EXPERIENCING A PAST LIFE REGRESSION
Past Life Regression is a technique which will take an individual back through time to their previous lives by accessing normally hidden memories in the subconscious mind. It employs the use of hypnosis along with visualisation procedures similar to those used in some forms of meditation.The journey may begin with the client's identification with a particular feeling or a particular event. It is helpful to experience the past first hand, although being an observer can act as a protective mechanism and can reduce, at least initially, the emotional impact of any traumatic experience from the past.
A significant component of regression therapy is the re-experience of a trauma from the past. This is done differently with different therapeutic methods and ranges from the temporary removal of the client from the painful situation to the intensification of the stressful experience. Some therapists believe that the emotional stress associated with a past life trauma should not be attenuated but should be experienced fully, and possibly intensified, by abreaction so that it can be released. Woolger (1987) believes that a trauma is deeply lodged in the body and needs to be re-lived in order to be released. Therefore the story needs to be experienced fully in the body, not from the viewpoint of a detached observer. Both the somatic release and the emotional abreaction are thought to be crucial to the full healing process. The full release of repressed emotions may not be achieved in a single session. Subsequent therapeutic sessions may also be cathartic and may result in further release of physical and emotional symptoms.
Many physical complaints, fears, phobias, compulsions, preferences, dislikes and personality traits in the present life have been shown to originate in former lives (Fiore, 1978) or from forgotten childhood events. Jenny discovered that her mistrust of neighbours in this life was as the result of betrayal and suffering in a past life. The age of onset of a specific symptom in the current life may be significant, and may correspond to the age when a trauma that is related to the current symptom took place in a past life. Often people re-enact past life experiences; therefore details of the current problem and of the age of onset may provide valuable clues for accessing a past life.
If a client experienced a past life as a victim, previously repressed anger may be expressed during the regression. The expression of anger must be encouraged by the therapist, since the experience of this stage is therapeutic for the client and can help transmute the negative feeling into understanding (Weiss, 1992). Other emotions, such as fear, grief, sadness, guilt need to be similarly experienced during the regression, in order for the person to be able to release them and become free of the past.
Re-experiencing the original fear or anger inducing stimuli in a past life regression can bring relief from a present life fears or phobias. Katherine began to free herself of a fear of breast cancer when she was regressed to a past life as a soldier on a battlefield, speared through the chest, she lay dying, angry about the futility of war and sad that she would not see her family again. Going through the experience and forgiving the perpetrator enabled her to become desensitized and detached from the fear.
People often recall pleasant past life events, tranquil scenery, easy lives or information about past life attitudes, skills and abilities. These experiences can offer clients valuable insights on what may be missing in their current lives and what they might do to change. Many clients have had a new insight into their life as a result of gaining this knowledge.
The past life death experience and the after-death are valuable tools for transformation. This stage begins the process of dis-identification with the past life character. There are individual differences in the way the past life death and the inter-life are experienced and reported. Most people describe sensations of floating above a scene, moving towards the light and experiencing the spirit world. Almost everybody going through this stage describes bodily sensations of lightness and floating, and an experience of inner peace, joy and freedom. None of my clients has ever found the experience unpleasant. On the contrary, a number of them have overcome their fear of death though this process. Jane was an intensive care nurse who admitted, despite being exposed to death every day, that she had always been afraid of death until she had experienced being regressed.
The after-death experience offers the opportunity to review the life just re-lived and to look at the experiences in that life from a different perspective. The client now can experience being more detached and dispassionate towards the events just re-lived. When the perception of a past life traumatic situation is changed or reframed, its impact on the current life is reduced.
The opportunity now exists to identify patterns in the current life that may originate from the life just revisited. It is useful to establish what physical, emotional and mental residues a person may take from the life being explored into the current life. Past life residues can occur at all levels of experience (somatic, emotional, cognitive) and they need to be cleared at all levels. Residues may originate through several lifetimes, so it is important to examine each one in turn to build a picture of the possible causes of present life problems. Becoming fully aware of how past life residues relate to the present life and making a conscious decision to let go of them can be a life changing experience. Forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness also enable a person to let go of the unfinished past and to make a fresh start.
Tremendous insights can be gained into current behaviour patterns from exploring past lives. A lot of healing may result from releasing blocked emotions and from forgiveness. A turning point in the current life direction is made when a client fully understands how past life experiences may have shaped the present life and is prepared to let go and start on a new path. When past behaviour patterns which operate unconsciously, compulsively and rigidly are understood and released, the opportunity is there to experience freedom from the past and to become the master of one's own destiny.
To get some idea of what happens during past life sessions have a look at the case study links at the top of the page.
