Study transcendental meditation. It would probably offer some ideas on this subject. One issue that might be worth considering is that there are a number of religions that suggest that there are entities that could inhabit your body in the meantime. My own religion would say doing such a thing is evil, and I would have to agree. Even if the religions are wrong, enough people of differing beliefs think that there is something else out there in a spiritual type plane of existence that may cut you off from your body that it is worth caution.
Regret could also be talking about what is sometimes colloquially referred to as 'psychic attack,' if not outright possession.
As I understand it (and hardly an expert am I), it goes something like this: a human being (ie, the mind) is, in a way, sealed off from the spirit realm. When one starts fiddling around with techniques for opening this seal, one becomes susceptible not just to good forces which reside in that realm, but also nasty ones.
What's interesting about this psychologically is one of the dangers said to be inherent in meditation: a normal human being has ego defense mechanisms operating all the time, cognitive (generally unconscious) structures which block off, say, a traumatic event (eg, being raped as a child, or less intensely, memories of being made fun of when young). These 'undigested experiences' get safely tucked away, and (depending on the severity of the experience and/or how the person reacts to the experience), sometimes become 'complexes.' They become part of the psyche Jungians would call 'the shadow.'
Basically, meditation is a 'destructuring' technique which opens the conscious mind (the 'persona'😉 to the shadow...and this can cause the person to relive the trauma, sometimes not even recognizing it for what it is, in which case that person's religious beliefs may color the relived experience: they may feel beseiged by 'something evil,' certainly something 'outside of themselves.'
Sometimes a person can feel disassociated from their own bodies.
'Psychic/astral' powers (referred to as siddhis, for example, in yogic meditation), are to be considered as sign-posts, indicating you're on the right path, but they should not be indulged in. Such indulgence takes one off the path, as one then 'identifies' with these abilities (which don't necessarily have to manifest), and detachment is the whole idea behind meditative progress (ie, disidentifying from figures in the Ground of Consciousness in order to reach the Ground Itself).
Originally posted by debbiejo
But...but don't you need the other persons permission to switch bodies with you??? 😕You just can't snatch a body can you???
Well, depending on which bit if fiction or occult mythology your looking at it can depend - possession, brain switching and all that often lack at least ones parties permision, while softer fantasy will have both parties agreeing and some ceremony.
Then you have more updated versions - like films where two parties say something or do something and they switch bodies - the classic kid switching with an adult, a guy with a girl etc - where neither of the parties actually wanted to but they learn some moral lesson none the less.
I figure it's all interesting. If you believe in a spirit as a separate entity from your physical form, then I'd assume you would have to believe it is somehow possible.
Personally I think it would probably be akin to what I think Mindship is saying. It's removing yourself from specific aspects of what I would term as control.
There is a way to body switch(according to my wicca friend) but its not what you think. It is not a true 'body switch' but to get a 'feel' of that person's life. It all has to do with meditation. You study the subject as best as possible and memorize every curve of it's figure. Then you cleanse yourslef with a shower or such. After that, you meditate and slow imagine yourslef becoming that thing. Say if your a guy and wanna switch with a girl, Imagine your hair grow and change into hers. Imagine yourself growing breast and such. Then, if you did it right. You should be able to think and feel like that person. You should have all of their thoughts and everything. It is a very stange expeirence. I have tried it my self and have gotten thoughts from the person i was trying to 'switch' with. It also is a good idea to be experienced in the paranormal and to be very spiritual. Another thing is if you have ever had an incounter with a spirit, it tends to awaken the spirit side of your mind, freeing you to more things.
Again this is from my expereince, my friends, and her friend's.
I have no one i really want to switch with. When I first heard it, i didn't believe it. But when, just to amuse my freind, i tried it, i started to get some memory of my friend. When I asked them about it, they told me they had never told anyone about it, yet what i had thought of was true.
Since then, I have not tried it.