I Got A Past Life Reading & Apparently I’ve Lived Over 100 Lives

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of past lives and how you can reconnect with them via a “past life reading.” During one of these sessions, a practitioner helps you tap into the old versions of yourself by guiding you into a hypnotic state that allows you to peep into your subconscious and unlock memories.

While meditating, you might envision yourself as the queen of a faraway land, a poet from another century, or some random person in a bakery in the 1700s. According to past life readings, those people were you, and their experiences can teach you a lot about who you are today. I’ve always wanted to get a past life reading, but the urge grew even stronger after my recent aura reading with a psychic, who casually mentioned that I’ve likely lived hundreds of lifetimes.

She could tell this by the colors in my aura — the wash of green, the dash of pink, and the dark indigo line that traveled down my back. To her, the mix of masculine and feminine colors meant I’d been here dozens of times and in many different bodies, and it’s been ringing in my head ever since. Who were these people? Why were there so many? And what did I need to learn?

To dive deeper, I met with spiritual mentor, quantum healer, and past life regressionist Erin Panzarella who walked me through a past life reading, and it was just as interesting as I hoped. Here’s what happened, and also what I learned about the many versions of me.

What Is A Past Life Reading?

A past life reading — also called past life regression (PLR) — is when a practitioner guides you into a deep state of meditation or hypnosis so you can tap into your subconscious and remember the lives you once lived. As you fall into a meditative state, you’re able to walk through your memories, recall various experiences, and encounter the people and places you once knew.

Instead of mentally time traveling just for fun, the goal is to consider who you were back then and how your many lives and experiences still impact you today. “These readings can help you recognize the lessons you’ve already learned and are meant to embody in this life, and they can also give you insight into relationships, challenges, and gifts that your soul innately has due to the past lives you’ve lived,” Panzarella told me ahead of our session.

What Are Past Lives?

A “past life” is the idea that you come back to earth again after death and experience multiple lifetimes. Not everyone has past lives to unearth, Panzarella says, but some people have hundreds. Her take? If you’re drawn to past life readings and other esoteric things, it’s a sign you’re a curious soul who’s been here before.

Reincarnation and karma are mainly belief systems in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Taoism, but they have also become spiritual points of view. It’s the notion that all things are connected and that energy is never created or destroyed.

That said, you don’t have to follow these religions — or be religious at all — to get something out of a past life reading. For Panzarella, past life journeys are spiritual. For me, the concept seemed like an interesting way to unpack the thought patterns deeply buried in my brain.

A reading can come in handy if you have unexplained fears or phobias, she says, or if you keep repeating the same unhealthy patterns or relationship dynamics. It’s also a nice way to relax, meditate, and get in touch with yourself.

My Experience

To get started Panzarella asked me what I wanted to focus on. I said that I’d love to get to know myself more and unpack why I’ve been in my introvert era. (Seriously, I’ve been hanging out at home a lot.) From there, I got into a comfortable position, the same way you would for a meditation, closed my eyes, and focused on my breath as she guided me through a visualization.

She asked me to picture a ball of white light over the crown of my head that was filled with healing energy, feelings of joy and wisdom, and a deep sense of relaxation. This ball then changed colors as it moved down my chakras, or energy centers, starting at my third eye on my forehead down to my root chakra at the base of my spine. As I visualized the light I could feel my body melting and relaxing.

Once I was deep into hypnosis land, Panzarella asked me to picture myself standing in front of a door. Through the door, she said, would be a staircase with 10 steps going down. She counted down from 10 as I mentally descended. All of this was meant to take me even further into hypnosis, and into my subconscious and past lives, and it did feel like I was marching back through the ages.

At the bottom of the stairs, it was like a movie started to play in my head. “You are now standing in your past life body in another time and place,” she said. “Allow all of your senses to come into play. Are you male, female, or no distinct gender at all? How old are you? If you're wearing clothes, what are they made from? Notice the colors, style, and texture of the clothing that you're wearing.”

I saw myself as an old woman, barefoot, in a lace nightgown.

I know this sounds weird, but hear me out: I truly saw myself as an older woman, barefoot, in a lace nightgown. I was in a dark hallway lined with books and candles on the walls, but then Panzarella took me through another door. “Whatever’s [behind this door] has answers you've been looking for, because on the other side is the past life you are meant to go back to and experience with a new lens and perspective.”

Once I went through this door, I vividly saw that the woman lived alone in a stone cottage in what appeared to be an old European town. It was so detailed. There were lush mounds of flowers in a garden, a cozy kitchen with a fire, and a pet cat. Even though I was still aware of myself sitting in my apartment, I truly felt like I was there, too. “Now, let yourself wander. What does it feel like to be in this body at this time? What is your physical energy like? Just noticing, what are you feeling? What are you thinking? What is it like to be you?”

She also asked me to think about the special skills I had, any difficulties or challenges, and the parallels I noticed between that life and my current life. “If your past life self could communicate with your current self, what would they say to you? What would you say to them? Let yourself experience this conversation for the next few moments, sharing wisdom and insights with each other.”

What I Learned

Even though I was hoping to find out I was once a queen or warrior princess — or someone with an adventurous backstory, like a pilot flying around the world — it makes so much more sense that I was a cozy introvert living a cottagecore lifestyle. I felt a kinship with the older lady, her cat, and her flowers.

Like April, Panzarella also got an inkling that I’ve lived hundreds of lives, but she said the life with the strongest message is the one who will step forward first during a reading. After chatting it through, we decided this older woman came to me not as a sign to continue being an introvert, but as a sign to live it up a little.

Since I was a major homebody in my past life, maybe I need to get out more in this one. And that’s the real beauty of a past life reading: It helps you tap into your patterns and make a few changes. Panzarella noted that the introverted older woman would always be a part of me, but she was likely sending a hint that it was time for me to get out and have a good time.

Source:

Erin Panzarella, spiritual mentor, quantum healer, past life regressionist