The current knowledge of functions and of the related dynamics of lipids in plasma membranes is rather limited. It has recently been suggested that membrane domains that are also known as rafts are used by cell membranes as platforms for many vital functions including signal transduction and sorting of membrane components. There is also growing experimental evidence suggesting that lipid rafts actively participate in the processes of assembly, replication and entry of many viruses. Translational dynamics of lipids and proteins in the heterogeneous landscape of cell membranes (including selective acceptance or rejection of certain types of proteins in rafts and diffusion of proteins along the raft boundaries) can be the rate-controlling step in these processes. Despite a large number of studies on lipid rafts, the extent of their influence on various processes and even the existence of postulated lipid rafts in biomembranes raise currently many questions. It is difficult to address these questions experimentally because of the small size of rafts (100 nm or smaller). In this paper we report results of our efforts to establish pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR with ultra-high gradients as a new technique allowing monitoring translational dynamics in lipid membranes for displacements which are as small as the size of rafts. This research takes advantage of the unique possibility to carry out complementary PFG NMR measurements using experimental facilities of University of Florida and of Universität Leipzig (Germany). 3-Component aligned membranes containing sterols and spingolipids were used as a model system. The degree of lipid orientation was determined from 31P and the 1H NMR spectroscopic studies using a goniometer probe. We will demonstrate that it is feasible to improve the spatial resolution of PFG NMR measurements in lipid membranes so that it becomes possible to study diffusion on a length scale of the raft size. As a result, PFG NMR with ultra-high gradients becomes an attractive alternative to well-established optical techniques such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and single particle tracking. The latter techniques are traditionally used for studies of translational dynamics in lipid membranes. In comparison to these techniques, PFG NMR does not require any perturbing labeling of diffusing species (viz. lipids and proteins) and provides a superior spatial resolution.