What I like to do when I have discovered a past life, is to write as much about it as possible then try to find 3 other means to validate that information. Either through readings, regressions and or research about the person's life. Until I have confirmation, the life I discovered through meditation doesn't get into my permanent journal.
Why find your past lives?
Sometimes people are just curious about where they were, what they did and what happened to them. But there are many things you can learn about yourself from previous lifetimes about how the past affects your spiritual purpose in this lifetime, what karma you have brought into this embodiment, or why you do some of the things you do now. Sometimes you can address issues you have in this life, by understanding why you do those things, or why you're facing certain issues or events but you have to find it first.
How to find your past lives.
You will need to induce spiritual sanctuary meditation first. This is a prerequisite to this meditation.
A spiritual sanctuary is your place in the ether (the divine realm) where you can go to perform your spiritual work. It is the door way, or some call it the library of your akashic records (the files of your past lives). For those who don't want to pay for a past life regression, or past life reading, a past life meditation is the answer.
Past Life Guided Meditation
Since this is a special meditation, you may want to prepare your meditation space in a special way. Add a few ritualistic events, such as lighting a white candle and saying a prayer stating your intent for this meditative session. Some people like to decorate their meditative space with a spiritual symbol, a Celtic cross, Ankh, pentacle, or other symbols to add to the spiritual significance of this meditation.
Once you are all set and prepared, this is what you do. Take your time, try to imagine as much detail as possible. Don't second guess what you have seen or experienced. Just accept it and go with the flow. Don't try to connect with more than one past life at a time. This is something you can do over and over, so get the most out of each session as you can.
The biggest part to any guided meditation is to not go into them with any preconceived idea of what you will find.
Find a piece of music you really like for meditation and stick with it. If you use the same piece each time you meditate, you will pre-program your mind to step into a state of relaxation. Each time you practice, your mind will move into this state with less effort and more quickly, allowing you more time for greater meditative work. My personal favorite piece is called "Ascension to All That Is" by Robert Slap.
Past Life Meditation
Sit in a comfortable position, one that you can sustain for about 30-45 minutes.
Close your eyes and take in a deep cleansing breath. Fill your lungs to their maximum capacity. Then release the breath through your mouth and push all the air out of your body. Take in 3 deep breaths through the nose, imagine the white light from the universe coming into your lungs and collecting at your solar plexus.
With each exhalation, imagine all the stress, anxiety and negativity you have leaving your body carried out to the universe on a gray smoke where it can be dissipated and no longer do harm to anyone. As you exhale, imagine the events of the day or week floating out of your body. Put these worries aside and begin to relax your entire body and mind. Feel the tension in your muscles begin to subside. Begin at your solar plexus and imagine the white light moving up and down your body from this point. Imagine the warmth of the energy as it passes through your muscles and organs. Feel the tingling sensation as the light moves down to your toes and up your body to the top of your head. Imagine your entire body engulfed by this white divine light, from the inside out.
Say a prayer once more asking your guides and teachers to come to you and to help with the purpose of this mediation. State your intention clearly and ask the great spirits (your God/Goddess) to help you with your meditative journey, don't forget to thank them up front for their efforts.
This step takes a little practice, don't worry if you can't do this for any extended period of time, but at least give it a try. Keep your eyes closed, but look up towards the middle of your forehead, just above the brow (this is considered to be the position of your third eye and is therefore the gateway to higher conscious realms). Try to keep your eyes focused on this point. The muscles around your eyes may become sore as you stretch them upward, so don't over do this at first. As you practice, this step will become easier a to do.
As you focus on your third eye imagine your at the base of a tunnel, dimly lit and slanted upward. Imagine your astral body (or your soul) standing up from your physical body and begin to walk towards and into the tunnel. See the lights on the walls and the texture of the floor as you walk through the tunnel. Imagine yourself moving upward.
Just a head of you, about 100 yards, you see a set of glass doors and through those doors you can see a brilliant white light. You feel in your heart that this is the light of the universal consciousness, of the Divine. A feeling of peace, calm, protection and knowledge fills your insides. With each step closer, you feel more relaxed and at peace, you feel uplifted and connected to this universal energy.
As you approach the doors, they automatically open and invite your soul into this realm of enlightenment. Beyond the doors your spiritual sanctuary awaits.
Go inside, sit in the center of your sanctuary. State your purpose for this visit to your spiritual sanctuary. It will be important for you to ask your spirit guide to come and help you during this session. Tell them what you need and how you would like them to help you.
When you're ready imagine yourself (your higher self) conducting a spiritual meditation. Feel yourself becoming more relaxed, going deeper into your spiritual realm. Imagine seeing and feeling your higher self, taking in the cleansing breaths and this time, imagine your spiritual body rising out of your higher self body.
Your spiritual body floats through your sanctuary to a bookcase you hadn't noticed before. Each book on the case is a volume of a past life. There could be hundreds, thousands or more. How many are there, isn't important. See and feel your spiritual body moving to the book case and taking one volume off the shelf. As you carry the book back to the center of the room, see your spirit merge back into the image of your higher self . Once you have rejoined these two energy bodies, imagine your higher self opening your eyes (don't open your eyes in reality, you are seeing your higher self in your sanctuary. This type of visualization helps to keep you in a deep meditation which is needed to access your personal akashic records).
As your higher self looks at the book take note of its' cover. What it's made of, are there any decorations, or lettering on the cover. When you're ready, open the book and examine the pages. What do you see? Turn each page and read about yourself, or see the various images of yourself in a past life. Make a mental note about what you see so you can bring it back with you.
When you have concluded your visit, make sure you thank your guides and or God(s) for their help.
Imagine yourself approaching your sanctuary entry way, sitting on a pedestal by the door is a small object. Pick it up and examine it. Make note of what it is, place it in your pocket and then leave.
Pass through the glass doors and heading back down to your meditative space. Imagine your soul walking through the door to your room, and seeing your physical body right where you left it. As your soul steps back inside your physical body, all the visions sensations and answers you received merge with your physical brain and are automatically stored into your conscious mind.
Take in a deep breath, begin to feel your body, become more and more aware of your surroundings, have a nice long and hard stretch, then open your eyes.
Record Your Experience
The last thing you should do before you get up from your meditative spot is to record this event either on tape or in a journal. It's important to do it right away while the images, feelings and sounds are still clear in your mind. Record as much detail as you remember. Don't try to decipher images or figure out significant connections until you're done. Make note of what you saw, then go back and think about why it was there for you.
When you've recorded the detail, think about how this lifetime you discovered affects this current embodiment. Re-read what you wrote and you'll find a lot of hidden meanings that you didn't notice when you were writing or when you were in your sanctuary. Try to include names, places, cloths, feelings (that's important), what you feel the purpose of that lifetime is in this embodiment. All these things you should be able to get from reading your book.
The last thing you want to record is the description of the object by the door. This was your gift to you for your visit. And will tell you something about your experience in the sanctuary for this particular journey. It's a nice way to give yourself a message each time you enter the structure. So you might want to do this every time you leave.
Good luck, and don't worry if you can't accomplish this the first time. Don't be hard on yourself. Just keep practicing.