How to Deal with Children's Past Life Memories
Remembering a Previous Lifetime is Common Among Young Children
Jun 20, 2009
Young children between ages 2 and 4, sometimes talk of what could be a past life. Children's accounts of past lives is relatively common and a normal part of childhood.
Children may recount details about previous family members, events in a past life, or the way they died in the other life. In most cases, the memories of the past life are not retained into adulthood.
Researchers at the University of Virginia have compiled over 2,500 cases of children that report having lived another life.
Psychological Test Results of Children Reporting Previous Lifetimes
Tests on children, that recount past lives, do not indicate mental illness or any abnormality. Dr. Jim B. Tucker of the University of Virginia and his colleague Dr. Don Nidiffer conducted some studies on the mental health of children reporting past life memories.
The researchers found no evidence of psychological problems. It was also confirmed that these children were not more suggestible than the other children.
Tips for Parents whose Children Report Past Life Memories
When parents hear children talk of what could be a past life, they are unsure how to respond. Parents could follow the following tips to help their children lead a normal childhood.
- Empathize with the child - Empathizing with the child that talks about memories of another life, helps build trust between the parent and the child. It also helps the child be at peace with the information that's unraveled.
- Don't ask pointed questions - Pointed questions could confuse the child and lead him to make up answers.
- Gently encourage the child to talk more - Open-ended questions like, "Is there anything else you want to say?", work well with children.
- Maintain a journal - Writing down what the child says about a past life, could help identify a particular deceased individual, if that's the desired course.
- Don't be alarmed at the child's account of death - Parents get more upset if the child talks about death or dying. Its helpful to remember that the child is safe in his present life.
- Don't lose sight of the present life - The present life is always more important. Children often find it easier than their parents to move on with their childhood, while recognizing that the past is only a memory.
The most important thing for parents to do, when children talk of memories beyond the present life, is to trust the child. While the memories of past life might fade as the child gets older, the parent-child bond fostered by the experience of sharing an after-life memory, might be a lasting one.
Related Reading
To learn more about evidence based research on past life and reincarnation, also read Scientific Evidence Could Point to Reincarnation.
Source:
- Life Before Life - A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives, Jim B. Tucker, M.D.
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