The Human Three-Body Problem & Why Regressions Unfold Differently

Past Life Regression Through the Lens of Autobiography of a Yogi

As explained by Sri Yukteswar and recorded by his student Paramahansa Yogananda in chapter 43 of Autobiography of a Yogi (1946 & 1998): Unfulfilled desires keep us locked into form, which consists of three bodies: causal, astral, and physical. The causal identifies with ideas. The subtle astral is the seat of our mental and emotional nature.

“The mere presence of a body signifies that its existence is made possible by unfulfilled desires.” And desire is “the adhesive force by which all three bodies are held together.”

Kriya Yoga teaches transcendence through meditation. Yet as both a meditator and a regressionist, I’ve been keen to understand if and how transformation through hypnosis maps to this model – be it the goal of my client to find safety in the body, break a habit, explore personal galactic history, shift a self-concept, or find help regulating the nervous system.

Many of my client sessions present experiences and outcomes that cascade across these three layers to varying degrees, yet they still find a center point. Let’s go a bit deeper into the three-body model before we get into the details of regressive hypnosis.

Sri Yukteswar elucidates that "In the wakeful state on earth a human being is conscious more or less of his three vehicles:”

• Tasting, smelling, touching, listening, or seeing, is principally done through the physical body.

• Visualizing or willing engages the astral body.

• The causal body expresses when we think or dive deeply into introspection or meditation.

• And “cosmical thoughts of genius” are said to arrive to those who make habitual contact with their causal body.

Sri Yukteswar further clarifies that egotism and sensory pleasure bind us to the physical plane, while vibrational enjoyment of paradise tethers us to the vivid astral plane. The ecstasy of instant manifestation maintains our connection to the causal thought-world, a “blissful realm of ideas” where we “stand on the borderline of fusion between mind and matter.” Each of these three bodies ultimately creates a veil of separation from Source.

Within this framework, we continue to incarnate across these three planes until our desire for experience is transcended, not by avoidance or bypass, but through wisdom over ignorance. Liberation occurs when the soul frees itself from all forms, as has the soul of Sri Yukteswar. 

Physically oriented regressions

While this would be a rather uncommon experience to have start to finish, here’s how a client might experience a regression that starts with predominantly physical orientation:

• “I’m just here in my body. It feels unusually heavy. My arms are starting to tingle.”

• There’s no imagery or storyline.

• There is no identity shift or archetypal insight.

• “I feel a pressure on my chest, like someone is pressing on top me.”

• The hypnosis is “working” but at the level of nerve, muscle, breath.

• The session is unfolding at the most appropriate level for the nervous system.

Physical plane work generally feels concrete rather than emotional or archetypal. Even if a session begins or ends with a physical body focus, I often see it unfold into other layers, like emotion, astral journey, and possibly inner breakthrough that can lead to lasting identity shifts.

A session that introduces physical aspects to an already astral journey may sound like this:

• “I feel dense energy leaving my body.”

• “My whole body feels lighter.”

• “I feel like something is activating in my hands.”

To ground this in baseline, here’s one example of a client who experienced largely astral journeys, but for whom the physical sensations of his sessions stood out most:

One experience began with a spontaneous and vividly colorful journey through his body, reminding him consciously that his body is a living intelligence rather than an object. In another instance, he tapped into his parents’ wedding day, which occurred long before his birth on the material plane. As this sequence unfolded he and I both experienced a palpable energetic shift in the room where we were working – five years later he can still access this profound sensation of absolute surprise and the prickliness of goosebumps on his body.

In the experience his mother transmitted one telepathic message when he looked into her eyes: You’re okay. Everything is okay. Here a shift in awareness occurred through relational and emotional safety.

Another experience focused purely on relief from inflammation symptoms held by one side of his physical body, as his nervous system reorganized to the information bubbling up from within. No past lives were ever shown. He felt physical sensation in the body throughout the sessions and reported physical relief. The emotional spike that centered on the meeting with his mother, and the vividness of her young face, are two aspects of the work that he reports he can still resurface at any time and with ease.

This series of journeys moved through embodiment to reassurance to release. First, he was shown, “I feel and inhabit this intelligent body.” Next, “we never die; everything is okay.” And finally, “I no longer need to carry old baggage.”

Depending on factors like a client’s nervous system state, safety or structure will precede subtlety, meaning a person’s inner intelligence will prioritize a session rich with feeling sensation in the body. If on-going integration is desired, a natural arc of progression for clients who start with the physical may lead to emotional meaning (astral) then on to the surfacing of an archetypal pattern (causal), or, it may continue to be a mix. One is not better than the others; it’s a matter of inner prioritization.

Astral oriented regressions: Experiencing an emotional pattern or relational truth

When you think of the astral plane, you might associate it with out-of-body experiences (OBEs) or with channeling, in which questions are posed and personified beings appear to answer.

In an astral-focused hypnotic regression a client may report:

• Journey through different realms, often with some senses still engaged

• Regression or progression into experiences in other times and places

• A feeling of disconnect from or lack of awareness of their physical body

• Guide beings present, who are available to answer questions and offer guidance

• An unexpected profundity of emotion

Regressive journeys that focus here may arise because something that deeply matters to the client involves the need to understand an emotional truth, a repeat relational pattern, or memories held as feeling rather than story. A client’s inner intelligence may show symbolically, “this is what it feels like to be me.”

As you may have already discerned though metaphysical exploration, imagination is one interface of the astral body. And as you may have guessed, sometimes a causal knot loosens because the lower bodies are no longer demanding attention.

Causal oriented regressions: Dissolving association with loops

The causal plane is where no one answers, but all is known, recognized, and remembered. Causal body work has the potential to dissolve the inevitability of our loops.

Sri Yukteswar explains that he experienced complete liberation after having shed all three of his bodies. He reveals further to Yogananda, that he then chose to answer a Divine call to resurrect in the upper layer of the astral plane to help spiritually advanced beings graduate from their astral bodies into purely causal form.

As Sri Yukteswar ultimately states, "Man as an individualized soul is essentially causal-bodied." In my practice, clients ready for a primarily causal-level shift may experience a session less rooted in mystical or historical journey but more profoundly anchored in causal completion. These sessions may feel slower, gentler, with a clearer sense of in-session awareness of a larger theme. But again, there is more than one way to have the experience.

Causal-focused past life regression affects change at the level of orientation, which is understood to hold:

• Deeper karmic impressions—conclusions formed under pressure that continue to shape experience; regression can help bring them to awareness and weaken their hold.

• Archetypal templates—recurring roles such as the selfless helper or the always vigilant guardian, which can echo across lifetimes; regression may surface the original choice point that established the role, encouraging the release of vows associated with pattern repetition.

• Archetypal structures that predate personality—fundamental orientations of consciousness, such as the preference to move toward or away from experience; regression may indirectly surface the pattern, helping to reframe it from “I am this way” to “I have anchored in a preference for moving in this way.”

• Underlying causes of recurring themes—essentially the deeper “why” beneath experiences that loop; regression, again, can surface this level of insight.  

One client shared that her regression session gave her the clearest understanding yet of why her nervous system chronically braced during times of difficulty. She recognized the effects this pattern has had on her body over decades. With this awareness, practical steps toward loosening her identification with a central archetypal template — that perhaps has long influenced her life story — became more concrete. She messaged me recently to share her continued momentum.

While the old pattern may still arise, it has been made conscious, and this alone has the potential to dramatically loosen its grip, especially over time. It may help her reframe from “this is who I am” toward “this is the archetypal pattern I’ve been running.”

While some past life journeys may appear fully astral in nature, the astral body can serve as the medium through which the conscious mind will access the deeper archive of the causal body. It functions as the bridge to deeper causal material, expressed through symbol, archetype, and felt meaning. When approached this way, regression becomes less about literal revisiting of the past and more about anchoring in freeing oneself from the old ways of moving through the world. This can clear space for a more fully lived present life.

Another client who came to me for QHHT, a regressive session format that encourages Higher Self connection through direct question and answer, experienced a largely astral and causal session followed by a full-sensory experience of merging with an all-knowing aspect of self. And while I proceeded to ask the questions intended for this client’s Higher Self, the client explained that they had largely become a moot point. Knowing and being appeared held in one point of stillness, as I gathered from my client, who maintained a gentle, undissolving smile.  

When we work on the level of the causal body while incarnated in physical form, our awareness shifts from not knowing what drives repetition to consciously orienting toward completion. The aim is progress and unfoldment rather than perfection or karmic repetition. As loops close, the three bodies are said to thin, which allows the Higher Self –- my professional term, not Sri Yukteswar’s –- to express with less interference.

Regression work, from this perspective, helps to illuminate unresolved causal backlog, encouraging lasting transformation.

So, what are we to make of all of this?

My takeaway is: Don’t opt out. Give yourself permission to live so authentically that you leave nothing unfinished. Go on the adventure. Address the challenge. Have the experience. Allow for alone time. Be still. Meditate… Breathe. Go within yourself. Observe what you find inside. And always remember, at your core, you are limitless soul.

And when the call for deep transformation arises within you, remember that you have tools at your fingertips to transform at more fundamental levels of self.

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