Cultivating the NPE – Part II - The Diet

Disclaimer: Although in my experience diet plays a roll in experiencing NPEs, it is not an absolute rule. I have had NPEs after days of eating fairly unhealthy, and also on days of eating healthy. If you are struggling with achieving these experiences, you may want to look into your diet and try something new.

I consider a diet everything that you subject your body to, including food, drugs and exercise. I have found that diet plays a role in both the ability to have a non-physical experience (NPE) and the ability to recall a NPE. 

My dreams have been giving me diet advice for years. It was because of a dream that I looked into the “80/10/10” diet which led me to incorporate a lot more fruit into my diet, and less meat and other high-fat foods. Since this change my dreams have grown more vivid and intense.

From my experience, drugs and alcohol play a major role in blocking the ability to recall dreams and other NPE. This seems to be the consensus with most people I talk about this subject with as well. This is not to say this is an absolute rule. On nights I would drink alcohol or smoke marijuana, I would rarely remember a dream in the morning. I have never been able to achieve a conscious NPE while under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. As a result I, for the most part, cut these substances out of my diet. It is up to each individual to make the choice on whether or not to use these substances. I am not here to lecture or judge. 

I have also had dreams which warned me about using fluoride toothpaste and artificial sweeteners. Now I use non-fluoride toothpaste and natural honey as a sweetener. 

It is interesting to note that Shamanism, a traditional spiritual system revolving in large around the NPE, adheres to a strict diet, fasts, and usually long trials of solitude. Fellow non-physical explorer and author of Astral Dynamics, Robert Bruce, has recommended occasional one to threeday fasts to detoxify one’s body. I have done a few day fasts with great results. If you attempt this, do some research and be sure to drink plenty of water. Start with a one day fast and work your way up from there.

I’ve found on days I got good exercise, such as weightlifting an hour or so at the gym, I would have increased chances of having a NPE. I don’t have the exact statistics, but it was a noticeable trend. Exercise, and getting in touch with the physical body in general, seems to be an important aspect of achieving non-physical experiences. And not to mention eating healthy and exercising feels good.

In short, be conscious of diet when working on achieving a non-physical experience. Try changing your diet up for a few weeks and see how it affects your success. Try limiting or abolishing any and all mind-altering substances, including unnecessary pharmaceuticals, and see how it affects your success. Give your body time to get accustomed to the new diet before drawing conclusions. My apologies if this came off a bit soap boxesque, but I do believe it is an important part of achieving these non-physical experiences.