Want to know your past life?

Whenever past lives are mentioned, people either look up in interest or send a gaze of disbelief and skepticism. Such mixed reactions are valid in schools of thought that run in direct oppositions or even counter to each other. The Church clearly states “no way” as Church Fathers of old have junked the belief in reincarnation that gives the validity to past lives. Reincarnation was suppressed by the clergy at the fifth ecumenical council, held in Constantinople in the year AD 553. The reason for this would have been the spiritual immaturity of the Christians, who could not grasp the doctrine at that time, or the desire of the clergy to manipulate the Masses. Religion, after all, served a political purpose during that time. And so this was the belief I was raised in, and which I started to question when I started getting glimpses of my past life experiences on my own so much so that I was compelled to take a course on comparative religions when I was taking my master’s degree in the US. I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t crazy to undergo all my own personal soul experiences. That course opened me up to a world of other belief systems that pointed to the evolution of consciousness through time. And that hunger for searching for the truth has never stopped with me since then. The path was always about wholeness and liberation, about moving towards deeper compassion for one’s self, which inevitably translates to a deeper compassion for other people and the world we live in.     

Then there is track that follows the belief in reincarnation as being part of the core of human existence. From the Egyptian Book of the Dead, to the ancient Vedic writings of India, to other eastern religions, to Greek Platonism and even through the Bible, one finds traces for the proof of what can be loosely termed “reincarnation.” But I am not here to argue the intellectual side of it but to share the experiential side of the possibility of reincarnation and the healing therapy used to touch the deeper subconscious where cell memories hold past life imprints, if you would so believe.

If you answer “Yes” to any of these questions, then chances are your soul’s other past lives have been trying to get through to you. Have you had dejavu experiences feeling you have met this person or have been in a certain place already even if this is the first time you are meeting the person or being in this place? Are certain cultures and periods of historical time more appealing to you, where you throw interest in studying these? Have you met certain people and felt an instant attraction, liking, or hate or dislike for no apparent reason? Are you embroiled in a cathartic relationship that try as you can, you can’t seem to break away from? Are you drawn back to situation after situation with similar patterns forcing you to learn a specific something in your life? Do you have a phobia where you cannot trace any cause for from childhood?

I think many of us can answer “yes” to majority of the above. There is an energetic memory that ties us to this connection, to this specific moment or states. And life regression therapy aids in releasing certain things. In my counseling sessions through the years, and through many researches and books I devoured on the topic, what is clear to me is that whether or not we believe in reincarnation, when memories do arise, and helps heal a part of us... this healing is REAL. I have facilitated regression for people individually and have done so in group sessions. What I have found out is that the process that reaches the deep subconscious and sometimes the unconscious is a powerful tool for bringing people closer towards wholeness. Thus today, there is an increasing interest in the past life regression for people to understand their personalities and lives now. Sometimes also, people want to understand their present situations full of emotional drama, and the reason why they are in certain relationships now in this life. Sometimes, people can pick up something to heal a phobia or even understand an illness. Other times, people just need to be in a safe place to release, clear and heal whatever trauma is in the subconscious or coming from their childhood. I believe these are the greatest benefits for the case of life regression therapy.

Life regression can either also be approached in two ways: firstly as a spiritual experience where you touch a part of your soul’s experiences in another lifetime or even your Inner Guide; and secondly, as a psychotherapeutic process where memories of emotional traumas are healed. Because this is such a “gray area” (anything regarding the soul is a gray area to conventional thinking unless validated by one’s own personal experiences), past life regression is generally rejected by scientists and those who need proof and validity of the process. Their terms for this include imagination and mere memories.

Linking the process of past life regression to the belief in reincarnation will inevitably bring about issues of “karma” (meaning that whatever you do past or present will always come back to you). In trying to understand present life relationships with certain people, and if you touch on this during the life regression therapy session, you can actually consciously correct or rewrite a past agreement or promise to be free of it or modify to help you with the present situation. One often comes back more grounded and more aware then looks at working the present problematic situation with that other person with more sensitivity.

Sometimes, what you bring back from a life regression therapy is a better understanding of yourself with skills and talents that you may have been afraid to try developing or expressing. Or of tapping your greatest potentials hidden deep inside. Courage is obtained and a certain acceptance of who you are becomes the precious gift of the experience. You affirm and ground yourself.

What I have gained in the course of all my past-life therapy sessions with two healers and one psychiatrist who have regressed me, and through my own attempts at self-regression, is Knowledge. It gave me the reason for who I am and my reason for being now. It has grounded me deeply, not in my personality as “Jeannie” but in the soul which has had so many, many lifetimes.

(I will be holding a group session on Past Life Regression at ECHOyoga on June 26, Saturday at 2 p.m. This will include meditation, facilitation for regression into subconscious and soul work followed by group discussion. The session will be held at the ECHOyoga Community Center, Penthouse, Century Plaza, 120 Perea Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City. Limited slots available only. Call 0906-5063958 or e-mail echoyogaworkshop@gmail.com. Check out www.echoyogastore.ph)