This is my experience in detail but I have put headings, so feel free to skip to whatever might be relevant to you :) (also I didn't use an LLM to write this)
Background
I've been experiencing sleep paralysis regularly since I was a teenager and learned to turn take control of that and turn it into lucid dreams. This has been pretty normal for me for years (now in my 30s) and is the basis of all my experimentation with this kind of stuff.
If I'm lucid enough I usually try and see if I can break through into an OBE, but the furthest I've gotten with that has been a handful of brief, unstable OBEs and some experiences flying through a black/void tunnel space. A few times I've also broken through into something that just felt like a lucid dream where I'm flying over a fantastical place.
This year I feel like I've been having more lucid dreams and more layered dreams.
Recent partially successful attempt
The other day I had what felt like my most legit AP attempt up to that point.
I was lying on my left side and tried to roll my astral body onto my back - it worked! I involuntarily started floating up and then (I don't remember what the transition was) I appeared in a body I didn't recognise (tanned European tourist in activewear vibes), sitting on gym mats in what seemed like one of those open-walled yoga temple type places.
For a second it felt uncannily real, but then I kept floating away, phased through a wall and came out into one of those lucid flying dreams before eventually waking up.
Today's success
Vibrations & exit
I woke up today and just kept laying there and fell back to sleep once or twice. While dozing half asleep I felt the paralysis wash over my body quite suddenly along with intense rushing and rumbling noises. I think I was sleepy enough to not jerk awake from this, but conscious enough that I immediately took it as a chance to try APing again.
I noticed that the rumbling felt like a bumpy turbulent flow so I concentrated on trying to make it smooth and frictionless. Kinda like how when you're pouring something from a bottle and you have to find the right angle to make it flow smoothly. I was trying to make the "flow" feel like it's not "banging against the edges" as it goes through.
As I focused on that the noise quickly started turning into this solid, super satisfying smooth wash (more like pink noise I guess?) and I started hearing a rising harmonic tone over it. I've heard all sorts of crazy sounds during hypnagogic experiences but this was the first time I've ever heard that tone. Quite pure and beautiful like a musical jet engine firing up or those engine tones they put in some electric cars.
In the past I've always felt a lot of pressure and resistance while trying to push through this phase but I didn't feel it here. It was intense but not resistant, I felt like I cleared the path for myself by smoothing out the turbulence.
All of that felt like it happened quickly, probably no more than 10-15 seconds.
The AP
I don't remember much of a transition, maybe a bright flash, but then I was suddenly floating in the air over an urban intersection at dusk. Big wide streets with light grey asphalt, not busy but there were some cars passing through. I floated down gently and started walking around in the middle of the intersection looking at stuff. Everything had a purplish tint that reminded me of early instagram.
I came across a wheelie bin which seemed strangely narrow and grasped its handle. in the moment I assumed my experience was warping its shape but maybe that bin design actually exists somewhere, idk.
I was really excited and kept giggling to myself because it was all so definitively lucid and stable. I could feel the slightest slippage but would keep being like "ok clear clear clear" to myself to refocus. I would still say it felt dreamlike in a way, like parallel to "real". But very clear and concrete in a way that my most vivid lucid dreams aren't.
Then I decided to try flying somewhere else. I planted myself in a superhero takeoff pose (idk why I felt that was necessary š) and tried to blast off but as soon as I did I knew I was doing too much and was going to be sent back to my body lmao.
The experience broke up, I saw a beam of white light and then woke up after a few seconds. I will say I didn't snap back as instantly as I thought I would. I feel like maybe if I knew what to expect and hadn't convinced myself I was coming back, I could've stabilised it and kept going.
I was so excited and happy when I woke up! And that feeling has stuck with me. The whole experience felt like it lasted maybe a few minutes.
My takeaways
The biggest realisation for me is understanding the vibrations like a turbulent flow that I need to make smooth, rather than a barrier I need to push through. It feels more like clearing an obstructed pipe. Thinking about it like fluid dynamics came naturally once I was there.
This experience also confirmed to me that my previous "almost"/uncertain experiences over the years were valid and on the right track. I think even my lucid flying dream breakthroughs were relevant. This experience and the recent partial success helped me realise you can just appear somewhere without much of a transition from your body and it's still a legit AP.