#18. I Had My Past Lives "Read" & It Was SO Weird!

That's gonna leave a mark.

"There might be more screaming than usual today, just wanted to give you guys a heads up. "

Debby works in the space next door to my office & gives amazing massages. She seems like a sweet midwestern lady, and she is... until you're on her table.I learned this first hand: I got into a fender bender last winter, causing me major headaches and neck pain. I started getting regular massages from Debby. They hurt like hell, but I felt a million times better after each session. The lady has a gift, which keeps people coming back like masochistic boomerangs. Every week, I can hear the same people screaming & swearing through the walls.I used to kind of laugh at them, but once I experienced her massages, I just send good juju their way.

In addition to massage, Debby does energy work.

She's tried Reiki on me (here's a brief synopsis from the most credible site ever, Wikipedia). As hokey as it sounds, there's something to it: one time, she lightly placed her hands on my right shoulder and my entire arm started tingling. It's hard to explain; try it sometime.Anyhow, last week, she popped her head into our office, stating there might be more noise than usual coming from next door. Intrigued, I pressed her for details. Turns out she had two healers joining her that day, including Master Tao Huang, a Taoist Monk healer and shaman (read more about him here).Tao specializes in Xin Le Qu, also known as the Meridian Dance, a healing technique that provides insight into your ancestral lineage. Basically, he identifies emotional wounds you've suffered in past lives and heals them. Debby mentioned he'd discovered some of her clients had been stoned to death, attacked by lions in the Serengeti, and witnessed their entire Native American village wiped out by a fire-- all in previous lives.

Now, I'm pretty skeptical of anything having to do with previous lives.

I mean, have you ever noticed no one seems to be anything ordinary in a "previous life"? You don't hear a lot of people claiming they were a baker who lived a good, long life and died of natural causes. But I digress.This whole thing sounded waaaay out there, so I told her that next time Tao comes into town, I'd consider signing up for a session. What could be scarier than having a perfect stranger summon up your ancestral emotional scars (which supposedly cause people to scream and cry!). Definitely outside of my comfort zone.Debby returned to our office at 1pm, telling me they had a no-show & wondering if I wanted to take the appointment. Sure, why not? I signed this agreement, then laid down on Debby's table.  "I understand that during these sessions bruises may occur as a result of pent up energies that are locked in corresponding pressure points that are ready to be released." Ah, excellent. Where do I sign?

What happened next is easily one of the strangest experience of my life.

Tao and another healer placed their hands on me. Immediately, Tao stated, "You're getting married in the next 6-12 months." Hmm. I'm not engaged, but there's been a lot of very specific talk of this betwixt my sweetheart and myself.Then he said, "The guy is 29 or 30, right?" True... The other healer blurted, "She's strong Tao, I think you need to dance with her."

Uh, what? No one said there would be dancing!

But with that, she sat down. With new age tribal music blaring, Tao started the dance. Here's the three-minute highlight reel from my 50-minute session.

Enjoy, cause it gets real weird.

I'm sure you have a few questions about that, so on to the FAQs:

How were you not laughing?

I was laughing so hard on the inside, but I didn't want to offend anyone (especially a shaman!), so I kept it under wraps. I did burst out a few times... for example, at one point he picked me up really quickly and I knocked that purple painting right off the wall with my face.

What is he doing?

I'm still not sure... but it has something to do with tapping into energy channels that run through your body.

OMG, did he just touch your crotch/boob/butt?

Uh, maybe. It was definitely was a personal space invasion, but didn't feel dirty at all, so I was fine with it.

What did you find out?

When our session was up, I felt relaxed, but confused. What was the point? I didn't have any moments where I found myself on the verge of tears or in dire need to scream. It struck me that maybe you'd need to be the kind of person "searching" for meaning in your life to fully take to the experience. I felt I'd been had. Then Tao started talking."You don't hesitate much, do you?" he said. I told him that was a pretty accurate statement. "You don't carry other people's crap with you." I pressed him on this and he explained that I don't let the pain and experiences from my "former lives" affect me in this one.He paused and said, "You had an important romantic relationship in high school, around 17-18, " he stated. "That relationship greatly affected you, in a positive way." True, and I owe a lot to that person and their family for showing me love during a time I needed it.Okay, Tao, continue..."There was also another important relationship that was very short, when you were 22-23. You don't think about it much anymore, but it had a profound impact on your life." Also true... and anyone who knew me around that time knows I was completely heartbroken and totally humiliated by the experience. It taught me a lot about trust."The man you're with now, you've known him awhile," he said. "It wasn't until two years ago that you really let him into your heart." Yep, 23 months ago that is exactly what happened with Josh.Dude, this guy was on a roll!He then pointed out each of the moles on my face and said, "Each of those is in a place that represents your internal organs. I'll bet you can eat anything." What! Does this guy know where I work?He ended the session with a prediction. "You'll have three children. I definitely see two girls." I'm in no hurry to have kids, but I definitely want them; however, I am kind of set on just two. Guess we'll have to see what happens.I'm still a little confused about A) what the Meridian Dance is and B) if it helped me. At any rate, it pushed my boundaries in a way I didn't expect. And I've laughed my ass off watching that video at least 20 times, so to me, that's worth it all on its own.Master Tao's website isn't currently working, so check out this site for more info (and testimonials!).