Healing Through Past Life Regression

By

Laurie Barker-Perez, Atlantic University

It wasn't a debilitating phobia, but I was afraid of paper cutters. I would occasionally use one, but I didn't like to. As the blade would slice through the paper, my stomach would clutch in fear. On one occasion, in an effort to address my discomfort, I examined the paper cutter we had at home. The blade really wasn't that sharp and the way the paper cutter was designed made it extremely unlikely that I would cut myself. Still, whenever I would use the paper cutter, I would get an almost sick feeling in my stomach. 

Happily, at the age of 24, I was accidentally and completely cured of my fear of paper cutters. I had recently been introduced to hypnosis and past life regression and had become involved with a hypnosis group. The group met twice a week for discussion and group hypnosis. I never missed a meeting and I got quite proficient in going into trance. One day as I laid resting on my bed I decided to try self-hypnosis. I didn't have any specific goal in mind, I just wanted to see what would happen. I easily regressed myself and saw a lifetime in 14th century China. I was a young political prisoner whose life ended at the age of 20 when my head was chopped off. I didn't get any more details about that life but soon after I realized paper cutters no longer bothered me the least little bit. I realized that the brief past life regression I had had, where I had met a bad end with a sharp blade, was enough of a catharsis to cure my paper cutter phobia.

That was interesting, and I was curious about that life, but it would be many years before I would learn more and the full import of that life would become clear.

In the meantime, due to my work with the hypnosis group, I had completely lost all fear of death. That in itself was very healing, because I had thought about the mystery of death and the afterlife with more than a little fear while I was growing up. But how could I be afraid of death now? I had experienced it and found it a beautiful thing. In a very profound past life regression I had relived some scenes from a life as a jazz singer in the 1920s and then saw myself on my deathbed and experienced leaving my body and going to a being of light. It was very intense, yet peaceful and comforting.

I have been experimenting with past life regression for a long time now and I have seen many past lives. Some past life memories I have had were just brief glimpses into another place and time and some of the memories were very hazy. Some scenes and memories, though, were very clear. I could see the grain of the wood in the wall next to me when I was a Tibetan monk. I could feel the joy of singing from my soul when I was a  jazz singer. I could feel the sun coming through the window when I was a pioneer woman. And I could feel the tremendous love I had for my youngest child in that pioneer life. The clear images I have seen, and the emotions I have felt, have completely convinced me that I have lived before and that reincarnation is real.

In addition to experiencing past life regressions I have spent a great deal of time reading about and thinking about reincarnation. Reincarnation (and karma) makes so much sense. It explains why one person is born disabled in the slums of Calcutta and another born healthy in a comfortable home somewhere else. Life is fair. God is just. There is no reason for us to feel guilty, or lucky, or superior, for having been born healthy in the suburbs of America (for example). We take on many rolls as we learn and grow through our various lives.

Experiencing past lives (and death) through hypnotic regression has not only helped me feel a part of a divine universe, it has helped me understand myself and relationships in this life, and it has proved therapeutic.

Past Life regression is very powerful. There are many recorded cases of people being healed of emotional and physical problems as a result of past life regression. One of my favorite books on the topic is Children's Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child by Carol Bowman. In Children's Past Lives Ms. Bowman recounts many such cases. One of the most dramatic cases comes from Bowman's son, Chase. When Chase was a young child he would react hysterically when exposed to loud noises and he had severe eczema on his right wrist. After a past life regression in which he experienced a life as a Civil War soldier who was shot in the right wrist and then killed as he manned a cannon both Chase's eczema and his fear of loud noises completely disappeared.

The most dramatic healing I have experienced personally as the result of a past life regression was a healing of forgiveness. During a past life regression workshop I once again found myself in China in the early 1300s. This time I saw that life in much more detail. I was a young man, working behind the scenes with my mother and others, trying to shake up the power structure in order to help the oppressed. We were caught, imprisoned, and killed. "Kat," a former boss in this lifetime, spied on me, turned me in, and became my prisoner. Kat had been downright mean to me this life when she was my boss and I could never understand why. I was a good employee and I couldn't understand why she would go out of her way to blame me for things I hadn't done and otherwise make my life miserable. I had been trying to forgive her for several years but had had limited success. I wanted to forgive her, but I think I was having such a hard time of it mostly because I couldn't understand why she had treated me as she did. During my regression I saw that Kat and I were schoolmates as young boys. Kat was not in my group of friends. He was a older than me; I had my own friends and I never really noticed him. I had no idea that he was very jealous of me because I was a better student than he was and the teacher liked me. Also, I came from a loving family, and though not rich, I had nice clean clothes and enough to eat. Kat had a father who beat him, was dressed in ragged clothes and was often hungry. Apparently Kat's feelings of jealousy and hatred of me had carried over into this lifetime. After I saw my death in that lifetime the hypnotist that was regressing me suggested that I re-script my life so that it would have a happier ending. I did so. I imagined that I noticed that the young boy that was Kat needed food and friends and I shared lunches and time with him. What a difference that made! I saw Kat growing up to be a contented married man, instead of a vengeful and cruel prisoner. I was still having a difficult time, in the between life state, forgiving Kat. I had a breakthrough, though, when I saw Kat's higher self. I realized that Kat's higher self is full of light and love, as are all our higher selves. I was able to send Kat's higher self love and forgiveness. I understood that Kat's higher self would act as a conduit, sending love and forgiveness to the Kat I know. That was very powerful and transforming. I was cured of the anger and resentment I had been carrying towards Kat for much too long.

Self-hypnosis is a very valuable tool. I highly recommend it for self improvement and spiritual growth. I think it can be an excellent way to learn about past lives and can lead to the healing of many problems. However, I don't know if I would have had the breakthrough I did in conjunction with Kat and my life in long ago China if I was in a self-induced hypnotic state. I tend to go into a deeper trance when there is someone else guiding me. As Dr. Michael Newton emphasizes in the "Michael Newton - Past Life Regression" interview listed in the bibliography below, very deep hypnosis is key to "reaching into the past life." I recommend working with a hypnotherapist as well as experimenting with self-hypnosis. A skilled hypnotherapist will know when the client needs be guided into a deeper trance, will know what questions to ask for a successful regression, and will know when a client needs to be desensitized.

I believe we are here on Earth to learn, and to practice love and forgiveness. For most of us, it takes many lives before we have learned all our lessons. Along the way we pick up wounds, wounds that need healing. I believe past life regression is not only a good way to heal those wounds, sometimes it is the only way. 

Selected Bibliography

Bolduc, Henry Leo. Life Patterns: Soul Lessons & Forgiveness. Independence, VA: Adventures Into Time Publishers, 2000. This book is generously available for free downloading from the authors website, www.henrybolduc.com. Henry Bolduc is a hypnotherapist with 45 years of experience in past life research. In addition to presenting case studies that illustrate how friends and clients have been healed of various problems through past life regression, Life Patterns functions as a workbook for self discovery. There are self-hypnosis scripts for the reader to record and use and instructions and worksheets, all to help the reader understand the patterns in his/her lives, to learn and to forgive.

Bowman, Carol. Children's Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child. New York: Bantam Books, 1998. Carol Bowman is a past life regression therapist who first became interested in past life regression when she and her two children overcame fears, phobias, and physical issues through past life regressions. The book is written in three parts: "Past Life Stories", "A Practical Guide to Children's Past Life Memories", and "Listen to the Children". "Listen to the Children" includes a discussion of a belief in reincarnation in the early Christian Church and in the Jewish Kabbalah.

Cerminara, Gina. Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation. New York: Signet, 1999. The author was a trained psychologist, with a Ph.D.from the University of Wisconsin. She was interested in parapsychology, spirituality and reincarnation and wrote several books on those topics. This book examines Edgar Cayce's teachings (obtained while he was in a self-induced trance) on reincarnation, karma, and subjects such as "past life origins of vocational competence". Illustrated with case histories, this is a well-researched book and a good overview of the Cayce material.

Lanctot, Denise. "Have You Lived Before?" Cosmopolitan Sep. 1997. EBSCO Publishing. Slippery Rock Univ. Lib., Slippery Rock, PA. April 28, 2010 < HYPERLINK "http://proquest.umi.com.access-proxy.sno-isle.org" This article, written for a general audience, examines past life therapy. Several examples of healing through past life hypnosis are given, as well as brief summaries of the work of some well known researchers in the field.

The Newton Institute. "Michael Newton - Past Life Regression 1 of 5." Youtube. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. This is a video of an interview with Dr. Michael Newton, the psychologist and author of Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives and Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life Between Lives. In this interview Dr. Newton explains how his practice changed from one focused on traditional behavior modification to one that employs hypnosis to examine people's past lives and life between lives and how that information is used to heal and empower people. This segment includes an explanation of what hypnosis is.