Every waking day, our physical bodies expend more force than they take in, drained by our actions, impulses, emotions and thoughts, that cumulatively create toxins, break down body tissue, and leave the body exhausted. During sleep, we step out of the dense physical body while it is being revitalized and rebuilt and are living and conscious to varying degrees on the astral plane of life. Most people can’t bring back into physical memory any clear recollection of their intervals of activity on the astral plane while their bodies were asleep.

Providing necessary pranic vital force, the etheric body stays with the sleeping physical body on the bed, while the astral and higher bodies temporarily leave and return. When out of the dense body, the astral and other bodies are always connected to the dense body by the two threads or streams of energy comprising the sutratma, which links the soul and personality. The life thread is anchored in the heart, with the consciousness thread anchored in the brain. In sleep, the consciousness thread is withdrawn for a time from the physical brain leaving the person unconscious physically, but conscious on astral levels.

Types of dreams include- the confused and mixed dreams, symbolic dreams, lucid dreams (which indicate increased awareness during dreaming), prophetic dreams, and clairvoyant dreams. Dreams that are connected to a very partial recall of sights and sounds experienced while out of the body astrally are always mixed with fantasy. More rarely, certain dreams are accurate recollections of astral excursions and activity. Another type of dream originates on the mental plane, can involve contact with thought-forms, and is educational in nature. Dreaming doesn’t interfere with astral activity, as all dreaming takes place in the physical brain.

The dreams of people who have made soul contact or are developing a link with the soul realm can include- dreams that are dramatizations by the higher self, where the soul instructs, directs or warns the human personality living on the physical plane. Soul- inspired dreams where the lower self is trained in understanding higher purpose and conscious group work and activity. A spiritually advanced individual could experience a dream stimulated by the soul that illuminates a limited beginning understanding of the divine world plan. Full moons can be auspicious times to encourage soul-linked dreams.

When withdrawn from the physical body, the astral body retains the form of the person, so it is readily recognizable to anyone who knows them physically. The ability to be conscious and mobile on the astral plane varies widely with the evolutionary stage of the person. The most limited type of astral projection is seen in a undeveloped person, almost unconscious in their astral body, being unable to move from the immediate vicinity of their sleeping body. Their astral body would appear clairvoyantly as a vague and irregular ovoid surrounding an indefinite central portion floating above their dense body.

The developed individual is fully conscious in their astral body and within it, can move about the astral plane at will. The ovoid and inner portion of evolved astral body is much more distinct and definite in shape than in the unevolved astral body. Evolved astral bodies are vitally awake, have clear colors, are constructed of finer astral substance, and have greatly enhanced sensitivity for registering impressions.