Experience description:

I had already been practicing yoga for several years. It was the first yoga retreat I participated in, just one afternoon. I did not know the room, nor the participants except one, and my yoga teacher. It was a session consisting of positions for relaxation, each position being held long enough but with adjustments allowing relaxation (supports, bolster ...)

I did not know the vast majority of positions offered during this session at that time.

While we were in one of those positions (about halfway through the 3 hours), the teacher said "relax completely". At that instant, all of a sudden, I was no longer anybody. I was no longer there nor elsewhere. I couldn't hear anything, I saw a kind of darkness, not really black but almost. But saying "I" is strange because "I" was no longer a person. "I" told myself: "Well, I didn't know that it was possible not to be someone anymore." Then I felt a movement of ascent, always surrounded by dark color. Then I saw inexpressible things, things from another dimension. These things meant that EVERYTHING IS ONE. It's like seeing behind the scenes. Everything is connected, everything is one. At that time, I was not interested in spirituality, I was practicing yoga because I had back problems and I had been advised to do so. I had never read or seen anything on this subject, EVERYTHING IS ONE. I was raised as a Protestant, it’s never mentioned in that religion, not to my knowledge anyway.

Then, "I" said to myself: "But nevertheless, it seems to me that I used to be someone", without being able to remember anything of this life that I told myself I had. Then I felt myself come back down. And I found myself roughly at the level of the ceiling of the yoga room. I saw the bodies of the participants in that session, in their yoga position, and the teacher standing. I couldn't hear anything. I said to myself: "Ah yes, that's my life ..."  It held no interest for me. I did not want to return to my body because of the lack of interest that I felt towards my life. But I realized that if I didn't reintegrate my body, it would cause problems for my yoga teacher. And suddenly I thought to myself: "But! this is inappropriate! What am I doing?" I had to quickly get back into my body, because if the teacher asked us to change position, since I was not in my body, I was not going to be able to do it and it would seem weird! So I told myself that I had to go back to my body. I had a fear: What if I did not return to the right body? I wouldn't know anything about the previous life of that person, it was going to be complicated! And then instantly, I returned to my body, without any worries. (The good one!) I needed a few moments to recover before the teacher asked us to get out of the position.

I did not talk about this experience for several months. By chance, one day on the internet I came across a report on NDEs, where at some point a question was raised as to whether this type of experience could also happen during meditation or yoga. It was only then that I was able to talk about it.

When I was little, I would go out of my body at will, I had techniques for that, it was a game for me. One day, I told my mother about it, and she shot back that it was impossible, that I had been dreaming. From that day on, I never managed to do it again, and I really believed it was not real. Subsequently, I told myself that, as a child, I had had bad perceptions. This experience, 35 years later, showed me that I was right. However, I haven't had any other out-of-body experiences since then, it's been 5 years now. I participated in the same yoga retreat about a year later (same positions, same teacher) and nothing happened.

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's another dimension, it's impossible to describe what I saw; it's as if you wanted to place a drawing (in 2 dimensions) on a single straight line (one dimension). It's impossible.

IL s'agit d'une autre dimension, il est impossible de décrire ce que j'ai vu; c'est comme si vous vouliez mettre un dessin (2 dimensions) sur une seule ligne droite (une dimension). C'est impossible.

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?    Complete consciousness  Conscience entière

 Was the experience dream like in any way?          Absolutely unlike a dream. Absolument pas comme un rêve.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?   Yes. I did not have « another body », it was as if I had materialized just as one dot.  Je n'avais pas un 'autre corps', c'est comme si j'étais matérialisée juste en un point.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?  Surprise at not being anyone anymore, then I savored the moment when I saw that everything is one. A moment of completeness. Then, the lack of interest in my life, then the fear of "doing something stupid" ...

De l'étonnement de n'être plus personne, puis j'ai savouré le moment où j'ai vu que tout est un. Un moment de complétude. Ensuite, le manque d'intérêt vis à vis de ma vie, puis la peur de 'faire n'importe quoi'...

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises? I heard absolutely nothing. Je n'ai strictement rien entendu.

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     

Did you see a light?        No     

Did you meet or see any other beings?         No     

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

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. I did not hear anything, I saw as usual. As for my other senses, I don’t know.    

Oui. Je n'entendais rien, je voyais comme à l'accoutumée. Pour les autres sens je ne sais pas.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?  Yes. I was transported to another location, then I came back to this location.  Oui. J'ai été emmenée vers un autre espace, puis je suis revenue dans cet espace-ci.


Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?         Yes    EVERYTHING IS ONE  TOUT EST UN

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?           No     

Did you become aware of future events?      No     

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?   Uncertain. I don’t know if I had a choice. At first, I didn't want to come back because my life seemed uninteresting to me, I rather wanted to continue to evolve in other dimensions, to discover other things. Then I told myself that this was going to be a problem for my yoga teacher, and that it was wrong! That's why I came back. If I had been alone, I don't know what would have happened.

Je ne sais pas si j'avais le choix. Dans un premier temps, je ne voulais pas revenir car ma vie me paraissait sans intérêt, j'avais plutôt envie de continuer d'évoluer dans d'autres espaces, de découvrir d'autres choses. Puis je me suis dit que cela allait poser problème à ma prof de yoga, et que ça n'était pas correct! C'est juste pour ça que je suis revenue. Si j'avais été seule, je ne sais pas ce qu'il se serait passé.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?      Uncertain. Maybe I feel more things (energies). But maybe it's just because I open myself to a different view of reality.

Je ressens peut-être plus de choses (les énergies) Mais peut-être est-ce que c'est juste parce que je m'ouvre à une vision différente de la réalité.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?  Yes.  Before I was very Cartesian (scientific studies). All that changed in my grasp of reality. I realize how far behind science is ... But how much it refuses to question itself despite the enormity of the things it does not know ... Not knowing the explanation for weight, except 20% ... And yet manhandling scientists who dare to think outside the box ...

Avant j'étais très cartésienne (études scientifiques). Cela a tout changé dans mon appréhension de la réalité. Je réalise combien la science est en retard...Mais combien elle refuse de se remettre en question malgré l'énormité des choses qu'elle ne connaît pas...Ne pas connaître l'explication du poids hormis 20%... Et pourtant malmener les scientifiques qui eux, osent sortir des sentiers battus...

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?   I think that the change has not yet really taken place, but is underway. Je pense que le changement n'est pas encore vraiment effectif mais en cours.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Uncertain.  Impossible for change not to occur. It changes the way I see life. It is not yet translated into reality, but it is present in me.

Il ne peut pas ne pas y avoir de changement. Cela change ma façon de voir la vie. Cela ne se traduit pas encore dans les faits mais c'est présent en moi.

Have you shared this experience with others?  Yes. My husband believed me. Like me, he also had a very Cartesian vision of things, but that is changing. As for others, most believed me, others did not seem ready to believe that type of thing, even if they thought I was sincere.           

Mon mari m'a cru. Comme pour moi, lui qui avait aussi une vision très cartésienne des choses est en train de changer. Pour les autres, la plupart m'ont cru, d'autres ne semblent pas prêts à croire à ce genre de choses même s'ils me pensent sincère.

What emotions did you experience following your experience? Difficult to answer. At first, astonishment at being nobody. Then, when I saw that everything is one, the feeling that I had found my "country", my true home and also that, deep down, I already knew that everything was linked. Then I really tried to remember the life I had (besides, I didn't even know whether I was a man or a woman), it annoyed me somewhere not to know anymore. Then, disinterest towards my life. Then the fear of doing abnormal things, of deviating from the rules (it is inconceivable to get out of your body in the middle of a yoga class and not be there to change your body's position if the teacher requests it.) Then the fear also of not returning to the right body.

C'est difficile de répondre. Au début, de l'étonnement de n'être plus personne. Puis, quand j'ai vu que tout est un, l'impression de retrouver mon 'pays', mon vrai chez-moi et aussi qu'au fond je savais déjà que tout était lié. Ensuite j'ai vraiment cherché à me souvenir de la vie que je pouvais avoir (d'ailleurs je ne savais même plus si j'étais un homme ou une femme), ça me contrariait quelque part de ne plus savoir. Puis, du désintéressement vis à vis de ma vie. Ensuite la peur de faire des choses anormales, de déroger aux règles (il n'est pas concevable de sortir de son corps en plein cours de yoga et de ne pas être là pour faire changer son corps de posture si la prof le demande...)Puis la peur aussi de ne pas réintégrer le bon corps.

What was the best and worst part of your experience? The best part was obviously when I saw that everything was one. The worst, when I was afraid of returning to a different body. My fear was mainly that I would know nothing about that person's life, and that it would be complicated ... But that did not last long.

La meilleure partie est évidement quand j'ai vu que tout était un. La mauvaise, quand j'ai eu peur de me retrouver dans un autre corps. Ma peur était surtout de ne rien connaître de la vie de la personne, et que cela soit compliqué...Mais cela n'a pas duré longtemps.

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

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?           No