Experience description:

I was walking home from my elementary school on a sidewalk that was bordered by a well traveled road.  I only had a block or so to walk and I remember, even to this day, the exact spot that I had this experience.  One minute I was walking home and the next minute, I was looking down at myself.  I remember, vividly looking at the part of my hair from about 4 feet above my head and thinking, "Wow, that's my part on my hair."  It seemed like time was just frozen.   My body too.  I wasn't aware of movement of my body, but my mind was going a mile a minute.  I remember that I thought, "This is so cool, if a car jumped the curb, right now, I wouldn't be dead because I'm right here."  I remember feeling SO MUCH PEACE at that point, like I was being embraced, but I wasn't aware of any other being around me.  Just a feeling.  It seemed like I was staring at the top of my head for a while, but I really don't have a sense of how much time this took. Looking back it may have been just a second, but I was thinking about how I was safe and was not in my body and then thinking about a car hitting me.  Just writing about it has taken at least a minute. So I really have no idea about how long this whole experience took.  It was like the world stood still, except for me, my soul, whatever.  I just "Knew" from that point on, that when our bodies died, we didn't.  I never had to have faith about that.  I just knew it, from the time I was 5 years old.  I have also, since this experience, had several other "experiences" although not of me leaving my body.  I think that because this happened at such a young age, that I have never been skeptical and have been more open to things.  I know that I am much more in tune with people and what they are feeling.  For as long as I can remember, after this experience, people would always tell me that I was too sensitive but sometimes I feel others emotional pain and that is hard.  I also seem to know what others are thinking (not in actual words) but more their emotions, even when they are trying to hide them.

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

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? Yes     Mainly that while it was happening, I was very clear about everything, and even thought very specific thoughts about what it meant, but I was young and my parents didn't know what to make of this so I didn't talk about it for years.  There are words to describe my experience (and others that have happened to me later in my life) but they just don't seem adequate.  It can be frustrating to not be able to express how I was feeling.

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Uncertain      My home life could be violent and stressful.  A parent who loved you one minute and the next minute they hated you and became unpredictable and scary... I've often wondered if this happened to me because I would need calm and strength to get through some very difficult years.  I don't remember if I knew I was going home to an angry parent or not.  That's what made things so scary for me because I really never knew what I was going home to on any given day.  I don't remember much about before or even after, but I've never forgotten anything about what happened and how I felt during it.

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           Everything was so clear.  Maybe because I was a little girl, but I could think and reason through things so quickly and clearly.  I remember actually being aware of individual hairs when I was looking down at my part.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Not at all.  It was very clear then, and you know how you don't really remember dreams?  I've had absolute clarity of this experience for almost 46 years, without really talking about it or thinking about it.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes     This is one of those times where I don't really have the words to explain myself, but I'll try...there must have been some kind of form to me because I didn't feel scattered, but I wasn't aware of any physical form.  It just seemed like it was my mind, my self, my essence, me, that was looking down at this thing that I understood was my physical body.  I didn't feel much toward that body at all, except for recognizing it as mine, because I was above it.  That's what I meant when I thought about the car jumping a curb.  I wasn't down there, I was above it.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            wonder, happiness, freedom, safety, calmness.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           No.  It was kind of like everything was muted, like maybe under water that is absolutely still.  Very calm, peaceful, and still.  I did have my thoughts though and it was like when you talk to yourself in your head, that one way conversation.

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            Nothing like the religious locations.  I just know exactly where this happened on the sidewalk.

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 could see everything, down to the smallest detail so it seems my vision was more intense.  There was no sound (even with cars that where on the road) and in fact, it was like everything just stopped.  No movement.  Kind of like those old TV shows where the actor could freeze everyone around them but the actor was  still moving around and aware.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes     Time around me stopped, it even seemed as if my physical body stopped but my thoughts were still going without missing a beat.  I don't remember how this started, it just was, or how it ended, but what I remember is the middle and what mattered and the peace and knowledge that I took from this.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    Yes            That if my body died, I wouldn't be dead.  I'd still be alive because what was really me, was above my physical form.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?             No      

Did you become aware of future events?       Uncertain      Not in the general sense but I am more sensitive and can intuit situations where what I believe will happen often does.  This is more intuitive than "psychic"

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       No       Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?   Yes     Much more sensitive and intuitive with people and animals.  I also saw and spoke with my grandparent 6 years after he died.  There have been two more incidents in my life where I have heard a voice but not seen an entity, but this is not normal and not something that I can wish to happen.  In my 50 years, I've only experienced 3 maybe 4 other paranormal incidents.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes     We may think we understand our world and our universe but there is so much that we don't understand.  My mind is much more open to things that can't be explained because it's happened to me, more than once. We just don't talk about this kind of things so we don't believe them when they happen, or we label people crazy and medicate them.  I don't talk about what I've experienced. If I told people about things that I've experienced, they'd think I was nuts.  I'm very grateful for this web-site and the opportunity to talk about this without the stigma.

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?       I am very aware of people and their feelings.  I have a lot of empathy and patience.  I have chosen a field where I can teach, not only academics, but self worth, confidence, courage, and were I truly believe I can make a difference for the students that I teach.  I also have surrounded myself with animals, mostly rescued dogs and horses.  To watch them heal and learn to love and trust again is the most wonderful thing.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Uncertain      This happened when I was so young that I really don't know if my life changed but I do think I was able to survive my childhood intact and become a good parent because of the knowledge, love, and peace that I took away from this experience.  I also think that the other experiences that I've had, have happened to me because I'm open to this and because I'm more empathetic and intuitive than I probably would have been.

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     I told my parents after it happened, and they didn't say much, but I could tell they thought I was imagining things.  Years later, when I was in my 30's, my father brought it up again and we talked about it.  He was somewhat taken aback that I had such clarity and that my account was unchanged after all of those years.  He had just had heart surgery, and he asked me about my experience.  I don't know if he asked because something happened to him or if he just needed to hear my absolute certainty that when our bodies die, we don't, because of his surgery, but he listened and asked questions.

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  I wasn't afraid anymore, and I had more peace in a very non-peaceful house.  From that point on, physical death has not been an issue with me. This is still with me today.  I'm having valve replacement surgery in one month, so I've been thinking a lot about my mortality, but there is no fear.  I'm very calm and it is, what it is.  I know, that whatever happens, I'll be alive and fine, somewhere, hopefully here for a good while longer, because life is good but death is not frightening.  Just a different experience.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      The best part was how cool it was for me to look down at myself (that was pretty neat to a 5 year old) and then realizing that I would still be alive if I "died".