Past life regression; a load of nonsense or a serious subject? There was only one way to find out - and that was for me to give it a go.

I like to think I am open-minded when it comes to things out-of-the-ordinary, but there is something about past life regression that scares me.

Part of me believes that what you see are images you have stored from past TV programmes; I mean, we all know how creative our subconscious can be.

Another part of me is intrigued - do you ever get that feeling that you are an old soul and have been there before?

And so I decided to give it a try. I had all the usual fears like discovering I was Jack the Ripper or someone of a similar nasty disposition, and I was concerned my brain would play tricks on me and that I wouldn't be the same afterwards.

For this reason alone it was essential I found someone I could completely trust. That person was Joanne Blah, a professionally trained hypnotherapist who has countless recognised qualifications in hypnotherapy.

And so my time had come. As I lay back on the big leather chair I closed my eyes and listened to Joanne as she began the relaxation technique.

Her voice was soft, gentle and easy to tune in to. The next minute I was envisaging myself floating on a cloud above the land.

Then it was time to walk down the imaginary steps toward the land and float deeper into hypnosis. This part wasn't all that difficult for me as I have a very vivid imagination! Each step I took I felt my whole body become heavier.

Now Joanne told me my body was becoming numb, then she asked me if I could feel anything on my hand. All I felt was a soft touch. Joanne asked me to open my eyes and look. I was shocked to see she had the skin on my hand clasped firmly between her fingernails. In fact she held it so tight it left a mark, but at the time all I felt was a vague sensation of someone touching my skin. This was proof of the wonders of hypnosis.

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