It's great to see this subject appear on Oprah's show. Nearly eleven years ago I participated in past life regression but with a twist. I always suspected there was more to life than just being born, living one life then dying. *The crossing over* of a few of my loved ones led me to seek answers about the *after-life* as well as researching whatever past lives I had.

My *twist* on this subject is that I didn't want others to *tell* me who I had been...I wanted to be *taught* how to tap into/access this information for myself, therefore it's validity could not be questioned. There are no coincidences and when I was ready, the teacher appeared. Thus began an almost year long involvement with a person who was an expert in this field who was willing to work with me in a very unique way. She lived in Ohio and I in California therefore we communicated via e-mail nearly every day. I first learned to meditate or get myself into a hypnogogic state then I had to document everything I saw, felt, heard while in that state. Also, I kept a pad and pen next to my bed and would jot down whatever I could remember of my sleepstate activities, some of which can be related to past lives, current issues, future issues, etc. I then learned to sort these various images into categories and slowly built an astounding amount of documentation. What I uncovered for myself was amazing in terms of *seeing* myself as well as people in my current life, in other lives. I discovered why I like/dislike certain things/people, hobbies, locations, etc. I also saw my death(s) in those prior incarnations and there really is no fear attached because it's just like watching a movie/play and you realize that you're *here* now so everything must be ok. I also developed interests I never thought I'd be involved in as a result of discovering I had participated in these same interests in other lifetimes.

This process truly changed my life as well as took all the mystery/fear of *death* away. Again, I'm so thrilled to see this presented to the general public and I'm sure this program will awaken untold numbers of people to the possibilities of exploring their own past lives. By the way, working on this can be disconcerting initially but if there is genuine desire to explore, spirit won't give you more than you're ready to handle. The process is wonderful, magical, mystical and healing. I highly recommend it.

Love & Light to all

Chantal

I was so thrilled when I saw that the next topic is Past-Life Regression! I will try to share my experience with you as briefly as possible.

Thirty years ago I was sitting at my typewriter writing poetry when suddenly a flood of information started to flow from my fingers onto the keyboard. At the first sitting I typed pages and pages of text with no punctuation or page breaks. A long exciting story appeared on the pages about a young woman who lived during the days of Prohibition. Naturally I was afraid of what was happening. I assumed that I was being taken over by a ghost. Other stories came through as well. For a long hair raising time I thought I was being possessed. I continued to go about my life normally__working, raising children etc. but at night I would sit in front of the keyboard to see what interesting stories came through.

I do believe that angels come along at just the right time. I began a friendship with a woman who was a counselor where I worked. I confided in her and showed my writings to her. She was willing to put me under hypnosis to try to figure this out. The first session did not really answer any questions. Years passed __she and I became closer as friends and I continued to spend time with my keyboard and whoever was communicating with me. Meanwhile she continued to study hypnosis. Eventually she and I concluded that for some reason I was remembering past lives. She also explored this by undergoing hypnosis herself and she in turn learned of her own past lives.

More years past__My friend went to study with Dr. Michael Newton, author of Journey of Souls, Life Between Lives, Destiny of Souls. When she returned I got to be her first study. Not only did I discover an extremely significant past life but I went on a journey between lives.

I have come to believe that all those years ago what I experienced was a "soul remembrance" of a past life. For some reason I am able to bring forward to my conscious mind my own soul memories. I have to assume that I am not alone with this ability. I have been to one mass hypnosis session and it worked beautifully with me. I encourage others to explore the possibility that you walked this earth before and that the people in your life were with you before.

Yours is an amazing story. What's so interesting is how we each receive our information. I get mine in many ways but the one method I love most is receiving through music and lyrics. All of a sudden a song or tune will pop into my head and there's always a message in those tunes for me...something profound or just a hello from a crossed-over loved one. I also get flashes...I call them my Kodak moments...where I see total scenes in full color. This may last only seconds but the meaning of what I'm seeing is totally understood...a picture truly is worth a thousand words. There are also times when I *hear* bits of conversations or sometimes great chunks of dialog. I also *feel* surfaces under my feet for example when observing scenes. We don't receive the info in strict order...we pick up bits and pieces of different lifetimes all at once and that's where documentation comes in handy. You have to learn to sort everything but it becomes easier and easier the more you do it.

I'd love to be able to receive in the way that you do...at the keyboard but that hasn't happened for me just yet. The closest I've come is frantically writing down my sleepstate activities as soon as I wake up because it's very difficult to remember if you wait too long. I take my scribbles and enter them into my word processor then I go back at my leisure and re-hash what I've written. I suppose there are as many different ways to receive info as there are people. My teacher was amazing in that when she was working with someone via computer, she would go into a meditative state after reading something you wrote, i.e., I could tell her that I saw myself in a saloon, dressed garishly and playing cards with men at a table. Now that's all I saw in a flash but she had the capability of expanding on the scene and could explain everything that was going on in the saloon, how I was connected to the others in the saloon,etc., but she wouldn't tell me everything she saw, I had to work for the answers in my own meditative states and eventually I'd dredge more from my subconscious. Sometimes I'd hit dead ends but she taught me that I would only receive what I needed in order to work on what was important in this life or what I needed to focus on in order to clear up past karma, etc. Even though it's fun and interesting, there's a definite purpose for it coming into our awareness.

I have long believed in reincarnation. The idea of past life regression is facinating to me. I often read of practitioners in my area that provide workshops for this, but have been reluctant to attend because I would want to know that I have chosen a true professional in the area and not just someone who' took a class for it.' Reincarnation, as well as the laws of karma, have been the only things that have made sense to me spiritually and ( religiously)? I do not consider myself a religious person. I have long thought of 'God' as the spirit, or life force that lives within all of us and connects us to the universe, or a higher form of consciousness, as well as all living things. So the simple law of what you put out there, you also receive is a given. It's just not easy to adjust to and live by all of the time. We are so inundated and influenced by our immediate situations, families, the media, survival, etc, that the emotional 'baggage' we lug around from this life and our past is increasingly hard to unload. For this reason, I believe that past life regression, done by a professional in the field, could be quite therapeutic to anyone who feels they are ready for it. I suppose it could really shake some people up. I know personally, I have wondered why I feel so 'stuck' in my life. I would like to try this and see if it would help me to answer my own questions that I haven't been able to work out on my own. Perhaps you could provide site information that would help me, or anyone else interested in this to find someone. This tranformative experience may help us truly live our best life.

As an aside. How interesting that your show today on these kids and how "smart and talented" they are. I also believe when very young kids are this exceptional they are truly bringing over their talent from a previous life - my 2 cents.

This would help all human beings. When we tapped into our past and understand it, it helps us to face our present and move towards our future.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You Oprah!! I've always wanted you to have this subject on your show, and hoped that you would participate too. I have actually wanted to make this my career, I took psychology in college, hoping to get my degree, so that I could practice hypnotism. Unfortunately, my school funds ran out and I couldn't finish, but that's a long story, anyways. Thank You again for discussing this subject.

Monica