Journeys out-of-body.
I remember sitting under the tree at the edge of the school playing field. I felt the smooth trunk, hard against my back, my legs stretched out on the grass in front of me, my feet bare. I wiggled my toes and felt the air move between them. I looked up through the branches at the pale silvery grey sky; the leaves looked almost black in contrast as they rustled in the breeze. I wondered if it should rain would the tree shelter me from it.
Suddenly I heard my name being shouted.
A thud within my body.
A feeling of shakiness inside, disorientation.
My teacher standing over me, cross.
The rest of the class looking at me.
The hardness of the tree replaced by the hardness of the school chair and desk.
“Hilary McCreith will you pay attention! Stop daydreaming!”
I glanced out of the window and saw it had started to rain. A fine drizzle obscured the playing field. The tree would not have sheltered me for long.
It certainly didn’t protect me from Geography.
This was not the first time I had felt I was ‘out of my body’, but it was certainly a memorable occasion. I was 11, and had just started at senior school. At that time I accepted what the teachers said and believed that I had just been daydreaming.
As I grew up I accepted I had a very vivid imagination, reading became a delight as I joined the characters in books and lived the stories. I got used to the occasional thud as my ‘imagination’ returned to reality. I thought this was all perfectly normal and everyone probably ‘daydreams’ the same way. Sometimes it would happen in the night that I would wake with a start, sitting up in bed, feeling that familiar inner thud and shakiness, wondering where I was, who I was, and looking around my bedroom as if it was somewhere strange, until I could focus on some personal belonging that would reassure me. I got used to this too, thinking everyone probably experiences this sometimes. I am still sure everyone does occasionally leave their physical body; it just varies to degree and frequency.
Having said all that, it was still quite a shock when I was told by a medium, many years later:
“Gosh, you do a lot of astral travel don’t you.”
I wasn’t quite sure what she meant! I must have looked a bit glazed, so she explained how it felt and I recognised the sensation she described.
“Isn’t that normal?” I asked.
She told me it was a gift, that I heal and travel the Universe out of my body, particularly at night. No wonder I sometimes didn’t recognise my own bedroom when I returned!
Slowly, things began to make sense. I read a little about out of body experiences where people look down on their physical selves and can see what’s going on around them, especially at times of near death. However, this wasn’t what I felt or saw. To me it was simply like being somewhere else for a while. I wanted to understand better how I might be able to work with this gift. I knew it must have a purpose and a responsibility. The medium advised me to meditate and to ask my guides to take me to wherever I was needed, to help me return with full knowledge, understanding and memory.
The first time I did this I was led down the very narrow space behind beach huts along our own Bournemouth seafront. My feet just fitted in the drainage channel, the stone wall at the base of the cliff to my right, the rough wood of the beach hut to my left. I could hear talking, laughter, and one argument in process, through the backs of the huts I passed and all the usual sounds of a busy seaside on a hot sunny August day. I was stopped at one hut and immediately found myself inside it. There was a girl of about ten years old lying on a blue padded bench seat, clearly not feeling very well, pale and asleep. As I held out my hands over her I could feel her nausea and slight fever. I stood for a while, giving her Reiki healing until I heard her mother coming in from the front decking. The young girl fluttered her eyelids and began to wake up. Not wanting to frighten them and not knowing whether either might see me, I withdrew through the back of the beach hut. As I stood there I heard her say she felt a bit better and could get up now.
I then had a weird sensation of sliding back into my body. I took in a very deep breath.
No thud.
No shakiness.
No disorientation.
Oh wow!! I was thrilled by my experience!! I could do this whenever I wanted! At will! Controlled! I couldn’t wait to try again but felt a bit overwhelmed and rather tired, so left it for another day.
Astral travelling seems to be very common but the experience is as individual as we are, and awareness of it is just a matter of degree. I have met many people who recognise the feeling of disorientation on return, and have come to accept that they journey out-of-body. For some, it is a process; they can see their physical body with a shining cord, which attaches their spirit to it. Gradually, they explore further away feeling that cord stretch. Others tell me they can expand their energy and awareness, to such a range that they can experience other places and ‘see’ and sense what is occurring there, yet remain aware of their physical self. For some who have no sense of fear, there is nothing to hold us back and we quite simply let go, float or fly, or have no sensation of movement at all. However, and whenever, you may experience this, it does seem that the process quickens, until you can ‘transport’ your energy somewhere else.
I suspect that it happens frequently in dream state. If you have had extremely vivid dreams, that still seem so real upon waking from them, then it is highly likely that you were astral travelling in your sleep. It also offers an explanation for feeling dreadfully tired after a heavy night’s sleep. Nighttime out-of-body experiences may also be linked in some way to ‘sleep-walking’, where the subconscious mind guides the physical body to behave as if awake, but usually for reasons not fully understood.
There is no doubt in my mind that many children astral travel, naturally and safely. Even as young babies they seem adept at releasing their energy from their physical bodies.
This was made perfectly clear to me when I was looking after my granddaughter as a baby. She was teething, and had finally settled in bed with me. She was fast asleep and I was sitting up doing a crossword when I felt her energy leave her body. I saw her drift off upwards and called to Spirit not to take her! My Guardian Spirit told me:
“Don’t worry, she’s only doing what you do, she’s gone out to do some healing.”
“But she’s only six months old!” I replied, with slight panic in my voice.
“How old do you have to be? You weren’t any older when you used to go, most babies do, as they are still closely linked to their spiritual state. If you’re worried, go and follow her, but you don’t have to, you know,” he said.
Of course I did! I’m her grandmother; I couldn’t stay at home not knowing! So I followed her energy and found her standing beside my own mother clearly giving her healing. She appeared as a grown up woman, with short brown hair and a soft, gentle face! She looked across at me as if to say, “I’m fine, I know what I’m doing.”
I returned to my body in shock.
Yes, I did thud back in!
A few moments later I felt her take a deep breath in as she expertly slid back into her tiny little body. She opened her eyes once to look directly into mine, and was asleep again
I have become used to being able to release my energy from my body at will. I set my intent to go to someone who needs healing perhaps, or to meet with my Guides and Spirit teachers, or to explore the world and the Universe. Most of this is beautiful, but of course there is balance in the Universe and I have encountered the ‘good, the bad, and the ugly’. That is simply because I have no fear, and chose to confront and deal with some of the more unpleasant and disruptive energies ‘out there’. Unless you have chosen that work, you will not experience anything other than awe and wonder.
I have learned that I can also predetermine the time I take before returning. As there is no relevance to ‘Time’ beyond this physical realm, it can feel as if hours or days have passed, only to return here in a few moments. I can see, hear and feel in completely different surroundings, often with other people or ‘Beings’ of other times and dimensions.
After several years of discovery and learning, I asked my Guides how I could best use this ability to benefit others in some way. One of my Spirit teachers, the Ascended Master El Morya, explained to me the importance of understanding who we are, our Higher Self, our soul, and its journey through many lifetimes. He gave me the opportunity to look into many of my own ‘past lives’, and showed me the importance of understanding the lessons that I have learned and any karmic issues that are still unsettled. It taught me to accept many aspects of myself that I did not like, and to learn not to judge ‘good’ from ‘bad’. I found it hard to acknowledge some of my behavior and characteristics in my other lives, but I gradually understood how I am the sum of all my existences. They have all contributed to who I am now in this life.
By going out of my body I am able to go back in time to see the previous lives of other people, in order to help them with issues which may be affecting this one. I feel deeply honoured to be allowed to see into very private lives and situations and I always ask that the information I am able to bring back be of help to the person concerned. When asked, I step out of my body and can see threads of light, representing the energy that people are drawing on from other lifetimes. These lives are clearly impacting on this present one, so these are the threads I follow.
If you feel a sensation of going ‘out-of-body’ please do not let fear stop you, or restrict you. You will always and quite naturally reunite with your physical self. It is safe to ‘let go’, you will not get lost and you will not encounter danger. You will have amazing experiences with an ever-expanding horizon.
I have seen some incredible worlds, times and dimensions, simply by being willing to explore them, without fear or trepidation.
I wish you smooth journeys.