March 4, 2015

Past Life Regression

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." - Carl Jung

As a hypnotherapist, one of my ultimate favorite sessions is doing past life regressions. Whether one believes in last lives or not, these sessions are always  profound, insightful, and deeply healing. I have had clients come to do past life regressions in order to understand current life patterns, such as overspending and overeating; find forgiveness for their childhood abuser; and release feelings of karmic debt from failed relationships. I have guided over two dozen sessions, and some clients have experienced this process more than once. Personally, I have worked with other hypnotherapists and have experienced three past lives. Here is the most recent one.

 Intention: What would be beneficial for me now in my healing practice?
 Affirmation: I will say yes to giving my gift this lifetime

 The hypnotherapist had me get comfortable and warm on the massage table. We started with some deep breathing and a basic relaxation technique. Then she counted down from ten to one, with the instruction to discover in my minds eye a safe comfortable place to begin today's journey. I go into trance extremely easily and quickly, and always find it quite pleasant. I felt very curious and full of wonder of what I might discover today.

I found myself imagining being in my back yard on a warm spring day. The sun was shining, I could smell the jasmine, and both the cats were keeping me good company. I noticed the sounds of hummingbird wings and my neighbors off in the distance, I felt very safe and secure. I moved a statue of Kuan Yin over to the power corner of the garden (as according to fend shui), and took a moment to pay tribute to the goddess of healing and compassion. Kuan Yin is often depicted with her head tilted to one side, in order to hear the cries of suffering from humankind. I took a moment to reflect on all the deep listening I do for my clients, and prayed they always felt my office to be sanctuary to release their woes and find peace.

Now the hypnotherapist led me through a second countdown, and I felt as if I was traveling through time. I saw Eskimo faces, Romany gypsies, African tribes, all flashing before my eyes in quick succession. At zero she had me simply look at my feet, then my clothes, then the surroundings, taking in the sights, the sounds,the smells, all the colors and textures, even the tastes. I knew the time of day, the season, even the year in incredible detail.... I was in China, in the year 500 a.d.

I looked down at my tiny feet, aware I was wearing white silk pants and a blue silk shirt. At first I felt genderless, then noticed I was a 13 year old girl. My feet were hurting, as we're my shoulders, and I noticed the way the smooth wooden yoke fit across my neck, the way my hands balanced the buckets, which were filled not with water but an assortment of herbs and mushrooms. I walked back to the compound, aware of the dust and the smell of my sweat, stopping at a small hut to gather up supplies.

Then I went from room to room doing my honorable task for each of my aunties - taking off the tight bindings and bathing their feet with fresh spring water and herbs. The smell is incredible, the twisted toes forced into tiny shoes, and again and again the admonishment to keep this secret. I am not royal nor a peasant, so my feet are not as tightly bound, my role is to perpetuate tradition, to find sacred in the mundane. I cleanse and purify, applying herbs as salves and poultices, massaging calves to encourage blood flow before reapplying the restrictive bindings.

The hypnotherapist has me fast forward into this life. I have a husband, who I recognize as my brother in this lifetime. Their are bunches of herbs drying in the rafters, hanging in pouches along the wall. I am well versed in herbs for infertility as well as for inducing menses, the only contraceptive of the time. I myself am infertile, and I feel cursed, yet blessed that my husband remains by my side.

I see myself stirring up salves, unguents, lotions. I continue to tend to the ladies, and see babies birthing between my hands. Sometimes they are still born, And I take their tiny bodies down to a special burial place at Kuan Yin's temple. These are my spirit children, and I know my task is to guide their spirits in the most sacred of ways. and always, keep it secret, secret, secret.

Now the hypnotherapist gently guides me to the moment of my death. I am forty years old, surrounded by nieces and nephews, always a favorite auntie. I pass quite peacefully, my devoted husband by my side, surrounded by clay jars sealed with beeswax with flowers pressed into them.

The hypnotherapist counts me back to my safe space. Back in the garden, i realize this is where my cats are buried in the yard. I have intense memories of reading Chinese Folktales as a kid, which i was fascinating by, and Mary Daly in college, her descriptions of Chinese foot binding being both horrifying and fascinating. More images flash before my eyes, including washing both Jesus and Marys feet with my hair during reiki I and ii. Then i see my paternal grandmother, Nona Thersa, her gnarled feet and discolored toenails. I briefly experience the double foot surgery I went through when I was in sixth grade, my feet being bound by ice skates. My mom had the same surgery at the same time, her feet messed up by wearing shoes much too small due to the extreme poverty she lived in as a child in postwar Sweden. Here was the aha moment of seeing an ancestral pattern.

The hypnotherapist counted me up to this dimension. We spent some time processing the session, then said our goodbyes. The session was so rich and qualitatively different from other hypnosis sessions, the amount of detail and deep knowing feeling is like nothing else I have ever experienced. I hope this sparked your own sense of curiosity and wonder... Please feel free to contact me with any questions or to set up a session to experience a past life regression of your own.