The astral body and the physical body are connected together by a 'silver cord.'
There also appears to be about a 3 ounce weight loss when the astral body leaves the physical body, according to the Monroe Institute.
This indicates the astral body has a molecular mass.
Surprising to Westerners is the fact that almost everyone's astral body leaves the physical body during sleep.
Many of your dreams and nightmares come from experiences in the astral realm.
Some people even experience 'out of the body' episodes when they have surgical operations under anesthesia.
As an exercise, choose a time when you're completely alone.
Lie down and relax in a comfortable position (review "Exercise -- Relaxation For Improved Awareness") and take 10 to 20 deep, abdominal breaths.
Now while breathing slowly and with your eyes closed, imagine yourself in a room on the second floor of a house.
There is a window in front of you.
Go to the window and open it.
Imagine yourself floating out of the window and looking down at the ground.
Now float back into the room and over to your body lying on the bed.
(You could also visualize the sensation of falling through the air once you're out of the window.
) Hover over your body from 6 feet in the air and look down at yourself.
Concentrate and feel your conscious awareness hovering at a point 6 feet above you.
Imagine yourself very light and observing your own body features from 6 feet away (review "Exercise Pain Control Via Detachment").
Think and practice.
With practice, you will suddenly experience a mild buzzing or almost an electric shock as the separation is made, but DON'T be afraid.
Then suddenly you will 'see' your body lying with closed eyes some 6 feet beneath you.
If you experience fear at this point, you will be 'reeled' back into your physical body immediately.
Fear is a discordant vibration in the astral realm, so wait until another day to do the exercise again.
Actually, astral travel is easy as long as you understand that you CAN do it.
It may take days of practicing the technique, but you can do it.
Here is another way of projecting your astral self from your physical body.
Again, lie flat on your back in a relaxed, comfortable position and close your eyes.
This time imagine a ghostly shape the size of your body slowly rising from your physical body and floating upwards like a puff of smoke.
The first few times you do this, you may notice that you start twitching slightly or vibrating.
This is good, because it means you are about to separate from your physical shell.
Simply relax and let the separation take place.
Let your astral body rise to within a few feet from your physical body.
It will take practice, but if you continue to imagine that you can do it, you'll do it.
To assist the process, you might repeat an affirmation ahead of time to alert the subconscious.
For instance say, "I am projecting my astral body from my physical body."
Say this affirmation 3 times in exactly the same way.
Since you are always stating all kinds of things, an affirmation stated once does not alert the subconscious.
If stated twice, the subconscious begins to take notice.
Repeated the third time, the subconscious becomes receptively aware and records the affirmation for responsive use.
You might want to experiment by giving yourself an affirmation before going to bed.
You can say something like, “I will be fully conscious when my body falls asleep."
I will be fully alert and will remember in full conscious detail what I am experiencing.
I desire to go out of the body and explore this state with all my awareness.
You can say this affirmation to yourself 3 times, and then go to sleep.
You can also affirm to yourself 3 times your desire to astrally visit and learn something specific from a distant library or country before retiring for the night.
Some people also find it easier to travel astrally when they are uncomfortable cold, hungry or maybe with indigestion.
Presumably the astral body becomes sick of being in the physical body.
Drunkards suffering from delusions often slip out of the physical body and witness things they don't understand.
Since alcohol is a poison and definitely destructive to the body, it is not recommended to get drunk to leave the body.
(Caution: Astral projection should only be done by stable, well-balanced individuals. Since your astral body is your emotional body, unstable people should not dabble into things that could only confuse them even more.)