February 17, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode of the Practical Spirituality Podcast, hosts Gareth and Kim explore the concept of past lives and its influence on present-day experiences. They share personal stories, including how beliefs in reincarnation have guided their spiritual paths. Although concrete proof is elusive, they argue that intuitive faith in reincarnation can offer valuable insights into personal growth and everyday struggles.
Gareth and Kim also delve into past life regression, discussing how it can potentially reshape one’s understanding of current life issues. They emphasize the importance of finding balance: using insights from reincarnation for healing without neglecting present-day challenges. Drawing on their own experiences, they encourage listeners to remain grounded, adopting an open but discerning approach to spiritual exploration that prioritizes personal development over escapism.
Throughout their spiritual journeys, Gareth and Kim have transitioned from restrictive religious beliefs to an expansive view of spirituality, highlighting the liberating possibilities it offers. By consistently refocusing on the present, the hosts advocate a spirituality that encourages growth and self-awareness, ensuring that beliefs enhance rather than limit one’s journey.
Become a Community Member at https://community.garethmichael.com/ to join our community and get early access to new episodes, answers to your personal questions and so much more.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome back to the Practical Spirituality Podcast.
We are so excited to have youon this journey with us, where
we explore all elements of mind,body, emotions and soul through
the lens of everyday life.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello Kim.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hello Gareth.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I am doing well this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I think it's about time we actually cover a
real spiritual topic onPractical Spirituality.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, you know that's debatable, whether that's a
real spiritual topic or not, butit's a topic that usually
raises a lot of controversy.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So for this week's episode, we're going to be
talking about reincarnation, andthe crowd goes wild.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
The crowd does go wild because they're like,
finally, they're going to verifywhat I thought and we're going
to go.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Maybe, not Okay, we're going to bring
practicality to reincarnation.
How exciting is that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, let's do that.
Nothing like pulling your headback out of the clouds, right?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh, no comment.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So when you hear the term reincarnation for Kim in
present day, what gets sparkedup in Kim?
Theory that we have, ourspirits, are ageless and that we
live in this body for a certainperiod of time and that we
transition and then we come backand do it again for some insane
(01:56):
reason.
Um I hear it's apparently forgrowth I I hear apparently it's
for growth too.
I think I've done enough.
No, but you know, I find it avery funny topic today because I
would have told you years ago,as you know, that I firmly
believe in it and for certainreasons why I get mad about it.
(02:18):
But I personally think, like wejust said, it's unverifiable,
like I think we have an innateknowing and I'm talking about me
, I have an innate knowing thatI believe this to be true.
Can I prove it?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
No.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And to what point am I going to focus all my energy
on this Today?
Not very often, okay, andthere's a reason for that, and
as we go in I'm sure I'll get todelve in more what I thought
back then.
But standing here today talkingto you, I think yes, I believe
it's true there are definitely alot of aspects that I see of it
(02:59):
.
How much do I need to focus onit for my spiritual growth, my
day-to-day life today?
Not much.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I know a few minutes.
Even before we startedrecording, we had a quick
debrief on it.
I was honest in saying that onmy spiritual journey, even long
before I met michael.
It was never a route my journeytook me on exploring in great
detail or depth but, likeyourself, I never doubted that
that was a part of the spiritualjourney of us.
Being here is reincarnation isthat we come here and we leave,
(03:34):
we come back and then we leaveagain.
I never had, uh, this belief init.
It was like that deep downknowing that, yes, that sounds
true to me, that sounds like itmakes sense.
But at the same time, I think,especially since, especially
since I've had Michael in mylife and I've been working with
a lot of people naturally peoplehave asked a lot of questions
about that when it comes totheir spiritual journeys,
because a lot of people do godown that route in their
(03:57):
spiritual path and really read alot of books and listen to a
lot of podcasts based on it andactually try to link a lot of
their current experiences inthis life with past lives to
make sense of why they're goingthrough what they're going
through in this life.
The angle that you and I comefrom maybe differs from how
other people approach this topic.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's probably very true and for me, you know, it
entered my spiritual growth at avery young age and I think I've
had in my past, at least incomparison to my family, a very
different spiritual journey.
Like, I was, as everybody knows, raised extremely Irish
Catholic, pretty fanaticalfamily, and I remember sitting
(04:40):
in the church thinking a lot ofthis is a load of you know what
and I can't quite agree with it.
But when I started to drink inmy teens and I started noticing
different things that werehappening to me, I couldn't help
but wonder about reincarnation.
And so let me clarify that Fromthe moment I ever picked up a
(05:03):
drink, I was a blackout drinker.
Now a lot of people think thatmeans I drank and I passed out,
but that's not what it means.
What it means is I wouldconsume alcohol and while to
everyone else on the planet Ilooked fine, I seemed fine, I
carried on conversations, I didlots of crazy things and I had
(05:23):
absolutely no memory of it.
So in trying to understand that, I was trying to figure out why
in the world is my behavior theway it is?
It's so different than when I'mnot drinking, but it allowed me
, who was extremely shy, scared,introverted, couldn't speak to
people.
I'd come out and I'd dance ontables and I would be the life
(05:47):
of the party and everybodythought it was so much fun and I
would hear stories about what Idid and I couldn't understand
it, having my own spiritualjourney at that point and find
because I was searching formeaning at that point in my
teens, even though it was kindof haphazardly Reincarnation
came up and I thought thatthat's got to be it.
(06:10):
First and foremost, I believed Ientered this world, or this
particular lifetime, as analcoholic, because I have never,
ever picked up one drink, andit be social or okay.
So that made logical sense tome back then.
But that's where it kind ofveered off course very quickly,
because I started to blameeverything that I was doing in
(06:34):
my life on the fact that, well,I must have had some pretty
horrific past lives or I musthave done horrific things.
And what I found for me,especially through that early
part of my journey, was it wasjust another bat that I beat
myself with, and when I finallystarted to make some headway in
(06:55):
my own growth, I started going.
Well, that can't possibly bethe purpose of knowing whether
you've lived another lifetime ornot.
I don't think it's here to beatus up or, as we have spoke
about so many times, as anescape, but I certainly was an
avoidant maybe a little bit andso it was a great way to avoid
(07:17):
taking responsibility for someof my own actions.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It's a mouthful.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yes, it is it's mouthful.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yes, it is but I think in what you're saying I
don't disagree with anythingyou're saying, because I think
it is a tale as old as time.
Why does it captivate us somuch?
It's been in history books,it's been religions, it's been
in stories.
It's even a service nowadays toeven go and do a past life
regression and to see what comesup from your subconscious mind
(07:47):
conscious mind and what thatmight tell you about yourself.
For the people who have beenlistening to this podcast for a
long time, they know at thisstage, when we talk about
exploring the person, we exploreit in mind, body, emotions, the
end, soul, and we've talkedabout that so many times and how
it can be such a distraction.
Because everyone likes the ideaof a different version of
(08:08):
themselves that lives in adifferent time, that takes them
away from present day and thelittle understanding or control
they have within themselves oraround themselves in the lives
they're currently living.
So, of course, if I'd love tohear, 300 years ago I was a
prince in Timbuktu and blah,blah, blah and these were my
problems and a different, it'slike yeah, great, that's why I
have these problems today inthis life.
(08:28):
It just never quite added upfor me, by the way.
That was not my past liferegression.
I've never done that before,just to be clear.
But I'm just saying how there'selements of that.
That.
I was like, if that's real, ifthat really happened, cool, but
that doesn't actually help solvethe things that are going on in
(08:49):
your life today.
You know, if you're coming backto a sense of I don't want to
say reality, but if you'recoming back to a sense of
present day, of that, it's veryeasy to get caught up in it, as
you were saying, withoutactually really learning
anything, understanding anythingor being able to grow with any
of this.
And so, like a lot of things inthe spiritual world, the things
that we read or enjoy, it canbecome an escapism and it's very
(09:18):
hard in that realm tounderstand the difference
between of what's fiction andwhat's nonfiction.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Well, true, and it's not verifiable.
I mean, there's lots you haveto understand.
I've've studied this subjectand I'll tell you why.
I can remember being about eightor nine years of age when the
concept first came to me andalso I'm going to get really
controversial here alsoastrology, and so of course I'm
(09:42):
a Pisces, which is the 12th signin the sign of all the
astrologies, and so at that veryyoung age, how I interpreted
that is okay, if there'sreincarnation and I'm in the
12th house, that means I've donethe whole gamut and this better
be the last time.
And so, hopefully, maybe thereason I have all this stuff
being piled on me, hopefully,maybe the reason I have all this
(10:02):
stuff being piled on me, isbecause it is the last time.
This is my make it or break ittime.
I'm eight or nine years of ageand that's the logic that I came
with, and whether that's trueor not, I don't know, I have to
say I do believe in it.
There's lots of aspects.
I have had past liferegressions, you know I've had
(10:23):
many of them in the past.
Some of them rang very true tome but, like you said, at the
time when that was happening forme, I used it as a
justification tool for what Icouldn't look at in the moment,
and so I would justify myactions through this
reincarnation because, well,this happened to me in another
(10:47):
lifetime, so naturally that'swhy I'm at, but it also helped
keep me in victim for a longtime and I was fascinated with
it, along with I'm sure thiswill be another topic that we'll
do at some point near-deathexperiences and people's
reactions to that experiencesand people's reactions to that.
But what was important for meis, along the way, as I started
(11:10):
to grow and mature and actuallygrow in my own spiritual growth,
I haven't said no, this isn'treal, but I have started to go.
That's an interesting fact.
If it were real about me, andit's safe for me to assume some
of what I've found out might betrue, but it's not relevant for
(11:31):
here.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Even when it comes to this topic of reincarnation or
exploring past lives, there'snot one bone in my body, as I
said earlier, that isdisagreeing with it or think
it's a load of anything.
Is disagreeing with it or thinkit's a load of anything?
I'm saying, like most of thespiritual things that we explore
or have ever talked about inthis podcast, I love it all, but
to me, it has to be explored ina certain order in order to get
(11:55):
the most out of it, for any ofus to really understand the role
that it plays in any of ourlives and, like a lot of good
things in this world that oncestarted off pure, it can easily
turn into be an abusive thingonto another person if not
understood correctly, or ifwe're, and a lot of us end up
exploring these things because,let's be honest, we're in a
vulnerable space in our lives.
(12:15):
We don't know any better andthere's no way of verifying it,
as you were saying, andtherefore there's a lot of
opportunity for people to takeadvantage, especially when
money's involved and it's aservice.
So it's those elements of itthat I feel has made it way more
complicated and taken away fromsome of the messaging of what
it actually can give us because,as you mentioned, you've had
(12:36):
those past type of questions andit has applied at times and
made sense, and then otheroccasions not so much.
So it really does depend onexperiences, exposure, who
you're doing it with and alsowhere you are in that time in
your life.
But if we're getting into someof the practicalities of it, is
that when you see people sayI've done a past life regression
all of these things happened inthe past.
(12:57):
I must have hurt someone indifferent life, I must have been
bankrupt, I must have all thesemoney problems or relationship
problems, and a part of me me isactually.
I've always said to them I waslike okay, if we look at this
life alone and all the yearsyou've been on this planet and
all the experiences in this life, you still don't understand in
what world does it make sensefor you to pile on every single
previous life you have had intothis one?
(13:19):
We don't even understand thisone you've been in, never mind
any previous one.
So where does that end if youkeep coming back?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Well, to be fair, for a lot of people on the journey,
they think that the past life,regression or finding out about
a past life, is going to helpthem understand this life a
whole lot more.
I can say that because I'vestudied it so deeply and I
thought it would help meunderstand, and some of it did.
But I can be really honest withyou In terms of the alcoholism
(13:48):
you know, with that theory thatI had at a very young age.
Perhaps that's very true, butreally the main thing it would
give me, like if I really cameinto this world because I had
never worked through myalcoholism in another lifetime.
The difference that makes isperhaps maybe I could have some
more compassion, alcoholism inanother lifetime.
The difference that makes isperhaps maybe I could have some
more compassion for me in thislifetime and perhaps some
(14:12):
awareness that all right if thatwere true, which we can't prove
, but I believed it to be trueand I still believe it to be
true.
If I'm very honest with you, itmeans okay, didn't get it then
might be a good idea to get ahandle on it now, and so that is
(14:33):
a positive, beneficial use ofhaving that belief, and there's
quite a few examples of that inmy life.
But then there's some otherexamples in my life where I say
I had this past life regressionand something came up in that
past life regression and Igrabbed hold of it because it
fit the belief I wanted to haveabout another person and I hung
(14:57):
on to that for dear life.
Okay, did any of that come tofruition?
No, no, was it meant to?
Probably not.
But it hit an ideal for me atthat time in my life that I
really wanted to believe and ittook me down that path.
So I have had both experiencesand all that did and not just
(15:21):
singular ones quite a few ofthat in that time frame when I
was really exploring it, that Istarted to go okay, I still
believe in reincarnation and ifpeople do have memories of a
past life when they come intothis life and I can say that
with my daughter, some of thethings she said to me at a very
young age were way beyond whatwas going on in this world for
(15:43):
her in this age.
But as I said to her, you knowwhat, right here, right now, I'm
the mom and you're the daughter, and so we must deal with it in
this timeframe.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Because I don't disagree when people have those
experiences or say that thathappened or they went back that
far.
But I keep coming back to thepractical and practical
spirituality.
Yes, I'm happy you have thoseexperiences and you have those
memories and that's great.
But if we can't explore thislife and make sense of it in
(16:17):
this life, that in order to helpyou understand what's going on,
why it's happening, the journey, it can be a catalyst to hide,
as we were both talking about.
And that's where, when we talkabout weaponizing even this idea
of reincarnation, it can be abeautiful thing.
It can have a lot of purpose,it can have a lot of reasoning
if you are pulled towardsexploring it as part of your
(16:40):
spiritual journey.
Because, as we often talk about,not everyone is.
I personally wasn't and not Iwasn't meant to, whereas for you
it was the opposite over theyears.
But doesn't mean you wouldexplore it the same way today as
you did before.
So that's where it'sfascinating, and you and I will
never come on here and say thatanyone is wrong in having the
age they have and what they haveor haven't explored, new age,
(17:05):
any version of spirituality orany religion.
it's very easy to hide behind itand to avoid the stuff going on
present day or the stuff'sgoing on in the inside world or
in the external world.
And that's the parts ofspirituality that I love to
challenge because I'm like inwhat ways are we actually hiding
?
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Well, exactly, exactly.
And it's hard because it is afascinating subject, and
especially if you've just walkedinto this realm and you're just
learning about it, and you itwas like for me, and so, of
course, I was searching formeaning as to why all of these
things were happening to me.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
But what we're also not taught is that there's a
very fine line between healingand hiding.
Yes, that's very true, and I'mnot saying that's any of our
fault, but it's like you couldsay the same about getting
involved into a good fictionbook.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I love that too.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, it has its place in the world, and it can
be very healing to get suckedinto that world and get lost in
the characters, but then ifthere's 10 days of work or stuff
that we're avoiding in ourlives or a bad breakup or trauma
, then it's hiding.
There can be elements ofhealing because we both we both
know it's not black and whiteand what we're saying it's that
(18:32):
we're never taught and it's veryeasy to convince ourselves that
it's healing when it's actuallyhiding true.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
It's very easy to convince ourself of that when
you're at that stage ofsearching for meaning.
If there's something that isgoing, you can latch on to.
And just because I'm sayinglatch on to doesn't mean I'm
saying it's right or wrong,because I did latch on to it for
a long time and there was partsof it that were very healing
for me.
(18:58):
But, as I said at the verybeginning, there were a lot of
parts that I used to hide from.
I used it as a weapon, which isnot helpful either to use it as
a weapon.
And then we haven't even begunto to cover that karma fact of
well, I I'm living this lifebecause, you know, I must have
(19:20):
done something really bad inanother lifetime and please
don't pull me into karmaconversation I'm not gonna pull
you into the the conversation,but that's part of the
reincarnation conversationbecause that is what I
said for a long time man, Idon't know what I did in the
last few lives, but it must havebeen pretty damn bad for me to
(19:41):
be doing what I'm dealing withnow.
Yeah, having said that, havingsaid that, and I really want to
go into how I used it to stay invictim I didn't know I was
doing that, as anyone does whenthey're going through it, having
that thought process andexploring reincarnation, and
(20:02):
exploring, doing the differentpast life regressions.
I never came out of a past liferegression with a man.
I had a freaking fantastic life.
Because what I'm starting tounderstand now and not well, I
guess, starting to understand,because understanding it all is
(20:23):
you know, we talk aboutperception, and perception is
based on all of our beliefs andexperiences that have already
happened to us.
So even when we go back to do apast life regression, we are
still holding those beliefs.
So if I had a belief from earlychildhood that I had been
persecuted, what do you want tobet?
(20:43):
That almost every past liferegression I did, in some form
or another, I was persecuted.
That's just what happened forme, and I'm not saying that's
what happens for everybody, butthat it's based on my perception
, because I'm here trying tounderstand what's happening in
this lifetime, so it's going toshow up wherever I'm looking.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, let's take a step back from this week's
episode and share with everyonewhat we've been up to behind the
scenes.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
We're really excited to be able to finally offer the
Gareth Michael community to eachof you.
The community offers a range ofbenefits, including access to
our live events, weekly podcastepisodes, articles,
self-checking questions, as wellas a community of individuals
you can connect with andinteract with along the way.
It's designed to offer yousupport, guidance and a safe
(21:37):
space on a day-to-day basis.
We'd love to have you join ourglobal community of like-minded
individuals.
That website address, again, iswwwgarethmichaelcom.
Now let's get back to thatepisode, shall we?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
And again, I think that's where it's interesting,
because it's such a fine line,as we've been talking about.
People dip their toe in and outof it on the journey, as
they're meant to be exposed to,and that brings you on your own
unique spiritual path.
But, as I said, it's very easyto get caught up into it and
(22:16):
completely sometimes lose trackof the importance of this life
and the stuff you've beenthrough in this life.
And that's where I find thatit's a gray area and can be a
very confusing thing to navigate.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You know, if you do get caught up in it and I quite
honestly own I did get caught upin it and I don't see that as a
bad thing.
Obviously that was part of myspiritual contract, because I
wasn't ready to move forward andso therefore I got distracted
into this form of exploration,which I learned a whole lot
(22:51):
about a bunch of differentreligions and a bunch of
different philosophies, and Ilearned even though I was
calling it past life a lot aboutmyself.
Real growth came when I stoppedtrying to use it as well.
(23:11):
This is the reason I am the waythat I am, or this is why I
can't get ahead, or this is whyI keep attracting these men into
my life.
No, that's not why that'shappening.
When I sit here today and I'mwilling to look at what's going
on for me today and look at thepatterns and look at the belief
systems and understand what Ihaven't explored and learned
about myself in those moments,that's when those things start
(23:35):
to shift, not because Iunderstand what happened one
lifetime, 10 lifetimes, 50lifetimes ago.
I'm not going to lie.
I'm hoping with what I'velearned in this lifetime.
I am in the 12th house.
I'm not going to lie about that.
That hope is still there and aswhen people ask me about it not
going to lie about that thathope is still there.
(23:56):
And as, when people ask meabout it, they go.
What do you believe?
And I go.
Honestly, I think it's sopersonal for every single person
.
Can I verify anything thathappened for me?
I can only verify what it feltlike for me in those moments.
Have I ever literallyconsciously died and came back
and am able to give you proof?
No, I don't have proof of that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
We have an exclusive on the podcast for Kim and Jill
from Michael.
She has another few lives to go.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Oh no, say it isn't true.
I'm hanging on to the 12thhouse, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
As you were saying, it is part of the journey of
being here, especially whenyou've grown up potentially in
religious households and youstart exploring New Age and
different versions ofspirituality and even different
religions.
It really opens up your entireworld of possibility and you can
see how it gives so much hopefrom past lives to life is
(25:03):
infinite, of many lives to comeand you know it even takes less
pressure off this life of havingget everything right
infectionism like I can see thepros and cons and everything in
between of why it can be such ahealthy thing to explore and I
think it's very hard to sayotherwise.
I do think, especially when youcome from a religious
(25:26):
background that was sorestrictive and limiting and
then you get exposed to this, ofhow infinite it is, as I
mentioned, and I think it canhave a positive effect in our
day-to-day lives of not takingourselves so seriously.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yes, and, like you said, such a fine line, because
when you are immature or youhave not worked through a lot of
your stuff, you're going totake it for the same reasons
that I took it.
And now, as I have started togrow and I do say started to
grow because I know it's acontinuous journey of growth I
would love to say I'm there, Iknow I'm not.
(26:00):
As you mature and you go, okay,there is some really great
qualities.
There is that hope of you know,for so long I was so driven
that I had to figure it all out.
I had to get it right Becauseof the 12th house theory.
From a young age, I'm like Ireally need to get it all right
(26:20):
in this lifetime so I don't haveto do this again.
I'm sure a few people out therecan relate to that.
However, instead of viewing itas a punishment of coming back
if that's how you're viewing it,how I did- instead of viewing
it as that.
Yeah, I still do, if I'm honest.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Let's be honest.
Okay, I'll be honest.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
I do think if I have to come back it's a punishment,
but it does start to help metake the pressure off getting it
right.
You know like it's like if I'mreally honest it goes oh okay, I
can't possibly get it all 100%in this lifetime and I'm not
(27:10):
going to probably remember it ifI have to come back anyway.
So there's a bit of reliefright there.
It does give you hope and itcan be very beneficial because
if you have been driven by thatidea that you must get it all
right, then knowing that youdon't have to, that we're just
(27:32):
here, all exploring and growingregardless.
There is no right or wrong,it's just the growth is what it
is.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
You can also see how someone could take it that.
So all this life is about isabout continuously filling up
past lives.
That doesn't sound fun.
No, yeah, no, it's kind of likewhat about everything in this
life?
And then am I going to beweighed down by that for the
rest of my life?
So that's where, course, havingthe right influence by the
right teachers, the rightmaterial and finding that fine
(28:02):
line becomes so important.
And that comes with thematurity, as you're saying, life
experience, the material.
There's a lot of things thathave to click into place, but
that can only be done throughexploring it yourself.
So that's why, as we talkedabout earlier, we can't say
what's right and what's wrong,but you do know what, what sits
with yourself.
But there is that I want to say,spiritual reality, that
(28:23):
throughout this life, if we wantto put our hands up and be
honest, we've all usedspirituality in some way to run
from reality.
And I think that's what'sreally interesting.
Just to ask thatself-reflection question In what
ways am I aware of today?
In my past, we use spiritualityas a way to hide from reality,
and sometimes, when we'reexploring it, we actually need
(28:45):
to do that at times in order tofind that line between healing
and hiding, because I thinkthat's a part of growing and
exploring as well, as we are onthis journey, and that is why we
have to be open-minded aboutany of these kind of topics or
areas to explore in spiritualitybecause, at the end of the day,
any of them do redirect youback to yourself.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yes, absolutely, when we have that idea, that that is
what some of the awarenessesare, when you look at it without
weaponizing it, that it doeslead you back to yourself, and
so we don't have to continue toavoid self, because there's so
many things that are happeningin this lifetime as we are
(29:26):
growing.
I call it the shiny bobblesyndrome.
A shiny bobble comes and goes.
Oh well, that might be thewhole reason I'm going through
all of this, so I'm going to goexplore all of this, which I
wholeheartedly support.
I do support us exploring allof these concepts that we bring
(29:47):
up, because it brought arichness to my life.
You know like, okay, so one ofthe ways when I was exploring it
, we talked about in one of thetheories they talk about, you
have a soul family, and thatsoul family is a group of souls
that agree to come together invarious lifetimes and show up in
different ways.
(30:07):
Well, that brought me a lot ofcomfort.
It was like, oh, these peoplethat I love to hate so much in
my lifetime are really goodfriends of mine on a different
level that have agreed to showup to help me, and so there's a
level of comfort in that, and soI think there's so much that
out there to explore about it.
It's just not letting itdistract you from coming back to
(30:30):
.
But what does this mean for me?
What does this mean about myown personal growth in this
moment?
And if some of it has broughtyou comfort or insight, and so
for me, it has given me a lot ofconnection.
Do I have to know who thesepeople were in other lifetimes?
No, I don't.
But it does bring me comfortthat the people that have joined
(30:52):
me on this journey are peoplethat on some level I've been
familiar with before, and that'sokay but I think that's where
it's interesting say how, whenwe talk about reincarnation
versus, say, in previousepisodes, we talked about
spiritual contracts, right?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
is there any way that you and I can verify that we
all have a spiritual contract?
nope, no but is that what's madethe most sense for us on this
journey, when we've talked abouta lot over the years and we've
explored it and brought us themost peace and etc.
Etc.
Yeah, that's what currentlyworks for us and where we are in
this time in our lives, right?
So you're going to times thatout, though, about how many
different spiritualunderstandings around the globe?
(31:29):
Yes, but this is why it's thatwhen we any of us are sat with
our own spiritual understandingsand beliefs, I want them that
we can continue to grow fromthose beliefs and that they're
not limiting us, that wecontinue to grow with them and
challenge us for the rightreasons.
And, as I said earlier, we'veall been through those
experiences and probably stillare, in some ways of weaponizing
(31:50):
our spiritual beliefs, to hidefrom our fears, because we
talked about in previousepisodes, a part of our journey
on this planet is to have thesefears, and when fears are
presented, what's our go-to isto want to hide, but we're not
always that familiar of howwe're hiding and when we're
hiding because we want to getcreative and how we do that.
So, but life will always haveus challenge these different
(32:10):
spiritual beliefs.
It'll have us bring in new ones, but it always allows us to
question our lives in our ownunique ways, in a new way every
single time.
But as you said earlier and aswe often talk about, it's all
growth and it brings it back toourselves.
So reincarnation is justanother stepping stone in that
(32:31):
process, and whether you dipyour toe in or you dive your
whole body in, yeah neither isright or wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
It's just part of the experience of understanding
self yes it is, and my conceptof it now, as opposed to what it
was before.
When I first started learningabout reincarnation and started
exploring it for me, I was deadset on writing the wrongs of the
past.
And then it was like, well,wait a minute, I don't even know
(33:01):
for sure what those are, so howcan I write the wrongs?
But I can start to turn that in.
So what are the wrongs in thislifetime for me, which then will
influence what happens as I'mgrowing and going through life?
But that took quite a while forme to get to that.
So I thought it was like, oh,this is my script that I have to
(33:25):
correct so that I can have thehappy life.
But as I explored it more andmore and more, I'm like, oh, no,
that has nothing to do withthis life.
It's interesting.
And you know I'm going to bereally honest.
I still believe that, yes, Ipossibly was an alcoholic in
another lifetime and when I cameinto this lifetime, my body had
(33:48):
a huge reaction to alcohol.
Can I prove that?
No, has it helped me?
Yeah, it has helped me, becauseevery time people go oh, surely
it's been 40 years now you canhave a drink.
Well, actually no, I can't, no,I can't, and I'm okay with that
(34:12):
.
I don't feel like I'm missinganything, because there's been
growth and a lesson, and it'snot something I need in my life
anymore.
So from that aspect, it can bevery helpful, but, like we said,
we don't want to get caught upin it so that we're actually
avoiding today and who we areand the people who are here
today whether they're related toother lifetimes or not they're
the ones you're on the journeywith now, and some people get so
(34:36):
caught up in it that theyexclude the people that are in
their life now, and so that'swhen it becomes a bad thing.
If you're into exploring it,there's a lot of fascinating
books out there on the subject.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Life is very complex.
There's lots of layers.
There's mind, body, emotion,soul.
There's past, present, future.
There's a lot to talk about andexplore, and within any of
those departments within us,each of these parts of
spirituality exists for a reasonbecause I think they ask you to
explore yourself, each in avery different way.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
We're never going to be against any of these topics,
especially when they ask you toask more questions about
yourself.
What's not to love about that?
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Exactly, exactly.
My final note on this subjectis you know, in some ways it did
bring me it has brought me alot of comfort in different
areas.
Even after I weaponized it,even after I used it to hide,
even after I used it as anexcuse, I went through all those
phases, exactly like I did withaddiction, to get to that point
(35:41):
of, oh okay, that's what I wasmeant to get from that.
It was just something else thatI was using not to be here.
And where my real growth ishere is in this moment, because
I'm living in this moment and so, as I'm here exploring that,
sure, these things areinteresting and fine and have
(36:03):
brought me comfort and growth.
So what's happening now?
You know, where do I want to gowith it now?
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah, because I know this isn't our usual topic that
we explore when it comes to aspiritual podcast.
Yeah, because I know this isn'tour usual topic that we explore
when it comes to a spiritualpodcast.
I think it's still veryimportant to you because it's a
lot of people's reality.
As you said, with yourexperience in the areas of your
life and past lives that youexplored, you can see present
(36:30):
day how it all played a part inKim understanding herself and me
understanding myself.
So, as we talked about manytimes in this episode, we're
never going to argue withsomeone exploring it, especially
if it allows them to questionmore about themselves and even
find peace within themselves inthe most unique ways.
So just continue to question,continue to explore, continue to
inform yourself and just pleasedo it safely.
I agree.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Thanks so much for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode,then you might want to check out
our online community.
We built it to offer you thecomfort of having a supportive
community by your side, nomatter where life takes you.
Connect with like-mindedindividuals through our app.
Navigate each step of thejourney together with us by
(37:15):
joining our Gareth Michaelcommunity.
Here are a few of the thingsyou're going to get.
Thank you, gareth, and I Inputinto what topics we cover in the
show Access to exclusivecontent not available anywhere
(37:39):
else.
To learn more about ourcommunity, please go to
wwwgarethmichaelcom.
Thanks again, and I hope youguys are having a lovely week.
Welcome back to the Practical Spirituality Podcast.
We are so excited to have youon this journey with us, where
we explore all elements of mind,body, emotions and soul through
the lens of everyday life.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello Kim.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hello Gareth.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
How are you doing this morning?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I am doing well this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I think it's about time we actually cover a
real spiritual topic onPractical Spirituality.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, you know that's debatable, whether that's a
real spiritual topic or not, butit's a topic that usually
raises a lot of controversy.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So for this week's episode, we're going to be
talking about reincarnation, andthe crowd goes wild.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
The crowd does go wild because they're like,
finally, they're going to verifywhat I thought and we're going
to go.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Maybe, not Okay, we're going to bring
practicality to reincarnation.
How exciting is that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, let's do that.
Nothing like pulling your headback out of the clouds, right?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh, no comment.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So when you hear the term reincarnation for Kim in
present day, what gets sparkedup in Kim?
Theory that we have, ourspirits, are ageless and that we
live in this body for a certainperiod of time and that we
transition and then we come backand do it again for some insane
(01:56):
reason.
Um I hear it's apparently forgrowth I I hear apparently it's
for growth too.
I think I've done enough.
No, but you know, I find it avery funny topic today because I
would have told you years ago,as you know, that I firmly
believe in it and for certainreasons why I get mad about it.
(02:18):
But I personally think, like wejust said, it's unverifiable,
like I think we have an innateknowing and I'm talking about me
, I have an innate knowing thatI believe this to be true.
Can I prove it?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
No.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And to what point am I going to focus all my energy
on this Today?
Not very often, okay, andthere's a reason for that, and
as we go in I'm sure I'll get todelve in more what I thought
back then.
But standing here today talkingto you, I think yes, I believe
it's true there are definitely alot of aspects that I see of it
(02:59):
.
How much do I need to focus onit for my spiritual growth, my
day-to-day life today?
Not much.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I know a few minutes.
Even before we startedrecording, we had a quick
debrief on it.
I was honest in saying that onmy spiritual journey, even long
before I met michael.
It was never a route my journeytook me on exploring in great
detail or depth but, likeyourself, I never doubted that
that was a part of the spiritualjourney of us.
Being here is reincarnation isthat we come here and we leave,
(03:34):
we come back and then we leaveagain.
I never had, uh, this belief init.
It was like that deep downknowing that, yes, that sounds
true to me, that sounds like itmakes sense.
But at the same time, I think,especially since, especially
since I've had Michael in mylife and I've been working with
a lot of people naturally peoplehave asked a lot of questions
about that when it comes totheir spiritual journeys,
because a lot of people do godown that route in their
(03:57):
spiritual path and really read alot of books and listen to a
lot of podcasts based on it andactually try to link a lot of
their current experiences inthis life with past lives to
make sense of why they're goingthrough what they're going
through in this life.
The angle that you and I comefrom maybe differs from how
other people approach this topic.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
That's probably very true and for me, you know, it
entered my spiritual growth at avery young age and I think I've
had in my past, at least incomparison to my family, a very
different spiritual journey.
Like, I was, as everybody knows, raised extremely Irish
Catholic, pretty fanaticalfamily, and I remember sitting
(04:40):
in the church thinking a lot ofthis is a load of you know what
and I can't quite agree with it.
But when I started to drink inmy teens and I started noticing
different things that werehappening to me, I couldn't help
but wonder about reincarnation.
And so let me clarify that Fromthe moment I ever picked up a
(05:03):
drink, I was a blackout drinker.
Now a lot of people think thatmeans I drank and I passed out,
but that's not what it means.
What it means is I wouldconsume alcohol and while to
everyone else on the planet Ilooked fine, I seemed fine, I
carried on conversations, I didlots of crazy things and I had
(05:23):
absolutely no memory of it.
So in trying to understand that, I was trying to figure out why
in the world is my behavior theway it is?
It's so different than when I'mnot drinking, but it allowed me
, who was extremely shy, scared,introverted, couldn't speak to
people.
I'd come out and I'd dance ontables and I would be the life
(05:47):
of the party and everybodythought it was so much fun and I
would hear stories about what Idid and I couldn't understand
it, having my own spiritualjourney at that point and find
because I was searching formeaning at that point in my
teens, even though it was kindof haphazardly Reincarnation
came up and I thought thatthat's got to be it.
(06:10):
First and foremost, I believed Ientered this world, or this
particular lifetime, as analcoholic, because I have never,
ever picked up one drink, andit be social or okay.
So that made logical sense tome back then.
But that's where it kind ofveered off course very quickly,
because I started to blameeverything that I was doing in
(06:34):
my life on the fact that, well,I must have had some pretty
horrific past lives or I musthave done horrific things.
And what I found for me,especially through that early
part of my journey, was it wasjust another bat that I beat
myself with, and when I finallystarted to make some headway in
(06:55):
my own growth, I started going.
Well, that can't possibly bethe purpose of knowing whether
you've lived another lifetime ornot.
I don't think it's here to beatus up or, as we have spoke
about so many times, as anescape, but I certainly was an
avoidant maybe a little bit andso it was a great way to avoid
(07:17):
taking responsibility for someof my own actions.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It's a mouthful.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yes, it is it's mouthful.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yes, it is but I think in what you're saying I
don't disagree with anythingyou're saying, because I think
it is a tale as old as time.
Why does it captivate us somuch?
It's been in history books,it's been religions, it's been
in stories.
It's even a service nowadays toeven go and do a past life
regression and to see what comesup from your subconscious mind
(07:47):
conscious mind and what thatmight tell you about yourself.
For the people who have beenlistening to this podcast for a
long time, they know at thisstage, when we talk about
exploring the person, we exploreit in mind, body, emotions, the
end, soul, and we've talkedabout that so many times and how
it can be such a distraction.
Because everyone likes the ideaof a different version of
(08:08):
themselves that lives in adifferent time, that takes them
away from present day and thelittle understanding or control
they have within themselves oraround themselves in the lives
they're currently living.
So, of course, if I'd love tohear, 300 years ago I was a
prince in Timbuktu and blah,blah, blah and these were my
problems and a different, it'slike yeah, great, that's why I
have these problems today inthis life.
(08:28):
It just never quite added upfor me, by the way.
That was not my past liferegression.
I've never done that before,just to be clear.
But I'm just saying how there'selements of that.
That.
I was like, if that's real, ifthat really happened, cool, but
that doesn't actually help solvethe things that are going on in
(08:49):
your life today.
You know, if you're coming backto a sense of I don't want to
say reality, but if you'recoming back to a sense of
present day, of that, it's veryeasy to get caught up in it, as
you were saying, withoutactually really learning
anything, understanding anythingor being able to grow with any
of this.
And so, like a lot of things inthe spiritual world, the things
that we read or enjoy, it canbecome an escapism and it's very
(09:18):
hard in that realm tounderstand the difference
between of what's fiction andwhat's nonfiction.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Well, true, and it's not verifiable.
I mean, there's lots you haveto understand.
I've've studied this subjectand I'll tell you why.
I can remember being about eightor nine years of age when the
concept first came to me andalso I'm going to get really
controversial here alsoastrology, and so of course I'm
(09:42):
a Pisces, which is the 12th signin the sign of all the
astrologies, and so at that veryyoung age, how I interpreted
that is okay, if there'sreincarnation and I'm in the
12th house, that means I've donethe whole gamut and this better
be the last time.
And so, hopefully, maybe thereason I have all this stuff
being piled on me, hopefully,maybe the reason I have all this
(10:02):
stuff being piled on me, isbecause it is the last time.
This is my make it or break ittime.
I'm eight or nine years of ageand that's the logic that I came
with, and whether that's trueor not, I don't know, I have to
say I do believe in it.
There's lots of aspects.
I have had past liferegressions, you know I've had
(10:23):
many of them in the past.
Some of them rang very true tome but, like you said, at the
time when that was happening forme, I used it as a
justification tool for what Icouldn't look at in the moment,
and so I would justify myactions through this
reincarnation because, well,this happened to me in another
(10:47):
lifetime, so naturally that'swhy I'm at, but it also helped
keep me in victim for a longtime and I was fascinated with
it, along with I'm sure thiswill be another topic that we'll
do at some point near-deathexperiences and people's
reactions to that experiencesand people's reactions to that.
But what was important for meis, along the way, as I started
(11:10):
to grow and mature and actuallygrow in my own spiritual growth,
I haven't said no, this isn'treal, but I have started to go.
That's an interesting fact.
If it were real about me, andit's safe for me to assume some
of what I've found out might betrue, but it's not relevant for
(11:31):
here.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Even when it comes to this topic of reincarnation or
exploring past lives, there'snot one bone in my body, as I
said earlier, that isdisagreeing with it or think
it's a load of anything.
Is disagreeing with it or thinkit's a load of anything?
I'm saying, like most of thespiritual things that we explore
or have ever talked about inthis podcast, I love it all, but
to me, it has to be explored ina certain order in order to get
(11:55):
the most out of it, for any ofus to really understand the role
that it plays in any of ourlives and, like a lot of good
things in this world that oncestarted off pure, it can easily
turn into be an abusive thingonto another person if not
understood correctly, or ifwe're, and a lot of us end up
exploring these things because,let's be honest, we're in a
vulnerable space in our lives.
(12:15):
We don't know any better andthere's no way of verifying it,
as you were saying, andtherefore there's a lot of
opportunity for people to takeadvantage, especially when
money's involved and it's aservice.
So it's those elements of itthat I feel has made it way more
complicated and taken away fromsome of the messaging of what
it actually can give us because,as you mentioned, you've had
(12:36):
those past type of questions andit has applied at times and
made sense, and then otheroccasions not so much.
So it really does depend onexperiences, exposure, who
you're doing it with and alsowhere you are in that time in
your life.
But if we're getting into someof the practicalities of it, is
that when you see people sayI've done a past life regression
all of these things happened inthe past.
(12:57):
I must have hurt someone indifferent life, I must have been
bankrupt, I must have all thesemoney problems or relationship
problems, and a part of me me isactually.
I've always said to them I waslike okay, if we look at this
life alone and all the yearsyou've been on this planet and
all the experiences in this life, you still don't understand in
what world does it make sensefor you to pile on every single
previous life you have had intothis one?
(13:19):
We don't even understand thisone you've been in, never mind
any previous one.
So where does that end if youkeep coming back?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Well, to be fair, for a lot of people on the journey,
they think that the past life,regression or finding out about
a past life, is going to helpthem understand this life a
whole lot more.
I can say that because I'vestudied it so deeply and I
thought it would help meunderstand, and some of it did.
But I can be really honest withyou In terms of the alcoholism
(13:48):
you know, with that theory thatI had at a very young age.
Perhaps that's very true, butreally the main thing it would
give me, like if I really cameinto this world because I had
never worked through myalcoholism in another lifetime.
The difference that makes isperhaps maybe I could have some
more compassion, alcoholism inanother lifetime.
The difference that makes isperhaps maybe I could have some
more compassion for me in thislifetime and perhaps some
(14:12):
awareness that all right if thatwere true, which we can't prove
, but I believed it to be trueand I still believe it to be
true.
If I'm very honest with you, itmeans okay, didn't get it then
might be a good idea to get ahandle on it now, and so that is
(14:33):
a positive, beneficial use ofhaving that belief, and there's
quite a few examples of that inmy life.
But then there's some otherexamples in my life where I say
I had this past life regressionand something came up in that
past life regression and Igrabbed hold of it because it
fit the belief I wanted to haveabout another person and I hung
(14:57):
on to that for dear life.
Okay, did any of that come tofruition?
No, no, was it meant to?
Probably not.
But it hit an ideal for me atthat time in my life that I
really wanted to believe and ittook me down that path.
So I have had both experiencesand all that did and not just
(15:21):
singular ones quite a few ofthat in that time frame when I
was really exploring it, that Istarted to go okay, I still
believe in reincarnation and ifpeople do have memories of a
past life when they come intothis life and I can say that
with my daughter, some of thethings she said to me at a very
young age were way beyond whatwas going on in this world for
(15:43):
her in this age.
But as I said to her, you knowwhat, right here, right now, I'm
the mom and you're the daughter, and so we must deal with it in
this timeframe.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Because I don't disagree when people have those
experiences or say that thathappened or they went back that
far.
But I keep coming back to thepractical and practical
spirituality.
Yes, I'm happy you have thoseexperiences and you have those
memories and that's great.
But if we can't explore thislife and make sense of it in
(16:17):
this life, that in order to helpyou understand what's going on,
why it's happening, the journey, it can be a catalyst to hide,
as we were both talking about.
And that's where, when we talkabout weaponizing even this idea
of reincarnation, it can be abeautiful thing.
It can have a lot of purpose,it can have a lot of reasoning
if you are pulled towardsexploring it as part of your
(16:40):
spiritual journey.
Because, as we often talk about,not everyone is.
I personally wasn't and not Iwasn't meant to, whereas for you
it was the opposite over theyears.
But doesn't mean you wouldexplore it the same way today as
you did before.
So that's where it'sfascinating, and you and I will
never come on here and say thatanyone is wrong in having the
age they have and what they haveor haven't explored, new age,
(17:05):
any version of spirituality orany religion.
it's very easy to hide behind itand to avoid the stuff going on
present day or the stuff'sgoing on in the inside world or
in the external world.
And that's the parts ofspirituality that I love to
challenge because I'm like inwhat ways are we actually hiding
?
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Well, exactly, exactly.
And it's hard because it is afascinating subject, and
especially if you've just walkedinto this realm and you're just
learning about it, and you itwas like for me, and so, of
course, I was searching formeaning as to why all of these
things were happening to me.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
But what we're also not taught is that there's a
very fine line between healingand hiding.
Yes, that's very true, and I'mnot saying that's any of our
fault, but it's like you couldsay the same about getting
involved into a good fictionbook.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I love that too.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, it has its place in the world, and it can
be very healing to get suckedinto that world and get lost in
the characters, but then ifthere's 10 days of work or stuff
that we're avoiding in ourlives or a bad breakup or trauma
, then it's hiding.
There can be elements ofhealing because we both we both
know it's not black and whiteand what we're saying it's that
(18:32):
we're never taught and it's veryeasy to convince ourselves that
it's healing when it's actuallyhiding true.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
It's very easy to convince ourself of that when
you're at that stage ofsearching for meaning.
If there's something that isgoing, you can latch on to.
And just because I'm sayinglatch on to doesn't mean I'm
saying it's right or wrong,because I did latch on to it for
a long time and there was partsof it that were very healing
for me.
(18:58):
But, as I said at the verybeginning, there were a lot of
parts that I used to hide from.
I used it as a weapon, which isnot helpful either to use it as
a weapon.
And then we haven't even begunto to cover that karma fact of
well, I I'm living this lifebecause, you know, I must have
(19:20):
done something really bad inanother lifetime and please
don't pull me into karmaconversation I'm not gonna pull
you into the the conversation,but that's part of the
reincarnation conversationbecause that is what I
said for a long time man, Idon't know what I did in the
last few lives, but it must havebeen pretty damn bad for me to
(19:41):
be doing what I'm dealing withnow.
Yeah, having said that, havingsaid that, and I really want to
go into how I used it to stay invictim I didn't know I was
doing that, as anyone does whenthey're going through it, having
that thought process andexploring reincarnation, and
(20:02):
exploring, doing the differentpast life regressions.
I never came out of a past liferegression with a man.
I had a freaking fantastic life.
Because what I'm starting tounderstand now and not well, I
guess, starting to understand,because understanding it all is
(20:23):
you know, we talk aboutperception, and perception is
based on all of our beliefs andexperiences that have already
happened to us.
So even when we go back to do apast life regression, we are
still holding those beliefs.
So if I had a belief from earlychildhood that I had been
persecuted, what do you want tobet?
(20:43):
That almost every past liferegression I did, in some form
or another, I was persecuted.
That's just what happened forme, and I'm not saying that's
what happens for everybody, butthat it's based on my perception
, because I'm here trying tounderstand what's happening in
this lifetime, so it's going toshow up wherever I'm looking.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, let's take a step back from this week's
episode and share with everyonewhat we've been up to behind the
scenes.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
We're really excited to be able to finally offer the
Gareth Michael community to eachof you.
The community offers a range ofbenefits, including access to
our live events, weekly podcastepisodes, articles,
self-checking questions, as wellas a community of individuals
you can connect with andinteract with along the way.
It's designed to offer yousupport, guidance and a safe
(21:37):
space on a day-to-day basis.
We'd love to have you join ourglobal community of like-minded
individuals.
That website address, again, iswwwgarethmichaelcom.
Now let's get back to thatepisode, shall we?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
And again, I think that's where it's interesting,
because it's such a fine line,as we've been talking about.
People dip their toe in and outof it on the journey, as
they're meant to be exposed to,and that brings you on your own
unique spiritual path.
But, as I said, it's very easyto get caught up into it and
(22:16):
completely sometimes lose trackof the importance of this life
and the stuff you've beenthrough in this life.
And that's where I find thatit's a gray area and can be a
very confusing thing to navigate.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You know, if you do get caught up in it and I quite
honestly own I did get caught upin it and I don't see that as a
bad thing.
Obviously that was part of myspiritual contract, because I
wasn't ready to move forward andso therefore I got distracted
into this form of exploration,which I learned a whole lot
(22:51):
about a bunch of differentreligions and a bunch of
different philosophies, and Ilearned even though I was
calling it past life a lot aboutmyself.
Real growth came when I stoppedtrying to use it as well.
(23:11):
This is the reason I am the waythat I am, or this is why I
can't get ahead, or this is whyI keep attracting these men into
my life.
No, that's not why that'shappening.
When I sit here today and I'mwilling to look at what's going
on for me today and look at thepatterns and look at the belief
systems and understand what Ihaven't explored and learned
about myself in those moments,that's when those things start
(23:35):
to shift, not because Iunderstand what happened one
lifetime, 10 lifetimes, 50lifetimes ago.
I'm not going to lie.
I'm hoping with what I'velearned in this lifetime.
I am in the 12th house.
I'm not going to lie about that.
That hope is still there and aswhen people ask me about it not
going to lie about that thathope is still there.
(23:56):
And as, when people ask meabout it, they go.
What do you believe?
And I go.
Honestly, I think it's sopersonal for every single person
.
Can I verify anything thathappened for me?
I can only verify what it feltlike for me in those moments.
Have I ever literallyconsciously died and came back
and am able to give you proof?
No, I don't have proof of that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
We have an exclusive on the podcast for Kim and Jill
from Michael.
She has another few lives to go.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Oh no, say it isn't true.
I'm hanging on to the 12thhouse, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
As you were saying, it is part of the journey of
being here, especially whenyou've grown up potentially in
religious households and youstart exploring New Age and
different versions ofspirituality and even different
religions.
It really opens up your entireworld of possibility and you can
see how it gives so much hopefrom past lives to life is
(25:03):
infinite, of many lives to comeand you know it even takes less
pressure off this life of havingget everything right
infectionism like I can see thepros and cons and everything in
between of why it can be such ahealthy thing to explore and I
think it's very hard to sayotherwise.
I do think, especially when youcome from a religious
(25:26):
background that was sorestrictive and limiting and
then you get exposed to this, ofhow infinite it is, as I
mentioned, and I think it canhave a positive effect in our
day-to-day lives of not takingourselves so seriously.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yes, and, like you said, such a fine line, because
when you are immature or youhave not worked through a lot of
your stuff, you're going totake it for the same reasons
that I took it.
And now, as I have started togrow and I do say started to
grow because I know it's acontinuous journey of growth I
would love to say I'm there, Iknow I'm not.
(26:00):
As you mature and you go, okay,there is some really great
qualities.
There is that hope of you know,for so long I was so driven
that I had to figure it all out.
I had to get it right Becauseof the 12th house theory.
From a young age, I'm like Ireally need to get it all right
(26:20):
in this lifetime so I don't haveto do this again.
I'm sure a few people out therecan relate to that.
However, instead of viewing itas a punishment of coming back
if that's how you're viewing it,how I did- instead of viewing
it as that.
Yeah, I still do, if I'm honest.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Let's be honest.
Okay, I'll be honest.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
I do think if I have to come back it's a punishment,
but it does start to help metake the pressure off getting it
right.
You know like it's like if I'mreally honest it goes oh okay, I
can't possibly get it all 100%in this lifetime and I'm not
(27:10):
going to probably remember it ifI have to come back anyway.
So there's a bit of reliefright there.
It does give you hope and itcan be very beneficial because
if you have been driven by thatidea that you must get it all
right, then knowing that youdon't have to, that we're just
(27:32):
here, all exploring and growingregardless.
There is no right or wrong,it's just the growth is what it
is.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
You can also see how someone could take it that.
So all this life is about isabout continuously filling up
past lives.
That doesn't sound fun.
No, yeah, no, it's kind of likewhat about everything in this
life?
And then am I going to beweighed down by that for the
rest of my life?
So that's where, course, havingthe right influence by the
right teachers, the rightmaterial and finding that fine
(28:02):
line becomes so important.
And that comes with thematurity, as you're saying, life
experience, the material.
There's a lot of things thathave to click into place, but
that can only be done throughexploring it yourself.
So that's why, as we talkedabout earlier, we can't say
what's right and what's wrong,but you do know what, what sits
with yourself.
But there is that I want to say,spiritual reality, that
(28:23):
throughout this life, if we wantto put our hands up and be
honest, we've all usedspirituality in some way to run
from reality.
And I think that's what'sreally interesting.
Just to ask thatself-reflection question In what
ways am I aware of today?
In my past, we use spiritualityas a way to hide from reality,
and sometimes, when we'reexploring it, we actually need
(28:45):
to do that at times in order tofind that line between healing
and hiding, because I thinkthat's a part of growing and
exploring as well, as we are onthis journey, and that is why we
have to be open-minded aboutany of these kind of topics or
areas to explore in spiritualitybecause, at the end of the day,
any of them do redirect youback to yourself.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yes, absolutely, when we have that idea, that that is
what some of the awarenessesare, when you look at it without
weaponizing it, that it doeslead you back to yourself, and
so we don't have to continue toavoid self, because there's so
many things that are happeningin this lifetime as we are
(29:26):
growing.
I call it the shiny bobblesyndrome.
A shiny bobble comes and goes.
Oh well, that might be thewhole reason I'm going through
all of this, so I'm going to goexplore all of this, which I
wholeheartedly support.
I do support us exploring allof these concepts that we bring
(29:47):
up, because it brought arichness to my life.
You know like, okay, so one ofthe ways when I was exploring it
, we talked about in one of thetheories they talk about, you
have a soul family, and thatsoul family is a group of souls
that agree to come together invarious lifetimes and show up in
different ways.
(30:07):
Well, that brought me a lot ofcomfort.
It was like, oh, these peoplethat I love to hate so much in
my lifetime are really goodfriends of mine on a different
level that have agreed to showup to help me, and so there's a
level of comfort in that, and soI think there's so much that
out there to explore about it.
It's just not letting itdistract you from coming back to
(30:30):
.
But what does this mean for me?
What does this mean about myown personal growth in this
moment?
And if some of it has broughtyou comfort or insight, and so
for me, it has given me a lot ofconnection.
Do I have to know who thesepeople were in other lifetimes?
No, I don't.
But it does bring me comfortthat the people that have joined
(30:52):
me on this journey are peoplethat on some level I've been
familiar with before, and that'sokay but I think that's where
it's interesting say how, whenwe talk about reincarnation
versus, say, in previousepisodes, we talked about
spiritual contracts, right?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
is there any way that you and I can verify that we
all have a spiritual contract?
nope, no but is that what's madethe most sense for us on this
journey, when we've talked abouta lot over the years and we've
explored it and brought us themost peace and etc.
Etc.
Yeah, that's what currentlyworks for us and where we are in
this time in our lives, right?
So you're going to times thatout, though, about how many
different spiritualunderstandings around the globe?
(31:29):
Yes, but this is why it's thatwhen we any of us are sat with
our own spiritual understandingsand beliefs, I want them that
we can continue to grow fromthose beliefs and that they're
not limiting us, that wecontinue to grow with them and
challenge us for the rightreasons.
And, as I said earlier, we'veall been through those
experiences and probably stillare, in some ways of weaponizing
(31:50):
our spiritual beliefs, to hidefrom our fears, because we
talked about in previousepisodes, a part of our journey
on this planet is to have thesefears, and when fears are
presented, what's our go-to isto want to hide, but we're not
always that familiar of howwe're hiding and when we're
hiding because we want to getcreative and how we do that.
So, but life will always haveus challenge these different
(32:10):
spiritual beliefs.
It'll have us bring in new ones, but it always allows us to
question our lives in our ownunique ways, in a new way every
single time.
But as you said earlier and aswe often talk about, it's all
growth and it brings it back toourselves.
So reincarnation is justanother stepping stone in that
(32:31):
process, and whether you dipyour toe in or you dive your
whole body in, yeah neither isright or wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
It's just part of the experience of understanding
self yes it is, and my conceptof it now, as opposed to what it
was before.
When I first started learningabout reincarnation and started
exploring it for me, I was deadset on writing the wrongs of the
past.
And then it was like, well,wait a minute, I don't even know
(33:01):
for sure what those are, so howcan I write the wrongs?
But I can start to turn that in.
So what are the wrongs in thislifetime for me, which then will
influence what happens as I'mgrowing and going through life?
But that took quite a while forme to get to that.
So I thought it was like, oh,this is my script that I have to
(33:25):
correct so that I can have thehappy life.
But as I explored it more andmore and more, I'm like, oh, no,
that has nothing to do withthis life.
It's interesting.
And you know I'm going to bereally honest.
I still believe that, yes, Ipossibly was an alcoholic in
another lifetime and when I cameinto this lifetime, my body had
(33:48):
a huge reaction to alcohol.
Can I prove that?
No, has it helped me?
Yeah, it has helped me, becauseevery time people go oh, surely
it's been 40 years now you canhave a drink.
Well, actually no, I can't, no,I can't, and I'm okay with that
(34:12):
.
I don't feel like I'm missinganything, because there's been
growth and a lesson, and it'snot something I need in my life
anymore.
So from that aspect, it can bevery helpful, but, like we said,
we don't want to get caught upin it so that we're actually
avoiding today and who we areand the people who are here
today whether they're related toother lifetimes or not they're
the ones you're on the journeywith now, and some people get so
(34:36):
caught up in it that theyexclude the people that are in
their life now, and so that'swhen it becomes a bad thing.
If you're into exploring it,there's a lot of fascinating
books out there on the subject.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Life is very complex.
There's lots of layers.
There's mind, body, emotion,soul.
There's past, present, future.
There's a lot to talk about andexplore, and within any of
those departments within us,each of these parts of
spirituality exists for a reasonbecause I think they ask you to
explore yourself, each in avery different way.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
We're never going to be against any of these topics,
especially when they ask you toask more questions about
yourself.
What's not to love about that?
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Exactly, exactly.
My final note on this subjectis you know, in some ways it did
bring me it has brought me alot of comfort in different
areas.
Even after I weaponized it,even after I used it to hide,
even after I used it as anexcuse, I went through all those
phases, exactly like I did withaddiction, to get to that point
(35:41):
of, oh okay, that's what I wasmeant to get from that.
It was just something else thatI was using not to be here.
And where my real growth ishere is in this moment, because
I'm living in this moment and so, as I'm here exploring that,
sure, these things areinteresting and fine and have
(36:03):
brought me comfort and growth.
So what's happening now?
You know, where do I want to gowith it now?
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah, because I know this isn't our usual topic that
we explore when it comes to aspiritual podcast.
Yeah, because I know this isn'tour usual topic that we explore
when it comes to a spiritualpodcast.
I think it's still veryimportant to you because it's a
lot of people's reality.
As you said, with yourexperience in the areas of your
life and past lives that youexplored, you can see present
(36:30):
day how it all played a part inKim understanding herself and me
understanding myself.
So, as we talked about manytimes in this episode, we're
never going to argue withsomeone exploring it, especially
if it allows them to questionmore about themselves and even
find peace within themselves inthe most unique ways.
So just continue to question,continue to explore, continue to
inform yourself and just pleasedo it safely.
I agree.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Thanks so much for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode,then you might want to check out
our online community.
We built it to offer you thecomfort of having a supportive
community by your side, nomatter where life takes you.
Connect with like-mindedindividuals through our app.
Navigate each step of thejourney together with us by
(37:15):
joining our Gareth Michaelcommunity.
Here are a few of the thingsyou're going to get.
Thank you, gareth, and I Inputinto what topics we cover in the
show Access to exclusivecontent not available anywhere
(37:39):
else.
To learn more about ourcommunity, please go to
wwwgarethmichaelcom.
Thanks again, and I hope youguys are having a lovely week.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.