Past life regression: rebooting your brain

To many, the idea of reincarnation or past life regression seem like bunkum. But strange as it may seem, it is garnering a surprising degree of respectable scientific support.

Past life recall is one of the most fascinating areas of unexplained human phenomena. As yet, science has been unable to prove or disprove its genuineness. Even many who have investigated claims of past life recall are unsure whether it is an historical recollection due to reincarnation or is a construction of information somehow received by the subconscious. Either possibility is remarkable. And like many areas of the paranormal, there is a propensity for fraud.

Past life recall generally comes about spontaneously, more often with children than adults. Those who support the idea of reincarnation believe this is because children are closer to their past lives and that their minds have not been clouded by their present lives. Adults who experience past life recall often do so as the result of some extraordinary experience, such as hypnosis, lucid dreaming or even a blow to the head.

The late Dr Ian Stevenson, an American scientist who spent decades studying the phenomenon, amassed an astonishing amount of evidence for reincarnation. He tracked down more than 3,000 children who claimed to have experienced a previous life.

Many were able to give precise details, such as their former names and the manner of their deaths. They could even recall the names of friends and family, many of whom Stevenson was able to track down through birth records. Others knew intimate details known only to the deceased’s family.

• Reincarnation is highly controversial – not just among scientists, but between different religions too. Broadly speaking, Christians, Muslims and Jews do not believe in it, while Hindus and Buddhists do.

To most in the West, it is still seen as little more than the product of a far-fetched imagination. But given the growing interest of the scientific community, I decided to investigate whether there could be more to it.

I volunteered to undergo past-life regression therapy. I was curious to see if I have lived before and what I would remember about former incarnations, if any.

Beforehand I certainly felt a certain amount of uneasiness. What if I were to remember that I had been a murderer in a former life? Or, even worse, one of Hitler’s henchmen?

Local hypnotist Stephan Lewis assured me that there are no serious risks and that I could wake up any time I felt like it. Just to be sure however I asked a good friend with a loud voice to sit in, after all, you never know!

Whatever the truth behind it, past-life regression is not without risks. The psychological shock of ‘recovering a memory’ from a former life can overwhelm some. Others feel guilty about misdeeds ‘they’ perpetrated.

Lewis’ voice eventually lulled me to relaxation and he slowly took me back a few years at a time. Now in general I have a terrible memory and live off lists to remember things. So what a surprise when I could remember vivid details such as the room’s decor or the book I was reading on a certain date during my 20’s.

I could remember with exceptional clarity not only what I was doing as a toddler, but could describe the scene around me in detail.

Then I was taken even further back, through a dark tunnel (where I suddenly experienced claustophobia, which I definitely don’t have) to a white light. When I stepped out through the white light I stepped into a bright green world on the coast somewhere.

My regression experience was perplexing, to say the least. I felt as if I were living in two worlds at once. I was aware of my current life, but that world was equally real.

I could feel the clothes I was wearing and the leather boots on my feet. I saw my surroundings in vivid detail, right down to the sunlight glinting off the dark blue ocean and the smell of the sea on the breeze.

It felt more powerful and spontaneous than a memory, more realistic than a dream, but not as solid as the waking world.

As I stayed in my trance, Lewis started asking me questions about my past life, and things became even stranger. It felt as if someone else was replying.

The answers I gave were so spontaneous and specific that it certainly did not feel like I was dreaming them up on the spot, or trawling through memories of books I have read.

Was I merely describing scenes from my imagination or from facts I had gleaned during my real life?

I suppose I will never really know. I don’t know if my love for German Shepherd dogs come from this past life where I apparently had an affinity with wolves, or my passion for the ocean, surfing and diving comes from the fact that I apparently once lived off the sea. But what I do know is that my memory in general had improved and it is now easier for me to recall scenes from childhood that had previously been blocked.