The Art Of Reality Checks

My first realized out-of-body happened January 7th, 1996.

I had been journaling my dreamtime experiences for the previous four months. They had become increasingly vivid and lengthy.

I had been reading Robert Monroe's "JOURNEYS OUT OF THE BODY". I had made several attempts, using alert-relaxation techniques, to no avail. I had also been keeping a OBE workbook documenting other techniques I had tried.

I was turned on to "THE ART OF DREAMING" by a friend and enjoyed it thoroughly. After attempting to project using techniques in "THIRTY DAYS TO AN OUT-OF-BODY", I decided to come up with a technique of my own, using what Carlos had done, to awaken himself to his dreaming, as a basis.

I wrote on the back of my hand, Is This A Dream? On the inside of the same hand (left) I wrote a big C with a smaller wr inside the C. This was to refer to Conscious waking reality.

During that evening at work, every time I saw the back of my left hand I would ask myself the question written there. After asking the question I would try to change something I saw, (a sign, chair, person, etc.) by my mere thoughts alone. If there was no change I would open my hand and remind myself that it was only conscious waking reality.

I must have done this forty to fifty times during my shift. At one point I recall promising myself that should I find myself aware of my dream I would then do some dream therapy to help with my current issues. (Later on I found out my technique was a variation of reality checks I have read elsewhere since.)

At some point the next morning, while dreaming, I looked at my hand. There was writing there but it wasn't, "is this a dream". I had the feeling that it was of a profound nature and tried to read it. Unfortunately the writing blurred to my vision.

Then I realized I was dreaming. My first instinct was to raise my arms up and take off flying. My arms stretched upward, (they were light blue with white lights dancing around inside them) and as I was about to take off I remembered the promise I made to myself.

I found myself lying in a bed. A woman entered the room with a clipboard. She wore glasses, a mid-length black skirt and white blouse. Her composure was that of a professional. As I looked at her I noticed she had small breasts so I said bigger bust. They seemed to jut out a bit further so I said bigger again three more times. She looked very ruffled by this and I realized I was being very base.

Before I could apologize for my behavior I was suddenly floating above my bed. I looked down to where I slept and saw a very vague figure in the bed. I drifted in closer as I had wished I could tell if it was my body.

I drifted in and looked very closely at how my body was positioned in the bed so I could verify that this experience was real and not just a dream. I was lying on my left side.

I reached down with my astral hand and grabbed my physical ankle. I felt as if my body was stirring due to my having disturbed it. This led to the fear of what would happen if my body awakened without my consciousness being present. I instantly began to feel as if I was being sucked back into my body. It seemed as if I was having a bit of difficulty with the reentry process at first.

I opened my physical eyes and was instantly alert. No grogginess as is usual for me when I return from Dreamtime. I grabbed my dream journal and recorded the experience. As I was writing I felt two separate emotions. The first was excitement at having finally achieved my goal. The second was disappointment at having let my fear cut the experience short.

The only part of the experience that seemed off was the position I was sleeping in. While astral I saw my body lying on its left side. When I returned I noticed that I was lying on my right side.