Reality Shifting: The New OOBE?

[Ringo]

My daughter (15) has been talking recently about something called Shifting or Reality Shifting. It became a thing during the Covid pandemic. As with all things interesting to people under 20, I rolled my eyes. But the premise is intriguing.

The bare bones of it is that by using one of many purported methods, a person can shift their consciousness into another being in another physical place, only this physical place is a construct of their imagination or will power. For example, a person may wish their Alternative Reality to be in a different time, country or even world. They can make fictional places real and not only visit there but interact (For example, living in Hogwarts) must...not...roll...eyes There are loads of websites dedicated to "shifting", offering guides, how-to's and handbooks on the do's and don't's.

Stories abound of people who arranged to meet up with other "shifters" and were able to do so once they had agreed upon the alternative reailty into which they would shift. Others come back upset because they had been living in speeded up new realities for "years" even though it has only been minutes in this reality. They come back leaving wives, friends and children in their "alternatives". Some people have become almost trapped there, nearly unable to "shift" back.

Now all of this reeked of nonsense and attention seeking to me until I remembered a story by comedian Ari Shaffir. He said that he once smoked Salvia and "went" to another place. He lived under the sea for 6 months and became part of a colony, had friends and a girlfriend/wife. He was "gone" for 8 minutes but if felt to him like 6 months. When he came back he was surprised to find that it was hard to breathe air and when someone gave him a glass of water he tried to breathe it in instead of drinking it. It wasn't just a story he made up, he felt as though he experienced it. So the question is, if these "shifters" aren't just talking BS to get likes and attention, then what are they experiencing? Self hypnosis?

Shifting varies from lucid dreaming as you are not technically asleep. It's more like entering a trance state (if shifting even exists). So, is "shifting" just kids nonsense, meditation, self hypnosis or maybe a way to achieve an OOB type experience? Is it an internal journey, interdimensional travel or wishful-thinking by Tik Tokers?

 

[JamesWhitehead]

It sounds like Astral Projection without the book-learning and vocabulary. I read a lot about it, when I was at the same age as these voyagers.

All the books I read were adamant that their methods and theirs alone must be adhered to. Or else . . .

Sounds like there may be a lot of Or else going on here!

 

[catseye]

It sounds to me like an awful lot of Using One's Imagination.

 

[Fanari_Lloyd]

It does sound as if many younger people want to escape this reality and I feel for them, to be honest. It also draws, as @JamesWhitehead said, on things like Astral Projection, the concept of portals as used in a lot of Multiverse tales and Glitches in the Matrix type stories, OOBE’s, etc. I suspect it’s quite harmless unless people get obsessed with it, and really believe other people are able to do it and they are failing. it’s a bit like the ’otherkin’ belief, that people think they are really dragons or elves or whatever; these things tend to swirl around each other and can grow tentacles.

 

[Zeke Newbold]

Yes, I agree with Fanari and James in that Astral Projection (essentially a self-induced Out -Of-Body-Experience, for the unititated) is the best familiar fit as to what all this `Reality Shifting` malarkey that the Young Generation have now, is all about.

I was first introduced to the idea of Astral Travel when I was a kid in the seventies via Lobsang Rampa. I gave it a try, to no avail. I also remember having a library book out on the topic. It was authored by a guy who claimed to be an adept Astral traveller and it was by was by way of a supposedly non-fictional journal of his various travels. A lot of these seemed to involve, not just whizzing about the Earth as we know it, but also entry into different `planes` of existence - thus the clear connection with Reality Shifting. A generous take on this would be that he was merely recounting a series of lucid dreams.

Anyway, I looked up a Reality Shifting Youtuber. Essentially it was a guy claiming that he'd shifted himself into a new reality in which he was a succsesful You Tuber! A prompting from this `other reality` told him to post a video a day - and he did - and now he's entered a new reality where he's a big shot in the You Tube game. This reminds me of the Motivational Guru Tony Robbinns who regularly trots out the story of how he was once a humble janitor but pulled himself by his bootstraps out of that by becoming...a motivational guru!

 

[Mythopoeika]

Anyway, I looked up a Reality Shifting Youtuber. Essentially it was a guy claiming that he'd shifted himself into a new reality in which he was a succsesful You Tuber! A prompting from this `other reality` told him to post a video a day - and he did - and now he's entered a new reality where he's a big shot in the You Tube game. This reminds me of the Motivational Guru Tony Robbinns who regularly trots out the story of how he was once a humble janitor but pulled himself by his bootstraps out of that by becoming...a motivational guru!

I need to do this. I need to tell everybody that I'm a billionaire, then at some point it will happen!

Yeah. I keep telling myself that...

 

[Sabresonic]

My daughter (15) has been talking recently about something called Shifting or Reality Shifting. It became a thing during the Covid pandemic. As with all things interesting to people under 20, I rolled my eyes. But the premise is intriguing.

The bare bones of it is that by using one of many purported methods, a person can shift their consciousness into another being in another physical place, only this physical place is a construct of their imagination or will power. For example, a person may wish their Alternative Reality to be in a different time, country or even world. They can make fictional places real and not only visit there but interact (For example, living in Hogwarts) must...not...roll...eyes There are loads of websites dedicated to "shifting", offering guides, how-to's and handbooks on the do's and don't's.

Stories abound of people who arranged to meet up with other "shifters" and were able to do so once they had agreed upon the alternative reailty into which they would shift. Others come back upset because they had been living in speeded up new realities for "years" even though it has only been minutes in this reality. They come back leaving wives, friends and children in their "alternatives". Some people have become almost trapped there, nearly unable to "shift" back.

Now all of this reeked of nonsense and attention seeking to me until I remembered a story by comedian Ari Shaffir. He said that he once smoked Salvia and "went" to another place. He lived under the sea for 6 months and became part of a colony, had friends and a girlfriend/wife. He was "gone" for 8 minutes but if felt to him like 6 months. When he came back he was surprised to find that it was hard to breathe air and when someone gave him a glass of water he tried to breathe it in instead of drinking it. It wasn't just a story he made up, he felt as though he experienced it. So the question is, if these "shifters" aren't just talking BS to get likes and attention, then what are they experiencing? Self hypnosis?

Shifting varies from lucid dreaming as you are not technically asleep. It's more like entering a trance state (if shifting even exists). So, is "shifting" just kids nonsense, meditation, self hypnosis or maybe a way to achieve an OOB type experience? Is it an internal journey, interdimensional travel or wishful-thinking by Tik Tokers?

Maybe the Salvia trip was a past lfe memory.

 

[Swifty]

It sounds like Astral Projection without the book-learning and vocabulary. I read a lot about it, when I was at the same age as these voyagers.

All the books I read were adamant that their methods and theirs alone must be adhered to. Or else . . .

Sounds like there may be a lot of Or else going on here!

I remember my Dad telling me about a potential Astral Projection experience he'd had in the 60's. He was on a plane, missing my Mum (his then girlfriend) when he suddenly realised he wasn't in the flying plane anymore but above it and looking down at it. He could see himself asleep somehow. When he realised this wasn't right, he rushed back into his body and woke up with a start.

He went on to create a company that manufactured steering wheels amongst other things and decided to name it Astrali because of his experience. He didn't want to sound gullible to people he was doing business with so he never told them that.

 

[AnonyJ]

My daughter (15) has been talking recently about something called Shifting or Reality Shifting. It became a thing during the Covid pandemic. As with all things interesting to people under 20, I rolled my eyes. But the premise is intriguing.

The bare bones of it is that by using one of many purported methods, a person can shift their consciousness into another being in another physical place, only this physical place is a construct of their imagination or will power. For example, a person may wish their Alternative Reality to be in a different time, country or even world. They can make fictional places real and not only visit there but interact (For example, living in Hogwarts) must...not...roll...eyes There are loads of websites dedicated to "shifting", offering guides, how-to's and handbooks on the do's and don't's.

Stories abound of people who arranged to meet up with other "shifters" and were able to do so once they had agreed upon the alternative reailty into which they would shift. Others come back upset because they had been living in speeded up new realities for "years" even though it has only been minutes in this reality. They come back leaving wives, friends and children in their "alternatives". Some people have become almost trapped there, nearly unable to "shift" back.

Now all of this reeked of nonsense and attention seeking to me until I remembered a story by comedian Ari Shaffir. He said that he once smoked Salvia and "went" to another place. He lived under the sea for 6 months and became part of a colony, had friends and a girlfriend/wife. He was "gone" for 8 minutes but if felt to him like 6 months. When he came back he was surprised to find that it was hard to breathe air and when someone gave him a glass of water he tried to breathe it in instead of drinking it. It wasn't just a story he made up, he felt as though he experienced it. So the question is, if these "shifters" aren't just talking BS to get likes and attention, then what are they experiencing? Self hypnosis?

Shifting varies from lucid dreaming as you are not technically asleep. It's more like entering a trance state (if shifting even exists). So, is "shifting" just kids nonsense, meditation, self hypnosis or maybe a way to achieve an OOB type experience? Is it an internal journey, interdimensional travel or wishful-thinking by Tik Tokers?

It sounds like it shares a flat with a similar concept I encountered on Reddit - Dimension Jumping - where, it is claimed, it's possible to DJ into alternative realities or universes. How the Redditor Dimension Jumpers keep track of which universe they are in is to note the reference number & colour of the DJ Reddit sidebar.

There seems to be two main methods of Dimension Jumping. One is the 'two glasses method' which involves labelling two glasses (!) and drinking one, or both (apologies, I can't quite remember offhand) and the other involves owls, looking for owls and noticing owls and also something about mirrors at 1am!

It's fascinating and some entertaining reading is encountered. https://www.reddit.com/r/DimensionJumping/wiki/index/

 

[Salmonellus]

The 'Two Glasses Method' is interesting, but it really seems to be an act of ritual magic.

https://www.manifestinator.com/2-glasses-method/

I have to refrain from commenting on the title of the above article - 'drink yourself to another dimension' - not hard to do, really, but you regret it in the morning!

 

[brownmane]

I'll just chime in here. I do think that Ringo's description probably does best describe astral projection, with, possibly some Carlos Castanada, specifically "The Teachings of Don Juan" version of shamanism thrown in.