I practiced my launch from the time of that first floating dream until age fourteen before I actually acheived controlled levitaton.

That was a joyous day.

I had gotten to where, if the light was right, I could get the feeling pretty quickly. I knew just the right cadence of arm swinging and knee bouncing to get the feeling right.
 
That last part is hard to explain but when you get there you'll understand with perfect clarity.

The clarity of how it all works came to me at that instant when my arms began the swing that launched me. It was only the fifth swing in the exercise and as soon as that fateful swing began, I knew that as my arms ascended in front of me, the rest of me would follow.