I don't know if you've heard about astral projections before which people who have experienced it describe as the activity that allows the soul to leave the physical body. This activity sparks a debate within the circle of people who have a more scientific perception of consciousness. People performing astral projection are convinced that the soul actually does some "exit" and "entry" from and to the physical body while more scientific people say it's not possible and that it's just a "mind trip".

In this article, I'll discuss how science actually sees these out of body experiences.

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What happens in the brain during the activity

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I read in an article that a team of scientists put a girl into a brain scanner to see what happens in her brain when performing astral projection. This is what they discovered:

The fMRI showed a "strong deactivation of the visual cortex" while "activating the left side of several areas associated with kinesthetic imagery," which includes mental imagery of bodily movement. This is the part of the brain that makes it possible for us to interact with the world. It's what makes you feel where your body is in relation to the world.

Based on the findings, it can be concluded that indeed, the woman's claims are true--that she indeed experiences these things (exact description in the research paper):

She was able to see herself rotating in the air above her body, lying flat, and rolling along with the horizontal plane. She reported sometimes watching herself move from above but remained aware of her unmoving "real" body. The participant reported no particular emotions linked to the experience.

However, it is not that paranormal kind most people tend to believe. It is actually a sort of hallucination that is only induced by different neurological mechanisms. Just like many other performers of this activity, the girl simply has the ability to work on these mechanisms and that no mystic factors are responsible for it. As the quoted findings say, there is an activation in parts in touch with kinesthetic imagery that allows imagination to occur in individuals. Therefore, it does not really make sense to say that there is a soul traveling in and out of the physical body, does it? The whole adventure they say in the activity is still all only in the mind based on this information.

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But how about the astral sex?

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There are a lot of YouTube and Facebook videos that feature stories of out of body sex experiences. I remember what that guy said about it--that it's like two energies getting along to form a stronger energy and just bursting like that of orgasm but even intenser. Intriguing, eh?

An article about astral sex says:

In November 2016, researchers came out with the revelation that humans have souls that can live on after death. While it may sound like a supernatural myth, physicist Sir Roger Penrose alleges that consciousness is just a packet of information stored at a quantum—or sub-atomic—level. At the time, he claimed to have discovered evidence that this info, which is contained in microtubules within human cells, leaves the body after a person dies.

Here, it seems like science still nods to the idea of a soul, but still, I have doubts about this. See, when actual sexual intercourse is performed by two people, their minds are not exclusively and directly aroused by the physical attractiveness of the bodies shared alone but rather by other factors such as the mere sense of pride it gives one, a motive to just satisfy oneself, or the preconceived idea of the whole thing itself. In spite of the nature of these factors being outside the physical aspect, they only go within the field of imagination. So I look at this explosive astral sex as just an output of a leveled up imagination.

There are a lot of sitcoms truthfully portraying actual sex through showing how each person have thoughts outside the moment--some imagine how it will end or use the moans, movements, and pleasure to compose something greater than how it will feel like with just purely physical engagement that then makes the experience feel amazing or for the romantics, well romantic.

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Conclusion

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I guess there are a lot of ways to look at out of body experiences, but as a realistic person, I believe it's not something that's paranormal. Those divine creatures they call, for me, are nothing but an image made by mind. Perhaps when one wishes to make the astral projection feel like an alternate and existing world then they really succeed into convincing themselves of that, thus making them say it's real in a "it's out of this world, literally" sense.

We humans have the psychological tendencies to somehow try to isolate ourselves from reality as it is in general, harsh or too complicated. We all want to believe in something "good" and by that we think of these new creatures--we imagine them and then tell ourselves they do exist. Like what researchers say, it's all hallucination that could be triggered by stress, brain trauma, drugs, etc.

In the end, there's nothing wrong trying. Just don't forget the real world you belong that may be really cruel but still has its own delightful perks to offer.

img sources:

• Astral sex
• Brain scan
• Man