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Stories We Tell:
Oprah Investigates Past Lives

by Shelley Kaehr

Hey! Did you happen to catch Oprah when my friend and colleague, famed past-life regression therapist, Brian Weiss, M.D., was featured on her program for the entire hour? I thought I’d never live to see the day!

As someone who has worked professionally in the regression therapy field for nearly a decade, all I can say is… it’s about time. And with that, I’d like to take a brief moment to explain why I think this is one of the most powerful mind-body healing modalities ever.

I first became aware of past lives through the book The Search for Bridey Murphy that documents the case of a lady with horrible chronic allergies, which were miraculously healed after she visited her supposed past life in ancient Ireland. Later, I used the modality myself to overcome the death of a loved one. I found it so profoundly helpful that I wanted to learn how it was done so I could help others.

Since then, I’ve been talking about past life therapy and conducting these sessions for people from all over the world with incredible results. That said, I hate the label given to the work because it is incredibly limiting and probably scares people off. What if you don’t believe we’ve lived before? Does that make it all invalid? No, of course not!

I’m certainly not here to tell anyone whether or not we’ve lived before. I am not a hundred percent sure that’s the case, nor can I tell you with absolute certainty that what people are seeing is actually a glimpse of their past lives. What I can say is that after conducting a thousand plus regressions, 95% of all the people I’ve worked with have had some sort of phenomenon during the process. By that I mean they saw something, had an emotional breakthrough, or felt better afterwards.

Similarly, Oprah featured people suffering from various phobias, which immediately went away after Dr. Weiss worked with them.

One woman had an irrational phobia of dolls, and lo and behold, it was caused by residual fear left over from a fatal car accident she’d had in her previous incarnation, or at least that’s what she told Dr. Weiss. Now she says she is completely phobia-free.

So again, the question is: was any of that true? Did this lady really live in a previous lifetime where she died in a car accident, or was it simply a story she told herself? And does it even matter as long as she felt better?

I’ve worked with phobias myself over the years, the most amazing case being that of a man who was afraid of the dark. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Wrong! The trouble was he was over 40 years old and could absolutely not sleep without the lights on in every room in his house. Needless to say, this was interfering with many aspects of leading a “normal” life.

After a short regression, he discovered in a past life he fell down a flight of stairs and was trapped in the dark. After guiding him through a process where he imagined himself turning on a light and being rescued, he wrote to me years later and said from that very night to the present day, he is completely phobia-free.

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself (at least) a few questions:

1) Was any of this real or was it all in his imagination?
2) After acknowledging the fact these folks did see something, what did they see? Is it something they saw on TV as a kid? Is it a dream of what they thought they wanted to be when they grew up? Collective consciousness? A glimpse into an earlier lifetime? Or, all of the above?”

And most importantly…

3) Are all of these folks simply out of their ever-loving minds?

Again, I cannot answer these questions. All I know is that people are able to go into this process via relaxation and tap into what I call their imaginative selves. When they do, they invariably tell me the most incredible stories that completely relate to the similar hardships and experiences they’re having in their current life.

Once they acknowledge that, as was shown on Oprah, the current life dilemma often goes completely away and never comes back.

Phobias are but one of the many applications for this amazing work. I’ve found it also incredibly helpful in the areas of emotional healing, revealing past connections you have with people and places around you, and discovering your natural gifts and talents.

To me, it doesn’t matter whether any of it is “real” or not. If the bottom line is at the end of the day you feel better, are more peaceful and have greater understanding of you, then so be it. It works, and it does so without the use of mind-altering chemicals. Hallelujah!

Memories of the Future

As you know Past Life work can help you understand dilemmas from the past; however, they can also help you create the life you hope to live in the present and future.

When I met Dr. Weiss years ago, I had recently completed my first book on this subject called Lifestream: Journey Into Past & Future Lives. At the time, I was experimenting by taking people into their future memories, having them imagine themselves happy and successful, and living the life of their dreams.

Dr. Weiss found this curious. “I have a question about that,” he said. “What if they see something unpleasant? How do you deal with that?”

I told him what I’ll tell you now—I suggest they go to the happy place where all is well and life is good—the magical land of rose-colored glasses.

In this space, people see themselves doing and becoming all kinds of wonderful things. If I can work with them to believe they are worthy and deserve what they envision as their highest and best, then they can most definitely create it in their daily lives.

The most successful of all my clients envisioned herself opening a retail store, writing a book, and lecturing about it. Within six months of the session, all of that—including penning her first book, had come to pass.

In my work the views of the past, whether real or imagined, are merely tools to glimpse our talents and things we need to heal in order to live a more peaceful present. The future journey is the most powerful part of the process to me. By using the imagination, people are able to see themselves living the life they deserve.

The stories we tell shape our lives and our destiny. Whether you believe in past lives, future possibilities, or prefer the here and now—any tool that can help us avoid the use of pharmaceuticals, as Oprah and her new favorite M.D. Dr. Oz said, is certainly worth taking a look at.

For more information on past life regressions, visit my website at
www.shelleykaehr.com or pick up a copy of my book Lifestream: Journey Into Past & Future Lives.