How it runs

"I seemed to float about an inch or so up. Not out of my body, but more displaced. Then while concentrating on moving up. I felt a sudden, moderate, dropping sensation, as I floated up to a distance that was hard to determine. At one point, I thought I was near the roof and then it seemed that I was only three or four feet above my body. The odd part was that I seemed to lying flat, rather than in the position that I was on the couch."
OBE Letter 396

This is a passive, spontaneous way of body separation. Nevertheless it has to be performed by active done deep relaxation. This procedure of autohypnotic relaxation is accompanied and triggered by the attention at body awareness (muscle relaxation, feeling your limbs becoming heavy, feeling warmth and at last cutting off physical body awareness).

These experiences of floating out of the body often are reported to occur spontaneously in deep relaxation, sleep or near-sleep (hypnagogic state) and in NDE's (near-death-experiences). This kind of OBE phenomenon, which is significant in some details, very often is the first encounter to OBEs of persons who never have heard or thought about this field of experiences.

To illustrate how this kind of OBE separation develops you can see below the animated drawing, showing the states of separation:

4 phases: loosening lifting and falling (often) swaying exploring with the subtle body

Floating out of the body belongs to the first experiences I had with OBEs. The first OBE of mine was not intended and a side effect of deep relaxation. From this moment on I started to experiment with OBEs. Later on I found this method much more difficult as several other techniques. To the most preferred methods now belongs the "stepping-out" technique.

However in my first past experiments I only could perform "floating-out". I used to do it in daytime and in trance. I mostly did this on Sunday morning. Currently, having a profession and a family, there is neither space nor time for undisturbed exercises at such day time. Therefore I have to make my OBE exercises during the night and then "stepping-out" methods seems to me to be significantly better.

OBE Letter 361
...Also, in my first attempts, I was actually able to feel that I was literally falling rather then imagining it. What I am asking here is if that is supposed to happen.

All what you feel when "floating out of the body" (that's how this field of experiences is called here) is real felt and not imagined!!

Hints and how it is to be done

Position: lying on the back and if possible on the floor and not in the bed. The best time is doing a nap in the afternoon.

Method: I used to stretch down on the floor, to relax and to intensify my relaxation by the imagination, that all blood was leaving my head, like fainting. (This method "all blood out of my head" I had trained many years before, when I suffered from frequent nose-bleed.)

Some links to sites dealing with relaxation:

SHORT RELAXATION TECHNIQUES (Sam Houston State University)

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES (Sam Houston State University)

The method of autogene training from Schulz, an autohypnotic relaxation technique, is hardly found in the English written internet sites, though well known in German, Netherlands and other European countries.
Here it is - I have found a link!!!

Autogenic Training A Practical Guide

As to my opinion the best results are obtained when you direct your awareness at your body, not interfering and not using imaginations.

Some people, however, prefere using imaginations as a kind of autohypnotic triggering. These trance inducing imainations for "floating out" procedures are a special category of imaginations (inductions) belonging to the field of autohypnosis (typically examples: you imagine to feel more and more light and to float up into the air, swaying there).

Regard: these imaginations are used BEFORE falling in deep relaxation (trance) in order to trigger the "floating out" process. When the process has started no imagining will be done, just let it go and observe what will happen without interfering!!!

Some examples when using imagination:

OBE Letter 363
Since I live in a dorm and there is often noise, I listen to a CD I created with soft static (which sound like a waterfall), and "brain-wave synchronization" in the background, which is supposed to lower my consciousness level. It usually works, but I simply fall asleep. I can never succeed with OBE's and astral projection. I know I am a novice at this, but I know I can gain the skill, right?

As far as I know music or sounds like waterfall may let you come to good relaxation. Then the next step is falling asleep and never an OBE.

Well let this be explained as it is supposed by me: the deep relaxation is a kind of autohypnotic state (let it compare with hypnosis). If you are in this state and no one gives you a command, then you fall asleep. So it is the missing command which lets your OBE experience fail.
For that reason OBEs are triggered by plastic imaginations (and desire to have an OBE) before falling into the relaxation state. Afterwards, because you have the input of an order, the rest will come without needing concentration (which would keep your brain awake and hinder an OBE). What you need, however, is an inner kind of alertness which enables you to observe what is going on and which enables you then at the right moment to change the automatic started OBE to an action by will (you activate your will at this point of state and not before!)