Hypnosis, regression and a girl....

Well! Last night I did something that I have wanted to do for years - I was "taken under" (not sure of correct term) Past Life Regression hypnosis. How fascinating. For years I have had a keen interest in past life stories and indeed have a strong belief in re-incarnation, but I never found anyone who could take me through this. Anyway, during a chance conversation with a friend I found that he was trained to use regression hypnosis within his role at a palliative care hospice and part of his training did involve past life regression (although not much call for that on the NHS!). Unfortunately for him I think I may have backed him into a corner with my enthusiasm and he agreed to try it with me.
Having intrigued my facebook friends with a teasing build up to the session - I sat down with him last night as he explained any of the risks involved - might not work, might be distressing etc - but ultimately I would be in control. He explained the expectations arising from experiences of watching hypnosis as entertainment and that each person has a uniqueness as to how they achieve and experience total relaxation - which is what is needed in order to reach the subconscious mind.
Having banished husband upstairs with dog and endeavoured total freedom from distraction I got comfortable and we started.
At first it was like any usual relaxation session - noting awareness and then gently letting go (no dangling watches and "you are feeling sleepy" - bit disppointing!).
Then some visualisation techniques. There were times when I did feel detached and "in tune" and others where I couldn't stop my conscious mind interfering (especially as dog kept coming to the closed - glazed-door to see what was going on). Subsequently it is really really hard to say whether what I felt was real or whether I made it up!!
I found it hard to "see" anything - I expected to be in a film of one of my previous lives with clear images and sounds. What I did experience was a 'sense' of something, an inner knowledege of what was happening. I was aware of questions being asked and sometimes I had clear answers and at other times I had no answer (so if I was making it up wouldn't I have answers ready for all questions??). So, ultimately, what I "experienced" was a very short period in the life and death of a 15 year old, black female. My first experience was "freedom" being totally alone with sensation of being near caves and sand. This soon turned to "alone" and "sad" as I believed it felt as though I had been abandoned and left to die. Her death came not long after, again alone and sad - sensing of a death from starvation/dehydration. Stereotypically I did experience a tunnel with light (bit disappointed about that actually). But what was interesting is that whilst I find it hard to visualise images - I have a strong pull to colours which may represent or symbolise something - not sure what yet!
I was brought back to full awareness and we then sat chatting for a while and sharing the experiences of the session - really useful and interesting.
We are going to continue with another session next week to give me chance to practice the skill of total relaxation - still excited even though it wasn't totally what I thought it would be.