1. Prep the Room:
Make yourself comfortable. Set the temperature at your perfect warmth or coolness. Adjust the curtains so they aren’t too bright. Silence any pesky noise-makers, like the TV, radio, your cell phone. If you have a noise generator, turn it onto a peaceful setting just loud enough to cover up outside noise, but not so loud that you will be distracted. A white noise setting is optimal, but something calming like the sounds of the beach work well as well.
2. Relax Your Mind:
It’s time to find a place of inner calm. Sit comfortably in the room you’ve so carefully prepared. The best time to do this is when you are alert, but your mind and body are calm. Make sure you aren’t hungry or easily distracted to ensure that you will be able to focus on anything but your rumbling tummy!
3. Relax Your Body:
Pay special attention to the pose you are deciding on, whether you choose to lay comfortably on your bed, in a relaxing chair, or on the floor. Before you begin your journey, take a moment to relax and unwind.
4. Protect Yourself:
It is essential you take this step, since you will be opening yourself up to spiritual energy. Be sure that you put your guard up against and cleanse any negative forces. To begin, close your eyes and make sure you’re comfortable. Lie on your back, with your hands at your sides, and protect yourself with a visualized light.
Imagine a white, enveloping light all around you. See it in your mind’s eye slowly moving up and covering your entire body, from your feet, legs, knees, thighs, torso and arms, neck, and face to the crown of your head. Remember that this white light is protecting you from all negative influences. It represents love and warmth and enlightenment in a dazzling mistiness all around you, cocooning you in its brilliant light. Feel its warmth, and invite it to wash over you. Repeat to yourself, either in words or intent, “I am breathing in powerful protective energy. This energy is building an aura of protection around me. This aura protects me at all times in every way.” Say this to yourself five times for five inhales.
After this, concentrate on visualizing and feeling the energy, making it brighter and more powerful as you focus on it. Use the next color that comes to mind to tint the light, and repeat until you feel calm, comfortable, and ready to take the next step. There’s no rush.
5. Create Your Hallway:
It’s time to start your journey. You will be using the tool of visualization. Imagine yourself in a long hallway, with a large door at the end. See this hallway in as much detail as you can, whatever comes to mind, no matter what color it is, what it’s made of, the design of it, whether it’s decorated…it’s all up to you. Construct it in your mind, but be sure to remember it. You will be using it each time you seek a past life. Imagine this hallway with the expectation that when you get to the end, when you reach the big door and turn the knob, you will discover a past life.
6. Proceed Down Your Hallway:
Make each step count. Take each and every one of them with purpose, and focus on the steps themselves. Watch your feet touch the ground, visualizing every aspect of your journey as you approach the door at the end of the hall. Envision this place with all of your senses, from the smell of the room to the sounds of your environment. When you do get to the end (having taken your time carefully and not rushing yourself; there’s no hurry), take hold of the doorknob. See yourself doing it, and again focus on this action very carefully. Note the texture of the knob, the sound of the mechanism as you turn it, and the warmth or coolness of it. When the bolt is disengaged, take a breath, and give the door a gentle push.
7. Welcome a Past Life:
No matter what you see when you open the door, accept it as something something from your previous planes of existence. Again, it doesn’t matter what it is, whether it’s a simple color or an entire scene. However, take whatever you see as the foundation. Build upon it. Feel it. Hold the imagery in your mind and open up to it, accepting anything that arises in your mind. The color could merge into a specific object, like a blanket or a wall. The scene might evolve as you go deeper into your vision, and give you clues as to when you are and where. You could be thinking that you’re just imagining things at this point, but give yourself credit and truly believe that you are remembering a past life.
8. Be Patient:
You could see absolutely nothing, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s time to refocus your mind even more. Think about a specific you’ve always loved doing, whether it’s a hobby, skill, or destination. Ask yourself these questions, “Why do I like this? Can this be past-life related?”
Still got nothing? There is a “shoe method” for this. Look at your feet in your visualization. Focus on the first pair of shoes you see yourself wearing. You might see sandals, and then realize you’re wearing a tunic. You might see little pointy shoes, and realize you’re wearing a big silk gown. Keep going with it.
Once you’ve remembered something—even if it’s just a pair of shoes—and if you’re pretty certain there’s a grain of truth to it, you can start your next meditation from there.
Always begin each session with something you’ve already seen. Always work from the known to the unknown.
9. Accept What You See:
Acceptance of what you experience is absolutely key. The doubt may be really niggling into your brain at this point. “Am I actually experiencing the past, or am I just making things up?” Of course, on some occasions, you might be creating things in your head from out of the blue. However, this is part of the process. These visions almost always have a shred of truth at their core. You will only know for certain when you’ve done a significant number of past-life meditations, and you begin to see patterns and details repeated over and over again.
And if you don’t like what you saw, clearly there is nothing you can do to alter the lives you’ve already lived. It is entirely in the past.
In the meantime, you must choose to believe that what you see is genuine; if you don’t, you will never get anywhere. Your analytical mind will simply shoot down every image as a product of your overeager imagination.
10. Come Back to the Present:
This step usually occurs on its own. It gets tiring keeping up this visualization. Let it fade when it needs to. This will happen when the images stop coming, or your analytical, disbelieving mind starts taking over. This is the point when it’s okay to open your eyes and stay in the present.
However, you can also control your departure. If you’re ready to leave your past life, just picture that doorway where you began. Open the door, and walk down the length of the hallway you constructed.
