PAST LIVES
Past Life Regression (PLR)
PLR therapy is an effective way to discover the reasons for current fears,recurring dreams and personality traits - understanding them, learning from them, and finally letting go forever. Through exploration of your past lives you can easily learn why you are repeatedly entering abusive relationships, why you are born into your particular family, why you have this obsessive behaviour and find out what lessons you chose to learn this time around, etc.
PLR therapy raises the important question of whether our spiritual
evolution on earth is attained through successive incarnations. Many
oriental cultures accept pre-existence and reincarnation in one form or
another. Recently these beliefs are becoming increasingly popular also in the west. An alternative view that does not embrace the idea of reincarnation is that, in past life recall, a person's unconscious may be
dipping into a universal memory bank, which Jung referred to as collective unconscious , and psychically may be drawing upon a story from the past which mirrors the person's own problems. A third possibility is that the unconscious mind may be making up a story, just like in a dream.
There is no conclusive evidence either in favour or against reincarnation.
This, however, should not detract from the value of PLR therapy. Also a
psychic experience or an imagined story created by the unconscious can
offer valuable insights to the person being regressed. The regressee is
nevertheless encouraged to treat the experiences that arise as if they are
real and to become involved in the story. Although a small proportion of
people have some difficulty being regressed, those who succeed discover, to their amazement, how their present life appears to be influenced by
events that may have happened before they were born.
Life Experience
When you are experiencing PLR, you are led back to a different time through hypnosis. Your body is relaxed; your mind is aware and awake. Your eyes are closed and you see and feel that you are in a different time and place. You are able to talk and answer questions about your experience. PLR is most effective when guided by an expert who is responding to the subject's individual journey.
Hypnosis is a useful tool for exploring past lives, since it involves the experience of an altered psychological state, which makes a person more receptive and responsive to inner experiences. In hypnosis, it is possible to tune into levels of awareness normally not accessible to the conscious mind.
Hypnosis is by no means the only method that allows information about past lives to surface. Woolger (1992) uses bridge techniques, which don't require hypnosis. With these techniques, a person is encouraged to delve into an experience, sensation, feeling or image they report, and to become totally immersed in it to the point that it triggers past life recall. For most people, however, past life recall is facilitated by being in a hypnotic trance.
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). If a person 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 change the negative feeling into understanding (Weiss, 1992). Other emotions, such as fear, grief, sadness, and 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.
People often recall pleasant past life events, tranquil scenery or
information about past life skills and abilities. These experiences can
offer a person valuable insights into what may be missing from their
current lives and what they might do to enhance their physical and mental well-being.
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. A lot of healing may result from releasing blocked emotions and from forgiveness. 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 build a positive future.