Past Life Regression: An Objective View
by Gaye Wilson, RN, MSN, CCHT

I receive many calls inquiring about regression hypnosis; particularly past life regression. Some people are merely curious, some are afraid of it and many believe it holds the key to a long-standing problem they've had. You may be experiencing events, feelings or challenges that cause you to feel that you've "been there, done that"--deja vu, if you will. You may be in relationship with someone that you seem to know from some other time, place or circumstance. Often, the feelings about these situations are only that--feelings--and there's no concrete evidence suggesting any past connection. But, deep down inside, you have a sense of familiarity, inexplicable sorrow or anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, or, if you're lucky, incredible joy or love!

Do you believe in the law of cause and effect, or karma? Do you believe that our consciousness survives physical death and re-manifests in different forms time and time again? Then you may be willing to accept that something that occurred in some past life could have an effect on your life here and now. If you believe the event from the past life is significant enough to warrant being brought back up to your consciousness, then you may be willing to believe it is having an effect on you in this current lifetime--and won't go away until you've dealt with it once and for all (paid your karmic debt).

If you believe in such possibilities, then past life regression by hypnosis could be extremely powerful for you, if your subconscious mind is willing to cooperate with the regression! I have found that if the subconscious mind is not convinced that regressing would be in your best interest, you won't successfully regress. As a hypnotherapist, I consider this resistance to be important. Is "going back" and facing your old demons necessarily the best thing for you? Maybe experiencing the unhappy, frightening, stressful situation once is enough, and your subconscious mind will seek to protect you from any more trauma.

Does this mean that you can never resolve the issue, that you will be forever haunted by the events from this past life experience? NO! Not at all. I believe that once it is determined that there are issues being carried over from another time and that they are adversely affecting you here and now, you can, in hypnotic trance, recognize those issues exist, thank them for the lessons they offered you, and then let them go. Knowing the issues are present, taking from them what they sought to give you, and then releasing them, may be, for many people, preferable to doing a full regression with all of the inherent emotions and feelings that often result from this process. I don't make these decisions, only you and your subconscious mind can know what's best for you. I always honor and respect what your subconscious mind decides about these issues, and hope that you will also.

And what if you don't believe in past lives, karma and regression yet still feel there is something going on that feels "different" or "funny" to you? We can always ask your subconscious mind to allow you to "see" and understand the dynamics of what's going on in whatever way is acceptable to you. Some people believe that "past lives" are actually metaphors for what we are experiencing here and now; in their view, our subconscious mind communicates to us via the past life metaphors to tell us "what's on our mind" deep down. Similar theories have been suggested for the purpose of dreams.

Whatever the case, whether past lives and regressing to them is really possible or that the sense of having lived before is just a clever way our subconscious mind has of grabbing our attention so we'll address important issues in our lives, is immaterial. What's most important is that you achieve the peace and comfort and happiness that you deserve. I believe that hypnosis can certainly offer you this, whether you "go back" to get it or find it right here and now!

I believe my position, as a certified clinical hypnotherapist, should be one of neutrality. Whether or not I believe in past life regression is irrelevant; the power of the process lies in whether or not you believe in it!