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Introduction

Like many people, I have often contemplated what happens after we cross over to the other side. The idea of Heaven and Hell that I was raised with never really seemed to resonate with me, but for some reason, the concept of reincarnation always did sound more plausible. A few months ago, my therapist, who incorporates spirituality into her practice, suggested that I read about past lives. I figured that exploring this topic would just be something interesting to pass the time. This exploration ended up having a profound impact on my healing journey and spiritual growth.

Books About Reincarnation

Before: Children’s Memories of Previous Lives by Jim B. Tucker, M.D.

The first book I read on reincarnation was Before: Children’s Memories of Previous Lives, by Jim B. Tucker, M.D. This book actually contains two volumes: Life Before Life and Return to Life. They provide an overview of the studies conducted by the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia, started by Dr. Ian Stevenson. This research primarily involves cases of children who claim to have detailed memories of past lives. These studies have been ongoing for over 50 years and have yielded fascinating results. In the book, Dr. Tucker describes the scientific method of their investigations and the different ways they attempt to debunk the cases before jumping to paranormal conclusions. He also shares the many cases they have investigated that cannot be logically explained. Some of these cases are so unbelievable that there were moments while reading that I had to set the book down and say “Oh my God”.

Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian L. Weiss

The second book I read was Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian L. Weiss. He tells the true story of a psychiatric patient he was treating who had severe anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks that led to depression. After traditional therapy didn’t seem to work, they attempted regression hypnosis. The regression was only meant to take her back to her childhood to uncover repressed memories, but she eventually regressed back into what seemed to be a past life. They later found that uncovering the traumas she experienced in multiple past lives seemed to dissolve her fears and anxieties in this life.

What makes this story so intriguing is that it is told by a doctor who was trained to see the world from a scientific perspective and had absolutely no previous belief or knowledge in reincarnation. After this experience, he became deeply invested in this topic, specifically as a cure for certain mental and emotional disturbances. This experience triggered Dr. Weiss to consider the possibility that reincarnation does exist and that it had very real potential as a tool for healing. Not wanting to give away any spoilers, I’ll just say it also had a profound impact on his own spiritual beliefs and perspective on life.

The Lessons I Learned

After reading Many Lives, Many Masters, I became aware that exploring our own past lives could aid us in our healing journey. By knowing what happened to us before we came into this life, it might help to explain the fears and negative thought patterns that we currently possess. When we experience trauma, it can leave an energetic imprint on our soul. If these wounds go unhealed, we can carry them with us throughout our soul’s journey into other lives. While we also carry positive traits and talents we developed in past lives to be used in this one, it’s often the negative experiences that seem to affect us the most. It’s believed that our souls choose to reincarnate on Earth with the intention to learn, heal, and become the truest, most authentic version of ourselves. So with that in mind, how do we begin?

How to Uncover Your Past Lives

Identifying Fears and Phobias

One of the ways we can get clues about our past life experiences is by identifying our biggest fears. Whether we have extreme phobias or fears to pursue our dreams, there is a reason our soul is triggered by the thing we are scared of. This trigger could stem from something that happened in our childhood, but if there’s no other explanation for it, it’s possible it was a past life experience. For example, someone with an unexplained phobia of flying may have died in a plane crash in a past life. Spiritual teacher, Christina Lopes, shares the example of some of her clients expressing the distressing fear of sharing their spiritual gifts (channeling, intuitive abilities, shamanic healing, etc.). These same people learned through past life regressions that they were once killed for doing exactly that. From her experience with working with these people, she says the “burning of witches” is a common past life theme amongst spiritual teachers and healers. Christina Lopes has a lot of great content on YouTube, and I found this video about healing past lives especially helpful.

Guided and Free Past Life Regressions

While it can be quite helpful to get a guided past life regression done with a professional to reveal the details of your past lives, it’s not necessary. If you’re interested, there are free past life regression videos you can find on YouTube; I recommend this one with Dr. Brian Weiss. The good news is, even if you don’t ever do a past life regression or recollect any past life memories, you can still heal unresolved past life trauma! By simply bringing awareness to the fear or unhealed wound, you begin the process of healing it.

From my personal experience, even by just assigning the possibility that some of my fears could originate from a traumatic past life experience, it allows me to release them. While fears still come up from time to time, I have the awareness now to know that it’s probably from something my soul experienced at some point, and I remind myself that I am safe in the current moment. This concept of awareness also applies to traumas we’ve experienced in our current life and is one of the cornerstones of healing.

Spiritual Lessons and Conclusion

I think believing in the possibility of reincarnation can give us a sense of hope and meaning. When we allow our minds to open and explore abstract metaphysical subjects like past lives, we begin to trust that there is something bigger than us. It starts to put the pieces together in this mysterious puzzle we call the Universe.

The stories I have read and the studies that have been documented make it really hard to disregard the possibility that reincarnation exists. The truth is, we don’t really know the answer (yet). While it’s fun to entertain, it also introduces a practice of acceptance. Acceptance of the unknown nature of our reality and detachment from the need to explain it. In the meantime, I will continue to explore the realities beyond our current understanding of consciousness and use the lessons I learn along the way to guide my soul on the journey it came here to experience. And I hope reading this will inspire you to do the same. ♡