Indeed, it was a trying task to truly grasp the things that my father was diligently working to express, but I knew that there was something that I needed to further understand.  Even before his explanations, before I had any inkling as to what an out of body experience could potentially entail, I would have "freezings."  

In my mind "freezings" are the first step to any SOBE.  Imagine laying still, asleep but gradually awaking by the sound of your mother's voice.  Assuming that all is normal you try to do the next logical thing in coming out of a deep sleep, you attempt to open your eyes.  This fails.  Then a leg.  No such luck.  Finally you sit there, scared unable to focus on where this "freezing" may take you.  You tune all of your energies onto one thing: MOVING.  Suddenly a finger twitches and you are free once again.  Your body is tired and your mind feels terribly out of sorts. 

I would sit there in the car, that seemed to be the most common place for these experiences, stunned.  Not knowing what just happened, or why.  Silence seemed to me the safest thing.  As I got older, I began to wonder.  For a few years, the freezings were minimal.  I would have an occasional spurt of a "freezing," but nothing that I couldn't snap out of within 30 seconds or so. 

I spoke to my father again, inquiring about the minute details of his episodes.  Now, he didn't hesitate so much, he saw too much of him in me to believe that his feelings could not be understood by his baby girl.  I listened, my brain like an empty book, ready to be scored by the fine point of a pen.  He described the view, and how during his first experience he could not control his movements and ran straight away into the wall directly in front of him.  The impact was even real.  Not dream like in anyway.  NOT an imagination run wild.  These sights were nothing but real.  And he spoke to me of his fears; he had no idea what was happening to his body, there was no World Wide Web for him to search, and not enough information for him to know that he was not alone. 

I was not sure if my experiences were any hint of what my father had experienced, and I felt foolish to mention my pathetic "freezings," but eventually, I had a disturbing night that forced me to express my feelings to my father. 

I finished competing in half-pipe contest at Okemo Mountain, in Ludlow, VT.  My managers, coaches and the marketing director at Okemo wanted me to stay for a photo shoot on the quarter-pipe that they built specifically for the event.  So I stayed, and hiked the hill several times for a few good shots. I drove immediately to my house about 20 minutes away and finished packing my bags, before driving 3 hours to my friends house in Connecticut.   

We left at about 5:00 am the next morning to fly to Spokane, WA for the National Half-pipe Championship at Silver Mountain, ID the very next day.  I had a connecting flight in Phoenix, AZ (I was flying Southwest...their hub is in Phoenix)  Somehow I got there and oddly enough there was no plane at the gate.  I slept on and off throughout the day; going to bed at 1 am and waking up a 5 does not do my body well.  I naturally assumed that it would do my body good to sleep so that I was caught up by the time I had to compete the next day.  

To make a long enough story somewhat shorter, I ended up having to take several more connecting flights before arriving in Spokane at midnight, add three hours, so 3 am eastern standard time, 22 hours after leaving Connecticut.  I got into a car shut the door and leaned against the frame of the backseat driver side door.  Soon enough my body was frozen, I could still hear the music whispering from the speakers and my coaches voice, speaking with her significant other.  I knew where we were relatively, I could make it out by certain comments and turns in the road.  An hours drive until I would be to the hotel. 

I knew when we pulled up to the hotel.  The bright lights that illuminated the driveway blared in on my weakened body.  I had to move myself, my mind was on an entirely different schedule.  FOCUS.  I knew that I could pull myself out of it, I didn't want to, but unfortunately it was a necessity.  It was as if I could feel all of the junk in my brain getting sucked right back in, like trying to empty pencil shavings from a sharpener only to have to close it right back up because you had no where to dispose of its remains.  The junk was on its way out, it was expanding and taking up more room outside of my head and suddenly, I interrupted the deletion process and jammed it right back from where it started. 

Dazed and mightily confused I emerged from the car as if I had never walked or seen light before.  I grabbed my bags, dragged them down the hall to my room.  Changed, crawled into bed and began to fall asleep.  5 am eastern standard time. 

My front faced the wall about a foot away from it.  My back faced three empty feet of bed space.  I lay comfortable, with my head resting on a godforsaken pillow.  I shut my eyes.  Shortly thereafter, a small buzzing began.  It was itching my neck, but I was frozen and could do nothing about it.  Within seconds, as if on a steady incline, the buzzing increased into the most intense vibration encircling my entire head down to my shoulders and throughout my spine.  I couldn't bare it.  I knew what was happening, I was fully aware, but I still couldn't bare it.  The vibrations ate away at my flesh as I was lying still, frozen, helpless.  Then, without warning, my body began to drop.  My body was rolling clockwise, front first, downward. Only to be struck by the brute force of an ever powerful jolt, thrown towards the ceiling scared out of mind, quite literally and figuratively, only to do what I knew how to do best and that is fight it.  I fought it as hard as I could possibly, and suddenly I found myself awake tingling, lying in bed, the sheets wet from a cold sweat. 

I won the competition the next morning but the first thing that I did when I spoke to my father over the phone was about the experiences the night before.  He nearly started to cry.  He described that when you give in to the powers of an OBE, follow through until the end, you wake up feeling extraordinarily refreshed.  As if the vibrations shake things lose, the out of body experience sorts them out and the return to the human world stores the new mind set. He was so terribly glad that I could share in the majority of his feelings, although I still wait until the day that I am a strong enough person to surrender to the intense feelings encompassing an out of body experience. 

No, there was nothing dreamlike about what happened.  It was the most alive that I have ever felt in my life.  I said that these experiences changed my feelings toward death, family, friends, and life purpose.  These feelings have only intensified as days pass without sign of an OBE, merely because I know that there is some greater life, beyond this one that we experience on planet earth.  There is a place, more real than where we live now.  A place where everything is sorted and filed and clear.  We will not get lost in the fog in this place, wherever "this place" may be.

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 is a feeling unlike any in a conscious state of mind.  Never throughout my days awake have I ever felt a feeling such as the one that occurred.  For those who have not experienced a SOBE/OBE would find it challenging to understand.  Explanation is possible, but understanding cannot be forced.

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?           Mild, I was aware of everything in my awakened world and could think clearly although I was confused about what was actually happening at the time.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Not at all.

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            read description.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           no.

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? Uncertain     

I personally did not, though my father has several accounts in which all of the aforementioned actions were performed.  Perhaps he will share his accounts with us.

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?          No      

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?          Yes     Time slowed.  Incredibly.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    No      

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?       I fully controlled my return by focusing in on more physical feelings.  At least feelings that were familiar to me.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         No      

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes    

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         No      

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     Often times people say "oh, a lucid dream."  It becomes frustrating at times trying to explain this experience, people find it hard to believe.  Although, recently, I met an incredible mind, someone who was entirely inspired by this account.  It triggered something in him about which inspired him to write a song.

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  dread, anxiety, fear, relief.  in that order.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      vibrations were the worst.  the best was the understanding that i had afterwards, the respect and at the same time skepticism that i have towards life.

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?               Yes