Do you ever ponder engaging in past-life regression therapy? If so, what possibilities spring to mind? Will you recall being a wealthy business magnate in nineteenth-century America or a dirt-poor peasant in ancient Asia? Will you have been a well-known historical figure or—more likely—an obscure person forgotten by history? Maybe you’ll remember all the above—along with many other previous lives.
But past life regression does not necessarily mean you’ve actually lived previous lives. There are various working theories of what occurs when people experience a past life in hypnotherapy. Whatever the theory, the interesting part is that past life regressions can provide therapeutic benefits beyond the novelty of recalling a past life. Here are several theories explaining past lives:
- Your subconscious records historical information from books, conversations, movies, lectures, and other sources. These facts emerge from your subconscious in hypnosis, and you interpret them as a past life.
- Your imagination creates past life experiences the same way that your imagination creates dreams. Proponents of this theory believe you can work with past life experiences the same way you can work with dreams, gleaning important patterns and insights for your current life.
- Your past lives represent archetypes or metaphors. The archetypes you embodied in past lives can help you work with life roles and core issues occurring in your present life. For instance, if you’re driven to fight for the underdog or underprivileged, you may recall past lives as a benevolent leader or revolutionary. The overlaying of archetypes of past lives could help you spot present-life weaknesses and strengths.
- Your past lives are the consequence of reincarnation. This is the most popular and widely accepted theory of past lives. Most major world religions, including early Christianity, believe the soul is reborn into multiple lives to work through lessons and grow in consciousness. This cycle continues until there is an experience of enlightenment or a remembering we are divine and an expression of God, the Tao, the creator, or other ultimate source.
With these different theories of past life memories, you do not have to believe in reincarnation, or even in past lives, to gain benefits from past life therapy in this lifetime.
Past life regression has proven effective for many kinds of issues that people work through in therapy, such as phobias, relationship problems, feeling stuck in patterns, questions of life purpose, grief, and loss, death and dying, physical issues, and illness.
The following examples show how past life regression has provided therapeutic benefits. To maintain anonymity, we’ve changed certain details.
Holly worked with a woman who was the only member of her family never to enter the ocean during their Hawaiian vacations. From a young age, she was terrified of water. During a past life regression, she remembered being drowned as a witch during the Middle Ages. After the regression, she realized her fear had nothing to do with her current life and was able to overcome it.
Bill knew a young woman who was always the life of the party and unable to slow down. During a past life regression, Bill recalled a past life where both the woman and he were monks living a cerebral life divorced from the outside world. He suspected the woman’s present choices were influenced by the maxim, “been there, done that, try something new!” As it turned out, she too independently recalled the life of a monk and started to bring more balance into her life. Another interesting aspect of regression work is that we tend to have “traveled” in earlier lives with people we’re connected to in this life.
These examples hint at spiritual effects from past life regression, particularly when you recall multiple past lives. As you reflect on various lives, you may see how actions taken in one life can have a cause and effect on other lives. In short, you reap what you sow. Such a broader perspective can create an awareness that you’re creating lessons through different lives to provide opportunities for spiritual growth. You may come to see you are not just your body, or an individual preoccupied with your own wellbeing, but comprehend something greater—a sense of oneness and understanding that life is for loving, learning, and conscious evolution.
In line with biology and physics, the following additional past life regression theories can also lead to an expanded world view and feelings of connectedness:
- Your past life experiences tap into your DNA and the genetic memory of your ancestor’s lifetime. In the western Newtonian “show me” culture, this genetic theory of past lives is popular with some regression therapists.
- Your past lives tap into the quantum field. Within the realm of quantum theory, some believe that you are one and part of a unified field. Since there is no time or space in quantum reality, all past lives are happening simultaneously as parallel lives.
If you are interested in experiencing a past life regression, you can choose a self-guided process available on CDs—although the skill and guidance of a well-trained regression therapist are recommended.
The International Board for Regression Therapy’s website at IBRT.org lists good choices for regression therapists. A well-trained regression therapist uses non-directive language and asks open-ended questions to make sure the client is generating their own past life content uninfluenced by the therapist.
If you have questions or comments, please reach out to Holly via her website at holly@hypnotherapytraining.com or Bill at billyarborough3@gmail.com
Dr. Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min., MFT, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, and Bill Yarborough, CHT, and Certified EFT Practitioner.
This article first appeared in the December 2021 Diablo Gazette.
