If you're searching for the secret of happiness, you'll find it in your past lives, says Jenny Smedley, a spiritual consultant specialising in past-life regression.

Look into your past lives, and you'll trace a common thread of experience which will direct you to the path of true happiness and fulfilment in this life.

"Loads of things c hanged in my life when I had a past-life experience, and the biggest change was that I became happy," said Jenny, who lives in the Blackdown Hills near Chard in Somerset, and whose new book has the alluring title of How to be Happy.

"If you ask people what happiness is they will come up with myriad answers, but few will come up with the right answer. People might say it's winning the lottery, falling in love, getting a new car, or giving birth. All these things make you happy, but not for long.

"The main way to be happy is to be constantly fulfilled, and one way to do that is to know what your plan was when you came to this lifetime. Every step towards achieving what you came here to do makes this seed of happiness inside you grow."

People who remembered nothing about their past lives suffered from "amnesia of the soul", added Jenny, also a TV and radio presenter and an international columnist.

■ Visit her website at www.jenny smedley.com – How to be Happy is published by O Books at £11.99.