What is an Out-of-Body Experience? | The Science and What to Expect
Soul Body Exit, created by the author with Midjourney
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are currently defined as a phenomenon in which an individual perceives that they are conscious but located somewhere outside of their physical body.
OBEs can be brought on by a myriad of different circumstances such as trauma, sleep, medications or drug use, and are often a component of near death experiences (NDEs). The defining factor in each of these situations is that the seat of one’s consciousness has separated itself from the physical body.
In this post we’ll explore the causes of OBEs, preliminary scientific observations, and what you might experience during an OBE.
To learn more about how to experience and induce an OBE, please subscribe to my Substack and read my follow-up two-part post, How to Have an Out-of-Body Experience Naturally and How to Have an Out-of-Body Experience Intentionally (coming next week).
OBEs: How Do They Occur?
Preliminary studies suggest that an OBE arises from an extreme disproportion of two neurological functions: a near-complete breakdown in external sensory processing (the five physical senses and the perception of one’s surroundings), and an unusually high engagement of the temporoparietal junction in the neocortex (where the brain defines its concept of self, also known as the seat of consciousness).
Combined, these two factors result in the perceived separation of one’s consciousness from their physical body.
The scientific study of OBEs is still in its relative infancy but several causes have been proposed:
Stressful or traumatic events could trigger OBEs as a way to cope with the difficulty of mentally processing the event, removing the individual’s consciousness from the physical experience until they are able to integrate both perspectives of the experience at a later time.
Near-death experiences can result in OBEs either as a result of extreme, life-threatening physical trauma to the brain and other critical bodily functions or as a way to cope with the experience. I also personally believe OBEs during an NDE can be triggered as an opportunity for the soul to make a choice on whether to continue in this current human experience or to move on.
OBEs during sleep are often described as occurring just as one is falling asleep or just before waking up, when an individual’s neurological processes are shifting into or out of certain sleep stages (see more on the role of REM atonia below).
Medical conditions, prescription medications, and recreational drug use may also cause OBEs due to changes in neurological function.
The Role of REM Atonia During Sleep-Induced OBEs
I personally experience frequent OBEs during sleep, most often just before waking during the REM sleep stage where most dreaming occurs.
During REM sleep, several chemical processes activate a total paralysis of the body with a single goal in mind: to keep you alive. Known as REM atonia, this physical paralysis is most notably engaged by the release of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and its interaction with glycine. Together these 2 chemicals directly suppress your nervous system, essentially turning you into a limp noodle.
REM atonia is an essential evolutionary function, preventing you from acting out your dreams and potentially bringing physical harm to yourself.
However, REM atonia may also be a trigger for sleep-induced OBEs as it aids in the suppression of one’s external sensory processing—one of the factors mentioned at the beginning of this post. When combined with a surge in activity at the temporoparietal junction it is possible that an OBE can be triggered during sleep.
Falling Into Earth, created by the author with Midjourney
What Can Happen During OBEs?
What can happen during an OBE is currently completely subjective to the individual having the experience and a wide variety of answers exist. Often, an individual will describe the sensation of separating from their physical body, followed by some sort of a conscious experience, and then a reintegration with their physical body.
Some of the things out-of-body experiencers have described:
Seeing their physical body from a perspective outside of the body.
Floating up above the body or sinking through a bed or chair below the physical body.
Floating from a higher vantage point such as over a building, city, or even the planet.
Finding themselves observing real-time events in different locations (sometimes these events have actually been verified as occurring exactly as the out-of-body experiencer describes).
Leaving the planet and finding themselves somewhere else entirely (often during NDEs survivors will describe seeing their perception of the place we go after death).
In my personal OBEs I have experienced:
Floating above, below, and standing next to my physical body (it was utterly shocking the first time it happened).
Walking through the walls in my home and hosting interactions with non-living beings who visit my home.
Finding myself in different parts of the world conversing with or teaching other out-of-body experiencing individuals.
Diving head-first into what I call the “earth-tube system” in which I believe I have explored parallel lifetimes on this planet.
Being called up into what I call the “light-tube system” in which I believe I have explored other planets and parts of the universe.
Finding myself on various extraterrestrial spacecraft conversing with non-human beings and receiving information about the planet and my own personal human experience.
To learn more about my personal experiences subscribe to my newsletter, Substack, or YouTube Channel.
Physical Sensations During OBEs
I retain at least one or more of my physical senses (most often touch) in the out-of-body state. These physical sensations in the OBE state are experienced by my consciousness located outside of the body in what I call the “soul body” or what Robert Monroe, a modern OBE pioneer and founder of the Monroe Institute, called the “second body.”
Contrary to popular belief, an OBE is not characterized by a total disassociation of physicality because the soul body itself has a physical component!
Experienced OBE explorers like Robert Monroe and Darius Wright describe several aspects of the soul body’s physical sensations in their descriptions of OBEs and, in my personal OBEs, I have experienced the sensations of touch, sight, and sound (though never smell nor taste which I believe are unique to the human experience). At first, I was surprised by this but after a while I began to understand that my soul body has substance—it’s made of something.
In more recent years, I’ve been able to define the soul body as “the seat of consciousness” and “a substance between atoms.” As I move out of and back into my physical body I can feel my soul body literally slipping between the atoms that make-up my physical body’s structure. What this substance of the soul body is, however, I do not know, only that it is made of something.
Emotions
A wide variety of emotions can be experienced during an OBE, however, I have found that the more even-keeled you are, the longer you can maintain the out-of-body experience.
Neutral or close-to-neutral emotions maintain a sort of solidity in consciousness during an OBE. When emotions swing to the extremes (either positive or negative) the OBE can short-circuit and quickly return you to the physical body.
Personally, I’ve experienced both extreme excitement and intense fear during OBEs which almost immediately bring me back to my body no matter how much I try to calm my emotions and maintain the experience. I have not yet solidified a theory as to why this occurs, only knowing that a sense of neutrality and calm prolongs an OBE.
Sense of Knowing
While physical sense such as sight, sound, and touch can help you define what happens during an OBE, I personally experience more through the sense of knowing.
Sometimes called claircognizance in the waking world, the sense of knowing describes a sudden sense of knowledge and understanding about a situation, place, action, or being without any other explanation. In an OBE, the sense of knowing can be extremely potent as the soul body is capable of picking up on information that our human senses do not have the capacity to absorb and interpret.
This is also how I would describe communication with other non-human beings in the OBE space. I rarely experience “telepathy” which is an exchange of worded language via thought. Instead, no language is needed and the information in a conversation is simply shared through the concept of the information and is sometimes paired with an emotional sense for clarity.
When I write about my out-of-body experiences I’m often interpreting the concepts I’ve been shown and exposed to, putting them into words from the English language so as to communicate effectively in this realm.
OBEs for Positive Change
OBEs are a profoundly personal experience and can be deeply spiritual (even if you don’t consider yourself to be a spiritual individual).
In a recent study of over 500 out-of-body experiencers from University of Virginia Health, Marina Weiler, PhD, discovered that OBEs have an incredible impact on most individuals with 55% of participants stating that their life was changed by a single OBE event. Of the 500 studied, 71% stated that their OBEs were beneficial to them and 40% declared their OBEs as “the greatest thing that had ever happened to them.”
These findings align with what many experiencers, including myself, have described: that OBEs can expand one’s perception of consciousness and the world around them. Whether viewed through the lens of neuroscience, or experienced as a spiritual event, OBEs challenge our basic assumptions about the nature of self and reality.
What makes OBEs an excellent source for self-expansion is their accessibility during sleep. Unlike many profound or spiritual moments that happen under extreme circumstances, OBEs during sleep can be a safe and repeatable avenue for life-changing experiences.
Now that you know the preliminary science, function, and possibilities behind OBEs you’re one step closer to engaging your own experience. If you’re interested in learning more about how to have an OBE check out my following posts on How to Have an Out-of-Body Experience Naturally and How to Have an Out-of-Body Experience Intentionally (coming next week).
