought into a state which is optimal for an astral projection. Since the projection itself is not as easy to achieve, preparing for it only makes sure that when you do achieve it, it’s worth the effort.

Preparing Your Body for Astral Projection

You cannot perform astral travel with a tired and worn out body. Physically, you have to be well rested and ready to concentrate hard on the task ahead. While most people look towards meditation to achieve the state of physical relaxation required for projecting yourself, others recommend a good sleep. When you are well rested, you are more likely to achieve an astral projection. Control your body, feed it well and rest it before you even attempt to step out of it.

Though it may seem like a good idea, consuming mind altering substances such as drugs or caffeine can actually have an adverse effect on your body. You need to reach a state of controlled relaxation where your mind can easily sink into the optimal state of relaxation. However, consuming these mind altering substances alter the chemical profile of your body, putting you in a state which does not permit you to project yourself. Though it is best not to consume any such substances for a day before you plan to have an astral projection, allow at least 3-5 hours after you have consumed any such substances for planning a projection.

Ensure that you are wearing loose fitting clothing which is comfortable. Remove anything that constricts you – even if it is a tight fitting ring. Another important thing to keep in mind is a proper location. A restful place, with ambient lighting and temperature and a comfortable place to sit or lie down, is necessary.

Preparing Your Mind for Astral Projection

The more difficult of the two, preparing your mind for astral travel is like performing transcendental meditation. You have to let go of everything, even your own body. However, to achieve this typical transcendence, you may have to try for some before you can actually master the skill. Start off by slowing your breathing and maintaining it in a relaxed rhythm. The next step is to relax yourself into a lull where you are asleep, yet conscious of your self.

The easiest way to detach your astral self from your body is to perform self-hypnosis. There are a lot of ways of doing that and you may have to go through some of them before you find the one which is just right for you. Once both your mind and your body are prepared for the out of body experience, all you really have to do is enjoy the experience.

Meditation has been used for thousands of years to help a person seek inner enlightenment. This is what people most commonly associate meditation with, but this is just part of what meditation can do. It can be used for a wide array of other applications, from lowering stress, anger management, and alleviating cravings when combined with other weight loss, or smoking cessation programs.

There are many resources to help you get started online and through local channels. What most people associate meditation with is some guru, sitting in front of some students, reciting a mantra. What meditation is really is getting yourself into a higher state of consciousness, into a trance of sorts, to allow the conscious and subconscious to make connections. Fantastic things can happen when this occurs.

While you will find an overwhelming amount of different kinds of meditation techniques, you yourself can and do meditate on your own. When you are deep in thought about some subject or idea, other things around you start to fade into the background that is a form of meditation. If you are seeking some time out from a busy or stressful day and you stop for a moment, take a deep breath and relax, that it a form of quick meditation.

It is not hard to learn simple meditation techniques. One perfect example of a simple technique that can be done easily this way. When you have a chance, sit in as comfortable a position as you can, but not so much you fall asleep, meditation is NOT sleep. If you can, listen to some kind of music on a personal listening device. Try to find something light and relaxing instead of more upbeat things you may typically listen to.

Sit with your eyes closed, not too tight, and just relax. Instead of immediately trying to focus or unfocus on something right away, spend a moment just breathing. You breathing should be in through your nose, slowly and filling a portion of your lungs, then blown out gently through the mouth. Do this for a few minutes, because what you are doing is flooding your body with oxygen, which helps your body in many ways. If you want to relax, then start thinking about easing the tensions inside you. Start small a first, focusing on simply relaxing your toes for example, then progress slowly to the rest of your body.

Now this is just a short simple method of relaxation. Once relaxed, there are many other techniques you can use to reprogram thoughts and actions. It takes time, and it doesn’t often work overnight. But with time and persistence you will see these changes happen. Like many self help methods, you can’t just do it once and expect results, nor can you expect to let it just happen. You still have to refrain from smoking or eating, but with the help of meditation, you may be able to better get through the cravings.

You can also use meditation to heal your mind and body. Meditation has been used to ease many different ailments, from headaches to labor pains. It is often used with other homeopathic techniques in a variety of applications.