Healing the Present from the Past: The Personal Journey of a Past Life Researcher

By Heather S. Friedman Rivera R.N. J.D Ph.D

"It is important to document the validity of past life regression therapy. Heather Rivera's research has made an important contribution to this field, and I applaud her work."-Brian L. Weiss, M.D., author of Many Lives, Many Masters

Dr. Heather Rivera has written a much needed book for those interested in past life therapy or those practicing it. Her fine book is based on quantified research, rather than strictly case studies. . .The reader will benefit in many ways, perhaps life-changing ways, from this excellent book.
? Edith Fiore, Ph.D. (Retired Psychologist) Author of You Have Been Here Before

Dr. Heather Friedman Rivera is one of the most remarkable torch-bearers of our times, bringing light into the dark recesses of our over-soul to which we are all connected into the universal oneness, through her scholarly quantifying research on reincarnation and past-life regression. She makes skeptics see and hear, and places the scientific dots on reincarnation and past life regression in such a convincing, personal and touching way.
? Adrian Finkelstein, MD, Former UCLA Psychiatry Professor Researcher/ Author

Dr. Heather Friedman Riveras abrupt healing following a past life regression began a quest of personal discovery and scientific investigation into past lives. Her experience, as well as reports from over 200 respondents from around the world, validate the spiritual, psychological, and physical healings that can result. She reveals her personal journey and the scientific findings from her past life study.

Her research is now:
quantifying the type and degree of healing effects from past life experiences
uncovering the factors that drive and influence these effects
opening the door for more research in this important healing modality
helping bridge gaps between Western medicine and complementary care

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Dec 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452564470

Heather S. Friedman Rivera R.N. J.D Ph.D

Heather Friedman Rivera RN, JD, PhD, conducts scientific research in the area of past life regression. She speaks, coaches, and holds workshops on PLR and authored many articles on chronic illness. Heather lives in Huntington Beach, CA, with her husband Mark. Mark A. Rivera, M.S. Physics, is the science adviser for PLR Institute. www.plrinstitute.org

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Copyright © 2012 Heather S. Friedman Rivera, R.N., J.D., Ph.D

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 9781452564463 (sc)

ISBN: 9781452564487 (hc)

ISBN: 9781452564470 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012923416

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Heather S. Friedman Rivera R.N., J.D. Ph.D.

With Science Adviser – Mark A. Rivera M.S. Physics

Foreword by Andy Tomlinson, Author of Healing the Eternal Soul and Exploring the Eternal Soul

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/12/2012

For Skye Girl

Who are you?

-MARK to HEATHER

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 Opening The Door

Chapter 2 Envisioning A New Path

Chapter 3 Taking The First Steps

Chapter 4 On The Road To Freedom

Chapter 5 An Emerging Landscape

Chapter 6 Starting The Climb

Chapter 7 Where Do We Go From Here?

Chapter 8 Towards Building Bridges

Chapter 9 Destination- Home

About The Author

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Foreword

This book is about research using a form of healing called regression therapy which includes past life regression. From a medical perspective healing emphasizes the reduction of physical symptoms. In contrast the holistic tradition teaches that healing is about regaining health at all levels with a focus not just on physical health but also emotional and spiritual health, and personal growth. It brings together the mind, body and soul.

In tracing back the memory of past life events, regression therapy goes back to the emotional source in one’s inner psyche. Recalling and re–living such an experience releases the patient’s inner emotional tension quickly and may provide an effective treatment option in situations where traditional medicine or other therapies have little to contribute. Whether a person believes in past lives makes no difference, the past life stories emerge and healing takes place given the right guidance by trained therapists. The concept of past lives may remain elusive to many, as may the conceptual frameworks of the mind, soul and spirit. Readers with the appropriate knowledge or spiritual background will have a deeper understanding of this.

Some readers may wish to regard regression therapy as another form of psychotherapy. Many things we encounter in our daily lives have the power to heal. We can also be healed though our relationships, diet, exercise or medication. We can even use various aspects of our natural environment to restore our health. The healing in regression therapy resides in the recall and re–living of past events and the cathartic release of emotions that accompanies the process.

Past life regression has been used for thousands of years, the yogis in India being some of the first users of it. In the western world it’s been used increasingly over the last 30 years and hundreds of thousands of clients’ have benefited from the experience. However, it has still to be accepted in main stream psychotherapy and the medical profession I remember twenty years ago wanting to do research using past life regression with obsessive compulsion disorder. I approached my local hospital to put a notice up in the out patients department offering free therapy in a research study. The ethics committee of the hospital wrote to me explaining they could not approve the poster because my research was flawed… it assumed that past lives were real, which they knew was not the case.

The reluctance to accept new ways of healing particularly mind body soul healing is widespread in the medical world. Hence the value of this book in providing more research findings to start to change this cultural view. It must be emphasized that therapists doing this work had the appropriate training and organizations like IBRT and EARTh set international standards for regression and past life therapists. The next step is to encourage medical doctors trained in regression therapy to do research with physical symptoms and take these findings into directly into the medical world. This is something that I’m championing with my wife Reena.

I remember a colleague doing past life regression in an ashram. Before he started he was interviewed by the ashram leader who listened to the explanation of the therapy…was silent for a while and then said, Yes…this is the psychiatry of tomorrow. Perhaps this book will take us one step to this prophecy.

Andy Tomlinson

Author Healing the Eternal Soul and Exploring the Eternal Soul

Introduction

I could well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not yet able to answer; that I had to be born again because I had not fulfilled the task that was given to me.

–Carl Jung -Memories, Dreams and Reflections

Fifteen years ago I would have never believed that one day I would be grateful to have Rheumatoid Arthritis. But here I am. Because of chronic illness— Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia and hearing loss with associated tinnitus— I embarked on a journey to find healing. This journey held many twists and turns, but yielded treasures I never anticipated: physical healing, spiritual healing, and a passion for past life regression.

On my previous business card was the inscription "Wellbeing through Inclusive Perspectives". Somewhere during my healing process I experienced a shift in my perception of chronic illness: what it meant to me, my relation to it, and my identity within a larger universe. A useful metaphor that my husband envisioned starts with a bee. I have an extreme fear of bees, so using a bee to explain this shift is also part of the path of healing.

Imagine a lone bee going about his bee-ness. His world exists only in bee-like activities. There is nothing else for him except in being a bee. Imagine you are viewing this bee pollinating a rose. As the scene pans out you notice that the rose is in a garden. The bee goes about his activities unaware that he has an influence much larger than his bee world. In the garden a woman is admiring the roses and, some distance away, a gardener is tending other plants.

As your perspective widens you see that the garden is in the center of a crowded city with flower stands selling roses much like the one the bee sits on. The scene continues to spread out revealing states, countries, continents, oceans, the earth and then out to the cosmos. You can also take the scene in reverse, all the way back to the bee.

The metaphor reminds me, primarily, that we are part of a larger picture in which more is happening than we realize. Though, in our current lives, we may feel so small and in our me-ness, in actuality we are more than this current place and time. Secondly, our perception of ourselves and our experiences depends on inclusivity not exclusivity. One path, one treatment may not be the cure-all but opening ourselves up to the possibilities of the universe may present the healing we need, be that physical or perceptual. Wellbeing has a larger interpretation in this context. Just as the bee’s activities are part of a larger scheme, so are ours and our illness may be a part of this larger picture.

Earlier on this November morning, before five a.m., I was bundled up in my backyard gazing at the early morning sky. The serenity of this time of day is soothing. During these quiet, contemplative times I can sense my inclusiveness of the universe and become a part of the expansiveness. The sky looks different than it did before my journey. It is as if I remembered an old friend and felt comforted.

Once I discovered my passion my energy increased, my creativity expanded and I slept less. My mind became consumed with the subject of past lives. I listened to the stories of others with great interest and never tired of the reports of healing and self-discovery. Researching, speaking and writing became a large part of my life. It is as if the universe opened the way once the passion was ignited. Opportunities presented themselves and my courage to take the next step increased. Not that the fear to take that step ever abated completely, but it did decrease with practice.

Healing the Present from the Past is my journey of discovering and researching the therapeutic benefits of past life regression. It is my goal to bring a scientific rigor to this field and stay true as an objective and honest researcher. Mark A. Rivera is a Physicist, who also happens to be my husband. He has provided technical advice and data analysis throughout this book. Science detaches us from the personal and gives us part of the wider perspective. Later we integrate this impersonal perspective into our personal perceptions.

Alternative and complementary therapies may well provide useful and healing treatments but, as with everything else, there are those looking to make a quick buck or sell their own brand of therapies. The public needs to use prudence when evaluating a therapy.

When managing my Fibromyalgia I was struck by how many marketers would try to sell me a potion or miraculous treatment. These were typically not supported by careful studies but only promising it would heal me. I decided to inquire further on one particular tincture. At a meeting about the product, I noticed that they never discussed the actual product. They only spoke of marketing strategies. Soon after, I walked out.

This event stuck with me long after and made me wary of those who prey on people who are desperately seeking cures. It reminded me of the old snake oil days and this was disheartening. I vowed never to push one product, one idea or one technique on anyone. Let people see the numbers and make their own decisions about what is helpful for them. I used myself as a test subject for many alternative and complementary therapies and discovered what was helpful for me.

My goal is to honestly help people, to be truthful, and to present what I discover and let the public evaluate for themselves what is effective. Researching and data collection is not usually a money-making field and this study was completely self-funded. But I have stayed true to my passion and goal. As a result it has brought me much peace and happiness.

I found that many books on science or the scientific discoveries often appeared to be stripped of the human story. I learned about facts and dates. The only information usually revealed about the scientist behind the discovery is his/her name and date of birth and death. Where is the passion of the story of the scientist? This makes it difficult for us to fully appreciate what this person did and his/her contribution. We are not given the story behind the science. Facts and figures vanish from my mind quickly but occasionally I see a show on television that delves into the life and history of the person and then I re-discover my interest.

It is enlightening to get to know and understand the person behind the research. I am intrigued by the person’s hopes, desires and fears, to know they are not just some name and date but as real as you and I. In this book I have purposely interwoven my personal story with the research and findings. I have been real, open, and honest in my telling as I remember it. I have attempted to convey my feelings with authenticity. I want the reader to get to know me and walk this journey with me.

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Have we lived before? The story of how this question arose, evolved and was eventually dismissed by much of Western culture is a tale that reveals more about our hopes and fears than the question itself. Reincarnation and past life regression is, for most of us, an unsettling mystery. There are few resources of unadulterated information so it is difficult to discern fact from fiction. Evidence that we have lived before is often compelling, but there is no unshakable evidence that would convince the most demanding skeptics. It is precisely this absence of proof that has allowed us to turn the question of reincarnation and past life regression phenomenon into a Rorschach ink blot, an ill-defined shape onto which we have projected our hopes, fears and cultural myths. In the process we have made it difficult to rationally address the question of its reality.

The only earthshaking postulate required to give reincarnation a place into rational inquiry is that memory (information) of human experiences survives physical death. If we admit that our current scientific construct of reality is incomplete, is this really so hard a postulate to entertain? And to do so in a scientific manner? It may not be as difficult to scientifically investigate as much as it is culturally and religiously hard to accept. To accept it may rub some of us the wrong way, and so we stigmatize, ostracize and even demonize the thought of it. No real scientist would dare raise the question.

So, maybe a good starting point would be to follow some historical precedents; by simply making careful observations, collecting the data and measurements, and refraining from overextended attempts at theory validation. Once copious amounts of repeatable data are present, then others will cease ignoring it and begin to connect the dots. In this spirit, my studies have refrained from validating the reality of reincarnation, but rather attempted to collect data toward answering the singular question—What are the measurable and practical effects (benefits) of past life regression? In other words—what good is it?

Chapter 1

OPENING THE DOOR

Like the shamanic journey, usually undertaken for healing or empowerment, the past-life regression is, in a way, a more personal form of that journey.

–Karl Schlotterbeck -Living Your Past Lives: The Psychology of Past-Life Regression

DAMP GREEN GRASS BENDS UNDER me and cushions my fall. I did not presume that this would be my final resting place, but alas I find myself on this field of green. My body is growing cold beneath the heavy chainmail. Choking on my blood, I become aware of my impending death. Yet, I find I am not afraid. As I gaze up at the wet, gray sky I know the battle was fought with honor and I will die the same way.