The physical plane is where our soul currently projects its consciousness through bodies of flesh. It is also called the “earthly plane”. The soul’s sojourn here is compared to the stage of human growth from toddler levels of development to kindergarten. The physical body is the suit that the soul wears during this stage of growth. This temporary suit is animated by the soul so that we can talk, walk, eat, see, hear, taste, touch and experience the sensual pleasures of this dimension.
We are currently very limited on the earthly plane, limited in our ability to travel throughout the universe, and limited in what we can do in our lives. This limitation, however, is for our own good because we are still in the early stage of soul development. If we had no limits to what we could do at this “kindergarten” level of soul growth, we would be causing chaos throughout the cosmos. So, in a sense, we are marginalized from the confines of Planet Earth until we learn specific lessons, the most important of which is to love one another unconditionally.
Once your physical suit reaches its “expiration date”, the body is ready to be discarded and the soul transcends the physical realm to the etheric realm, a subplane of the astral realm. The etheric plane is for entities in states of transition. It is located here on Earth, but its vibration is that of the ether, so it is actually a hybrid of the physical / astral realm. This is the place where many have reported seeing entities we call “ghosts”.
Finally, all souls pass to the astral realm to begin their astral life. After living its astral life, the soul discards its astral body in preparation for its descent back to the earthly plane where another life in the physical body begins. This cycle of “death and rebirth” between the physical realm and the astral realm is repeated hundreds or thousands of times until the soul graduates and no longer needs to reincarnate. The more lives that are lived, the older the soul ages and this is evident from the talents it has accumulated over a multitude of lives in a variety of cultures and historical time periods. Earth is just one of countless planets or physical planes for which souls incarnate during their early stages.
During its dream state, the physical body becomes unconscious but the astral body becomes conscious. The soul forms an “etheric double” and, at times, begins an astral journey. This is when the astral body travels to the astral realm and is able to communicate with loved ones or explore its former “home” in the astral sphere. During its nocturnal journeys, the astral body is always connected to the physical body with a silver chord. Sometimes people feel a “shaking” or “falling” sensation just before waking up. This is indicative of the astral body returning to the physical body. Lucid dreams, flying dreams, and vivid dreams are examples of the intensity of astral travel.
Eventually, the infant soul reaches the level of growth where it no longer needs to reincarnate or “reincarcerate” again in the dense and dense physical dimension. You can still, if you wish, but it is not required. This is known as astral ascension.