There are different types of parallel lives.

• 2 simultaneous lives of the same soul in 2 different bodies overlapping in time, in the same timeline, both on Earth. These are very different personas, often living in different parts of the world, they never meet. The exceptions are Twin Flames or Twin Souls - parallel lives of the same soul with the agreement to meet and be mates (Twin Flames who always have energy polarity and sexual attraction to each other) or best friends or comrades (Twin Souls who do not have sexual attraction to each other and are usually the same gender)
• consecutive lives of the same soul in the same linear time, like a loop in time, and often in similar or the same location, but in different timelines. Bodies can be similar, but different families, occupation and interests are usually the same. I had a client who reincarnated 3 times as Southern Belles in pre-Civil War Southern states, they all were from wealthy families and married plantation owners, had many kids and took care of the house and entertainment…He would just die in one life and go right back to a similar location, same historic time, similar family - till he got tired of the Southern Belle role and reincarnated as a black gay man for a change…This can be a “Groundhog Day” scenario for some souls if they are trying to learn a certain lesson in a particular culture…or they just love the time and place so much - they do not want to leave! (till they get really bored)
• splitting timelines of the same life. Have you seen ‘Mr. Nobody” movie? It is about the person who was living every possible version of his life at the same time - like in several parallel realities. Every time we make a serious decision - our life goes the certain way, but there is also another possibility, and another ‘you” in a parallel reality who is living with consequences of a different choice…According to Burt Goldman, the founder of the ‘Quantum Jumping” - there are myriads of different versions of yourself living in multiple Universes… They all have the same ‘starting point” - same parents, place of birth, body, looks and name - but after that all these lives can go in all possible directions, like flights from a major airport…same departure location, different destinations.
• multidimensional lives of our Bigger Self - if we go beyond individualized soul in a particular body or chain of bodies on Earth - there are higher dimensional aspects of our Bigger Self (which is a giant energy cloud spreading through many dimensions and worlds) - and since the time in other dimensions or on the other planets runs differently than on Earth - it is hard to tell if those are past, future or parallel lives, since their time is non-compatible to ours on Earth...We can call them parallel lives as they are simultaneous with the current one, and can be accessed in dreams or meditation…but they are either extraterrestrial (another physical planet) or lives on spaceships traveling the Universe, or in different dimensions…