Healing past life trauma - has anyone done this?

[dryad]

Hi Melahin. I would think if your seeing it that way it may be useful to think of it as the past is no longer reality. Its not that it never existed but that it no longer exists. Past life visions always have the potential to not be past lives anyway. They can just be symbolic communication from the subconscious or higher self. Or you could be tapping into someone else's past life either through them or because they shared it with you at some point or through the collective unconscious. That's more likely if its a spontaneous vision than if you deliberately seek a past life regression I would think. If you are seeing a spontaneous vision then its a pretty good bet that it does relate to your present circumstances or needs in some way whether its a genuine past life or not.

Personally I dont see it that way. I see reality as existing on multiple levels and what is true on one level is not necessarily true on all levels therefore time can be both reality and illusion at the same time. What you perceive at any given time then depends on which level your perception is anchored in and transcending time is as simple as shifting to a level not bound by it. There are limitations to how far into those levels you can go while in physical incarnation but its how souls can incarnate into different times since past lives don't occur in the same order as our time does.

[Patrycia-Rose]

This is a current issue of mine. I've always had an extreme reaction to stress. I hate stressful situations, it completely destabilises me. I was given a message by my guide a few days ago that my stress reaction is linked to a past life.

Several years ago I was given details by a medium about a past life which was pretty unpleasant in the Egyptian era. Just yesterday I had to go for an interview and the state I was in beforehand was just ridiculous. I know everyone gets nervous but this was extreme. I tried everything I could think of to calm down but nothing worked.

I remembered the message about this stress being due to the past life and I just started doing EFT saying "even though this stress comes from a past life, I deeply and completely accept myself" (the EFT recipe) and low and behold the stress levels started to fall away.

Last night, I awoke with images of what my life was like in detail in this past Egyptian life and I can clearly see how stress has come over to this life. So I am going to be doing more EFT around the specific details to see if I can shift this.

I've also done a little reading about EFT and past life issues and it has successfully been used for it.

Originally Posted by ocean

He gave me this vision of my spine as a totem pole, and told me that I need to draw in to my spine. Instead of trying to get over this old life, I need to hold on to it, and use the memory of who I was - an empowered woman, mother, and healer, to fuel me in this life.

I know he told me what to do but... how do I do it? How do I integrate all that life was to me, and use it to bring this current life into the place I know it could go?

I don't necisarily belief in past lives/reincarnation the way most do so I'd like to offer a different take on the matter.

When you speak of this empowered woman, the mother and the healer I assume you have a general picture of what that looks and feels like. What sort of things in life she would worry about, what sort of things she would get exited about and how she would act in certain situations.

Just try to mimic those. Slowly and at a pace you feel comfortable with. As you do you will find certain aspects will fit and enhance your life for the better. Some of those aspects will feel ackward, strange and not you. Leave them be.

Does that make sense?

With Love
Eelco

edit:
I created a quick look at how I feel the reincarnation proces works here

[ocean]

Originally Posted by Melahin

@dryad I was wondering something; I am starting to perceive a reality without a past. Like there literally is nothing but what I try to fit into my present state of beingness, and it is my present state that relates to life in certain ways. So if I see a past life it does not necessary mean I have lived it, it simply mean it is something that relates to my right now. Not sure where exactly I am going, just felt I might ask for how you perceive this stuff since it is starting to make more and more sense to me to perceive it this way.

And nice words btw.

Sounds like "The power of Now" :)

[ocean]

Originally Posted by dryad

They can just be symbolic communication from the subconscious or higher self. Or you could be tapping into someone else's past life either through them or because they shared it with you at some point or through the collective unconscious. That's more likely if its a spontaneous vision than if you deliberately seek a past life regression I would think. If you are seeing a spontaneous vision then its a pretty good bet that it does relate to your present circumstances or needs in some way whether its a genuine past life or not.

Personally I dont see it that way. I see reality as existing on multiple levels and what is true on one level is not necessarily true on all levels therefore time can be both reality and illusion at the same time. What you perceive at any given time then depends on which level your perception is anchored in and transcending time is as simple as shifting to a level not bound by it. There are limitations to how far into those levels you can go while in physical incarnation but its how souls can incarnate into different times since past lives don't occur in the same order as our time does.

Hi Dryad,

This is all really helpful.

Your first paragraph - yes, I completely agree that hte message could have all been symbolic. I've realised in the last few days that the image of the totem pole was significant - it's about me moving energy up my spine. I have to do this, but I've been resisting since my first kundalini rising scared the **** out of me

Your second paragraph - I also believe that there are mutiple levels with their own rules. In one of my experiences with Ayahausca I landed in another one of these worlds. I took a brief look and then realised that the world was literally as vast and complex as our world. It was populated by these crazy creatures. I realised that I did not want to explore this world - I was hear to do my own work, so I declined the invitation to enter. One person I spoke to afterwards told me I'd met "the DMT elves". Many people had met them when working with the medicine. I'd never heard of them before, but met them nonetheless. Talk about validation!

[ocean]

Originally Posted by catsquotl

I don't necisarily belief in past lives/reincarnation the way most do so I'd like to offer a different take on the matter.

When you speak of this empowered woman, the mother and the healer I assume you have a general picture of what that looks and feels like. What sort of things in life she would worry about, what sort of things she would get exited about and how she would act in certain situations.

Just try to mimic those. Slowly and at a pace you feel comfortable with. As you do you will find certain aspects will fit and enhance your life for the better. Some of those aspects will feel ackward, strange and not you. Leave them be.

Does that make sense?

With Love
Eelco

edit:
I created a quick look at how I feel the reincarnation proces works here

Hi catsquotl,

It completely makes sense. I'm not attached to this being a real past life - symbolic message is enough for me. Thanks!

[Melahin]

Originally Posted by ocean

Sounds like "The power of Now" :)

Mmm. Something about the power is in the now because you cannot be any place else; your mind can be focused otherwise but your body will always be anchored in the now, so there really is no place else to be. And everything else we see is simply about how we relate to how we feel right now. I am working with how you have to take ownership of your feelings, because the body cannot disown them; so even if you perceive it as a past trauma, it is something very present and right now to the body, and also where you can actually do something about it. In what I call "Zero Point Reality" how you relate to the past since it is subjective anyway, can be either put together by memories, or a complete fictional work: in the end the result will be the same. So in that way what we call the past is just something that once were, and what is now should be far more interesting by length IMO... also here one of the principles is that value is something you give, not something that is. So I have not really figured out the whole wording of it all; but I do find it very interesting. Like the fact that each of us gives different value to the things that surrounds us, is what makes us and our experience of it all unique; and I love how vastly different the world responds to us all, to such a degree that it is highly arguable if any of us is even in the same world, or if all of this is just a shared space in which we experience something very similar (yet vastly different) haha I will stop rambling now...

@dryad thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree they where very much amazing, and sums up the feeling I had.

[winter light]

Originally Posted by ocean

I know he told me what to do but... how do I do it? How do I integrate all that life was to me, and use it to bring this current life into the place I know it could go?

Here are some more ideas in case you would like other perspective how to heal in addition to the good ideas from everyone so far. Hopefully you and others will find this helpful.

I have done this though I hesitate to say "done" as I have repeated the process many times for the same lifetime. Each time I would say "whew glad that's overwith" but then years later I would discover another huge new aspect waiting to be addressed. It was my prior lifetime and involved a similar end-of-life trauma as result of an attack.

The event left me with immense shame even though there was nothing I could have done to forsee or protect others I felt completely responsible for what happened to them. Thoughts of shame and despair followed me and set the stage for conditions in my current lifetime. More recently I have realized that I was using the shame to protect myself from looking at the overwhelming feelings from what was happening to myself at the time.

Has been a challenge to let it go. Many others were affected simultaneously by the same event. I'm pretty sure I have a role to help others involved to heal along with me through the process of resolving my own inner conflicts. So that may be why it has taken me so long to heal.

I have had very good experiences with shamanic healers. They can help to open a space for you to go deeply into the process. Having a bit of formality and another there to witness helps to give it more power. And they also give good closure to end the session properly so that you can move on afterwards. A good session will leave you with a sense of completion and free like a great weight has been lifted. And a session over the phone works just as well.

I lean torward belief in pastlife but I am on the fence whether pastlife memories are "me", or something symbolic or collective. But in any case if the experience presents to me then it is mine to deal with regardless. It has all been about integrating matching patterns in my current life as you suggest. I agree with what others said about trying to not worry about the details. As I healed and integrated, the symbols completely merged so that it mattered less whether the feelings had anything to do with a pastlife. And whenever possible I found it more productive to fully translate the origin of the feelings to a current-life perspective.

Regarding symbolism in your visions. In general the spine is also symbolic of courage. The totem is symbolic of powers from spirit as gifts from the ancestors. And a totem is approached respectfully by going into a sacred space. So this suggests to reconnect with the strengths you possessed not only in that lifetime but also to explore deeper ancestral connections.

Please interpret this in a positive light. There seems an element of passion behind the message. When reading your story of the symbols words struck me something like "Show some spine! You are more than this!", as a reminder of the couragous and noble person you were in that lifetime, a reminder of powerful connections with your ancestors, and a reminder that those qualities have always been and are still within you. The trauma did not affect or take those away it just caused you to forget who you are. In particular if you have remaining self-doubt you may need to acknowledge and look deeply into what is causing those feelings so that you can let it go.

To address I would suggest to play a kind of word game by going into a relaxed state and think about distinct words related to courage and feel deeply the energy quality behind each word. Imagine the essence of what kind of person expresses those qualities. The goal is to allow yourself go beyond your ideas about who you think you are. If thoughts or emotions are triggered just gently breath through them and allow the feelings to pass. The integration happens as you release the emotions. If successful this or any other process you do will lead to a deep peaceful understanding the larger picture.

You may need to revisit these issues multiple times to heal different aspects as they arise over time so that you can integrate in between. Sometimes you need to do yourself and sometimes it is good to get help. Take your time and go easy. This is a process for eternity.

[ocean]

Originally Posted by Melahin

Mmm. Something about the power is in the now because you cannot be any place else; your mind can be focused otherwise but your body will always be anchored in the now, so there really is no place else to be. And everything else we see is simply about how we relate to how we feel right now. I am working with how you have to take ownership of your feelings, because the body cannot disown them; so even if you perceive it as a past trauma, it is something very present and right now to the body, and also where you can actually do something about it. In what I call "Zero Point Reality" how you relate to the past since it is subjective anyway, can be either put together by memories, or a complete fictional work: in the end the result will be the same. So in that way what we call the past is just something that once were, and what is now should be far more interesting by length IMO... also here one of the principles is that value is something you give, not something that is. So I have not really figured out the whole wording of it all; but I do find it very interesting. Like the fact that each of us gives different value to the things that surrounds us, is what makes us and our experience of it all unique; and I love how vastly different the world responds to us all, to such a degree that it is highly arguable if any of us is even in the same world, or if all of this is just a shared space in which we experience something very similar (yet vastly different) haha I will stop rambling now...

@dryad thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree they where very much amazing, and sums up the feeling I had.

Oh, I think I get you now. If I do, then I do this too - I call it "detaching from the story". So when a heavy emotion surfaces I detach from the event that has triggered it, and just go into the pure emotion.

This is a practice I've been doing for a while, but ironically it sometimes leads to the recall of random memories... things I'd long forgetten... This past life memory was also the result! Even I started this whole thread, I do much prefer trying to stay in the present with the feelings.

[7luminaries]

Very briefly...you have to be willing and able to sit with the pain and/ or the other deep emotions when you have time to reflect. Often it's difficult and you have to re-direct your focus. Often it's exhausting and you crave rest...all these are normal. If you can set your intention to allow yourself to explore/address the issue during lucid dream time/yoga nidra, I find that's often the easiest time or way to go deep and explore. You may be surprised by what will surface from time to time, or even more regularly.

Peace & blessings
7L