Experience description:   

            I'd gone to bed to sleep. I'd placed myself so that I would be able to see if my husband needed me, he had just come home from the hospital after being sick for a long time and having complicated brain surgery. When I put my head on the pillow my head began to spin and suddenly I'm inside a spiral that's blue and white. It spins like a weathercock and I'm fighting it, I don't want to go. Apparently I have "no say" in the matter, I'm drawn into the spiral and find myself in a dark space, as a tunnel, but without any light.

I land on all fours and it feels like cool, smooth sand beneath my hands. I'm thinking "now I'm dead, so it wasn't harder than this, there must be a light somewhere". I look around, but there's only darkness. I look to the left and there I find an opening, outside there's a beautiful meadow, extremely pretty with billowy green grass, just wonderful. I walk out on it and feel the grass and it waves so beautifully in the wind. The sun is shining clearly, it's a beautiful day. I look out over the meadow and see a city, it looks like a small town in Sweden in the 50-ies. Turn-of-the-century buildings are mixed with more modern houses.

I walk towards the city and although it's far away I get there quickly. When I get there, I see that the streets are paved with sand, no asphalt and I'm unsure about what time frame it is, but decide to stick by the 50-ies. It's really idyllic, small beautiful gardens with flowering bushes and cherry trees, but there are no people around, I can't see anybody.

I'm drawn to one of the houses, a beautiful turn-of-the-century building with a lovely garden and a path up to the house. I open the yellow gate (I want to add that all houses in this part of the city were painted yellow) and walk up to the house. When I get to it after climbing a staircase (maybe 5-6 steps) I come to a nice porch with gingerbread work in the corners, and on the walls there are beautiful brass doorbells, for calling those in the house. When I take a closer look at those bells, I see that all the names there start with a U. I choose one of the bells at random and press it. I hear steps loud and clear, someone is on their way to open the door, and just as this person opens (I think the small steps are from a woman), I'm suddenly back in my bed in less than one second and completely awake.

I've  often wondered who it was I was about to meet and what I would have been told or if I could have asked any questions. Or what else might have been shown to me if the meeting had taken place.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No      

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Uncertain      I might have been influenced by being more or less totally exhausted after my husbands illness and sitting by him in the intensive care unit. I remember I was very emotional and very, very tired.   

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?            While the experience took place

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness?    More consciousness and alertness than normal

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain:            I saw colors more clearly and I was talking to myself as if I knew I was dead.  

Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)?  Yes     Saw colors clearly and the light was very bright.

Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)?            No      

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            surprise, excitement, a little scared, curious. I told myself "now I have to be dead, because then you go into a darkness and there must be a light somewhere, I must find it".

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure?          Yes     I ended up in a dark space "on all fours" and beneath my hands there were cool sand, it felt like cool nice sand.  

Did you see a light?           Uncertain      I said to myself "now the light should be here", but it wasn't. Everything was pitch black. Then I got a feeling that I should look to the left, and there was a large beautiful meadow, absolutely wonderful.  

Did you meet or see any other beings?           No      

Did you experience a review of past events in your life?    No      

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

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions?           No           

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   No      

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?     Uncertain            I was about to meet somebody, I "knew" this, but since I came back in a blinking of an eye, the meeting didn't take place.  

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes     I came back too fast here to this reality, I felt.  

Did you become aware of future events?       Uncertain
            The house I was in seemed to be the same house I bought in 2001 and then sold again 4 years later. Nothing special happened in that house, besides that we had a little "ghost" we called "Pinocchio". It was nice and not frightening at all.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience?     Uncertain      Sometimes I can feel a deep concern for disasters in the world and I saw the Tsunami in Thailand. I had a dream about a huge wave over a beach the same morning I awoke to the news  about the disaster.  

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     I told my husband and some friends. Nobody understood what it was. A dream, they said. But to me, it wasn't a dream, it was something else. What?

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?    Yes     I've read some stories and that's why I recognized the dark tunnel.  

How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:            Experience was definitely real    I think about it as something special and beautiful that I'm glad that I've experienced.

Were there one or several parts of the experience especially meaningful or significant to you?            The green meadow was the most beautiful thing in the whole experience, it was peaceful and calm and conveyed a sense of security. 

How do you currently view the reality of your experience:            Experience was definitely real    I've never felt anything like it before and it was so real that I've never forgotten it, and I know that time and space is so much more than we experience in the "shadows of ordinary life". It's only a small limited part of the real life. All in this NDE or OBE was real and clear as never before.

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?           Yes     I've become more "open-minded" and I really want to see the person, not only the "shell". I feel I'm more tolerant and friendly when I associate with others and I very much want to help if somebody wants any help. I think more than before about the future of the earth and I get more involved in things when I feel they are for the good of all.  

Have your religious beliefs/practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?            Yes            I believe I know that our reality here is only a small part of many other realities, and we know very little about this whole subject.

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No      

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        I think about it a lot and I feel good thinking about it

Did the questions asked and information you provided so far accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?         Yes