Hypnosis and Past Life Regression:Truth or Myth?

By Kumkum Ramchandani

Hypnosis, a deep state of relaxation where the subconscious mind can be motivated and Past Life Regression (PLR), an even deeper state where past lives can be accessed, are still viewed by many as “hocus-pocus”, simply because there is not enough research to show tangible evidence of their benefits.

Of the two, PLR is viewed with more scepticism.

But for two independent practitioners of the art (science?), there is no doubt whatsoever that we all have lived past lives, some times going back thousands of years, and for some reason regressing can help people conquer fears, traumas, phobias and deep-seated health problems.

Explains Sheena Singh, a qualified psychologist and past life regressionist who professes to have helped over 400 people over the last 20 years, “Past life therapists believe that the fetus records all of the mother's thoughts and experiences. Based on prenatal awareness, when a baby is born it makes decisions about itself and key people and then lives it's life by those scripts. Subsequent sessions of PLR explore other lives where similar scripts were played out, and after a few sessions the client begins to see a common thread weaving through other lives and how they were connected to their prenatal time.”

She adds, “Somewhere down the line the client begins to integrate all this information and has what we call the 'Aha moment'.”

So does one have to believe in re-incarnation and karma? Not so for those undergoing hypnosis but people going in for PLR often have an inkling.

Both women have experienced life-changing revelations during their sessions.

For Monica Jain, curing a mastectomy patient of months of excruciating phantom pain has been a landmark. The lady, who had taken every medication and therapy imaginable to rid herself of her agony, regressed thousands of years under deep hypnosis to a time when she was the victim of a ferocious war where her breasts were mutilated.

After a few sessions of PLR, her pain was gone for ever!

Singh still gets goose bumps when she recalls a woman in her 30's who literally had to crawl due to excruciating back pain. She came to Singh as a last resort and actually “went back” to the time of Christ when she was a male teacher who followed the divine preacher from village to village.

“My client described Jesus as having blue-green eyes and a dark beard. She said he was exceptionally beautiful. She (as an old man in her past life) was present when Jesus was crucified and was so appalled when none of the disciples stepped forward to help Christ that she (he) took to the desert where he lived in bitter isolation. In his old age his spine became painfully bent and this was what was causing my client's backache in her present life. When she came out of her regression she was cured. It took just one session for this person!” Singh recounted, her voice filled with emotion.

So what issues can hypnosis/PLR address?

As outlined by Jain: “Habit changes like weight loss, quitting smoking, insomnia, procrastination, study habits; stress reduction including anger management, reduction of nightmares, fears/phobias pertaining to flying or water, improving social and relationship skills; goal setting like motivation, enhancing memory and organization, improving focus, concentration, decisiveness, sales ability; boosting self-esteem and confidence, for example in public speaking, sports ability or overcoming shyness and winning friends; pain management; immunity building or stress related fertility. Also any unexplained problems that may have a root in a past life.”

Under hypnosis, the client can interact freely with the practitioner while during PLR the state of relaxation is much deeper and some times the words coming out of the client’s mouth are difficult to decipher. Jain is willing to record the conversation if the client requests it.

According to Sheena Singh, many patients come in expecting to be “blown away by stereophonic sound and technicolor”. In reality it often starts out with hazy images which can progress to clear visual imagery.

“Past lives can be experienced in three ways – some people experience the past as if watching a movie, others are more vividly involved while still others “feel” things rather than “see” them. All clients remember everything once they “come out”. One needs five to seven sessions in general and each session can last 2 hours or more,” she explains.

For Singh, the first session involves the reviewing of medical history, psychological history, high and low points in life and the nature of issues that need to be addressed. The second session usually accesses the prenatal time while subsequent sessions explore other lives. The final stage is integration and healing.

“We don't fully understand how it works,” she confesses. “Let me explain it using the Internet as an example. Suppose a client has an issue of abandonment. I initiate a search command for that feeling into all the files in the world wide web which can be likened to the experiences of other life times. Our inner wisdom then identifies the files that have associative memories of abandonment and we retrieve one file at a time and expand the condensed file to see the whole story. Then we visit the place where the problem occurred originally so that experiences stored there can be re-solved.”

Therapy or healing then works when the client integrates the information into the present situation. Which is why the past life regressionist must be a highly qualified person.

Says Marie Joseph, 49, (name changed to protect privacy), “In my opinion, 70% of the work is done by the patient. I was highly motivated to give up smoking even though I was averaging only 1-2 cigarettes a day. Within 2 sessions of hypnosis I stopped being tempted to smoke when offered a cigarette by someone. However, it was difficult and I had to use the mantra I was taught.”

M.Patel dived into a shallow pond and hit his head on a stone injuring two vertebrae in his neck and suffering through years of medical treatments due to mental and physical trauma. After he received 8 treatments by Jain, dramatic improvements were experienced.

“I would say almost 70% of my problems including insomnia and acid reflux have been cured,” says Patel, who stresses that he would choose this alternative form of therapy over allopathic medicine any day.

However, there is some justification in peoples' fears that things can go wrong.

“I know of people who have suffered at the hands of an unqualified person. They have traumas, fears and nightmares because of uncompleted integration by an unethical or inexperienced practitioner,” Singh explains. She has a Masters in Counselling Psychology and has trained in PLR under Dr. Morris Netherton.

Jain, who did her basic certificate in hypnosis from the prestigious Hypnosis Motivation Institute in California and trained further at the Ontario Hypnosis Centre, echoes the same sentiment. “When looking for a hypnotherapist make sure they have more than the minimum designation. It’s important you feel trust and rapport with them as the right match can result in phenomenal changes.”

Is there such a thing as a “hypnosis receptive person”?

“Hypnosibility is a normal trait,” affirms Jain. “Anyone who has been deeply absorbed in any activity requiring focus and concentration to the extent they become oblivious of their surroundings, has been hypnotized. Different people are hypnotized in different ways depending on their suggestibility or how they take in information. This is where the skill and experience of the hypnotist comes in.”

“Those who do not get hypnotized usually have a block within themselves. Recently I had a client who came in for stuttering. Hypnosis did not work because he himself was not unduly bothered by his problem and had only come at the insistence of his mother.”

“I have only had 2 clients so far on whom nothing worked,” says Singh. “One of them was a 70 year old man. Some times if there is too much pain involved, a person is closed to hypnosis.”

According to Jain, “Some times a session can be very emotional and I have had people crying uncontrollably as they discover the root of their problem while I have also had people laughing hysterically with relief at being able to let go and get rid of major road blocks!”

As regards the “dangers”, there are none. There is no loss of consciousness in hypnosis. The body is highly relaxed, tensions and pressures disappear, but the mind is sharply focused and receptive to therapeutic suggestions.

“No one can get “stuck” in hypnosis,” affirms Jain. “We are working with a person's subconscious and the subconscious mind's first and foremost objective is to protect the person. No new phobias will be developed.”

Jain confirms that the hypnotist is only a tool to facilitate change. If the client is not motivated to co-operate or change, there is not much that can be done.

At the end of the day, as pointed out by Jain, it is all about co-creating with a client who has given permission to influence change through the subconscious mind. As long as it works, whether by hypnosis or PLR, the objective has been reached.

Monica Jain:   contact 416-624-8779

Sheena Singh: contact 416-203-3595