Please note that it is highly recommended that those who are interested in an LBL session have a Past Life Regression (in a separate session) beforehand.
I was trained in Dr. Newton's method of guiding clients into the between lives state by The Newton Institute in 2011 . Dr. Michael Newton is a hypnotherapist and the author of Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls.
What is Life Between Lives
Hypnotherapy (LBL)?
Life Between Lives sessions are an advanced hypnotherapy technique,
as taught by Dr. Michael Newton, that utilizes deep states of hypnosis to access
your memories of your experiences as a Soul between incarnations. Some people
call this your Higher Self, your Oversoul, or your Essential Self. In normal
waking consciousness these memories are hidden, but deep trance permits a
connection to be made so that Soul memories can be re-experienced while in human
form. The LBL session is usually experienced as a journey, remembering the trip
back "home" after a previous incarnation. So, if you’re curious about
what your Soul does on its days off from Earth-School and why you chose this
life, this body, and this family to continue your education here, a Life
Between Lives session is something to consider.
LBL clients may choose to read Michael Newton's books in
advance of the session, but this is not required. (Journey of Souls, Destiny
of Souls, Memories of the Afterlife).
What do you
mean by my “Soul”?
If you think of your Soul (with a capital “S”) as an actor
and of Past Life Regressions as visiting other “characters” in other movies
that your Soul has played, then Life Between Lives sessions cover what it’s like
for your Soul to go home after the movie production is over.
For example, Johnny Depp is an amazing actor who has taken
on many quirky and diverse roles encompassing everything from a sweet, mentally
challenged youth (Sam in “Benny and Joon”) to a serial killer seeking revenge (Sweenie
Todd in “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) and everything in-between.
These
characters don’t remember other characters – Willie Wonka remembers nothing
about a “life” as Cap’n Jack Sparrow – but when the movie is over and Johnny
puts off the costumes, he gets to go home, relax, and have time to do whatever
hobbies he enjoys. He still remembers
the roles he’s played, and he has actually grown as a person for having played
them. We don’t judge him as being a
horrible person for taking on darker roles; and, in the same way, on the Other
Side there is no judgment for us, either.
How long is an LBL session?
LBL sessions are extremely profound and potentially life
changing, so it is normal for them to last 4 – 5 hours. It is important to
ensure that all your questions and doubts are addressed so that the unconscious
mind, which is going to do all the work, is fully satisfied and can relax and
be comfortable with the process. You can expect to be in trance for about 3 hours.
Can everyone do this kind of
session the first time?
Honestly, no, not everyone can. Trancework at this level
requires deep relaxation, and the ability to allow the conscious mind to take a
back seat, but still remain passively in the background to interpret the
content of the LBL. The ability to concentrate for long periods of time is also
a necessary skill that comes with practice.
For this reason, it is highly recommended that clients for
LBL have already experienced a successful Past Life Regression before attending
their LBL session.
How do I prepare for an LBL
session?
Preparation should be commenced well before the planned date of your LBL session. Therefore, if
you have a date or time of the year in mind, it is best to contact me and start
to make arrangements well in advance.
People who are already familiar
with meditation or relaxation techniques tend to enter into
the hypnotic state more rapidly and with greater depth than those encountering
this altered state of consciousness for the first time. This can be achieved by
practicing with meditation tapes or CDs and also by
arranging to experience hypnosis in shorter sessions first. Generally
speaking, the session will include a long and gentle trance induction designed
to ensure that sufficient trance depth is achieved.
Life Between Lives hypnotherapy is not a journey to be rushed or fit in with the
other demands of a busy life. Clients who prepare themselves ahead of time
usually experience the most profound and life-changing journeys.
However, even with the best preparation, sometimes the LBL
session goes completely smoothly until the crossing over to the Gateway of the
Other Side, and then the Guide will prevent any further progress. If this
happens, please don’t take it personally. Usually this means that the timing is
not right for you to continue at this point in your life because you have not
yet made crucial life decisions which will determine the shape of this
incarnation. They don’t like us to look
at the answers before the exam.
What if I get to the “Other Side” and don’t want to come
back to this life?
Some people worry that taking this journey into your life as a Soul might result in
dissatisfaction with your current earthly travels. Experience shows that it is
usually the reverse. Knowledge and understanding of our purpose here on earth
and the goals we set out to achieve helps us renew our commitment to complete
the remainder of this incarnation with energy, understanding and grace.
During the LBL session we gain an enhanced understanding of
why we have chosen to face the challenges that have
arisen during the course of this life, and what soul lessons are being
fulfilled by passing through these experiences.
Through an encounter with our Council of Elders and a visitation to what some have
termed "The Place of Life Selection", it is possible for us to
understand that our present human incarnation, like those which preceded it, is
a precious opportunity for spiritual evolution.
As a result, people return to wakeful consciousness with a
deeper commitment to live out their life-purpose. The unique opportunity of
their current incarnation and the spiritual evolution that may be achieved can
be met head on with excitement and understanding.
Do I need to bring anything to my
session?
Yes, there are several things I
need you to prepare ahead of time and bring with you.
1. Your list of questions that you want answered from your Oversoul,
Guide, or Council. Prepare a list of 5 -10 questions you might have on just about any
topic. Some possible examples include, "Why did I choose this
body/family/life?", "What is my Soul's purpose and/or life lesson for
this incarnation?", "Which religion has the right idea about
God?", "Have I lived on other planets?" etc.
2.
Prepare a "Cast of Characters" list of the 10-15 major people in your
life. Obviously, your family and close friends should be on it, but it's ok to
include those who have passed on, as well as those "negative" people
you just can't get away from. Please list their relationship to you, and 3-4
adjectives or phrases that describe them (both positively and negatively).
Examples:
Henry, dad (deceased): funny, creative, work-aholic, stubborn
Julia , mom: perfectionist,
clean-freak, good cook, sad
Most importantly, letting go of preconceptions, expectations
and previous experiences or knowledge will allow you to have a genuine
experience. In fact, the ability to let go and
simply be with and in the experience is a hallmark of a significant session.
You may wish to spend time in meditation, prayer or use guided imagery and
relaxation before your LBL session.
Will I remember what happens?
You will be aware of everything
you experience, and though people generally have excellent
recall of what transpires during their regression session, it’s much easier to relax knowing that I
will be recording the session. This also assists you in immersing
yourself into your session without a part of your mind worrying, "Will I
remember this?" Please feel free to
bring your own recording device for back-up (a cell phone usually works just
fine).
What else do I need to know?
Do not plan to have your Life Between
Lives session when you are experiencing a time in your life of
great physical or emotional stress. I may recommend some other therapy modality
for you so you can move towards your planned Life Between Lives journey at a future date.
It is also important to prepare
your body by nurturing it well. A good breakfast
is necessary to keep energy levels high during your session; however, please
cut down on the amount of caffeine you drink the morning of your appointment.
Your Life Between Lives session
should be a time when you shut off the outside world and your everyday life so
make sure you give yourself the space to enjoy your session.
Finally, make sure you give yourself time on that day to
just nurture YOU. Take the day off work
and schedule activities (such as being outdoors or
doing your favorite crafts) that feed your spirit. I suggest telling all your
support people that you will not be making any major decisions which require
logical thinking on that day.
Are there Historical Precedents
to Life-Between-Lives Regression?
Perhaps 40
years ago it might have been difficult to
find an acceptable answer to this question. For millennia all we had to go on was the experiences of the rare
few mystics who could access higher states of consciousness, spiritual
understanding, and profound inner encounters with the Divine. In the Western World, there were no
scientifically documented and peer-reviewed case studies that could
definitively answer that. But since that time, much has changed.
In 1977, Dr. Raymond
Moody published the international best seller Life After Life which
summarized his findings derived from hundreds of interviews with men and women
who were revived following clinical death. His subjects repeatedly described
experiences of being out-of-body, traveling through a dark tunnel to a place of
great peace and tranquility, and an encounter with one or several brilliant
beings of light whose very presence engendered feelings of indescribable love
and comfort.
Since then, largely due to advances in emergency medical
intervention, tens of thousands of people have been pronounced clinically dead
only to return to life and breathe again. Truly re-born, a significant
percentage of these individuals retained conscious memory of their soul's Near-Death
Experiences. Since Dr. Moody's landmark findings other researchers such as Drs. Kenneth Ring, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, and Gary Schwartz have also made important
contributions to further understand the Near-Death Experience (NDE).
Another approach to the study of our own multi-dimensional nature has been
advanced through practitioners of Out-of-Body Exploration (OBE). Dr.Robert
Monroe, in his three books (Journeys out of the Body, Far
Journeys, and Ultimate Journeys) recorded his own OBEs over three
decades, providing further details about the far reaches of human
consciousness. He later founded The Monroe Institute which dedicated itself to
education, exploration, and research into practical methods of expanding consciousness
into realms beyond the physical creation. Other researchers such as William Buhlman, Robert Peterson, and Charles Tart have offered additional
theory and methods of how practitioners can accomplish self-initiated OBEs.
Paralleling these developments are the contributions made by hypnotherapists who
specialized in Past Life Regression (PLR) such as Dick Sutphen, Hazel Denning, Winifred Lucas, Helen Wambach, Dr. Edith
Fiore, Joel Whitton, and Dr. Roger
Woolger. Perhaps the most well-known of these pioneers is Dr. Brian Weiss who, in 1988, published Many
Lives, Many Masters. The technique these hypnotherapists utilized, Hypnotic
Regression, can be likened to a type of "psychological archaeology"
that may be applied to cut vertically through time or horizontally through
"layers" of consciousness" to promote within clients a deeper,
more complete understanding of themselves as spiritual beings engaged in a
physical experience. Hypnotic Regression permits access to memories that are
not limited to the brief span of time that consciousness has occupied the
present physical body. These include remembrance of past lives lived and of the
experiences and lessons accrued in what has been termed "Between
Life" states.
Regression to
Life Between Lives (LBL) is a technique
developed by Dr. Michael Newton and
is described in his books, Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls.
These books summarize Dr. Newton's findings with clients who have been
hypnotized into a super-conscious state where it is possible to peer into the
spirit world. Based upon his hypnotic regressions with over 7,000 LBL clients
over 20 years, Dr. Newton described a realm of spirit which is consistent with,
yet far more elaborated, than that found in the NDE and OBE literature. Since
Dr. Newton’s work was first published in 1994, others, such as Richard Martini,
have documented their case studies in books of their own.
<-- DeAnna Torres with Dr. Michael
Newton at The Newton Institute’s training in 2011.
Dr. Newton writes in the Conclusions to Journey of Souls, "To those readers who find the material offered in this book too unprecedented to accept, I would hope for one thing. If you carry away nothing except the idea you have a permanent identity worth finding, I will have accomplished a great deal."