"Man, tree, and flower are supposed to die; but the fact remains that God's universe is spiritual and immortal…"—Mary Baker Eddy, Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom, p.270.

The human soul is eternal and linked to God or The Creator. A person on a spiritual path knows this, and understands that he or she is a soul with a body and not a body with a soul. Astral travel is a marvelous experience that allows you to travel anywhere. Some of the places you can visit exist in either the earthly realm or in the heavenly realm. You can travel to the homes of friends and loved ones while in your soul form. Astral travel can also take you to healing temples and beautiful gardens that exist in Heaven. You can even visit the Akashic Records (or universal library); this is a magical place where all knowledge, wisdom, and information is stored. It is located on a higher field or plane of the Heavenly Fields.

Everyone travels astrally while sleeping. Many people recall these events as lucid dreams or "flying dreams." These dreams will feel very real to the individual. Unfortunately, few people can remember their astral travel dreams, but there are methods available to recall astral travel during sleep. These same methods or techniques can be used to astral travel while in a waking-but-altered state of consciousness, or in a near- or light-sleeping state.

The body, the soul, and magnetism
Before we discuss some of these techniques, let us digress for a moment. The Law of Magnetism is involved in astral travel and sleep. When you fall asleep, this natural law takes over. Your body enters into a relaxed mode and your brain wave patterns slow down dramatically. This changes the magnetic polarity of the human body. Normally, the body has a more negative charge or polarity. But during sleep, your body takes on a positive charge.

The human soul, on the other hand, has a naturally positive polarity at all times. As brain wave patterns alter during sleep, both the body and soul have a positive charge. Therefore, the soul has a natural inclination to leave the body at this moment. Under the Law of Magnetism, positive and negative charges attract while positive and positive repel. This is the same situation in regards to the soul and the body. The soul (which is naturally positively charged) and the body (which becomes positively charged during sleep) start to push or repel each other. This then makes it easier for the soul to slip out of the physical form.

Prior to attempting astral travel, certain preparations are necessary in order to give you a better chance of success. These preparations involve diet, breathing, and water.

Diet
Diet can influence astral travel in many situations. This is especially true regarding astral travel in altered waking states. Once again, the Law of Magnetism comes into play. Most foods have either a positive essence or a negative essence. The consumption of positively or negatively charged foods can affect the body's polarity.

Vegetables and many fruits tend to have a more positive essence. These foods should be considered as having a lighter or higher vibration. They are sometimes referred to as "spirit foods" due to the high frequency and the more positive essence they contain. Eating these foods will aid in attempted astral travel.

Breathing
The breath of life is important for astral travel training. When you draw in breath, you bring Chi (or universal energy) into your lungs. This energy has an extremely high vibratory rate and can be found in the air we breathe and the water we drink. It originates from the Heavens above. If you hold this breath in your lungs for a few seconds, this energy will flow via the circulatory system to the entire body charging all the organs with this powerful Chi. This raises your vibrations and allows the body to become lighter, and to carry a more positive essence.

Deep breathing exercises can be taken one step further when attempting astral travel. Try taking in deep breaths and holding the air in your lungs for a period longer than five seconds. The longer the breath is held, the more positively charged the body becomes. Also, the vibrations of the body become much higher. Be careful and reasonable, though, and don't hold your breath for longer than is comfortable.

Water
Anyone considering astral travel should drink a large amount of water during the day. This has a tendency to flush the body and remove unwanted wastes and poisons (which carry a very low vibratory rate). The release of these undesired substances helps the physical form to maintain healthy energy within.

Additionally, there is an exercise called the "Glass of Water Technique" that teaches you how to magnetize or "charge" water in a glass, thereby giving it a higher vibration of energy. (See below for full instructions on this technique.) This has great potential when used in astral travel training.

The combination of spirit foods, deep breathing exercises, and the charging of water can all be used together in the following manner. This will ensure that you have a better chance of success when attempting astral travel.

For seven days prior to attempting any astral travel, adhere to the following regimen. (A week is normally the required time necessary for the desired energy changes in the body and the soul to manifest.) Remember that this is only a temporary situation and these guidelines are not written in stone. Try to find a balance that works for you. It is simply easier to learn to astral travel if you can make these changes during the preparation stage.

During this week, you may need to adjust your diet. If you are a vegetarian and do not have a sweet tooth, then you probably won't have to make massive changes in your food intake. However, if you normally eat substantial amounts of red meat, then you should try to cut down during this week. If you love sweets, limit your intake of these delicacies for the seven days. Both of these types of foods possess a more negative essence and a lower vibratory rate.

Green leafy vegetables have some of the highest vibratory rates of all of the spirit foods. They possess an abundance of positive essence. This is especially true of lettuce and spinach. If you can eat large amounts of these vegetables over the seven days, the benefits may be felt during astral travel attempts.

You can also practice longer deep-breathing exercises during the preparatory week. The deep breathing should be done twice a day, in the morning and then again in the evening prior to sleep.

Begin each morning by taking a deep breath into the lungs. Hold it, and count to twelve slowly in your mind. As you do this, feel the lungs as they start to pulse. You will begin to feel pressure in the chest. Avoid the urge to rush it out. Expel all your air slowly. Then repeat the exercise in the same manner. Do the same deep breathing a third and final time that morning. Return to normal breathing and return to your everyday activities. In the evening, do the deep breathing exercise three times in the exact same way that you did in the morning. Follow the same deep breathing regimen for six more days.

As the week progresses, you may start to notice that your body feels as if it is vibrating. This is a normal occurrence. Your body is becoming more positive, and allowing your soul to begin slipping out. Actually, your soul is moving slightly out of the physical body—into the aura and back again.

During the week you should practice the Glass of Water Technique at least once every other day. If that's not possible, try to do this technique a minimum of three times during your period of preparation.

The Glass of Water Technique
The right hand possesses a naturally positive essence, while the left hand has a negative essence. As mentioned earlier, under the Law of Magnetism, like repels like but opposites attract. Therefore, the positive essence of the right hand attracts the negative essence of the left hand. When these two essences are sent through opposing sides of a glass of water, eventually, the water will be magnetized or charged, and have a higher vibratory rate. The positive polarity will be the dominant essence in the water.

To begin, fill a glass with water and find a quiet place to sit. Place your hands in a comfortable position around the glass, making sure that you maintain contact with the surface. This will ensure that the healing energy and Chi flows into the water where it will be absorbed.

Now, feel the warmth and energy moving through your wrists and into your hands. Concentrate on this for a few moments until you feel a pulsing sensation in your hands, thumbs, and fingers. Let this pulsing get stronger.

Allow your focus to move to the glass of water. Sense your hands pulsing against the surface of the glass. Feel this pulsing getting stronger until it feels like a throbbing emanating from the glass of water. The water will begin to feel different to you. Continue to hold the glass for about five minutes. When you feel as if the glass is trying to push your hands away from it, the water has now been fully magnetized.

Drink the glass of water quickly. You might feel a pleasant warm sensation in the tummy. This is a sign that the charged water is having a positive effect upon the body. The vibratory rate of the body has been raised and contains more of a positive essence within.

The next steps
By the end of the seven day period of preparation, the combination of diet, deep breathing, and water will give you the necessary changes to your vibratory rate to allow you to astral travel. You are now ready to begin.

On the eighth day you can attempt the following technique. This exercise can be used on a regular basis. It is simple and easy.

Situate yourself in a fairly quiet room. Sit down in a comfortable chair with a full glass of water placed nearby. Make you sure that you are relaxed—all negative emotions such as anger or fear should be put aside. Take in one deep breath, hold if for a few moments, and then release it slowly through your nose. Repeat this a second and third time. Then return to normal breathing.

Pick up the glass and do the Glass of Water Technique again. This time you might notice an improvement while performing this technique. Your hands may begin to pulse faster and stronger than previous attempts. As before, drink all of the charged water.

From this point you can either stay seated or lie down in a comfortable position. This is up to you. However, if you practice this technique just prior to bedtime, then the latter position would probably be the best one. For the sake of simplicity, these instructions will assume you are lying in a bed.

As you rest on the bed, visualize a white light encircling the inside of the walls of your bedroom. Then, visualize another white light encircling you and your bed. You will have an inner and an outer circle of light surrounding you while you attempt to astral travel. This is a measure of protection that helps you to keep negative entities from bothering you. These white lights also attract angels, spirit guides, and other heavenly beings towards you. You should always ask for your angels and spirit guides to enter into the room and protect you during meditation and astral travel.

By this time you may be feeling some warmth in the pit of your stomach. You might also experience the sensation that your body is vibrating either side to side or back and forth. This is the result of the magnetized water and indicates that your soul is trying to slip out.

Now, longer deep-breathing techniques will be used. You will do the longer deep-breathing or breath-holding techniques twice, in the same manner as before (breathe in, hold for twelve seconds, release). The third deep breath will be done differently. After releasing all of your breath the second time, wait for about four seconds. Let your eyes look towards the foot of the bed and imagine that you are standing here looking back at your prone body. Shut your eyes and picture this in your mind.

Now take in the third breath and hold it for the slow count of twelve. Then, release your breath in a forceful fashion. Expel all your breath quickly. As you do this feel as if you are pushing yourself out of the physical body. If you're lucky, you might slip out of the body and end up at the foot of the bed staring back at your reclining form. Or you may not notice any change when you try this for the first time. You are likely to have some positive results, even if you don't succeed in pushing your soul out of your body completely. For instance, you may feel as if you are vibrating within your body in a very powerful way. Perhaps you might be aware of moving out of the body a few feet for a second or two. You may even feel pleasant sensations throughout and some lightheadedness.

The secret to successful astral travel is to keep practicing this technique on a regular basis until you become more adept. Eventually, you will be able to consciously astral travel. This can be done in a light altered state or in a near-sleep state. If you are interested in learning more about these techniques, check out Ancient Teachings for Beginners.

When you travel astrally you can meet and work with angels, spirit guides, and other light beings. Answers you need, knowledge and wisdom you seek, can be obtained from these beings. You can find peace of mind and contentment through astral travel. As an eternal soul you can maintain your connection to the Creator through this process. Allow the light within you to shine.