Respect the Process Past life regressions can be wonderfully insightful tools to help you learn about yourself, and I highly recommend them! Through them you have the opportunity to heal areas of your life that need healing, or learn about the possible origins of your abilities and talents.
You can also gain surprising insights into the possible origins of your personal and professional relationships, and the nature of the dynamics underlying them. But regressions are totally unpredictable. So respect the process and always exercise caution.
Warning to the Wise
Carol Bowman, psychologist and past-life researcher, warns that with access to the variety of past life regression cds freely available on the market, certain responsibility toward the process especially needs to be exercised. She is known for being one of the first regressionists to take children's past lives seriously, and has written a book about it. Bowman cautions against leaving someone "hanging" with traumatic memories, and suggests having a plan in place to help them.
Note that you won't hear things like this from most people who have a vested interest in your attending their workshops or buying their books. Most won't provide a realistic disclaimer disclosing just how damaging past life regressions could possibly be for some, so people could at least have some kind of heads up beforehand. Instead, they paint a picture of the process leading many to believe regressions are all fun and games, or simply "healing." It's the making of money that's important.
Though Bowman herself sells books and conducts workshops on the topic, I appreciate that she remains honest and down to earth about the regression process. In response to a question on her blog concerning "regressions by the untrained," Bowman wrote the following comment echoing what I have come to believe, as I will explain below:
There are certain aspects of a regression that need to be considered and worked with: understanding trance states, getting to the heart of the past life story, processing the thoughts and feelings around the death, sometimes re-framing the experience while in an altered state, and making the connections between the past life and present life.
. We do this so the client can "make peace" with the past life, forgive others or self, and release emotional and physical impressions from that life so they can let it go. By missing some of these steps, you may not resolve anything, and could make things worse by opening up the issue and not showing the client a way through.
To read the full post, click here: Past Life Regressions by the Untrained
When Regressions Go Awry
Public Sessions
Past life regressions are nothing to play with, or so I learned on two memorable occasions. One experience taught me that mass, public regression sessions can be extremely unhealthy for some people. A few years ago, I attended a workshop where the host induced everybody there (about 100 people) into a hypnotic state, then walked us through our past lives and back to the present again. After the session, he packed up and left.
But I'll never forget this one lady who was in the hallway afterward, crying hysterically as her loved ones attempted to console her. She was severely traumatized, and I did not feel she was going to be OK any time soon. I wondered how many others were also traumatized and managed to hide it, but fell apart later. There was no follow-up care plan in place for these people, many of whom may have needed counseling. There was not even a warning beforehand that this could potentially happen.
This hit-and-run format of public past life regression workshops is in my opinion grossly unprofessional, irresponsible and just plain uncaring. I don't think they should be done at all. I think regressions should be done ideally one-on-one, at most in small groups of, say, 4 or 5 people.
Do-it-yourself Sessions
In another experience, I learned caution really needs to be exercised if using a regression cd when alone. I inadvertently re-experienced two deaths in my own past lives. In both instances, I panicked and came out of the hypnotic state much too quickly. You're supposed to come out of each session gradually, with a step-by-step process. Instead, I popped back into consciousness before properly processing the information. My emotions were raw, open wounds that needed proper treatment. I was troubled about it for months. I did find closure eventually, but I would not wish such an experience on anyone else.
It could have been avoided. Looking back, I never should have done these sessions alone. Ideally, I should have been under the care of a trained counselor who happened to also be a hypnotherapist. At the least, I should have had a friend with me, if for no other reason than to just monitor my behavior, and if need be talk me out of panic while I was still under hypnosis using a pre-scripted method we'd agreed upon before the session.
Moral of the story
Know exactly what you're getting into beforehand --regressions can be traumatizing. The cds you buy will not disclose this to you, nor will regression "experts" eager to peddle their books and workshops. You must exercise discernment for your own well-being. Have a plan in place in case things go awry. Otherwise, enjoy the process and look forward to learning something new about your life...or, lives, I should say.
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Resources:
Books by Carol Bowman:
Return From Heaven: Beloved Relatives Reincarnated Within Your Family
Children's Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Reincarnation (with David Hammerman & Lisa Lenard)
Past life regression cds:
Regression to Times and Places by Brian Weiss
Spiritual Progress Through Regression by Brian Weiss
Exploring Your Past Lives by William Buhlman (5-cd set)
Past Life Regression With the Angels by Doreen Virtue
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