Around 12 years ago, I had probably the most impactful spiritual experience of my life.

On a summer’s afternoon, I lay down on my bed at home to have a nap. My cat napped with me.

I went to sleep and dreamt that I asked God what it was like to die. It initially seemed like a dream, however I quickly became aware that something was happening to me that was beyond a dream because my consciousness or soul immediately came out of my body through the heart chakra, and I felt incredible joy, peace and bliss.

There was an invisible pathway above me that I knew I had to follow. I travelled straight upwards with an immense sense of joy and freedom.

I could see my body lying on my bed below and I could see my cat asleep on the bed, too. Leaving my body behind on the bed was like realising that I had been wearing a heavy fur coat in the summer heat and I was glad to be out of it, and felt so free. I suddenly no longer cared about my earthly life or my body at all.

I knew exactly where to go. I was going higher and higher on this invisible pathway until I was told I couldn’t go any further and to go back. I realised that if I went further I would die, and that wasn’t the plan. I thought about what I was here to achieve in this life and knew I needed to go back.

Then I woke up.

I can’t say this was a Near Death Experience (NDE) in the conventional sense, because I was not close to death in any material way, but it impacted me deeply and I knew it was not just a dream.

Through this experience, I got a taste of what it was like to be in spirit, and without a body.

I was left with the sense that death was not something to be feared and even felt pretty amazing.

It also gave me a reference point that I came back to many times over the years to remind me (whenever I felt bogged down by life) that life is bigger than the minutiae and hassles that we all deal with, and that almost all of the details of life will seem totally irrelevant once you have left the body. The details that will seem most relevant once you’ve left the body include how you treated others in your life.

I wanted to share a YouTube channel that I recently discovered with excellent Near Death Experience stories on it. The videos are very high quality and the stories well told.

Below I have linked some of my favourite ones.

The thing I love about watching or listening to accounts of Near Death Experiences such as these is that I can return to that wider perspective I got a taste of when I had my own experience (maybe it was astral projection?) And I can remember what matters when I lose sight of it.