One of us lay on the ground and was told to think quietly, clear their mind and say over and over in their mind "Heavy as lead". Each of us placed two fingers from each hand under the person on the ground and tried to lift the person. (There were four people lifting, two on each side, each person using two fingers from each hand.) The person would not lift.
Then the person was told to think "Light as a feather, stiff as a board". We were then able to lift the person easily. I thought it was a trick being played on us by the older girls. After it worked with the first person, I really tried to lift the person when he was thinking "Heavy as lead", I lifted as hard as I could and the person didn't move. What is strange is that I really could not push against him and he didn't feel me trying to lift him (I asked him later). Then the person was then instructed to think "Light as a feather...". This time I didn't lift the person with any force at all, but my fingers just sort of followed the person into the air. There is no way that the person could have floated there with only the three others supporting, but it happened.
We did this with each person and it worked every time. I remember when it was my turn to be levitated, I was easily lifted and it felt like I was laying on a board, I did not feel the individual fingers of the people lifting me. I just rose. Not trusting the older sisters of my friend, I only thought it was a trick of theirs and kind of dismissed it. Now that I am older, I still cannot explain what happened. I only know that it did happen and that I cannot explain it.
skeptika's note:
I recall being told about this sort of thing when I was in Grade 6. I always put it down to overactive imaginations or something similar to the firewalking or the lying on glass/nails tricks (which depend on short periods of contact and the relative lack of conductivity of the sole of the feet and outer coating of an ember in the first instance and the equal distribution of weight over a large number of sharp points in the second). Now thinking about it again, I can't really come to a rational explanation, other than the power of suggestion, as to why this would work. Four is not enough fingers for the equal distribution of weight thing to work and that doesn't explain anything for the "heavy" thinker anyway.
It would be interesting to have two subjects who are randomly given a thought to think (either "heavy" or "light") without the knowledge of the lifters and then have the lifters advise what the thinker was thinking. If the "heavy" guy can't be lifted and the "light" one pops up into the air then there is something weird going on.