Who Were You in Your Last Life?
The Past Life Perspective
Last November, I took the plunge into my last lifetime. I didn’t know whether I believed in past lives or not, but I did know that my children came into this world with crystalline clear memories of other lifetimes. When I met Ann Barham, therapist and past life regression expert, and acquired her book The Past Life Perspective, for Enliven (www.EnlivenBooks.com), I was curious to discover what a regression would be like and if it would help me overcome or heal an enduring issue I had around the worth of my work. Being a spirituality publisher has its perks!
Over Skype, Ann hypnotized me, and summoned my attention to my feet in my subconscious. They were dark brown, dirty, and barefoot. She then had me look up and notice my surroundings. I saw rice paddies, a hut, and bombs exploding in the distance. Being Ukrainian, I kept trying to make the location the Ukraine, but it was obviously Asia. Ann then led me into the house where I realized I was living with an aunt and uncle and cousin. The cousin was mad that I ate food that was scarce. I recognized him as my cousin in this life, one who had a fierce rivalry with me when we were young!
She repeatedly woke me up in different settings and at different ages in that lifetime. The most notable was when I was living in a labor camp. I had the sensation of a debilitating fear of the predatory guards. I was a young girl, and they were terrifying to me as they regularly did the unspeakable to us. I began to cry in this life for the pain of my former self. It made sense as to why I would feel an unshakable physical horror each time I heard a news story about young girls being kidnapped or hurt. I would literally keel over and sometimes purge. I could never explain this, but now I sensed from where it had originated. I then saw myself climbing onto the thatched roofs of the shelters, I was lithe and quick, and I had created a job for myself in patching and mending the roofs. The busier I was, and the faster I patched the roofs, the safer I was from the guards.
It also helped me to communicate with the people inside the shelters–being on the roof gave me access to spread messages and give encouragement to others. I was a messenger of sorts. I shared valuable information for the survival of others. And, my hard work could never pay a wage, other than save me from being beaten. So, there was the core as to why I undervalued my work and worked so hard that I would often burn out. While I couldn’t explain my need to work myself into exhaustion, nor my embarrassment over charging for my time in this lifetime, it was easily explained by looking at the lifetime I now witnessed.
After the session, I wondered how to apply what I’d learned. Ann assured me that there was nothing “to do” but to reflect on what I’d seen and experienced. It was Thanksgiving and I throw a huge feast every year. This year was no different, I had 34 confirmed and had to cook. Normally, I would be a martyr and cook everything myself, not allowing anyone else to pitch in. But this year I asked everyone to bring a dish or if they couldn’t, I asked them to pitch in some cash or sweat to cover the big food and wine bill. Without realizing it, I wasn’t feeling the normal shame and worry over how much work there would be, instead, I just asked openly for help.
The day after Thanksgiving, when I would normally still be cleaning, I had the whole extended family help me and we made quick work of it and were out the door for brunch by eleven. Unprecedented. It wasn’t apparent to me at the time, but a few weeks later as I reflected on this, I realized I had taken care of myself, wasn’t tapped out energetically and hadn’t spent the exorbitant amount as usual on food and wine, linens and floral arrangements. Instead, everyone had pitched in and we had the best Thanksgiving ever. This type of behavior has become my norm now. I was working “to save my life” and now I work to celebrate it.
Was that last life a symbolic journey to healing or an actual incarnation? I’m not attached to a hard stance either way, but I do know one thing: I am healed. And that is the power of this process. I’m proud to be Ann’s publisher. The book is a fascinating glimpse into the power of this important mode of healing, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Who were you in your last life? I’d love to know in the comments below! Here’s to your absolute brightest life. Love, Z
And to buy the book, you can order it here: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Ann-C-Barham/567693034
