Out-of-body experiences (OBE)
The vivid sensation of perceiving the world from a point outside your body. Reported by ~10% of people at least once — the interpretation remains open.
An out-of-body experience (OBE) is the vivid, convincing sensation of perceiving yourself from outside your own body — often floating above it.
Between lab and testimony
The subjective phenomenon is beyond doubt: about one person in ten reports at least one OBE in their lifetime, and partial forms can be triggered in the lab (stimulation of the temporo-parietal junction, full-body illusions in virtual reality).
What stays open is the interpretation: a hallucination of the body model for neuroscience, an actual journey for esoteric traditions (“astral body”, “astral projection”). This map presents both readings without settling the question.
Common doorways
Spontaneous OBEs often occur at the edges of sleep — notably during sleep paralysis — or in deep relaxation. Deliberate methods (Monroe, the phase, etc.) look remarkably similar to lucid dreaming techniques.