Hello and welcome, raindancer!
I've had past life memories resurface, but they just happen on their own. Sometimes meditation results in more clarity, but I don't meditate on my memories or past lives specifically. Personally, I don't want to remember too much- I believe in God and that I'll get what I'm supposed to remember if I don't pry too deeply into myself. There can be some painful stuff in one's past and it can be a burden to deal with it in the midst of another life now. And my experience has been that it can cause loneliness and homesick feelings for people and places that no longer exist, which isn't pleasant. Of course, there can also be some beautiful stuff, as well as lessons to be learned.
In terms of techniques to remember stuff, that depends a lot on your religion and how you want to uncover memories. Some dreams incorporate memories for me, but I'm careful to remember that dreams are often symbolic and/or fuzzy in the details- dreams get mixed up a lot. I've recognized certain markers in my dreams that denote a different kind of dream- a message or experience- versus my ordinary dreams, even though the ordinary ones can also contain messages or memories, they are less detailed, more fuzzy, and less easily remembered, so they require a lot of picking through to figure out what's going on. Generally, I just don't have the time to do that or find it helpful, but I've heard from others that meditating on dreams and keeping a dream journal can help.
Most of the memory-recovery techniques I've heard about from others involve meditation and/or trance states. Trancing is pretty easy for me and happens naturally sometimes with music, dancing, or meditating, but some people find it more difficult. There are different ways to meditate and get into trance, and I encourage people (if they are going to do either) to check out their options and if they believe in God, to pray over the matter for a while. Meditation and trance is not always relaxing or fun, especially when dealing with unpleasant memories and such- if you haven't already uncovered unpleasantries, it helps to be prepared. Many people remember the worst stuff first, because it is so salient- it's not uncommon for people to remember their previous deaths, wars, etc. before any of the good stuff comes along, and my experience is that the grief is fresh because you haven't really dealt with it. There can also be side-effects of altered states of consciousness in certain people, from what I've heard. I mostly just begin to visually see energy patterns, but I've heard some people (especially in trance) go OBE or perceive the spirit world and whatnot and this can be really frightening if you don't expect it or aren't prepared for it. I think the safest thing is meditation without trying to push oneself to hard. There are various websites and books that discuss meditative techniques to recover past lives- you might want to do some searches.
I will throw out there one technique that I do not think is a good idea, despite its use by many: past-life regression. This is a way to stick you in hypnosis and then have an external practitioner uncover your past-life memories. It is a bad idea for the same reason that regression therapy for this lifetime is- research has shown that the practitioner can insert memories of stuff that never happened when you're in that state. There is no way, in that state, for your brain to have its usual defenses against being manipulated. You could wind up with false memories. There are people who had such therapies just recovering memories from this life, and wound up believing they were sexually abused or some such, only to find later that it was the suggestion of the therapist and not their actual memory. That is horrific, because your brain doesn't know the difference and now you actually "fee" like you were sexually abused, as well as being totally confused. Now imagine the problems with past-life regression- your "memories" could be very much shaped by the therapist's knowledge of history, imagination, and fears. It isn't necessarily that the therapist tries to do it, but it's very difficult to uncover memories this way without also adding suggestions. Personally, I won't touch it with a ten-foot pole. I'd much rather have small and incomplete snippets of authentic memories, that I know my own mind/soul remembered, than a bunch of large and detailed false memories.
Some people spontaneously start remembering stuff after the memory is "triggered" by something- movies, books, documentaries, whatever. Sometimes the trigger is stuff involving energy-work like Reiki or acupuncture.
The toughest thing, aside from dealing with bad memories and confusion (past life memories can really rock your worldview), is being very careful about distinguishing what is really a memory, from what is something you want to remember. There seem to be a lot of folks that remember being someone important- but there can't be a dozen people who "remember" being William Wallace or Cleopatra, now can there? This can sneak in on a smaller level, too. One has to be very analytical and critical of oneself.
On the up side, as this has been sort of a downer post- I have learned a lot about myself through my memories. I've had my mind opened very wide. Despite the confusion, I'm grateful for what I've been given, though I don't want to pry to much on my own. I've dealt with some grief and fear (though an ongoing process) that I'd obviously carried with me, and I've cherished memories of people and places I loved, though I miss them.
Peace to you in your search,
Path
