Have you ever heard Winston Churchill’s famous phrase, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it?” I think it’s imperative to start this piece by discussing the benefits of learning from our past—which typically refers to our experiences in this life and all the lessons we learn through them. But one of the benefits of being spiritually connected in our meditations is that we can also utilize our past life experiences to learn lessons, plan out our future, and generally become more well-rounded. I’ve discovered so much about myself as a person through understanding past life episodes, and I’m here to discuss how to do this and offer more about what it could mean for your future. The first step is just being open to the idea that you can connect to past life experiences, and the next step is letting go of expectations. 

I’d like to add a quick addendum here, as well. We generally use the term “past life experiences.” However, in Monroe Institute programs, this term actually encompasses any experiences you may have had in other lives on your timeline. You may also discover projections of future lives on your timeline, so your explorations may not solely be about the past.

While some may not perceive past life experiences as anything other than creative visualizations, I’ve pieced together many past life experiences through free-flow meditations and would like to share how I do it. The first step is to conduct regular free-flow (unguided) exercises in different focus levels to get comfortable with them. These exercises can help you learn to visually experience the grandest adventures in your meditation journey. Just get comfortable, allow yourself to explore (perhaps with the intention of tuning in to another life), and see where your mind takes you. I’ve found that by doing this, I’ve become more creative, more open to adventure, and more relaxed overall.

While some may not perceive past life experiences as anything other than creative visualizations, I’ve pieced together many past life experiences through free-flow meditations and would like to share how I do it.

Once you are comfortable in your explorative or free-flow exercises, set the intention to see or understand some of your past life experiences. The Expand app has an “Exploring Past Lives” exercise that is perfect for this! Now, this is where people sometimes get tripped up. You may very well experience something but then tell yourself that it’s silly or not real. Our logical minds are one of our worst enemies when it comes to meditating. It can be hard to believe in things that are not directly provable by what we physically see and experience, but learning to accept the nonphysical world can be done by getting comfortable meditating in it. It might help to tell yourself, “Even if I do not believe I am truly experiencing a past life, my subconscious mind or total self is presenting a particular story or experience for a reason. I must need this. Why do I need this story today? What is it telling me about myself? What can I learn from this?” The more you meditate on past lives (and ask yourself to experience what you need most), the more these experiences begin to prove themselves to be quite useful. You may begin noticing Easter eggs and details you may not notice otherwise. But even more than that, they teach valuable lessons through narrative experiences—whether or not you believe them to be a part of your past.

As you go through these visual meditations, ask yourself the questions mentioned above and journal them out. Documenting your experiences is one of the best things you can do for your journey, as it gives you the ability to go back, compare experiences, see your growth, and find surprises in lessons that may appear later on.

I find that past life experiences present themselves when I need them most. For instance, when I need strength, I am presented with a vision of a past life that invokes feelings of strength and power. When I start thinking about that past life experience, I know my higher self is asking me to evoke more feelings of strength. It helps me to be strong when I need to be. Another past life stands out to me as a shining example of playfulness and creativity, a soul who bounded through the trees by the river and lived a fearlessly playful life. I call on her and re-live those experiences when I need to feel playful and less serious.

By experiencing this playful life or a time when I experienced the epitome of strength, I find myself able to draw from these past lives and creative experiences to project myself into a happier, more fulfilling future. You can do the same. By opening up to your past lives and being receptive to their tales, you, too, can learn from them and live your best future. If you’re interested in learning more about your timeline and the various lives you lived along the way, I highly endorse Monroe’s Timeline program. It’s a great opportunity to better understand your total self and learn lessons from the many journeys you’ve experienced throughout time.