Getting out of your body while sleeping
Out-of-body experiences: Neuroscience or the paranormal?
As you lie in slumber, your spirit body snaps free and drifts upward while your physical shell is left lonely on the bed below, connected only by a fragile, silvery cord. You turn and observe yourself peacefully sleeping. Could this be evidence of the soul? Could it be proof of life after death?
Share on PinterestWhat can out-of-body experiences teach us about ourselves?Reports of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) vary. Some consist of little more than a fleeting feeling that body and mind have come loose, while others recount tales of floating far from the person’s physical body and traveling to otherworldly plains. Either way, OBEs have fascinated humanity for centuries, entering folklore, spiritual belief, and mythology.
In the 19th century, for instance, OBEs became a popular topic of the romantic literary movement, and unsurprisingly, they were eagerly discussed by early psychical researchers.
“I suddenly seemed to divide into two distinct beings.
[…] One of these beings remained motionless on the sofa; the other could move some little distance, and could actually look at the motionless body on the sofa.”
Journal of Society for Psychical Research, July 1894
According to surveys, around 10 percent of the population have experienced an OBE at least once – so there must be more to it than a desire to live forever or an over-charged imagination.
Although, historically, most research into OBEs has come from the unkempt fringes of science, it has attracted a little more serious attention over recent years. In this article, we will discuss some of these findings.
OBEs have been documented in a variety of situations. These can be split into two categories: spontaneous and induced.
Spontaneous OBEs
A variety of factors could trigger a spontaneous OBE. These include:
Sleep: Spontaneous OBEs are most commonly reported as occurring just before falling asleep or just prior to waking.
They are more likely to occur when sleep is not particularly deep – due to noise, stress, or illness, for example.
Physical effort: OBEs have also been reported following or during extreme exertion.
Near-death experiences (NDEs): OBEs sometimes occur alongside “light at the end of the tunnel” visions.
Other spontaneous OBEs have been reported during meditation, non-life-threatening accidents, anesthesia, hypnosis, child birth, when suffocating, after being shot, while dancing or talking, or, as one 36-year-old police officer relates, during her first night at work.
“When I and three other officers stopped the vehicle and started getting [to] the suspect […] I was afraid. I promptly went out of my body and up into the air maybe 20 feet above the scene. I remained there, extremely calm, while I watched the entire procedure – including watching myself do exactly what I had been trained to do.”
Induced OBEs
From a scientific standpoint, induced OBEs offer a more tantalizing glimpse into the physical basis of OBEs.
They include:
Drugs: Hallucinogenic drugs, and dissociative hallucinogenics in particular – such as DMT, MDA, LSD, and ketamine – can give rise to induced OBEs.
Sensory deprivation or overload: Either too little sensory information (floatation tanks or listening to white noise) or too much (torture) can also trigger them.
Strong G-forces: Pilots and astronauts occasionally experience OBEs. For instance, when extreme G-forces are encountered, blood can partially drain from certain parts of the brain. This, it seems, has the power to induce an OBE.
In this instance, OBEs occur as part of a phenomenon called “gravity-induced loss of consciousness.” The more surreal parts of this experience are not freely discussed by most pilots, but some give vivid accounts.
“I was there. But I, like, wasn’t there. I was floating. I was looking at myself from outside of myself.”
Col. Dan Fulgham
It is not only extreme G-forces that can spark OBEs in pilots.
Even during standard flights, pilots can endure odd sensory experiences, which are referred to collectively as spatial disorientation (SD). In one particular SD episode, known as the “break-off phenomenon,” a pilot may feel as though they are sat on the wing, watching themselves fly the plane.
SD is considered one of the most common factors contributing to aviation accidents. Fatigue, stress, drugs, low light levels, and sensory overload or deprivation are among the factors potentially involved.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of OBEs is veridical perception, which is the claim that during an OBE, the viewer is able to literally float out of their body and witness something or someone that they could not have otherwise seen.
A well-known example is the case of Pam Reynolds, a brain surgery patient who underwent a highly invasive operation to remove a brain tumor.
Share on PinterestCan OBEs be pinned down by research into NDEs?
Following surgery, Reynolds was able to describe aspects of the procedure that had happened at a time when she was clinically dead.
She claimed to have surveyed the scene during an OBE.
Although skepticism abounds, proponents of the afterlife have repeatedly used this story as “evidence” of an ability to float beyond the body.
Some of these stories are intriguing and compelling. But at this stage, they are nothing more than unverifiable stories.
A study from 2014, titled Awareness during Resuscitation (AWARE), was the first serious large-scale investigation to look at NDEs. The study addressed the possibility of veridical perception during OBEs.
The research involved multiple hospitals and hundreds of interviews with cardiac arrest survivors. To investigate whether any individuals had genuinely floated above themselves and viewed their surroundings, researchers placed pictures on shelves that would only be viewable from above. In this way, they could test whether people experiencing OBEs really could leave their bodies.
Although there were only two veridical OBEs during the study, neither could accurately relate the images from the shelves.
We eagerly await the next phase, known as AWARE II. As the authors write, “Another veridical recall is a real possibility in the 1,000+ monitored cases, and who knows, that ever elusive visual recall may yet be found.”
Direct brain stimulation
In 1955, a Canadian neurosurgeon called Wilder Penfield electrically stimulated the brains of people with epilepsy. On one occasion, he stimulated a patient’s right temporal lobe and the patient exclaimed, “Oh God! I am leaving my body.”
Share on PinterestThe temporoparietal junction (shown here in red).
In 2002, a Swiss group also working on patients with epilepsy passed a weak current through a patient’s right angular gyrus, which is where the parietal lobe meets the temporal lobe. This region is also called the temporoparietal junction.
The patient relayed a sensation of “falling from a height.” As they increased the current, she said, “I see myself lying in bed, from above, but I only see my legs and lower trunk.
”
Our brains do such a wonderful job of pinning us in reality that we often forget that the pins are an illusion and can, therefore, sometimes be shaken loose. Blanke, one of the scientists involved in the Swiss experiment, believes, “OBEs are related to a failure to integrate multisensory information from one’s own body at the temporoparietal junction (TPJ).”
In another study conducted by Blanke, he and his team studied six neurological patients with brain lesions that caused them to experience occasional OBEs. They found “the angular gyrus to be involved in all five patients in whom lesion analysis could be performed.”
The latest studies position OBEs squarely in the court of the TPJ. So, what do we know about this region of the brain?
The TPJ is an area that collates a range of information. It is a hub of activity, with inputs from the thalamus (which relays sensory information) and the limbic system (which is important in emotion and memory). It also takes data from the visual, auditory, and somatosensory (bodily sensations) systems.
The TPJ integrates information from the external environment as well as from within the body. It is thought to play a part in the distinction between self and other, which makes the TPJ a prime contender for the seat of OBEs.
Why OBEs should happen to people who are otherwise healthy is still a mystery. But perhaps the illusion is, physiologically, no more significant than many other tricks of the mind that we take in our stride, such as déjà vu. The difference with OBEs is that they attack our sense of self, something that we hold dear yet take for granted.
For a moment, we feel ethereal – we feel as though we are not one, sensing our flimsy transient nature. Of course, our personalities, emotions, memories, and desires are all little more than peaks and troughs in energy levels and surges of chemicals. We know this, but our brains do not normally allow us to feel it.
We have all seen ourselves from outside, in mediums such as photos and mirrors.
We have all seen rooms from above, and weaved fairytales in our minds. Therefore, it is not such a push to imagine that our brains could manufacture an OBE and present it to us as a fleeting reality.
Our brain does a mighty job of hiding the truth from us. We feel as though we are a solid, singular entity, with our mind and body combined and secure in their rightful places, a monolith in the cosmos. OBEs unravel this sense of self, proving that we are little more than a skillful neurological illusion after all.
Can We Travel Out of Our Bodies When We Sleep?
“I felt myself settling into the bed, feeling very comfortable. After some time, I noticed that I was still awake and a strange lightness flowed through my body. Gradually I became aware that I was drifting above my body. With a bit of effort, I was able to turn over and was somewhat shocked to see myself asleep on the bed. I seemed to simply drift up and up with little control over what was happening. I eventually rose above my house and began to glide over the city and countryside.
It was both alarming and exhilarating. I noticed that there seemed to be some umbilical cord type of energy or substance that continued to trail out behind me and kept me connected to my distant body no matter how far I traveled from it. At some point, I seemed to simply slip back into my physical self and later awoke surprised and a bit frightened by what had happened. I started to read up on this topic and spoke to others who have had similar experiences. As a result, I felt that I could take greater control of when I left my body and where I went when I had left. Often these are good experiences and others times, well, let me just say I have met things out there, where ever that is, that no one would want to encounter. That’s all I can say.”
“I remember being in the hospital bed when I began to feel as if the room were somehow moving and then I realized that I was moving — up and away from the bed. As I looked around the room, I could clearly hear the sound of the alarm going off and the nurses, I think it was a nurse, that came running into the room first.
Then another and then, I believe, it was the resident or the attending physician or maybe it was both. I felt safe, comfortable, and warm even though this was a very unusual thing happening to me. I remember just seeming to float in the corner of the hospital room and watched, almost with amusement, the medical team pounding and roughly handling my body. I could hear what they were saying and how frantic their work was to save my physical being. I didn’t seem that invested in the outcome, however it might turn out. Then I heard the alarm stop and a regular sound started up, maybe a beeping sound or something like that. Then I was drifting down and took a big breath and was back in my body, hurting and, for a moment, sad that my comfortable state had ended and now I was feeling pain and discomfort and my chest felt heavy. I lost consciousness again but this time it was just black until sometime later I awoke and saw my husband and daughter standing above me. I thought for a moment I might be at my funeral, but I was relieved that I was again in the hospital bed.
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These are examples of actual descriptions that have been related to me by patients about their out of body experiences (OBE). The first was a spontaneous experience that occurred around the onset of sleep. The individual was able to later learn to control and use the experience, to some extent, for a kind of spiritual exploration. The second occurred during a near-death experience. The term that some of my patients used for the first type of experience was “astral projection." OBE has become the standard way of referring to it in psychology as it is not related to any particular belief system and is descriptive of the phenomenology of the experience.
When I first heard starting hearing these stories from patients, I remembered that I actually had such an experience myself. It didn’t occur during sleep or as part of a near-death experience, however, but immediately prior to a relatively minor motor vehicle accident I was involved in some years before.
It occurred when I was driving down a long straight street and saw a car suddenly come out of a parking lot and cut quickly in front of me.
Instantly, I knew that an impact was inevitable. As I thought back to this experience I remember having the unusual feeling of sitting beside myself in the car watching myself driving and hopelessly putting on the brake. I simultaneously had the experience of driving and being extremely alarmed at what was about to occur and yet at the very same time was watching the scene from the passenger’s seat and feeling detached and analytical about it.
The impact came and fortunately no one was injured, although the same cannot be said for the front of my vehicle. While less dramatic than those described by the patients, this was an example of an OBE. It was an unusual experience that in some way seemed to help me cope with what was an extremely frightening, nearly overwhelming, situation. While mine was a brief experience and did not involve traveling far away from my body, being “beside myself” while waiting for and during a car accident certainly allowed me to see things from a different perspective!
The core feature of an OBE is that of having one’s center of awareness appear to be located outside of the physical body (Cardena & Alvarado, 2014).
There are feelings of floating, viewing the body from a distance, and traveling to sometimes distant locations. Other kinds of experiences also occur during OBEs including feeling energy, seeing a bright light, and feeling a connection to the physical body.
OBEs can occur in a number of different situations including near-death experiences as described above and during stressful situations such as being tortured, undergoing surgery, or being in a natural disaster. OBEs can also occur during altered states of consciousness such as extreme relaxation, hypnosis, meditation, as a part of the alien abduction phenomenon, and during migraine headaches and epileptic seizures. Frequently we hear reports of these events when people are using psychedelic and dissociative drugs. It appears that lying down and being passive help to promote their occurrence as well. Cardena & Alvarado, (2014) reviewed several surveys of random samples of the general population and found that the mean prevalence rate for these experiences was 9% with higher rates reported by college students and people interested in paranormal phenomena.
The boundary hypothesis has to do with the degree to which individuals maintain separate areas of psychological experience (Cardena & Alvarado, 2014). There are, for example, individual differences in the degree to which people experience themselves as being different from others and the degree to which their states of consciousness are kept apart. For some people, there may be less distinction between unusual sleep experiences and various waking experiences. Research has indicated that unusual sleep experiences and dissociative states are weakly or moderately correlated. Out of body experiences have been found to positively correlate with such factors as imaginative involvement and fantasy proneness as well as dissociation and depersonalization.
Some work has been done to identify the neurological basis of OBEs. For example, cortical areas that are involved in sensory integration appear to have altered activity during OBEs. Research on EEG correlates of OBEs has centered on individuals who are able to bring them on essentially at will (Cardena & Alvarado, 2014). Although studies have been small, they indicate that OBEs are related to slow brain wave activity, similar to that seen in stage I light sleep. The type of brainwave activity that has been most observed is in the theta band. These studies suggest that a disruption of brain wave activity may occur in the junction between the temporal and parietal lobes of the brain during OBEs. These are areas involved with emotional processing and the integration of information and experience.
I must emphasize that the studies reviewed by Cardena & Alvarado (2014) regarding this are very small, often have only a single subject, and are in need of extensive replication with larger samples to have full confidence in the findings. Some additional information on the possible neurological basis of OBEs as well as their relationship to sleep can be found in the online edition of Medical News Today.
Another theory about the mechanism underlying OBE has been put forth that doesn’t relate to sleep at all.
It emerged from the observation in a study by Marseille & Elziere (2017) that a significantly greater proportion of patients with vestibular disorders with dizziness reported having OBEs (14%) than did healthy patients (5%). It is notable, however, that the rate for the healthy patients in this study was lower than the nearly 10% reported in the general population studies cited above. They hypothesize that vestibular disorders cause perceptual incoherence and thus uncertainty about the location of the body in space. This alone was not enough to cause the OBEs and the majority of patients with vestibular disorders did not report having OBEs. They found that when the psychological factors of depersonalization-derealization, depression, and anxiety and neurological factors such as migraine headache were present, OBEs were more likely to be reported. They suggest that it is the combination of disturbed perception and psychological and neurological factors that combine to, at least for some patients, create the OBE.
For those who are interested, you can find online directions for attempting to self-induce an OBE. There are organizations such as the OBERF that are devoted to greater understanding of these experiences. I don’t have enough experience with either inducing OBEs or with this particular organization to recommend these instructions or this organization so proceed with caution. It is interesting, however, that there are many resources available to those who want to learn more.
I find the idea, found in the philosophy of panpsychism, that consciousness may not be limited to the physical enclosure of our own skull and may extend beyond it, to be very interesting and worthy of further investigation. it is not currently possible to know if there is any validity to these ideas. At present, the information we have available strongly suggests that unusual experiences such as OBEs are generated by neurological and psychological processes, some of which are involved in sleep. To emphasize that we are still at a relatively primitive level of understanding regarding these issues, I close with a quote from William James.
While over 100 years old, these words remain true to this day:
“Some years ago I myself made some observations on this aspect of nitrous oxide intoxication, and reported them in print. One conclusion was forced upon my mind at that time, and my impression of its truth has ever since remained unshaken. It is that our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. We may go through life without suspecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus, and at a touch they are there in all their completeness, definite types of mentality which probably somewhere have their field of application and adaptation. No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.” — William James, 1902
How to get out of the body during sleep?
Published July 20, 2011 Out-of-body section
What is the easiest way to get into the phase (leave the body, get into the “astral” or experience a lucid dream)?
Read the simplest techniques and just try them verbatim.
All the techniques below are very simplified to be understandable for a beginner.
Instructions for leaving the body
After waking up, without moving or opening your eyes, immediately try split from body . An attempt to separate is carried out without a presentation, but with the desire to make a real movement without straining the muscles (rolling out, taking off, getting up, etc.).
If the separation fails within 3-5 seconds, one should immediately try to alternate several of the most effective techniques for 3-5 seconds each, until one of them works, after which it can be stopped for a longer time:
- observation of images: try to consider the emerging pictures before your eyes and see them;
- listening: trying to hear the noise in the head and make it louder by listening or strengthening the will;
- rotation: represent rotation around the longitudinal axis;
- phantom swing: try to move any part of the body without straining the muscles, trying to increase the amplitude.
- "tension" of the brain: trying to strain the brain, as if it were possible, which leads to vibrations, which also need to be strengthened by the same action.
As soon as a certain technique begins to manifest itself brightly, one should try to carry it out as long as there is progress, and then one should try to separate. If not, you can return to technology again. You can also start to alternate it with another.
The total time for alternating techniques should not exceed 2 minutes, but they should not retreat from them in less than one minute. Periodically, especially against the background of some interesting sensations, you can try to separate from the body.
Mobile phone technology.
The essence of this technique of exiting from bodily sensation ( OBE, entering into a lucid dream OS or astral ) is that on the background of awakening, preferably without moving physically, immediately try to imagine the sensation in the hand, as if there is something in it something lies.
It is best to imagine a mobile phone, as the hand of a modern person is very well accustomed to it, although the subject can be anything. It is necessary to concentrate attention on the perceived sensation of the palm very carefully and actively. Most likely, after a few seconds, the physical sensation of the phone lying in it will begin to appear in the hand. And this feeling will become brighter and brighter. If such a feeling does not occur within 10 seconds, then the technique is unlikely to work and it is better to switch to another one.
When the feeling of a phone appears in your hand, you need to focus on it. At the same time, it will no longer be an idea, but a real feeling that you need to clearly understand in advance, waiting for the result. As soon as the feeling is stable, you can begin to slowly feel the mobile phone with your fingers, moreover, physical in sensation, and not some imagined ones, although, of course, the physical body should not move and strain. If this does not work, then you need to continue to concentrate on a simple sensation and try to feel later.
If this works out, then you need to start turning the mobile phone in your hand as actively as possible, feeling all its details with your fingers.
As soon as the phone can be rotated in the hand, it is possible to safely separate from the body, in this case it is usually easiest to roll out or stand up. At the same time, the phone must continue to be held and twisted in the hand, which will hold the emerging phase state. The separation itself, in this case, again, should be more like actually physically getting up or rolling out of bed, and not like separating something from something. That is, you just need to do it as if physically, starting from the feel of the phone in your hand.
If you can't separate, then you need to carefully feel the phone in your hand and try to do it a little later. If you manage to get up, then you need to do the typical actions for out-of-body experience : deepening, and then the implementation of pre-set tasks in parallel with maintaining the state.
If the separation is only halfway, then one should try to separate by force.
As a rule, the real feeling of the phone in the hand occurs with every second attempt of any practice. Further, it is all a matter of experience and dexterity, since such a feeling is a sign that the desired state has already arisen and you just need to use it competently.
From Mikhail Rduga's book OUT OF THE BODY (2004)
So, you have decided to urgently enter the phase, that is, get into the astral plane, enter the astral plane, experience an out-of-body journey or get a lucid dream . It is authentically known that a very, very strong desire is already half the battle in this matter, since the more you think about it at the moment, the more chances for a positive outcome.
Of course, for the majority of people, only the so-called direct entry method. In particular, it seems that for those who have not experienced " separation from the body "of a person, the most productive will be the technique of" climbing out "and" rolling out ".
Not the most euphonious names, but they most accurately reflect the essence. They may not be the most effective in general, but in this case they are very convenient.
You should tune in very strongly to remembering your undertaking every time you wake up. Thinking about it before going to bed helps a lot. And then, upon waking up, you should always remember about the phase and literally right there, without expecting anything, try to get out or roll out of the body. It is important that before this you do not make any physical movements that strongly disinhibit the cerebral cortex.
Let's start with rolling out. Its meaning is to try to roll off the bed, but at the same time not strain the physical muscles. It sounds confusing and weird. But this is the only way to describe it in words. In order to understand what to do at the right moment, you can first practice this desire to turn on your side at any time without straining any muscle of the body. Usually at this moment there is a slight tingling in the body, a slight tension in the head, etc.
You must remember these sensations and then reproduce them immediately after waking up. If in the normal state this does not lead to anything, then when the cerebral cortex is inhibited, for example, during the same awakening, this leads to even greater inhibition, which brings you into a phase state. At the same time, you will feel how you really roll out of the body. The sensations can be so real that it will be very difficult for you to understand this movement with a physical or phantom body. Having rolled out, you can proceed to the next steps.
If you can't "roll out" within 5-10 seconds and nothing interesting is observed, then you need to proceed to the second technique - "climbing out".
"Climbing out" consists in trying to make "mental" movements with all parts of the body, that is, imagining a real movement and trying to feel all the feelings arising from this. At first, these movements may be dull and fuzzy, as in the usual mental representation, but gradually (after a few seconds) they will become dominant and you will no longer feel the real body.
Together with simple “mental” movements, it is very effective to combine “mental feeling” of the body and what you are lying on.
Please note that all this should be done not sluggishly and lightly, but as aggressively and persistently as possible, which is the determining factor. The same applies to the "rolling out" technique.
In addition, if the "climb out" does not work within 10 seconds, you should again try to "roll out" or any other techniques in the same dynamics: "phantom bouncing", "rotation", "listening", "visualization" and etc. And so alternate techniques for 2 minutes or a little no more. Once again, I note that all this is done immediately upon waking up after sleep, and no more than a few seconds are allotted for each technique.
During this process, at the transitional stage, there are usually feelings of great fatigue and laziness. Know that these are harbingers of good luck and they quickly pass when you continue. Remember this so that at the most opportune moment you do not spit and quit this venture.
With a more or less clear sensation of the phantom body, one must immediately resort to the primary deepening, in this case with the help of feeling everything that is possible (oneself, the bed, etc.), which will be very useful. It also helps a lot to look at objects, you can use your hands, at a distance of up to 10-15 cm.
The main thing is not to be afraid of anything and try to worry as little as possible, especially at the first appearing precursors of falling into a strange state of the phase. Try to suppress the excitement, otherwise it will ruin everything.
How long it will take before you manage to separate from the body of depends only on the number of awakenings and attempts to "climb out" immediately after that. Note that on the morning of the day off, when we do not need to rush anywhere, we wake up and fall asleep many times in a row, so if you catch at least half of all awakenings, then there will be a very high probability that you will enter the phase over the next few days, including the first.
But it may take more time. More or less knowledgeable people in this case, in addition to “crawling out”, try other techniques: “takeoff”, creating “vibrations”, “rotations”, “phantom swings”, listening to internal sounds, “forced” falling asleep, observing images. If by the name of these techniques you cannot understand what they are about, then you can read this in the sections with a detailed description of the techniques.
As general practice shows, there is no other technique more effective for a beginner. In addition, it may seem that the technique is so simple that it simply cannot be so uncommon if it were effective. Indeed, I woke up and “climb out” or “roll out”. However, the fact of the matter is that no one even realizes that this is possible at such a moment, and therefore does not try. But then it can be done quite simply. Sometimes, upon awakening, it is not even necessary to use other techniques, but simply try to immediately separate, take off, roll out, etc.
It's hard to believe, but it's true.
Do not be discouraged if this technique does not give quick results. If you “caught” at least ten awakenings within two weeks and nothing came of it, then only then should you switch to other techniques, since for some reason this one is not suitable, although it is hard to believe in it. It is effective in almost all known cases of such application, especially if everything is done as described above. For this reason, it is possible to storm this technique to the bitter end, even if it takes a significant amount of time. The goal is worth it, especially since luck will come for sure.
In any case, you need to start only with indirect techniques (upon awakening), and only then move on to direct ones.
Step-by-step description of the learning process in the textbook of the School of Out-of-Body Travel
out-of-body, lucid dreams
Author
Yuri Kiselyov: Practicing teacher of yoga and breathing psychotechniques.
Master of oriental massages and body-oriented therapy.
"out of the body" in a dream, tantra and mental disorders - Personal experience on vc.ru
In the last article we looked at why meditation has such an effect on our body and mind and what role the nervous system plays in this. Here we will go through the main "meditation" myths, find out how to get the maximum benefit from meditation, as well as avoid harm. Yes, yes, meditation can be harmful, so read carefully how to prevent this.
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Meditation and sleep
As I said in my previous articles, during meditation, we need to strive to "fall asleep" while sitting . Realizing this, I no longer sat and waited for the moment when "thoughtlessness and peace will overshadow" me. After all, the very fact of expectation causes tension in the brain. When I started trying to "just fall asleep" without expecting anything, the results were stunning. The speed of immersion in meditation has increased significantly.
Hence the life hack - night meditations are very deep . Set an alarm for 3 a.m. (we need a deep sleep phase, you can track it by pulse through gadgets like wristwatches). Wake up and immediately, without really regaining consciousness, sit down to meditate. It is very easy to immediately go into deep meditation, feel complete relaxation and serenity. Therefore, this method is recommended for beginners. The main rule is to sit straight. The brain will be busy keeping the back upright, it will not be able to completely turn off, this will allow you to remain conscious.
In general, at a certain point in my passion for meditation, I began to notice that meditation and sleep are very similar in sensations. I became curious to explore their relationship, to find the boundary between them. For example, I tried to meditate while lying down and not fall asleep. In vain! No matter how much I tried, I fell asleep every time. At the same time, I slept well: a deep and serene sleep, not at all the same as before .
So I discovered one of the most beneficial properties of meditation - to quickly fall asleep and sleep well. It is enough to lie down, start meditating and .. ready!
I used to be unable to sleep during the day (even if I didn't get enough sleep) and didn't sleep well at night - excitable psyche, managerial stress, entrepreneurial responsibility. I had disturbing dreams about broken contracts, disgruntled customers and negligent employees. It turns out that if you meditate before going to bed, you can get enough sleep even in less time .
If you meditate for 10-20 minutes and then fall asleep, then meditation reduces the required sleep time by about an hour
Magic, as usual, is not here. The brain does not waste time "slowing down" our psyche and quickly goes into a restorative deep phase of sleep. This saves our time.
Now I don't care how much sleep I have left today and what will happen tomorrow - an early flight on a plane, a speech in front of a large audience, the delivery of a large project .
.. It does not disturb me in my sleep. It doesn't matter that I'm on a business trip on the other side of the planet and day and night have changed places. I can sleep lying down, sitting down and even napping standing up (for example, in the subway). My colleagues on a business trip are surprised how I can come to a cafe, place an order and sleep for 10 minutes while they carry it to me. I began to love airplanes, because now I get enough sleep in them, and do not sit with bulging red eyes for the entire flight, counting down the minutes before landing. The ability to manage your sleep for a hyper-busy person is hard to overestimate .
The ability to fall asleep easily and quickly allows me to use the so-called short sleep during the day . According to numerous studies, it is extremely useful and helps to quickly recover from the exhausting rhythm of life, especially with a jagged schedule. It has been proven that after a daytime sleep, concentration of attention increases significantly and memory improves.
The development of depression is inhibited and mood improves, the risk of heart attacks and strokes is significantly reduced. It is important that naps last no more than 20-30 minutes . In this case, life biorhythms are not disturbed (there will be no nighttime insomnia), and awakening will be easy, without feeling overwhelmed.
Daytime sleep was used by Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy. These people have always practiced napping and in doing so have achieved success and worldwide popularity. In their biographies, they often emphasized the benefits of daytime sleep and described how, from their point of view, it is better to practice it.
Unfortunately, in Russia daytime sleep is just as much underestimated as meditation. When I tell you that we have a special nap room at Rubius and any employee can go there to take a nap in the middle of the working day, they look at me like I'm crazy. And I believe that for a company that operates worldwide and has late / early calls, such a room is a necessary concern for the health and productivity of employees.
By the way, I recently tried PrivateNap special sleep capsules - they work effectively. In companies where there are no such capsules or a room, you can sleep during the day either in your cars or in soundproof office cubicles like our Qubius. 20 minutes easily fits into an hour lunch break and will allow work the second half of the day with the same efficiency as the first .
Lucid Dreams
The most curious effect that I accidentally discovered during my experiments with meditation on the verge of sleep is lucid dreaming. This turned out to be unexpected for me. I was very surprised, interested and began to get to the bottom of the matter.
Surely, many have heard about lucid dreams. They are also known as "out of body", "astral travel" and so on. Their essence lies in the fact that ... but here opinions differ:
- In a dream we consciously control the plot of the dream
- Our spirit is separated from the body in reality, we can leave our body and move to any point on the planet
- This is a connection with a certain higher astral, access to "universal knowledge", "direct dialogue with God"
- These are alternate realities, parallel worlds
In general, what they just do not write on the Internet about this.
Let's try to figure it out together.
Lucid dreams have occupied people since ancient times. Such practices have existed in Eastern mysticism for thousands of years. Western civilization, on the other hand, always strives to comprehend everything with a rational mind, not trusting sensations (and in this I am its most typical representative). Galen back in the 2nd century AD. wrote a treatise "On Diagnosis with the Help of Dreams", where he hinted at the possibility of controlling dreams. But for some reason, until the 19th century, there were no serious studies on this subject. In 1889, Frederick van Eeden began to keep a dream diary, trying to systematize them, and after "some" 8 years he experienced the first lucid dream.
For a long time, spears broke around lucid dreams: some claimed that they see them, others - that they are fictions and lies, and still others fantasized and actively mixed in mysticism. And all because there was no effective way to determine the very fact of "awareness" of a dream.
Scientists puzzled over this for a long time, came up with all sorts of cunning abstruse devices. But all this remained doubtful, the studies were subjected to merciless criticism, and the researchers were completely accused of charlatanism.
And so, in 1980, Stephen LaBerge from Stanford University came up with a special sign - it was necessary to move the eyeballs in a certain sequence. But in a dream, the eyes move randomly, how to eliminate random coincidences? To do this, in a dream it was also necessary to sing and count, which was recorded by the encephalogram as peaks of activity in the corresponding parts of the brain. Thanks to such a complex technique, the world for the first time received confirmation that to remain conscious in a dream without waking up is real .
So, it gradually became clear that:
Lucid dreams occur during REM sleep when the sensory-motor cortex of the brain awakens, usually lasting up to 7 minutes
Thanks to the achievements of science, the practice of entering into lucid dreams has developed significantly.
In ancient times, in order to experience them, one had to go to the temple and purify one's consciousness there. Then maybe you will learn it (or maybe not). Literally a hundred years ago, you just had to practice meditation hard, and then, literally in a few years, you would have succeeded. Now this phenomenon is so well studied that you can learn how to manage dreams with the help of simple tricks in a matter of days (maximum - in a week).
To control a dream, one must "take control", make the dream conscious, not chaotic
To do this, first of all, you need to realize that everything that happens around is just a dream. In a dream, this is not obvious, the brain believes that the world around is real. So some test is done first. Remember how in the movies - "pinch to make sure it's not a dream"?
I tried to pinch myself, but it didn't seem to make much sense in my dream. To determine that I am in a dream, I do some crazy act: I jump off a cliff, I run up and hit my head against the wall.
Firstly, I understand that in my life I would never do this. And secondly, if nothing special happened after that (I'm still alive, and the dream itself adjusted to this event), then I'm sleeping. After that, I can control my dream as I please. Now I am a creator god in my fictional fantasy world! Do what you want, fulfill any secret desires - there are no boundaries.
Where did all these stories about "out of the body" and space flights come from? The feeling of levitation can be experienced without falling asleep, in ordinary meditation. Surely you have seen the images in the pictures about meditation, in which people levitate (hover at some distance from the surface). Consciousness remains, but the areas of the brain responsible for bodily sensory fall asleep. We cease to feel the effect of gravity on the body and the resistance of the chair to the pressure of our fifth point. This is often accompanied by a pleasant tingling sensation in the muscles. And we seem to be floating, a kind of pseudo-levitation.
Exiting the body in lucid dreams is the same. If you enter a state of guided dreaming from your waking state, there is a physical feeling of "floating". The brain replaces body signals with made-up signals. Hence the feeling of "out of the body", and very realistic. As if we are breaking away from the body and flying, there is even a feeling of wind.
Thus, lucid dreams exist, and we can actually control the plot of the dream. All other interpretations have not received any scientific confirmation.
What is usually done in guided dreams? I asked people. Someone is flying harmlessly (enjoying this pseudo-physical feeling of flying). Someone is listening to some wonderful music. Someone tries on new outfits or drives sports cars. And someone does all sorts of stupid things that they would never do in their life: smashing everything in the style of a GTA game and even fulfilling sexual fantasies.
I wondered, how do lucid dreams affect the psyche? Suddenly, people want to repeat in reality what they previously allowed themselves only in the fictional world of dreams?
It turned out that there are already studies on this subject.
Indeed, "gaming syndrome" may occur, because in fact guided dreams have the same effect as playing in virtual reality with full immersion.
On the other hand, it can also be used for good. It turned out that in a controlled dream we can controllably throw out the accumulated "bad energy" . And yet, it turns out, there are therapy methods for working through internal fears : Fear of public speaking, heights or spiders. It is enough to model these situations in your dreams.
There is another curious effect. After I learned to control my dreams, I almost stopped having nightmares . Now I can "intercept" them and correct the plot. Probably, because of this, the brain became uninteresting in scaring me with all sorts of horror stories.
In any case, I personally think that being able to control dreams is much better than living uncontrollable nightmares and waking up in a panic attack when some monstrous, disgusting, nightmarish monster is already eating you up! 😉
Pulse and Tantra
The work of the nervous system affects all the processes of the body, including the heart rhythm.
Therefore, it is an indicator of the state of the nervous system. The pulse is slow - the nervous system is inhibited, if it is fast - it is excited . It is obvious. But there is another heart rate parameter, more interesting - heart rate variability (Heart Rate Variability), that is, a change in the period of neighboring heartbeats. It is different, because somewhere the signal to contract the heart muscle went faster than necessary, somewhere it lingered ... Analyzing this parameter, you can also measure the quality of meditation (before, during, after), sleep, stress, physical training , the degree of fatigue, excitement and so on. To do this, you only need a smartphone or a heart rate monitor, so this is now a trend in the healthy lifestyle movement.
Since the pulse directly reflects the quality of meditation, I believe that meditation focusing on the heartbeat is the most effective . It is only necessary to slow down the pulse with the help of breathing and relaxing the muscles.
Are you nervous before a performance? Can't sleep or concentrate? Breathe and relax, slow down the pulse.
And vice versa. If apathy has overcome before a performance or a sports competition (were nervous!), you need to speed up the pulse . For example, push-ups, pull-ups, say a few emotional phrases - this will speed up the pulse and excite the nervous system so that it works as expected, at the maximum.
One more interesting topic that I am asked about is closely related to the pulse - tantric teachings and myths about them . I have already pointed out in previous articles that sexual arousal itself is accompanied by an altered state of consciousness. It is necessary for the brain to cause the physiological changes necessary to achieve orgasm: an acceleration of the pulse, a change in blood supply, the production of a whole bunch of hormones. This occurs in both sexes, although in slightly different ways (we won't go into details, it's beyond the scope of this article).
If you know how to control an altered state of consciousness, you can control the duration of the process, the quantity and quality of orgasms, and their simultaneity. This is done through breathing, focus control, muscle tension and relaxation .
Tantric teaching, in fact, is built on these processes, although it has a more complex conceptual base. And in general, real tantra is not about sex at all and achieving orgasm is not required there. The followers of this teaching strive to "manage the energies", actually being in a state of altered consciousness (meditative state), which in itself sharpens the sensory. An important point in tantra is not concentration on oneself and one's feelings, but the desire to feel the partner as much as possible.
In general, it is not necessary to live in a Tibetan monastery for years and practice difficult yogic postures, clearing the mind, exercising different muscles and pumping energy through the right chakras. Just love each other.
When is meditation too much?
Everything in our life can be good or bad, it depends on the balance. For example, let's take sports. Seems like a useful thing. But its misuse or excessive fanaticism can lead to negative consequences for the body. When sports are in moderation, muscle tone improves, vigor and energy overwhelm us. When there is too much of it, the body enters a state of stress: lethargy, weakness appear, the process of catabolism starts (the body destroys its own muscles). It's the same with strict diets, vitamins, and... meditation. Its positive effect is difficult to overestimate, it is confirmed by thousands of studies. But excessive fanaticism in this matter not only does not give any benefit, but can seriously harm. After all, meditation is closely related to our psyche and nervous system.
Abuse of meditation can cause mental disorders . They are similar to the symptoms of gambling addiction syndrome (in those who disappear for days in games), bipolar disorders and schizophrenia.
How do these disorders manifest themselves? Consider the effect of "derealization", or loss of connection with reality . A person's sensory perception changes: the surrounding reality is seen as "flat", like scenery, colors are lost, the picture becomes fuzzy, and sounds become muffled. Because the world is perceived as unreal, strange desires may arise, such as going out the window or hitting someone. Not at all because of suicidal impulses or aggression, but only to check how real this world is. About the same way I define the reality of the world in my lucid dreams. In addition, there may be a feeling of deja vu and some creatures seem to be imagined (perhaps this is where the stories about devils and demons come from?).
Another effect is "depersonalization" . It is accompanied by a violation of self-perception, that is, one’s own actions are perceived as if from the outside. The opportunity to express emotions is lost - to rejoice, to be sad. Perceptual receptors are dulled.
All actions are done on autopilot. Loss of motivation and interest in life.
When I discovered the wonderful world of meditation and enthusiastically began to practice without measure, at a certain moment I felt these effects for myself. "What nonsense?!" I thought. - And where are the promised enlightenment, super brain and superpowers? Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Or maybe it’s even dangerous for the psyche?!” As a result, I gave up meditation for a year, because I was afraid to go crazy and lose motivation and ambition. Renunciation from the frailty of being is not in my plans.0003
Finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I began to understand the subject little by little. It turned out that is a quite ordinary and well-studied reaction of the brain to such overloads of . All in all, you need to know the measure, as in training, dieting, work and rest - in everything. What is the measure of meditation?
Meditation is most beneficial (in terms of time-to-result ratio) in 20-30 minutes per day
A good effect will be even from one meditation, but regular ones lead to a cumulative effect.
I don't recommend meditating for more than an hour a day . Multi-day "enlightenment retreats" in the mountains of Tibet will benefit you more through a change of scenery and environment than through long meditation sessions. So, it’s easier to go somewhere on vacation and allocate half an hour a day there. Deep retreats sometimes lead to a reassessment of all values in life, when people leave everything upon their return. Not sure if this effect is positive,
And now the most important thing. If, as a result of meditation, you want to drop everything and go to the mountains, because life is just useless fuss, and it seems that there are only underdeveloped half-wits around - something obviously went wrong .
Meditation should bring love for oneself and people, patience, joy of life
Now you know almost everything about meditation and understand how important it is. It remains only to practice and benefit.
