Healing Technique: Past Life Regression

Past life regression assumes that all beings reincarnate and that past life trauma can be carried over into a current lifetime. These past life traumas, that can manifest through different unexplained fears or even physical problems, are able to be resolved by experiencing the past life it was created in, thereby releasing the stored experience and consequent trapped emotions. Past life regression is a meditation in which you can access said past lives.

While many people don't believe in past lives the University of Virginia (UVA), an Ivy League University, has studied past lives and has concluded that there are children who do remember past lifetimes, a conclusion you can read here. Similarly Dr. Brian Weiss, a psychiatrist, talks about the healing impact of past life regression with a treatment resistant client in his book Many Lives, Many Masters. Many others also attest to past life regression working although they are less prestigious in their qualifications. I know that it's worked for me.

Whether or not you believe in past lives doesn't mean that you can't benefit from doing past life regression. The first time I tried past life regression I assumed it would be bullshit, an expectation that for me ended up being completely flipped on its head and culminated in a large paradigm shift. Even if what you are experiencing is not a past life, the subconscious brain prefers to communicate through metaphor, making it, at a minimum, subconscious communication via metaphor. The way I see it, there is no harm in trying, especially when there are potential benefits. The thing that really gives me pause in my past life regression experiences is how it's different from my normal closed-eye resting state. Normally when my eyes are closed I just see blackness. When I engage in past life regression I see lifetimes play out. While this doesn't necessarily mean anything, it is noticeably different!

When doing a past life regression you may technically experience as many lifetimes as you wish, but most practices have you experience three lifetimes in one past life regression session, typically lasting two hours. You don't have to do so many if you don't have the time or desire. In each lifetime you experience the three most important experiences of that lifetime as well as your death. From each lifetime you should learn a lesson, as well as a cumulative lesson from the combination of all three lifetimes.

The most important aspect of a past life regression is nonjudgment. The more you judge your experience, the less likely you are to have one at all. I recommend full immersion without reservation while saving the analysis and questioning for later. When starting a new lifetime the easiest way to get things started is to look at your own body (in the meditation). Notice all aspects of who you are and what you are wearing. Start with your feet and slowly make your way up your body until you completely understand who you feel you are (physically) in this past life. Past lifetimes may be of the opposite gender, different age, different race, and different time period (obviously). Sometimes the lifetime is even of an animal, plant, or alien race (don't judge it, just go with it). Just notice who you are in this lifetime, then branch out to what you see around you. Allow the lifetime to develop without conscious direction with the exception of asking to see the next important experience of this lifetime, your death, or navigating to the next past life once you're ready to move things forward. You may also ask your subconscious what lesson you were supposed to receive from the given lifetime.

You may know people from your current lifetime in a past life. If you are interacting with another person in a past life, look them in the eye, seeing beyond their physical appearance, to see if there is a soul recognition. Some people you will recognize, some people you won't. You don't need to recognize anyone in order for the past life regression to be beneficial.

Before starting the meditation it is highly suggested that you get into a relaxed state. Some past life regression practitioners require you to be in a hypnotic state in order to get the desired results. For those of you who don't want to learn self-hypnosis (which actually isn't that hard), just focus on calming the body through breathing exercises and/or visual meditation. I personally prefer to use both.

A simple breathing technique is to breath in for 8 counts until you are at maximum capacity and then to breath out for 8 counts at which point you've expelled all air in your lungs. Repeat the process as many times as desired until your body relaxes as much as it can. The visual meditation I use, and is common as a relaxation technique, is to imagine a color of light, whatever color you want that represents peace and relaxation, originating above your head. Imagine the light slowly entering into your body through your head flowing down into all parts of your body. The more light that your body takes in, the more peace and relaxation you feel. Once you feel at peace you are ready to start the meditation.

As stated before, past life regression is a visual meditation. I imagine there are many, many ways to do the meditation but I will only share two.

The first meditation starts with you imagining a forest and imagining yourself walking on a path through the forest. At some point you come to a tree, one that is distinct from all the others and calls to you, and you choose to go sit at this tree with your back resting against it. Visualize roots growing from your feet, going down deep into the earth, grounding you and connecting you with the energy of the Earth. Once done, visualize a book beside you and take note of what it looks like. This is your book of life. Open it to whatever page speaks to you and allow yourself to become that past life. Start with noticing how you look and feel, then start noticing your surroundings. Allow the life to play out as it will, or if nothing is happening, allow your intuition to guide you in what you do. Once you feel like the current situation has approached the end of its usefulness, ask to see the next important event in this lifetime, doing that three times, and lastly asking to see your death. Ask the subconscious why you were shown this lifetime by asking it what the lesson was that you were supposed to learn. Once done with a lifetime, go back to the tree and to the book of life and restart if you wish to experience another lifetime.

In the second meditation, after the relaxation exercises, you imagine yourself on a cloud. You picture yourself sinking into the cloud, becoming more and more comfortable as it envelopes you until you become the cloud itself. This cloud is not constrained by time and space and you allow yourself/ the cloud to move as it will until it reaches its desired destination. You slowly descend from the cloud until you gently arrive on the ground, at which point you start to visualize yourself as previously instructed. The rest of the process is the same as the first meditation.

If you attempt to do this and it doesn't work, don't write it off completely. I've found that this process is much easier when someone else is directing me rather than attempting to do this with self-direction. In fact, I generally struggle with it on my own whereas I don't struggle when someone else is doing it with me. Seeking out professional assistance is never a bad thing.

Enjoy!