3 Meditations To Help You Experience Astral Projection

In the esoteric world, astral projection is a spiritual practice that involves deliberately inducing an out-of-body experience. This supernatural endeavor largely leans on the idea of escaping your physical body to travel, or project, through the different planes of existence. But it’s not quite the same as having a lucid dream: The idea behind astral projection is that your soul leaves your physical body in order to travel the world, or even other dimensions. If you’re curious about traversing in the astral plane, slipping into a deep, meditative state can help you with your astral projection practice.

“Astral projection helps an individual tour various parts of the world without physically being there and also allows them to use spiritual ways to perform energy work on themselves,” psychologist Barbara Santini, MSci, tells Bustle. This spiritual phenomenon hit a fever pitch on TikTok during 2020, when people were looking for ways to adjust to (slash escape from) newly established lockdowns, but the concept of astral travel is as ancient as they come.

While a regular out-of-body experience is a neurological phenomenon, typically during near-death experiences, there is little research to support the scientific validity of astral projection — i.e., that your soul can literally escape your body and travel around in the astral plane. But that doesn’t stop people from having meaningful experiences trying. If you’re thinking about wandering outside of your physical body, getting yourself in the meditative state can help promote astral travel.

What Is Astral Projection?

Understanding astral projection requires you to think outside of yourself (pun intended). When you engage in astral travel, you’re purposely causing an out-of-body experience, and your soul leaves its physical body to roam around free.

“Astral projection occurs when the person having one is in control of the process. They’ve learned how to go into a deep meditative state and allow that person's EMS (electromagnetic soul) to ‘project’ away from the body,” Mark Anthony, an evidential medium and author of The Afterlife Frequency, tells Bustle. “Think of our brain like a computer hard drive, which hosts the soul but does not create it. Many belief systems teach that the soul pre-exists the body, temporarily residing in the body, and moves on after the body dies.”

When you astral project, your soul or spiritual consciousness is able to travel wherever you like. For many people, traveling in the astral plane throughout their house or to a place they’re familiar with is common. TikTok is a treasure trove of astral testimonials and visual depictions of what astral projection would look like, including surreal images of floating above a river. One person claims she had been inducing out-of-body experiences since she was a child, saying she can see herself from above in the air lying flat below, aware of her surroundings but also aware of her physical body. These testimonials show how the person practicing astral projection enters a higher state of consciousness — thanks to meditation.

Meditations For Astral Projection

What does meditation have to do with astral projection, anyway? The practice of quieting your mind can help you envision the planes you wish to travel to. Just as singular concentration is essential for lucid dreaming, you’ll need to get a handle on your thoughts in order to induce an out-of-body experience and astral project. Keep reading to learn more about meditations for astral projection.

Hypnosis

If you’re ready to embark on your astral journey, a good place to start is getting into a deep and meditative state like hypnosis. In hypnotherapy, the mindset is used to help people reach a heightened state of awareness. By inducing a suggestible hypnotic state, you’re raising your consciousness to a different realm of existence.

“Hypnosis refers to heightening your attention and focus, allowing no or minimal distraction from the physical environment. This technique opens up your mind, making your astral travel easy,” says Santini. Guided hypnosis meditations are everywhere on the web, but to get started, you first need to eliminate distractions by retreating to a quiet place.

“When you’re not distracted, determine the hypnosis goals,” says Santini. Identify what you want this experience to serve — is it to find clarity in your life, shake a habit, or are you simply curious to explore? Get clear on what its purpose is, and keep this in mind moving forward.

“Close your eyes and start eliminating negative energies, including anxiety and stress,” says Santini. Focus on your breathing. “Make your breathing slow but deeper to further chip away the tension and the negative energies,” says Santini.

Once you enter a deep state of awareness, start to visualize a safe and happy place or imagine a favorite color. Once you reach a state of peace, affirm yourself by reciting a mantra like “I am aware that I am aware,” or “I am aware I am safe and at peace.”

From here, picture yourself in the astral plane and visualize what it would feel like to experience from a different perspective — what would you feel, see, or hear? Spend time in this state for about five minutes or until you feel like you’re drifting off into sleep. Repeat this ritual regularly to raise your awareness and propel you into astral travel.

Chakra Activation

Chakras refer to the seven different energetic focal points that surround your physical body, each layer representing a different part of your being, like your basic physical needs and communication. You can activate or balance your chakras through meditation, according to Santini.

“Chakra activation is a long meditation practice that involves creating energy that helps you see parts of your spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being through hallucinations,” Santini explains. That’s because the third eye chakra is believed to be related to the pineal gland — an organ that some call the “seat of the soul” because of its connection to DMT, a chemical our brains naturally produce and known to cause hallucinations and profound spiritual experiences. It could help to open up your third eye chakra if you want to connect your spirit with the astral plane.

To activate your chakras through meditation, close your eyes and envision the different centers of energy in your body, starting with the root chakra. As you visit each layer, chant a mantra like “LAM” or “VAM”, which are used in Hindu and yogic meditations. Leaning in on these effective ancient techniques can help you open the door to a different dimension.

Binaural Beats Meditation

Binaural beats refer to auditory perceptions created when you hear two separate tones. Your brain tries to mesh and synchronize these frequencies, which can help you slip into a meditative state.

“Using binaural beats in your meditation allows your brains to be synchronized to delta and theta waves, boosting your mood and conscious state. Once your brain is synchronized to delta and theta waves, you can easily enter astral travel,” says Santini. Binaural beats and frequencies can be found on streaming services like Spotify or YouTube.

Astral travel can be thrilling, but it can also be intimidating at first. If you’re cosmically curious about the different planes of existence, remember that projection can’t hurt you, and surrendering to the experience is the only way to find out if it works for you. “Fear is your foe, not your friend,” says Anthony. “Don't be afraid when you start disconnecting from your body. It’s important to realize that this is a positive experience and that you can return any time you choose.”