What is a Past Life Regression?
Books by Dr. Brian Weiss
Healing through Past Life Regression
A Past Life Regression is a hypnotherapy modality where the Hypnotherapist takes a client back to a former lifetime in order to discover a pattern, attitude, phobia, etc. Generally, the purpose of a regression is to discover what is preventing someone from moving forward from a particular issue in their life that is hindering them in some way.
Dr. Bryan Weiss is a psychotherapist who stumbled on to a past life with a patient while taking her back to her birth through hypnotherapy. He did many regressions with this woman which inspired the writing of his book ‘Many Lives, Many Masters’. His patient, Catherine, had been suffering from recurring nightmares and anxiety as well as some physical maladies that were beginning to put her in a state where she was almost unable to function in life. As a recommendation from another doctor, she went to see Dr. Weiss and both their lives changed dramatically as a result. Prior to his meeting this patient, Dr. Weiss was not a believer in reincarnation, since then he has done more research on the subject and added to his repertoire of books.
Past lives can affect areas of our lives that most of us are unconscious of. Certain tastes, biases, fears and even physical characteristics are a reflection of how those lives impact our current life. Some of these characteristics can be debilitating while others are practically unnoticeable. Many times we come into a life with the same people we have shared lives with prior. Many people have been able to release painful relationships after a regression when they learned of a prior connection and how they’ve carried the bond with them into this life where that relationship is no longer meant to be. For instance, one woman worked with a man that happened to be her boss. Their working relationship was so very disturbing and they had such an adversarial relationship that she began to dread going to work every day. She sought therapy and her therapist suggested doing a past life regression where this woman discovered that in a past life she was married to her current boss. She was having an affair during that lifetime and with her lover, she killed her husband. In this life, they were brought together and her boss was unconsciously remembering the pain and anger he experienced at the hands of this woman in another life. Once she discovered this, she was able to let go of the guilt from the past life which was affecting her ability to stand up to this man or move to another department. Somewhere in her Soul, she felt she deserved this treatment as atonement for her actions in that life. This woman’s example is how a past life regression can reveal the key to healing. Once she was able to let this go, she was able to communicate with him in a way that was empowering yet still have compassion and understanding with him which allowed them to communicate their differences and move forward.
Many people think of past life regressions as ‘entertainment’ and often seek out a regression in order to discover who they were. It is natural to be curious and there is nothing wrong with seeking a regression for that purpose. However, oftentimes a person’s Soul will have another agenda all together. You may seek a regression to find out if you were a celebrity or perhaps you suspect you may have been Cleopatra or Abraham Lincoln but if your Soul wants to work on another life; that is the life you will discover. That doesn’t mean you were not a celebrity, it means that the word ‘celebrity’ is not a word used in Soul language and it knows what you need for healing…big or small. You may experience a life where you were killed in a tidal wave or you can experience something much more subtle like the woman and her boss.
Other sources on Reincarnation
Common Questions regarding Past Life Regression
So how do people experience spontaneous past life regressions during a session?
When someone seeks help from a hypnotherapist, they often have a reason. Perhaps it is anxiety, or nightmares like Dr. Weiss’ patient. It is the intent of the session that can bring about a spontaneous past life. Remember, the Soul knows what it needs and if the anxiety is related to a past life issue, it is not unusual then to experience a spontaneous past life regression. This may not happen all of the time because if the Soul feels that the memory would cause more harm than good, then the regression will not happen. Most hypnotherapists are trained in regressions in the event that this occurs so that they will know how to move forward keeping the client calm and assuring them that they are safe.
Is everyone able to experience a past life?
Most of the time…yes; again it is up to the Soul as to whether or not it feels a regression is for the highest good.
What should someone expect regarding the experience?
People’s experiences vary. Some experience a memory like a movie on a screen where they see themselves in that life. Others may see little blips of images yet seem to know everything that is going on as though it is being ‘downloaded’ from another source. Some may experience the emotions involved in that life and others feel almost like observers, detached from any emotion related to it.
What if you don’t believe in reincarnation yet you experience what seems like a past life, can that be ‘cellular memory’?
Possibly, there is certainly a great deal of debate between those who believe in cellular memory vs those who believe in reincarnation. What both appear to agree on is that past life memories can happen. Cellular memory is a theory where it is believed that we do not have multiple lives but we experience memories that are those of our ancestors recorded in our DNA. Perhaps cellular memory manifests as certain traits and beliefs we carry in our DNA. For instance, when people receive organ transplants from others, they often experience a change in their tastes for certain foods or certain activities that were favorites of their donors. They do not experience actual memories that were experienced by their donors. It is possible that we carry certain perceptions passed down through cellular memory. Such as believing that if we are not making enough money or we suffer a tragedy it is our God that is sending these experiences to either punish or to teach a lesson. Our ancestors believed that if their crops didn’t grow or they suffered a natural disaster, the Gods were angry with them. That appears to be a parallel perception that may have been passed through our genes.