People write me often telling me about their astral projection experiences. But half the stories I hear are not astral projection experiences; they are lucid dreams that involve flying, and people mistakenly believe that if they are flying around and conscious then it must be an astral experience. But that is not so.

Let me explain how you can tell if you’re having an astral experience or simply dreaming that you are astral.

In a true astral projection you will wake up first, in your bed or where ever you are sleeping.

You will likely be in a state of sleep paralysis, feel a strong tingling sensation in your body, achieve separation, and lift up and out of your body.

At that point, you will hover, fly, or bop around like a helium balloon in your room, eventually getting out of your room and floating around your house or down the street.

Once you have achieved separation, your locomotion speed can be slow or ridiculously fast. And you can start going to other planes and frequencies, travel through time, or move lower vibrational beings out of your space.

When you’re done playing, you will think about being in your body and it will whip you back really fast. You’re done.

Learn more about all the possibilities you can experience in my Astral Projection 101 article.

On the other hand, if your experience starts from inside a dream, it is likely going to remain a dream.

A lucid one, sure. But not an astral experience.

“I was dreaming I was eating and all of a sudden I was lucid. I flew out the window and fought these bad guys wearing masks with swords. It was epic. Then I woke up.”

That’s a dream. You didn’t wake up in your bedroom FIRST. You didn’t go through a separation. All you had was an epic lucid dream.

“I dreamed I was floating up to heaven and I encountered my deceased father who told me how much he loved me. Then suddenly I was at his graveside. It felt so real. I told him I loved him. Then I woke up.”

Not an astral experience, but could be a visitation inside a dream.

When you go to sleep and dream you step into a mental construct that is inside your own head. Inside this construct you could be totally lucid and aware that you are dreaming. You can even have real conversations with real conscious beings who are able to tap into your frequency while you’re dreaming and really be there and really be talking to you. But your soul never leaves your body. Rather, you have invited other conscious beings into your construct.

Unless you wake up and consciously separate your soul from your body, you are probably having a very lucid, possibly epic, dream. I’m not here to diminish the awesomeness of your lucid dreaming, but don’t get caught up in the idea that consciousness or flying equals astral projection.

In a true astral projection you can encounter other beings who don’t have bodies. These are not dream constructs you’ve manufactured to play a role in your dream. These are beings outside of you who are also traveling on the same frequency you are.

You could even encounter a friend who is astral projecting but getting onto the same frequency at the same time is not easy.

In a true astral projection you won’t be eating, talking to people who are wearing clothes, or jumping back and forth between scenes.

Astral entities will have shape and energetic signatures but they won’t be wearing flip flops and hats.

Mastering lucid dreaming can definitely help you learn how to astral project because both involve becoming conscious while your body is unconscious. But only in astral projection does your entire being leave your body. In a lucid dream, you sink deeper into your own mental construct and are able to control the scenery with your thoughts.

If you can make something disappear by willing it, that’s a dream.

If you try to make something disappear on the astral plane, the entity will be like, “Dude, I ain’t your subconscious. Step off.” And then it may try to kick your astral ass.

So know the differences. Be safe traveling. Don’t piss off the entities. They have as much right to be on the astral plane as you do.