Past Life Regression in Hypnosis
Wrtten by Peter Fink.
The Reincarnation Experiments, a stunning television documentary in which four housewives from Sydney, Australia, gave details of past lives under hypnosis and then verified the evidence - in front of TV cameras and independent witnesses - by travelling thousands of miles to the scenes of these bygone lives, was screened before the Australian public in March, 1983. Even atheistic viewers were compelled to admit that reincarnation appeared to be the only logical explanation for these remarkable journeys through time which followed hypnotic regression conducted by Hypnotherapist Peter Ramster.
Fisher (1984:978).
After reading Fisher's quote, we might wonder how we get to experience a past life regression session.
In hypnosis, we bypass the critical conscious mind and enter the subconscious to open the door to old memories. The trance is an altered state of mind which we automatically enter many times each day. Watching TV or driving a car is very much like a hypnotic trance because we focus our attention and allow the subconscious mind to open up. How many times have we driven from A to B to arrive at B without really knowing how we got there? We put ourselves in a trance to shut the outside world and all its noise out. Athletes call it being in the 'zone'.
What is it that happens in our brain to allow the conscious, analytical part of our mind to drift apart and allow the past live memories of our subconscious to surface? Our mind operates on different brain wave frequencies all day long moving between the conscious and subconscious state. The conscious state, called the Beta state, functions with a brain wave frequency of fourteen cycles per second and higher with an average of about 22 cycles per second for most activities. When we allow our brain waves to slow down by going to sleep, by focusing our attention or by daydreaming, we enter the Alpha state, also called the hypnotic state.
All humans enter a hypnotic trance at least 10 times a day by drifting into the Alpha state, which operates with a brain wave frequency of 7 to 14 cycles per second. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) starts at 10 cycles per second and allows us to dream at night. The subconscious mind surfaces and communicates with our conscious mind by using its own language, the dreams, to analyze daily events. Slowing down further, the mind enters the Theta state.
The Theta range of brain activity is approximately four to seven cycles per second. This is considered to be the psychic range of the mind and the area where psychic experiences occur. Delta has a frequency range of zero to four approximately cycles per second. This is the range of total unconsciousness.
(William W. Hewitt 1996).
It is in this state of deep hypnosis that we are able to open doors that have been closed. If we do not carry any blocks or fears, we can tap into subconscious memories of other times and other places.
Over the years, I have conducted many past live regression sessions. Even though my role as a facilitator is to guide through the sessions, I never provide any direction or advice, and my clients follow their own natural path. Their past life journey is their own experience and my responsibility is to make sure that they feel safe and protected at all times.
Some clients slip into past lives without consciously choosing to. They come to see me for various reasons, not believing in reincarnation and 'accidentally' take the journey to past lives to subconsciously solve or deal with issues that have been established prior to this live, but transported into it. Once they find the cause of their issue, they are most often able to resolve it rather quickly.
We are believed to have between 200 and 600 past lives. Our subconscious allows us to remember those lives that provide us with the wisdom and knowledge that we are ready for at the time of the session. The experience itself feels like a day dream that we consciously see, feel and hear in a state of total awareness. The wonderful part is that we almost always remember the whole session and can take from it whatever we need in the years to come. All sessions that I have ever experienced personally stay in my mind and help me to understand difficult situations in all aspects of my life.
The sessions start with a peaceful relaxation induction which allows each person to slowly go into a hypnotic trance. Once the subconscious mind has opened up in the Alpha state, it is able to provide valuable information that allows the recall of past live memories. In a past life regression, the state of awareness is not the same as in a normal hypnosis session.
Winafred Lucas states that people's brain waves change when they are in a past life regression, and they are different from the brain waves of any other mental state we know of (normal wakefulness, sleep, dreaming, hypnosis alone)
, Lucas (1996, Internet article).
The recall begins by seeing, sensing or feeling yourself standing somewhere unfamiliar in a different environment, time and place. Some memories are clear, vivid and detailed, some are vague and more like imaginations. It does not really matter how one perceives the information. It is important to allow the subconscious to convey the wisdom and knowledge that is needed at the time of the session.
After experiencing a few events in that life and getting details, such as names, addresses and dates, the session leads to the end of that life and the death experience. In my opinion, the death experience is the most wonderful part of the session because it feels liberating, exhilarating and absolutely peaceful. No matter what the circumstances of the death experience are, the moment the soul leaves the body is incredible. One feels like expanding into the Universe, becoming free and limitless again. All worries, pain and egocentric feelings are gone, and one reunites with the Universal Consciousness. It feels like floating, drifting, flying high like an eagle.
The essence of the session begins in that state of floating, feeling weightless and being connected with Oneself. Even though the client is in a deep state of hypnosis, he or she is able to communicate and talk. It feels like being in two different worlds at once. The conscious awareness is sitting in the chair in the room where the session is taking place while the subconscious mind focuses on the impressions of the past life.
I start asking the following questions and record the answers:
- what is the most important lesson learned in that life?
- what caused the most sadness?
- what caused the most happiness?
- what could you have done better?
- what will help you in this current life?
- what is the message your past life self would like to relay to your present life self?
Some answers are short, some are detailed and clear, but all responses are always profound and life changing for the person who experiences them.
After recording the answers, the past life is closed off with blessings, healing and protection to make sure that all pain and discomfort stay behind. Once we have created awareness around an issue that we might have been carrying around with us from one life to another, it might dissolve.
Henry Bolduc (1994) says in 'Life Patterns' that regression work is the process not the product. How you learn and how you use that learning is far more important than who you were and how you lived. The soul's memory is your true wisdom.
Bolduc (1994:9).
Bibliography
Bolduc, Henry Leo 1994 "Life Patterns: Soul Lesson & Forgiveness." Independence, VA: Adventures Into Time Publishers.
Fisher, Joe 1984 "The Case For Reincarnation." Toronto, Canada: Somerville House Publishing.
Hewitt, William W. 1996 "The Truth About Hypnosis." St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide.