Understanding Past Life Regression: Unraveling Memories and Healing Traumas

What is past life regression (definition)?

Past life Regression is a process of retrieving memories of previous lives or incarnations by means of a hypnosis or meditation. Many religions (Hinduism, Bhuddism, etc) believe in the concept of reincarnation and past life regression can aid in personal growth and healing of people with psychological or physical problems. By reliving or discovering previous experiences or traumas, a person can identify the origin of his/her problem whether it is a phobia or a disability.

Traditional examples of situations where past life regressions can help:

• Treating phobias which seem to be unconnected to an experience in the current life
• Understanding the dynamics of relationship (intimate and non-intimate)
• Understanding patterns which inexplicably occur in your life (emotional patterns, physical ailments, etc)
• Treatment of trauma or other issues which you have faced in this life
• Troubling behaviour and attitude patterns that have persisted over time, despite repeated attempts to change

There are some newer areas in which past life therapy is being applied as well, that are quite exciting and rewarding. Rather than going after traumatic or troubling memories, they focus on positive experiences. These areas include:

• Accessing strengths and accomplishments from prior lifetimes that can be brought forward to increase confidence and effectiveness in the present
• Re-experiencing a happy, successful lifetime; this can bring a sense of balance and peace when undergoing difficult times, fortifying us to work through our temporary difficulties
• Clarifying direction and life purpose by viewing one’s blueprint for this lifetime
• Finding prior lifetimes shared with current loved ones, bringing a great sense of reassurance that we are indeed never parted from those we love
• Accessing the wisdom, peace and guidance that is available from the "interlife," (spiritual realms between lifetimes) where our higher mind and/or guiding ones can assess our progress and give direction to us for our current lifetime
• Strengthening the clarity of the spiritual nature of our existence.

Past Life Complexes: Common Themes & Stories

• Insecurity and fear of abandonment. Often related to past life memories of literal abandonment; being orphaned, or sold into slavery, and left to die in time of war or famine. Separated from life ones during a crisis.
• Depression and low energy; Loss of loved ones, unfinished grieving, suicide memories, despair as a result of war, imprisonment, massacre or deportation.
• Phobias and irrational fears. May be caused by all kinds of trauma in a past life, death by fire, water, suffocation, animals, knives, guns, and natural disasters.
• Guilt and martyr complexes. Commonly stem from past life memories of killing a loved one, scarifying child, ordering the death of others, feeling responsible for people death. The deep-rooted belief is “it is all my fault” or “I deserve the worst”.
• Material insecurity and eating disorders. Past life memories of starvation, economic collapse, or inescapable poverty, may manifest as anorexia, bulimia obesity.
• Accidents, violence, physical brutality. Repetition of battlefield memories from warrior lives, unfulfilled quests for power, love of adventure. Often this comes out during adolescence, as this is the time many young soldiers or freedom fighters lost their lives.
• Family Struggles. Past life scores to settle with parents, siblings, and partners. Betrayal, abuse of power, inheritance injustices, rivalries. Include most relationship dynamics.
• Sexual difficulties and abuse. Problems of frigidity, impotence and infections. Often have past life stories of rape, abuse, or torture, behind them. Even cases of incest and abuse may be re runs of past life patterns where emotional release was blocked.
• Martial difficulties; these sometimes derive from past lives with the same mate in a different power, class, or sexual role. I.e. slave- master.
• Chronic physical ailment, especially those born with them. Reliving the traumatic injuries in deaths. Headaches and migraines are often associated with intolerable mental choices made in other lives. Throat pain or infections, unspoken pain thoughts, beliefs or torture and hanging. Many other pain old wounds that have been re-activated due to personal circumstances and that time.

These are real people that I have worked with over the last 12 years; I have changed their names to protect their confidentiality.

TEST CASE– HEALING PHYSICAL ILLNESS

Sarah came to see me at the age of 46 when she has been diagnosed with cancer of the stomach, liver and pancreas. It was a dire situation, and the hospital refused to operate and gave her a matter of months to live. Luckily Sarah was a very open woman and although it was a new field for her, was willing to do anything at this point, to over come what seemed like the impossible.

From the outside her life seemed to be wonderful, she had two grown up children living in other countries, both doing well in their chosen careers. Her and her husband both had a very good income, he was contracted to large companies as a statnatician and she was a teacher and librarian. They had a beautiful home that they had designed and had built together, and it was full of beautiful art and collections from many years of exotic holidays and travel.

They also had a large garden, Sarah’s pride and joy. She planted many beautiful flowers and tress, had created a water fountain and planted many fresh herbs. Her father was a famous actor in England and she had enjoyed a privileged up bringing, with a doting mother’s love. She was a vegetarian and enjoyed a very healthy lifestyle.

I worked with Sarah, for three weeks daily, and during that time Sarah agreed to some past life regression therapy. Her husband on the other hand, was a very closed man; he was very dominant and academic. He did not believe in the therapy, and would frequently interrupt our sessions. One day when we managed to have time and space to work alone together, Sarah regressed back about 700 years to England. In that lifetime, she was aware of living in a large castle, with beautiful gardens. She had beautiful clothes, and riches far out weighing the poor peasants who lived in villagers near buy, struggling to survive. In this lifetime, she loved her garden and sitting by a large lake, often communing with nature, the abundance of wildlife, and flora that were about her. After she had settled into this personality, she became very aware of a deep pain within her, which quickly opened way to a great fear.

She soon recognised that the problem was indeed her husband, and the situation she had found herself in. Her husband was the king and had a lot of power in the country, he had many possessions from wars and conquering lands, his army, had raided over very many years. She realised that somehow she had been forced into a situation of imprisonment, for she was alone in this place with no friends and was unable to leave the grounds. She was also unable express her feelings, for what she had seen of his cruelty and domination. For she feared the consequences could cost her, her life. In his way he seemed to give her all he could, in the form of material wealth and belongings but he had not given her his heart. As time went on, her sorrow and fear turned into great anger and bitterness fearing for her life, this was all suppressed but became un bareable. One day she took her own life, in an attempt to leave behind the great pain she could no longer bare to live with. The king was distraught when his wife died, and had no idea that there was anything wrong, as she had never once grieved her UN-happiness. When he died some years later, he went to his grave still never knowing what had happened to his wife.

While viewing this life, a usually very quiet and reserved Sarah, bursts into floods of tears and realised this man was her husband now, and gain she found herself in a similar situation. She no longer wanted to work, the long hours to support this life style, her husband required. She didn’t want to go to the expensive restaurants and buy the best furniture. She wanted to work in the healing arts; this had always been her secret passion, yet she had never dared mention this. Sarah wanted to retrain, and the cost would mean at least two years of living on one income. Although they could easily afford it, she feared her husband’s response, as her husband did not think this way, and so she had given up on the idea without ever telling him.

Sarah made a decision In that moment, and realised her illness was a suppression of so much pain and the loss of her voice and power over a period of nearly thirty years of marriage. She also realised that her soul had shown her this past life, because a similar dynamic was now at play and this time it had to be resolved in another way.

Sarah got the courage to tell her husband, not about the regression work, but what she really had wanted for her life and the changes that she wanted to make. Her husband though surprised, was now desperate to make sure his wife was not lost to her illness, and agreed to any request that she made.

Within a few months her illness went into total regression and no cancer cells were show on her last visit to the hospital, the Drs deemed it remarkable and called it “spontaneous remission”. Sarah went through a huge transformation, her voice once timid and muffled was now loud and clear. She trained to be a natourpath and Reiki master. She joined a Reiki group, and surprisingly, her husband joined the group too and made some new friends!

Unfortunately it is not totally a happy ending. Gradually after time Sarah did not have the motivation or urgency of her illness any longer. She slipped back into old patters, and her husband followed his. Five years later the illness again surfaced and this time Sarah lost her life.

I believe that much healing was achieved in those last five years of Sarah’s life, and we cannot always measure a successful story on life or death. Although life is precious, on a soul level we are eternal and our healing works on many levels.

The Power Of Forgiveness

Very often we are brought into difficult situation to resolve that which has occurred in the past, or in a past life. When we realise that the victims of today have often been the persecutors of the past, our whole perception changes. We are offered the opportunities to transform our judgements, and predjuice towards others religions, gender, cultures and many other differences. When we see what our relationship has been to the enemies of today, and the challenging situation we sometimes find ourselves in, our worlds are lifted to great heights.

Healing occurs on many levels and people are united. Two great recent examples of this are the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. When the Chinese leader (who invaded Tibet and killed millions of monks and innocent people) died, the Tibetan people prayed and sent him love. Ironically it was he who died of cancer. When Nelson Mandella whose people had been killed, tortured and imprisoned was released after 23 years. Instead of seeking revenge on his oppressor he united his people and Peace was the path chosen.

Unfortunately many people are unable to forgive. In order to forgive you first have to validate your own experiences, of the situation, that of pain, sadness, anger or whatever it maybe. You first have to really state your own feelings, of the situation and the loss of power, or choice you may not have had in that situation. This can take a while, depending on the degree of hurt and the history with the person or soul involved.

What Happens If We Don’t Forgive?

This of course is personal choice, but not to forgive is at you detriment. Recently a client was sent to me suffering from cancer that had started in her cervix. She was now told that the medical profession could do no more for her, and given 2-3 months of life. She came to me, as a last resort, but was not sure if she believed in the methods of my work. I talked to her about her illness, and what was happening in her life before it and some history of growing up.

It turned out that she had been sexually abused as a child and had become pregnant. She had been sent away to a school in another part of the country and after giving birth returned home. It was a dark secret and she was sworn to secrecy, in fact it had not been mentioned again for nearly 30 years. She was now married and had two more children, so it was all a big shock to the family, when her son now aged about 35 had come to find her. The experience triggered the memory and all the surpressed feeling she had held from a teenage girl. From her anger, disgust and shame, to the abuse and humiliation that she now felt. When I talked to her about the abuser, she became very angry and defensive. I suggested that this could be the cause of her illness and if she were able to work through these feelings with me, I believed we could regress her illness.

There was a spark of hope, but soon i realsied that she was unwilling to forgive her abuser. It was an awful time, I never want to give up on any client, but I cannot force my will over their own. I present people with opportunities for healing and growth, and possibilities that transformation brings. However, it is the persons free will, and they do the work, with the universal God force, I am only the bridge. Two days later Lisa called to say she did not have the energy to do it and cancelled her following appointment. Six weeks later Lisa died, it was a very sad moment when I got the news, I knew however I had done all I could.

I am using this example not to scare you, but to show you the power of resentment in you life this is an extreme. However, it effects your ability to trust, to love, to receive and to fully participate in life. The worst extreme, which I have seen many times, is illness and death. We are all hurt at times by people in life, it does not mean we have to still have a relationship with them. We can however; live in freedom by releasing the chains that binds us to them.

In time we may also appreciate them, and the gifts they have brought us, personal changes we have made as a result, and the life that we now live with awareness and purpose.