An occasion when a person feels as though they have left their body and, often, travelled along a tunnel towards a bright light.
The perception of being away from and overlooking oneself; the feeling that the mind has separated from the body.
According to author H. J. Irwin, “an experience in which the center of consciousness appears to the experient to occupy temporarily a position which is spatially remote from his/her body.” No scientific theories (for example, those based on psychology and physiology) have been able to explain these mysterious experiences; in fact, the above definition is necessarily based on reports by people claiming to have had OBEs. These reports have not as yet been scientifically verified.
OBE reports have several common features. In a great number of cases, the person having the experience observes his or her body lying motionless or corpselike as the mind or consciousness floats above it. Observations and sensations of the OBE are usually described as more vivid than those of a dream. Often a subtle, ghostlike ( astral ) body is perceived to accompany this straying consciousness. The astral body is frequently attached by a silvery ethereal cord an astral umbilical cord to the physical body.
The sensation of departing from one’s own body and perceiving oneself from a different realm. This encounter, believed to arise from disruptions in brain activity, is recounted by certain individuals after undergoing general anesthesia or facing a medical crisis.