Body Dissociation and Altered States of Consciousness During Yogic Practice: A First-Person Phenomenological Report

This paper presents a first-person phenomenological account of a recurring altered state of consciousness experienced by the author during years of yogic practice, pranayama, and mental concentration exercises beginning in adolescence. The experiences involved auditory vibrations near the ears during sleep or sleep-onset states, temporary bodily paralysis, the perception of becoming a luminous sphere, and the apparent observation of the physical body from an elevated perspective. Initially, these episodes were interpreted as dreams. However, due to their repeated occurrence, structural consistency, and the author’s attempts to consciously observe and partially induce the state, the experiences came to be perceived as distinct from ordinary dreaming. The author also observed that maintaining partial awareness during the transition into sleep while focusing attention on subtle internal auditory sensations sometimes appeared to facilitate the recurrence of the experience. The paper discusses possible scientific, psychological, and yogic interpretations of these experiences, including sleep paralysis, hypnagogic consciousness states, out-of-body experiences (OBEs), and traditional yogic notions of the subtle body. The purpose of this report is not to establish any metaphysical conclusion as definitive truth, but rather to contribute a structured experiential account to the interdisciplinary study of consciousness.