In 1852, the Hartford Times stated that he began at the age of 19 with a spontaneous levitation to his ceiling.
Later, after learning to control his levitations, he demonstrated his ability to such notables as Emperor Napoleon III and Mark Twain.
More recently, the transcendental meditators of Maharishi Maharesh have been offered a special mantra and instructions that reportedly enable them to levitate.
At the Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, 2 meditation domes have been constructed for meditators to safely and privately levitate inside them.
As there seems to be a great deal of hopping in the initial stages, crash pads are often attached to their legs to cushion their sudden descents.
In all instances of levitation, an altered state of awareness seems definitely involved.
In a self-hypnotized state, the psychic Edgar Cayce once levitated to his stenographer's hand when she threw it out and said "hold up there."
Afterwards she was startled and withdrew her hand, whereupon he descended.
Her only intention was for him to slow down his rate of speech so she could transcribe his words easier.
Russian cosmonauts have also reportedly levitated after being hypnotized into believing that they were weightless.
All in all, levitation reports are just too numerous to discount.
Lulu Hurst, a 14-year old girl, gave demonstrations of her amazing power on stage in the U.S. from 1883 - 1885.
If a muscular man held a cane in front of his chest, Lulu could lightly place her hand against it and gyrate both the cane and man so violently that eventually both flew suddenly backward.
In one instance, 3 men sat one on top of the other in a kitchen chair.
Lulu placed her palms against the back of the chair and raised chair and men 6 inches off the floor for 2 minutes.
There were obviously more than the normal energies at work here.
For a simple exercise in partial levitation, organize 5 participants.
Have the heaviest subject sit on a hassock or chair.
Let the other 4 people stand around him.
Now in synchronous rotation have one person put his right hand on top of the seated person's head; then the next person does the same; then the next and finally the last.
Now do the same with the left hand until all 8 hands have formed a tower on the seated person’s head and no 2 hands belonging to the same person are in contact.
Practice these movements until you can stack the hands smoothly and rhythmically in a flowing manner.
The next stage is practicing in a rotational manner putting the forefinger of each standing person under the knees and armpits of the seated person.
After a slight momentary pressure downward to the count of 6 of all 8 hands, they are removed and holding a full breath of air, the first person puts his forefinger under the right knee, second person under the right armpit, third person under the left armpit and the fourth person under the left knee.
Get the rhythm down smoothly moving from the stacked position to the knee and armpit position.
Then have someone acting as a guide say, "Lift!" and you will find how easily and often surprisingly the 4 people can lift the seated person up in a synchronous fashion.
The success of this exercise lies in the smoothness of the rhythm and the simultaneous lifting process of the participants.
Rehearse it a few times before attempting to do the lift, so your tempo is achieved.
It might take 3 or 4 times to get everybody in 'synch,' but you'll do it.
Sometimes dispensing with the hand stacking can be substituted with the affirming of a phrase several times in unison like "Chocolate ice cream" or "Pumpkin pie" or "Lifting is easy."
The content of the phrase does not seem to matter, but the rhythm does.
Does the group thought process of a levitating intention reverse some inner polarity of the person to be levitated?
Does the repetition of a phrase over and over bring about a slightly altered state of awareness so that your intention to levitate is carried out?
It appears that the energy of thought projection can affect gravity in some way.
When you feel excited about a project and your energy field expands, the gravitational pull is distributed over a much greater area see here Electromagnetic Field Awareness and you 'feel' as though you're floating along the ground.
When you consciously direct your energy field in a contracted 'heavy' manner, the opposite effect is the result see Exercise Making Yourself Too Heavy To Be Moved
Since the weight on a physical scale does not change in these instances, a partial reversal of polarity in your body's energy field creates the unusual effect.
During levitation, perhaps the combination of proper breathing and visualization rotates your body's resonance?
Now sit or lie down in a comfortable, relaxed position and take several, deep, abdominal breaths.
Progressively relax all the muscles of your body from your toes to your head.
With your eyes closed, roll your eyeballs upwards and say, "Relax" to yourself.
Feel your whole body in a relaxed state and clear your mind (review "Exercise Relaxation For Improved Awareness and "Exercise Learning Self- Hypnosis
Now using a mental kinesthetic rhythm, visualize your body pulsing with energy upwards in a slow lifting motion as you inwardly say, "Lift" "Lift," and feel your body acquiring a sense of lightness.
Let your mind harmonize its brain wave level with the resonant frequency of the earth at 7.82 cycles per second.
The synchrony of the mental affirmation, "Lift," with the pulsing visualization upwards takes practice, and eventually your mind/body thought process will tangibly manifest itself in a physical way and levitation will be achieved.
Once achieved, it will be easy to repeat.