My SOBE occurred on a November night about 1 1/2 years ago. I was lying awake in bed about 2 a.m. the night after my birthday, unable to sleep. I often have trouble sleeping and usually just stay in bed until I do finally fall asleep, but this time I felt the urge to get up, make a fire, and put on some music. So I got up, made a fire in my woodstove, put on a CD of sonatas by LeClair, made myself a cup of black tea. I curled up in my recliner and sat sipping my tea and listening to the music for about an hour. I heard the CD start over and got up for a moment to add more wood to the fire, and then sat in the recliner again.

I had finished my tea and was not fully awake, but I was awake enough I was still conscious of and listening to the music. Suddenly I was up in the air near the ceiling to the south of my recliner, in the arms of a man I had known who had passed about 18 years earlier, ballroom dancing (I do not know how to ballroom dance). I was aware of my 60-year-old body in the recliner, but I could not feel it. I looked like I had when I had first met the man I was dancing with, when I was 24. This did not seem strange to me, but what absolutely amazed me was I could FEEL, physically FEEL, the man I was dancing with. I could even feel the texture of the shirt he wore. This stunned me, as I had not realized one could physically feel someone who had passed. I thought they would be physically intangible spirit.

I felt at total peace while we danced, and I felt I was one with him, although still myself. This love, oneness and peace totally permeated my being. Then suddenly we stopped dancing and I rested my head on his chest and we stood that way in close embrace for several minutes. Oddly, I was aware of the passing of time on the physical plane because I was still aware of the music playing on the CD. Then abruptly I was back in my body in the recliner and he was gone.

I had had occasional after-death communication from this man in the year and a half immediately preceding this SOBE, and in the year a half since it occurred I have had other occasional communications from him. But I have not had another experience like the one I just related, where I actually left my body.  

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

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words?   Uncertain    It is not difficult to express the "physical" aspects of this experience, but it is hard to express the profound feelings of love and peace associated with it.

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?   Very alert and still aware of things going on such as the playing of my CD.

Was the experience dream like in any way?   No, I was amazed at how physically real it all felt.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?   Yes   I looked like I had at age twenty-four. I could see my 60-year-old body in my recliner below, but could not feel it. I felt very separate from it.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?    Total peace, love, and oneness with the deceased person I was dancing with.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?    No.

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?    Yes    I was with a man I had known many years ago (he had died about eighteen years prior to the SOBE I am describing).

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?    Uncertain    My senses seems ultra-heightened and were very much working.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?    Uncertain    I was aware of time passing on the physical plane in that I was aware of music playing in my physical home, but I also felt timeless.

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?    No   

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?    Uncertain    Since the person I was with during this SOBE first began communicating with me (which was about a year and a half before the SOBE) I have gradually become more psychically aware.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes    This experience validated the communications I had received from the man in the year and a half preceding this experience. I have gone from being open to the possibility that after-life-communication was possible to believing in it absolutely. When I first received communications even though I had always been open to the possibility such things were possible I still sometimes questioned my sanity; after this SOBE I no longer did.

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?    I am more accepting of myself and others. I have awareness of other planes of existence and make a point to speak to friends and family who have passed.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?   Uncertain    Not so much as a result of this particular experience, but as a result of it and prior communications from the deceased person involved. Combined, they have quite transformed my life and given me peace regarding my life in general and certainty about the afterlife.

Have you shared this experience with others?    Yes    I have shared this experience with five people. Three already believed in the possibility of such experiences and hearing mine has cemented previously-held beliefs, the other two were doubtful but knowing me could not entirely dismiss what I said.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?   The best was knowing I am loved enough that a person who passed used the energy or whatever it takes to give me such an experience to let me know I am loved and to help me through a difficult period (caretaking relatives) of my life. I can't think of a worst, except that it ended!

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?    I cannot think of anything.

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