Someone Teach Me How to Have an Out-of-Body Experience

[1] Please teach me how to have an out-of-body experience (OBE).

• [23] How about we start with lucid dreaming first?

[28] >>23 Right, OBEs are like an extension of lucid dreams, weren’t they?

• [30] >>28 Exactly. Well, rather, they’re pretty much the same thing, just the method is different.
• [3] Imagine pulling a rope out of your body.

[6] >>3 The problem is, I just end up falling asleep before I know it.

• [15] Make it a habit to look at a clock and confirm, “This is not a dream.” Make it a habit to look at the wrinkles on your hands and confirm, “This is not a dream.” Make it a habit to look at newspapers or books and confirm, “This is not a dream.” In dreams, the time on a clock changes every time you look at it. In dreams, the wrinkles on your hands might be smooth or you might only have a few lines. In dreams, the content of newspapers and books is often nonsensical and gibberish.

[20] >>15 So, I need to make a habit of looking at my hands and things like that, right?

• [38] >>20 That’s right. Once you realize it’s a dream, you can just play around in the dream, or if you lie down right there and try to roll over sideways, you can slip right out. You might wake up often at first, but don’t worry, you’ll gradually be able to do it for longer.

[39] >>38 Is it possible to make it so you never wake up?

• [50] >>39 If that were possible, I probably wouldn’t be here (in reality), you know.
• [103] Checking your palms really works.
• [19] When you go to sleep, try recalling your day in reverse, like playing it backward.
• [22] This season is perfect for it. At dusk, open your curtains and sleep near the window. It makes Rapid Eye Movement (REM) more likely to occur, which makes sleep paralysis easier to achieve. From there, experience is crucial. Fail many times and get a feel for it.

[27] >>22 Do I need to do anything special when I go to sleep?

• [35] >>27 Just be careful not to get heatstroke, otherwise, anything is fine. Brightness naturally makes your sleep shallower. Until you can consciously induce sleep paralysis, trying this method is a good idea.

[41] >>35 Ah, the Rope Technique. About the Rope Technique: The first rope technique is apparently the most orthodox method, which the article author, Kaylee Brown, has also tried. You don’t use a real rope, but an “imaginary rope.” First, lie down in bed and visualize a rope hanging down from the ceiling to your body. You might feel slightly dizzy at this point, but it’s not a dangerous sign, so you can continue without worry. Once you have a clear image of the rope, grasp it with your hands and slowly climb upwards towards the ceiling. The key is to keep doing it repeatedly without giving up until your “Astral Body” separates from your physical body.

• [107] I managed to get out once, and I really was connected to my body by something like a rubber band.
• [25] I tried hard for about 3 years, looking at various websites, but I couldn’t do it even once. I still try sometimes, and I can get to the point where my body vibrates and stiffens, but there’s absolutely no sign of separating.
• [26] Also, keeping a dream journal. You need to get to the point where you dream every night.

[31] >>26 Oh yeah, I haven’t been keeping a dream journal… I’ll make sure to dream every single night!

• [42] >>31 Dreams are said to be unnecessary memories created during memory consolidation, designed to be forgotten quickly. So, right after you wake up, quickly jot down the general content from beginning to end. Bullet points work too. If you keep doing it, you’ll stop forgetting your dreams and become able to write them down in detail.

[43] >>42 Okay, sounds like I should keep it by my bedside then.

• [49] >>43 It’s good to leave the notebook open.

[53] >>49 And maybe have the lead of a mechanical pencil slightly extended.

• [45] >>42 This really works. I haven’t been aiming to become a Ridanser (*) for long, but I’m already able to write down my dream content clearly. When you first start, it’s best not to go back to sleep after waking up and focus solely on the dream journal for about two weeks. *Ridanser: Someone who can frequently have OBEs. A benchmark duration is 30 minutes or more.*

[51] >>45 I see, so for now, I should just keep up with the dream journal, right?

• [57] >>51 You should write it down immediately after waking up. Otherwise, you’ll forget it in less than a minute. Keep something to write with nearby when you sleep. If getting a diary is too much trouble, look for a smartphone app.

[59] >>57 Got it.

• [29] People say you shouldn’t move your body during a lucid dream, but it’s easy to move accidentally, isn’t it?
• [32] I could do it easily when I was in middle school, but I can’t now.
• [36] Sounds risky.
• [44] >>36 Well, once you actually reach the stage where you can have OBEs (control your dreams), memories of dreams and reality can get mixed up, so yeah, it’s risky in that sense. Also, apparently, there have been cases in the past where people confused the dream world with the real world and jumped off something.

[46] >>44 That’s scary. Sounds like one day I might not be able to tell dream from reality.

• [61] >>46 Well, even though it’s called a lucid dream, it’s still just a realistic dream. If you observe the scenery closely, you’ll find inconsistencies that feel off or unrealistic parts. So, if you make a habit of observing your surroundings normally, you shouldn’t make that mistake. Also, the habit of looking at your palms or asking yourself, “Is this world real or a dream?” is effective. The structure of hands tends to break down in dreams, and in my experience, sometimes my own hands are transparent and invisible. Yet, I can still grab things even when they’re transparent. If you make these checks a habit, you’ll do the same actions in dreams, increasing the chances you’ll realize you’re dreaming.

[63] >>61 Like fingerprints being weird shapes or something? I’ll try to make it a habit.

• [66] >>63 Fingerprints, yes, and sometimes the direction or number of fingers is wrong too.

[67] >>66 So there are definitely ambiguous parts then.

• [37] In my case, when I realize a dream is a dream, I suddenly get hit with sleep paralysis. If I can maintain the scenery until the paralysis breaks, then it’s a successful OBE (lucid dream). After that, I can freely do things, have nonsensical conversations with dream inhabitants, or watch incomprehensible stuff on TV.

[40] >>37 I’m so jealous.

• [47] I’m surprised there are still so many Ridansers around. It’s been a long time since the OBE threads disappeared.

• “Thread” (スレ – sure) is Japanese internet slang referring to a series of posts on a specific topic on an internet forum.*

• [64] >>47 Back in the day, in an OBE thread, I once requested a user with a fixed handle name (kotehan) to “go live in the dream world for 100 years.” Good times.

• “Kotehan” (コテハン) is an abbreviation for “kotei handoru neemu” (固定ハンドルネーム), Japanese internet slang for a user who consistently uses a specific handle name on forums.*

[65] >>64 How many hours would that be in the real world…?

• [68] >>65 They came back after about half a day, so probably around that long. The brain just perceives it as 100 years, I guess. Dreams are strange, aren’t they?

[69] >>68 They really are. So that supports the theory that making it so you never wake up is impossible, huh.

• [73] >>69 If I could, I would, though. I’d love to just wander the dream world forever in a half-awake state.

[76] >>73 I totally get that (seriously).

• [58] I get sleep paralysis, if not full OBEs.

[60] >>58 I’ve never had sleep paralysis.

• [62] I’m so envious.
• [70] Also, experiencing VR games or videos can increase the resolution of your dreams and make it easier to move around in them.

[71] >>70 That’s amazing!

• [74] >>70 As long as the visuals are taken care of, the brain compensates for things like touch, right? It’s really conveniently designed.
• [84] >>74 I think VR is a really good tool. Thanks to it, I can run and swim smoothly (in dreams) now.
• [86] >>84 Are you perhaps physically disabled?
• [90] >>86 I meant in dreams (lol). The only thing disabled here is my Japanese (haha). Even if you’re not interested in OBEs, VR makes dreams more fun, so I hope you try it. You can do it with smartphones now, so the barrier to entry is low.
• [72] The most I could manage was an OBE lasting a few minutes subjectively, so I was envious of people who could do it for long periods. It really felt like I was starting to lose the distinction between dream and reality, so I stopped for a while, but maybe I’ll try again soon.

[75] >>72 You felt like you were losing the distinction?!

• [77] >>72 Getting back to normal should be easy, so let’s try again.
• [85] I heard that a half-awake state where the body is asleep but the brain is awake is good, so I kept trying for a while, but I started having frequent auditory/visual hallucinations and sleep paralysis when falling asleep, so I quit.
• [87] I’d like some advice too. For the rolling method, do you absolutely have to be lying on your back? I read that you can sleep in any position you like, but since rolling involves rotating 180 degrees to exit, I was wondering. Is sleeping on your side a no-go (AUTO)?
• [93] Your posture in reality doesn’t matter much. As long as you can fall asleep, that’s fine.
• [95] You can experience sleep paralysis while lying on your side, even if you fall asleep on your back.
• [97] I see, thank you. I can’t even reach the crucial sleep paralysis stage at all. I guess there’s nothing for it but to be patient.
• [102] >>97 It happens more easily when you’re tired! Running also helps.
• [100] I don’t think you necessarily need to go through sleep paralysis. If you can move freely in a dream, there are ways. By the way, I don’t keep a dream journal; it’s too much hassle. The most important thing is to constantly check in the real world, “Is this a dream?”
• [106] It’s just an image, but creating a situation where your body is asleep but your mind is awake seems good. Lying down with your eyes closed while thinking about things when you’re not sleepy makes success more likely.
• [98] I want to have lucid dreams too. I want to have an OBE.