"Whenever you meet someone with whom you will be closely involved—a mate, boss, children, in-laws—it is wise to look at who you have been to one another. Take the time to follow your memory of that energy back through the veils of time, and discover the depth and true nature of the energy between you."
I can't think of a better description for this past lives work than to follow that energy that connects us back through time. This is why I am such a fan of Labay's and recommend this book to people looking for further information. Her 30 years of doing this work resonates in her writing, and even though she is a hypnotherapist, her work syncs with the Awareness Techniques more than anyone else I have researched.
In "Exploring Past Lives", Labay elegantly lists the benefits of doing past lives work :
-the resurgence of a strong sense of self;
-honing our skills in working with the subconscious mind;
-finding our Spirit Purpose, our overarching mission in life;
-understanding the Big Picture and how we fit into it;
-getting new perspectives on life and death;
-finding a new appreciation for history and geography; and most of all:
"The greatest benefit of discovering our past lives is that we begin to see the divine in all of life. With the understanding that each person we encounter may have been our parent, child, sibling, or spouse, we come to recognize the precious nature of every human contact. Each person carries the potential of having served some important role in one or more of our lifetimes."
Another sync with Swygard's work is her version of the Creation:
“There is speculation that at one time, eons ago, there was one massive unit of homogenous energy. At some point, it split apart into many pieces. From each piece’s perspective, they were now separate. They had become individuals, capable of incarnating into their own bodies. Now they could play the fascinating game of rediscovering all the other pieces of their original Self as they manifested into a multitude of interesting forms.”
That's not to say that I agree with everything in this book. I already expressed reservations about her concept of a spirit being extinguished by remaining out of the physical place for too long; I have not come across that in my work. Here is Labay's take on "merging into one-ness":
"On a stressful day on the Earth plane, returning to oneness can sound appealing. However, imagine locking yourself in a closet for a year or two without stimulus, change, or contact with other people. That is the metaphor for the return to oneness...if oneness were to occur, each soul’s individual consciousness would extinguish...Rather than repudiating life and seeking to merge back into oneness, we serve our spirit better when we engage each moment fully and enjoy it completely."
I respectfully disagree, since I and the Past Lives Project participants have described this merging into oneness as the highlight of the between lives experience. But I acknowledge her expertise and will keep that concept in mind when processing the between lives experience in the future.
The Kindle version of "Exploring Past Lives" is only $5.60 on Amazon this month, I highly recommend it.