A young woman with a severe case of psoriasis came into my office for a past-life regression to determine if the source of her skin condition was rooted in a previous life.  In her regression, she saw herself as a prostitute in the Old West. When we got to her death scene—often the place where the next life’s scenario is set up—I asked what were her last thoughts as her soul left her body. Her response? “I don’t want to be touched anymore.” The Universe obviously heard her request because in her current life, she has a skin condition that discourages others from touching her! This is the quintessential example of physical karma in action.

The concept that present day maladies may be rooted in a previous life is not new.  Edgar Cayce, the most renowned psychic of the 20th century and the father of holistic medicine, conducted hundreds of life readings in which his Source cited an incident or an attitude in a previous life as the source of a present-day chronic condition.  This included a blind man who, in a previous life, had blinded his enemies with a hot poker. 

C. Norman Shealy, M.D., PhD, one of the world’s leading experts in holistic medicine, weighed in on this issue as well when he said: “In my experience all significant illnesses/accidents, etc. in this life are the result of unfinished business from a previous life.” 

And closer to home there was Dr. Ian Stevenson, whose research unearthed evidence that suggested that physical, as well as emotional conditions, could be transferred from one lifetime to another. His landmark work with children drew special attention to birthmarks.

To add to that research, I conducted a year-long past-life study on volunteers who were suffering from such issues as arthritis; liver and kidney disease; weight and digestive concerns; diabetes; heart disease; sexual dysfunction; alcohol and drug additions; foot/leg/back pain; mental disorders and head pain. Many of them had sought traditional treatments to no avail. 

Through past-life regression, supplemented by soul writing, most went back to an unfamiliar lifetime where they uncovered a scenario that not only logically answered why they were dealing with a particular physical issue in this life, but in the majority of cases, improved or healed that condition.  Twenty-three of those sessions are outlined in my new book, Karma Can Be a Real Pain: Past Life Clues to Current Day Maladies.

In the end, what is the value of this work? Author Mary Ann Woodward, who wrote Scars of the Soul: Holistic Healing in the Edgar Cayce Readings, sums it up best. “The concept of karma provides a logical explanation for many of our physical ailments and defects. Perhaps we could more readily accept, and would no longer resent, our bodily diseases and imperfections if we understood that these conditions, or ‘weaknesses in the flesh,’ were self-imposed by the Higher Self so that the soul could learn a needed lesson and thereby free itself of previously committed errors.”