Out-Of-Body Experiences   Most OOBEs are linked to the relaxation of the body and to sleep, but there are many different mental states in which OOCEs have been reported to occur. The OOBE is a common part of the near-death experience and has also been associated with illness, particularly high fevers, life-threatening accidents and anaesthetics. Also, OOBEs have been known to be induced by ritualistic dancing or rhythmic drumming, taking relaxant or hullicinogenic drugs. Some techniques rely on tricking or forcing the astral body away from the physical one.   The vas majority of OOBEs have been while the person was either sitting or lying down, and have been in the process of waking up or falling asleep. Although they have happened to those who are awake and animated, this is very rare indeed.   Because of religious implications OOBE has been long been recorded in history. There are possible references from the Old Testament and the anient Jewish Pseudepigrapha. St Paul is thought to have referred to it in his second letter to the Corinthians (12: 2-4). From the Middle Ages there are many accounts from the very religious. It addition, many other world religions have traditions of OOBEs., including some shamanistic practices that deliberately induce them.   When a person first realizes that they are having an OOBE, they will usually find themselves conscious and floating a few feet above their own body. Regular astral travellers often report the presence of an astral body and that it is caple of being seen by the living under the right conditions. The famous silver cord, which is said to connect the astral body to the physical body is rarely seen. The sensation of being out of body is very vivid and realistic, supposedly very distinctive from the sensations of dreaming. Many people who leave their bodies spontaneously are quite frightened, they try to get back to their bodies, thus the experience is usually short lived. Those who have OOBEs repeatedly, or who are not frightened of them, can often travel quite far, and report details from other rooms, or outside areas and locations.   The end of an OOBE can be just as sudden as it's beginning. In spotaneous cases, the person will commonly end their ordeal by willing themselves back into their body. The return to body is often described as so swift that the body jerks. Those used to OOBEs often just think themselves back into their bodies.   There are several ways to induce an OOBE, most which involve relaxation, self-hypnosis, or meditation techniques. One of the more successful of these is the Christos Technique. It involves trying to displace your center of consciousness from your physical body. Ideally, you will need two friends to help you.   ***Take your shoes off and lie down on your back in a slightly darkened room and get comfortable. ***Play some gentle music in the background. ***Get one person to massage your feet and ankles, they will need to do this firmly, but not too hard. ***The second person should also massage your forehead by placing the soft part of their clenched fist on it and rub hard. This needs to continue for several minutes.   After a while you should begin to feel slightly light-headed and even a little disoriented. Your feet should start to tingle as well. I fyou are trying this alone, then the alternative is to use standard relaxation techniques.   ***Try breathing in and out slowly and deeply while thinking of a warm sensation that begins at your feet and moves up your body. ***As this warm feeling passes through you, mentally describe the effect it is having on each part of the body, by the time you reach your head, your body should be very relaxed.   When you are completely relaxed, start imagining that your head and feet are stretching slightly and then returning to their normal shape. Keep doing this, imagine that both your head and feet are stretching further each time. When you have stretched your body several feet, start to imagine that your body is swelling up until it fills up the entire room.   One of your helpers (or if you are doing it alone, you yourself), should ask you to imagine that you are outside your front door. and ask you to describe everything that you see there. They should ask you to float up into the air so that you have a reasonable view of your city. To focus your mind and enhance the experience, you must describe everything that you can see in as much detail as possible. The session will normally end sponataneously with the subject waking up, but you can be talked back down to earth if need be. A reported side affect is that some people do not find themselves in their own bodies, but instead find themselves in what has been thought to be a past life.