Past lives is often referred to as reincarnation, but no matter what words you use, it is a often attributed to religious and spiritual beliefs.  Many popular reincarnation belief systems are African, Hindu,  Native American, Pagan, Buddhism, and New Age traditions.  Most modern Christian and Islamic beliefs reject reincarnation or past lives, although Christianity, much like everything else they do, changed there mind about this around 530AD, but before then they did believe in reincarnation.

A past life is a life that you have lived previously and the purpose of reincarnation is to try and make better what you might have got wrong the first few times around.  At least that is the belief in some traditions.  I myself do not believe in past lives although I find it a fascinating concept.  Past lives analysis are available from very reputable psychics.  A past life analysis is much like a past life reading in where a psychic will analyze your past lives and give you information that might help with the healing on ones self in the present.  This is the experience of many people who have had a past life reading.  Past life readings are the best option for those who mistrust their ability to read the past lives and interpret correctly.  A past lives regression is something completely different.

Past life regression is where a person will be brought back to remembering their past lives through hypnosis, given by a trained regression therapist.  A regression is not always possible because there are many, many people who cannot be hypnotized because their ego is too strong to allow it.  Also, a past life regression may not be the best option for you unless you feel comfortable interpreting what you see.  Oftentimes a past life reading is in order.

Many past life psychics claim that the readings they provide for their clients help to heal situations in their present, much like a regular psychic reading provides.  I can believe this to be true whether I believe in past lives or not, because we often hear what we need to hear during psychic readings.  I believe that the psychics who give past life readings are actually giving a true psychic reading it is just that what they see manifests itself in what looks like past lives.  Many people who believe in past lives believe that they time and again meet the same people in order to work out what was not worked out in the previous life.