Discovering Past Lives, Part 2
(8¹⁄₂ min read)

Here is Part 2 of Lyndall Briggs' article, Discovering Past Lives, Part 1. Lyndall continues with the tools to connect with past life memories and to develop your intuition. They include conducting a dialogue with your Inner Advisor, looking upon life as a Mystery School, and more.

Continued from Discovering Past Lives, Part 1...

Listen to evocative music. To be touched by the melodies, voices and rhythms of music, you need to be without distraction. Choose music that has personal significance to you; ask friends what music evokes for them. Create a space in which to listen, turn off your phone, sit or lie somewhere comfortable, light a candle or two, or close your eyes, then turn on the music. Breathe deeply and slowly as you relax and listen to the music. Let it delight your ears, strum your heartstrings and stir your soul. Flow with the music and let it carry you away.

Conduct a regular inner dialogue with your Inner Advisor. For the next 40 days, decide to keep in contact throughout the day. Say to your Inner Advisor, 'I know you are there, and I want to get to know you and pay attention to you. Please begin to speak to me and guide my life'. Don't worry if this dialogue is entirely one-way to begin with. Remember that you may have been out of touch for decades, so it may take awhile to clear the cobwebs! Persist with this inner dialogue as if talking to a friend, chatting, asking questions, sharing your hopes, and begin to listen for answers. They will come.

Record your feelings. Record your feelings, emotions, dreams and insights every day in a journal. This will help you to come into closer contact with your inner intuitive depths. You can ask your Inner Advisor questions here and then later record whatever insights or answers you receive. If you do this regularly with belief and expectation, you WILL receive the answers you need.

Look upon life as a Mystery School. Believe that the whole of your life, events, situations, and people have been structured PRECISELY in order to teach you exactly what you need to know right now. Approach life as if the whole of creation is conspiring to do you good! Whenever something happens in your life, for good or bad, ask yourself what the lesson is for you. As you begin to view life as a movie in which you are playing the starring role, focusing on the positives and letting go of the day-to-day drama. Even unpleasant people or situations have been deliberately placed in our lives as a challenge to help you learn and grow. Record your findings in your journal.

Expect your Inner Advisor to speak to you in dreams. Before going to sleep, do some stretching and bending to relax your body completely. Ask your Inner Advisor a question about a past life and expect an answer. Keep a note pad beside you and when you wake up, recall whatever you can of your dream and write it down in your journal. If you are not used to remembering dreams, this may take time and persistence. However, with patience, you will begin to recall your dreams and receive answers.

The unconscious helps by communicating things to us or making figurative allusions. It has other ways, too, of informing us of things which by all logic we could not possibly know. Consider synchronistic phenomena, premonitions, and dreams that come true. (Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962))

Dreams don't prove the existence of past lives, but many people find them to be a useful door into the subconscious. There are books on the interpretation of dreams, but you are the best judge of their meaning, and you are likely to see patterns of meaning very quickly. A recurring dream, which can be a few times a year or more, is especially significant.

Focus upon living more and more in the present, in the NOW: When you are eating, be aware that you are eating. When you walk, know that you are walking. Work to clear your mind of unnecessary concerns and distractions by being fully present. Clear the mental clutter from the mind and create space. Writing down what's on your mind is a way of clearing the clutter.

Take a week-long media fast. Tune out all media: TV, radio, newspapers, books, Internet, social media, etc. for one whole week. This exercise helps you to reconnect to yourself. Become aware of how much time you spend immersed in others' ideas rather than cultivating your own. You might find out that during this week your life becomes simpler, less stress-producing and more flexible. These are all qualities that help you connect with yourself.

Enjoy nature at least once a week. To get the greatest spiritual benefit, being outdoors in a natural environment is a must. There are many ways to do this: walk barefoot in grass, lie on a hillside and gaze at the clouds, or just star watch from your backyard. Or, if this is difficult, bring nature as close as possible to you. Have green plants or flowers in your home. Enjoy the colours of a sunrise or sunset. Eat a piece of fruit slowly, noticing the texture, aroma, and juiciness of each bite. Choose ways to interact with, and be grateful for our wonderful world's creations.

Exercise. This is a good way to help deepen transcendence. It doesn't matter what you do initially, as long as it's something more active. Try going for a walk, even if at first, it's only for ten minutes. You can build it up to a brisk walk seven times a week for thirty minutes. Perhaps consider a walk along the beach, bushwalking, bike riding or swimming. Alternatively, try some aerobics, pilates, martial arts, yoga or cardio-boxing. Research proves that regular exercise inoculates against stress. It also helps flush the lymphatic system (part of the bodies sewage system) and boosts the immune system.

Pranayama yoga can be an especially useful exercise. By assuming certain physical positions you can move your breathing to different parts of your thorax (upper, middle and lower) giving all parts of your breathing system a maximum workout that enhances balance, harmony and equilibrium.

Look closely at your diet. Groundbreaking research reveals that eating well and taking supplements, has a HUGE bearing on your mind, body and soul. Supplements are highly recommended by nutritional experts and should be used only as directed. Rosemary Oil can also be used. It clears the head, helps memory, relieves mental strain or lethargy. The fragrance also energises the brain and revives the senses.

Consider travelling. The destinations you desire may be a clue that you've been there before; where you have lived before may subconsciously pull or repel you now. Many people we know have a strong desire to go to some particular place for no apparent or logical reason. Now, if you have a strong desire to go to Ireland because you are proud of your Irish ancestry or your family has talked in glowing terms about the Emerald Isle, your desire is pretty explainable. However, on a deeper level perhaps you've chosen Irish parents, in this lifetime, because of the close tie-in with a soul memory. And also, there are the places a person never wants to go which is also significant.

Study an appealing time period. A more practical method to enhancing past life recall is to study a time period. Anyone can get insight into themselves by studying times and places that deeply interest them. To me, this gave clues to why some friends only read a certain era of history and others studied only certain places. And the opposite: Why some people dislike a particular time or place, because of negative experiences, perhaps? One young woman who regressed had experienced a sad and tragic life in China. After the session, she confided that she hated Chinese food and disliked everything Chinese. In her present life she had no ties whatsoever to the Orient.

Create and use a Spirit Chest. Find a box or container of some sort and fill it with items of personal significance. Perhaps photos, a poem or quotes, a comic strip. Maybe choose a sacred stone, dried flowers or a vial of your favourite scent or essential oil. Have fun selecting items, decorating the box and finding a safe 'home' for this chest. Some of these items or symbols may also have had significance in a past life.

Acknowledge the truth about yourself at least weekly. Often we spend so much time focused on what's not working and what's wrong that we forget or miss what is working and what's right. This can be particularly true of how we treat ourselves. Take time to recognise and acknowledge the characteristics that make you who you are. Learn to do this self-acknowledgement using a mirror and really looking into your eyes as you speak the truth aloud.

Think about what your goal is in making a connection to a past life. When using your intuition, it helps to be clear what outcome you want. Many people get stuck in the process by thinking of all the things they don't want. When you're clear about your goals, your intuition can inform you about the clearest, most direct path to achieve them.

Patience! It takes time to learn how to establish contact. Anything worth doing takes time and practice. Be vigilant and practise these steps every day and you will receive the answers you need. Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect.

There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what! Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more skilled, more self-confident, and more successful.

Finally, past life exploration is neither a gimmick nor a quick or painless process. In past life exploration, people may experience once again the terrible hurts, the loss, death and pain of times past, not just memories of exalted love. The work is not always easy and sometimes tears flow in abundance. As Bolduc reminds us, these are the tears that wash and cleanse the soul; therapy without tears is like bathing without water. The most painful lessons of the past are usually the ones that teach us the most in the present. Growing through these lessons is what brings true wisdom. Spiritual growth almost always results and fears of death tend to dissipate.

A metaphor I like is:

As a raindrop falls from heaven,
it fears losing its identity in the creek,
but once it has merged, its awareness expands.
Then, as the creek approaches the stream,
the creek fears the loss of its identity until it
realises that it has grown and expanded into a stream.
However, as it merges with the river again
the stream fears losing its identity until it
joins with the ocean and realises that
it has not lost its identity
but gained boundless awareness.

Past life exploration is a good tool, but first comes the desire and determination to get well no matter what method is used. There is another reason for undergoing past life regression, other than just erasing and healing the problems of the past. Great benefit comes also from reliving joyous experiences. When people focus on their positive patterns of fulfilment, the times of great love and accomplishment and the triumphs of their soul this is healing and affirming.

The bottom line is that searching into soul memories is a personal experience and a personal adventure. For those people who are ready, these are some good beginning steps to take. Begin the journey inward with a prayer for protection and direction and, probably the best way to prepare for a session is not to prepare. Simply go in without expectations, without wanting to explore anything specifically. Leave judgments and assumptions outside the door. And I hope you find a place of wisdom, a place of healing and a place of understanding.

References

Asoka Selvarajah, Ph.D., 26 April 2002. The 7 Secrets of Knowing Your Higher Self. http://intuitive-connections.net/2002/7secrets.htm

Bolduc, Henry Leo. Journeys Within: A True Story of Time Travel, Past Life Regression, and Channeling. Adventures into Time Publishers. 1988.

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Lyndall Briggs FACA, HMASCH has been in full-time private practice for over 25 years. She has been the president of the Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists (ASCH) since 2002 and was on the board of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) for 10 years, since its incorporation. She is an experienced registered supervisor with both associations plus trainer for the Step Up Supervision Training Course.

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