One of the most rewarding things I have ever done was teaching psychic development classes. I began doing them in my own home, but they became so popular that within a few months I had to move them to a local recreation center. Right from the start, the most popular class was how to discover and relive your past lives. I should not have been surprised at the popularity of the past-life class, because, in my work as a hypnotherapist I regularly had people coming for past-life regressions. Also, the students who had experienced past-life regressions talked about them to their friends. People become extremely excited once they have opened the door to a past life.

Many people want to know what they were like and what they did in their previous lives. Often this is simply curiosity, but some people have specific reasons for wanting to explore one of their many past lives. Knowledge of a past life can be helpful in many ways. If you have an irrational fear of water, for instance, it might be because you drowned in a past life.

If your whole being responds in recognition whenever you hear the music of Haydn, it might be because you lived at the same time that he did. If you have a difficult relationship with someone in this lifetime, perhaps you had problems with him or her in a past lifetime. You might want to find out if your partner was with you in your most recent past life. You might be a talented potter, gardener, athlete, accountant, cook, or musician. A past-life regression will tell you if those skills were developed many lifetimes ago.

Regression Through Hypnosis
When I started my past-life classes, I thought I knew my subject well. I had taken hundreds of people back to their past lives using hypnosis, and thought that I would do exactly the same in my classes. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way.

The people who came to me privately for past-life regressions wanted to be hypnotized so they could relive a past life. However, some people in my classes were scared of being hypnotized. Even after explaining hypnosis and the many misconceptions people have about it, many students were not prepared to try it.

Consequently, I had to come up with other ways of taking people back to their past lives. We experimented with dozens of methods. The interesting thing was that no one method worked well for everyone. Some people enjoyed reliving their past lives during lucid dreaming, while others had no interest in exploring that method at all. Some people enjoyed scrying for their past lives. Others enjoyed using different meditation techniques, or exploring the akashic records. Some enjoyed returning to a past life accompanied by their spirit guides. Naturally, there were failures along the way, but eventually we came up with a variety of methods that work well with almost everyone. All of these methods are covered in the Practical Guide to Past-Life Memories.

Pendulum Accesses Past Lives
One thing all my students found useful was to use a pendulum to gain information about their past lives. A pendulum is a small weight attached to a thread or chain. You need to experiment to find the right length of thread. Most people find a weight of three or four ounces, attached to a thread that is three to six inches long, is ideal. A ring attached to a piece of cotton works well. Hold the thread between your thumb and first finger, allowing the weight to swing freely. Stop the swinging motion of the weight, and then ask the pendulum to tell you which direction represents "yes." After a pause, the pendulum will move backward and forward, from side to side, or in a circular direction to indicate a positive response.

Repeat to find the directions for "no" and"I don't know." Once you have done this, you can ask your pendulum questions about your past lives.

You might ask, "Did I have a previous life in the nineteenth century?" If the answer is negative, go back in time until you receive a positive response. If the answer is positive, you can ask further questions to gradually decipher your dates of birth and death, where you lived, and other bit of information. This is a slow but fascinating process, and you will be amazed at what you obtain.

However, you cannot actually relive your past lives using a pendulum. To do that, you must use one of the other techniques that are explained in Practical Guide to Past Life Memories.