Emotional Health Column
Past Life Regression Therapy – It’s Not Necessarily What You Think
By Dr. Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min., MFT, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist
and Bill Yarborough, CHT and Certified EFT Practitioner
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 serf in medieval Europe? 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 many working theories of what might be happening when people experience a past life in hypnotherapy. Whatever the theory, the interesting part is that past life regression work can provide therapeutic benefits going beyond the novelty of recalling a past life. Here are some theories explaining past lives:
Your subconscious records historical information from books, conversations, lectures, and other exposures to facts. 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 way you can work with dreams and glean important patterns, insights, and understanding of your current life.
Your past lives represent archetypes or metaphors. The archetypes you embodied in past lives help you work with the core issues and life roles you’re experiencing during your present life. For instance, if you’re driven to fight for the underdog or under-privileged, you may have past life experiences of being a benevolent leader or a revolutionary. The overlaying of the archetype of a past life may help identify present life's 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 complete remembering that we are divine and an expression of God, the Tao, the creator, or whatever the belief of the ultimate source.
With various theories explaining past life memories, it is clear you do not have to believe in reincarnation, or even in past lives, to engage in past life therapy and gain benefits in this lifetime.
Past life regression has proven effective for many kinds of issues that people work through in therapy: phobias, feeling stuck in patterns, relationship issues, questions of life purpose, grief and loss, death and dying, physical issues and illness.
The following examples show how past life regression provides therapeutic benefits. To maintain anonymity, we’ve changed certain details.
Holly worked with a woman who was the only one in her family who never went into the ocean during their Hawaiian vacations because of a deathly fear of the water. During a past life regression, she remembered she was 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, had 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 previous 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 the actions taken in one life can have a cause and effect on another life—that you sow what you reap. Such a broader perspective can create an awareness that you’re creating lessons for yourself through different lives to provide opportunities for spiritual growth. You may come to see that 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 are the following additional past life regression theories which can also lead to an expanded world view and a feeling of connectedness:
· Your past life experiences tap into your DNA and the genetic memory of your ancestor’s lifetime. In western Newtonian “show me” culture, this genetic theory of past lives is popular with some regression therapist.
· 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 the 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 is 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 ensure the client is generating their own past life content uninfluenced by the therapist.
If you have questions or comments, please reach out to us via the contact information on our websites: Holly at hypnotherapytraining.com or Bill at bill@billyarborough.com.