Kathryn W's Experience

Experience description:   

You will laugh too. I laugh and chuckle at the humor in it. It is ironic and silly... No alcohol in my system! I promise! No drugs or medication.

College holiday...I was back home, in New Orleans, for a little visit. I met some of my friends out one evening at a favorite local tavern, Fat Harry's. I had just arrived. I remember that I felt pretty and a bit more grown-up that night. The lighting in the tavern was dim and we were standing in a circle giving each others hugs and kisses hello. I excused myself to go to the ladies room. The ladies room was very narrow and each stall had only half a door for privacy. It was just one of things we put up with - heaven only knows why! Anyway, I was emptying my bladder - trying to maintain some privacy with the half door - when I suddenly was looking down on myself from above. I was seeing my body - my shell - down below. I must have been up about 7 or 8 feet and was off to the left side of my body. I wasn't cramped or hindered by the walls. They didn't physically exist for me. Like passing through a color. I didn't even notice I was out of my body until the strangeness or "uh oh!" of it hit me. It was mindless. It was regular existence, but without the physical human body. When it occurred to me that I was not in my body it was sort-of like "Hmmm...what am I doing up here? I better get back together!" So, I suppose I jumped back into my body or just instantly melded or something. Like closing a lipstick or compact. Snap! Finished, let's go! Out the door! I knew what I had just experienced and it seemed the most natural thing in the world - as though I had done it many times before - of course I don't physically recall anything like that. Perhaps it is just a spiritual thing.  I said nothing and just giggled to myself that I found proof of my spirit in the bathroom at Fat Harry's!

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience? No     

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words?          Yes    It felt very private and personal and natural so I didn't tell anyone. Who would have believed me anyway? I just carried the experience inside of me.  When I told someone, years later, they laughed in my face. Oh well. How can I expect someone else to understand or accept? The experience in itself is the proof and understanding.

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          No     

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?            Mindless mental wandering while using the rest room. Very awake. No alcohol. No medication. No drugs. I was happy and relaxed.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?  The softness of it.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?          Yes   

What emotions did you feel during the experience?          I was amused.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?          No - I don't recall any sounds at all.

LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?        No      No. I was within view of my body with nothing  - wait - I did feel a freedom and openness above my head, as though it was empty clear space - or did I? I wonder if your question brought me to a feature I took for granted or if it has led me to something that wasn't really a part of it.

Did you see a light?         Uncertain     A feeling of light.

Did you meet or see any other beings?         No      I just saw physical self.

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state? No     

No - but I do know that I was not hindered by the walls of the room.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?         No     

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?     Yes    See - I saw the room and myself.

Hear - I heard nothing

Taste - Didn't play a part in my experience

Touch - My body was not hindered by the walls - so I assume I had no touch-abilities. I must have been half in the room and half out to be able to be in the position I was in.

Smell - no smells noticed

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?  Yes    Altered space as in the physical world was like an image or like colors to move through - not something to be a hindrance or grabbed - grasped.