Out-of-Body Experiences

Our bodies allow us to participate in life on earth and to perform mitzvos. But our true self, our eternal self, is our soul. Not only do we learn this fact, we also experience it, as there are many times when we feel a separation between body and soul. In everyday parlance, at such times we might describe ourselves as “spacey” or “ungrounded.” Or we might announce that we’re “not really here today.”

We might be so intensely absent from our bodies that we experience a strong flashback to some troubling time, or feel as if we (or the things around us) aren’t real, or we might experience ourselves as literally outside of our bodies. We might sometimes intentionally induce a state of separation through purposeful meditation, freeing ourselves from our physical constraints to soar through to spiritual realms.

All of these out-of-body experiences are common, although not commonly spoken about. Some of them frighten us and many of them are uncomfortable. Apart from those times when we intentionally set ourselves free through prayer and meditation, we tend to feel our best when we’re in our bodies, grounded and safe, inhabiting the present moment in all of its glory.

This is why people feel calm and content when engaged in a demanding but creative activity like painting, or an activity that requires close attention to detail, or that requires our complete physical involvement, like gardening. Even intellectual activities such as studying or reading are soothing when conducted in a grounded way, with our attention focused directly on the material at hand.