What are the ingredients of Holotropic Breathwork
The possibilities of experience of “what is” are infinite and allow awareness and understanding of the universe together with a deep sense of connection and the inter-relatedness of all creation.
Nenavadna stanja zavesti
The Healing Potential of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness
Healing comes only from that which leads a person beyond himself and beyond his entanglement with the ego.
Drawing on fifty years of research, Stan and Christina Grof developed a non-pharmacological method for reaching non-ordinary states of consciousness, one that draws on the healing capacity of the human psyche itself. The psyche reveals its own potential and its capacity for healing insight and wisdom (we call this, figuratively, the inner radar or the inner healer).
DUE DILIGENCE, SECURITY
When we feel safe, we can allow ourselves to go deeper.
Holotropic/Grof breathwork, developed by Stan and Christina Grof, has proven to be one of the most powerful ways of supporting this process of finding your wholeness. Holotropic breathwork opens up deep inner processes that lead to openness and an expansion of consciousness. This in turn opens us to healing and to a wisdom that lies beyond the ego.
The possible experiences of "what is" are endless. They allow us to know and understand ourselves and the universe, along with a deep sense of connection and of the interdependence of all creation.
Holotropic breathwork always begins with careful preparation.
Holotropic breathwork falls under the broader category of experiential holotropic therapies. It is a method used for self-exploration, personal or spiritual transformation, and the healing of psychological and psychosomatic symptoms.
Holotropic breathwork includes:
-Our intention and the space/environment (Set &Setting):
careful preparation before and during the workshop,
a safe, supportive and empathetic environment,
"Set" stands for mindset, that is, a person's psychological state, intentions, expectations and mood before and during the workshop.
"Setting" refers to the environment, which includes the physical space, the support of the other people at the workshop, and the general atmosphere in which the workshop takes place.
-The holotropic experience/journey/participatory event:
special breathing,
evocative music,
100% guaranteed support and safety during the experience in healing non-ordinary states of consciousness (so-called holotropic states of consciousness),
focused bodywork, if needed for a satisfying completion of the holotropic experience, and
The integration part:
carefully prepared and guided integration of the holotropic experience,
guidance for further integration activities after the workshop, and support after the workshop itself.
"Holotropic" means moving toward wholeness – a quest that most of us pursue in our own way, usually throughout our whole lives.
"People marvel at the heights of mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the long courses of rivers, the vast expanse of the oceans, the circular motion of the stars; yet they pass by themselves without wonder" . St. Augustine
The wisdom of the psyche itself
Inner Radar: Trusting What Emerges
The possibilities are endless, but Grof observes four categories of experience that arise in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
The holotropic process itself requires nothing more than surrender and breath, in a truly safe setting, so that we can move into non-ordinary states of consciousness, where whatever the person's psyche is bringing into awareness at that moment can emerge. Non-ordinary states allow us to experience beyond "the limits of cause and effect, three dimensions and linear time." This means we can have mystical experiences of union and connection with the divine. We can experience any aspect of all that is – everything and nothing.
We can remember, discover and explore the many levels of the spectrum of consciousness. In a safe setting, where healing can happen most easily and most deeply, we can relive aspects of birth, repressed or unfinished trauma, family dynamics and much more. Through this work, we may discover that our psyche is infinite.
Sensory Experiences and Bodily Manifestations
We may experience our senses very intensely, which can include a feeling of the senses blending together (for example, feeling music in the body or hearing colors and patterns). We may also feel tension or a release of energy, which is often pleasant when it lets go.
Biographical Experiences
Reliving the events that have happened to us from birth to the present day, both negative and positive, which allows trauma to be released and the pain or joy we often carry in our bodies, but have never fully experienced or expressed, to be fully expressed.
03 · Perinatal Experiences
The Archetype of Death and Rebirth
The so-called pre- and perinatal experiences that arise in non-ordinary states of consciousness amount to a "memory", or a reliving, of our time in the womb, from conception through birth. Birth can be our first traumatic experience, and it is certainly the first threat to survival we ever face, since it involves an encounter with death and rebirth: we die as an embryo and are born as a baby who breathes as a separate being. Grof's work suggests that these experiences during birth act as a psychic imprint that stays with us, and that we may relive the process during later life changes. If we relive it, we can reach the core of recurring patterns in our lives. This frees us to make new choices instead of repeating old patterns, so that we can act consciously rather than react unconsciously.
04 · Transpersonal Experiences
Beyond the Personal Self
Holotropic breathwork can take us beyond the personal ego, beyond who we think we are. We can experience conception and incarnation. We can experience ecstatic states of oneness with all of life or a part of it, with nature and the entire universe.
Out-of-body experiences may arise – observing ourselves, others and different aspects of the universe. We can feel ourselves merging with other forms of life and with the elements, or being present in other places, times and cultures. We can become one with archetypal figures – gods, goddesses, saints, angels, heroes and so on. We can also reach very deep yogic states of sleep, in which healing and transformation can happen outside of consciousness... The possibilities are endless.
Workshop
What happens at a holotropic breathwork workshop
Holotropic breathwork usually takes place in the form of a workshop. This creates a safe space for each participant to enter their own space of expanded consciousness and surrender to an adventure of discovery. Workshops can be held as residential (extended) weekends. After an introduction to the facilitators and the other participants, there is a presentation of the nature of the process. Because group members work in pairs in each session (one breathes, the other sits), each participant chooses a session partner during this time.
A Journey Within
Breathing
Like many ancient spiritual systems and indigenous cultures that use breathing techniques (dance, chanting and the like, in which the breath quickens), Holotropic Breathwork uses the breath to access non-ordinary states of consciousness. Together with carefully chosen evocative music from many traditions, the breath takes us on a path of discovery, insight, awareness and healing. The music supports the process and helps participants surrender to whatever is happening to them. Each person seems to hear the music differently, depending on their own current personal process.
Compassionate companion
Sitter
The relationship that develops between the breather and the sitter is extremely important if the breather is to feel able to enter such deep work. The sitter's role is to attentively watch over the breather as a compassionate witness to the process, and to hand over tissues, water and the like on request. One of the most transformative experiences is receiving another person's complete, unconditional attention and presence. It is a powerful and extraordinary gift from one human being to another. It can be the most profound experience for the sitter as well as for the breather.
Support when asked for
Facilitation
A breather may feel a blockage, numbness, tension and the like. And although the breathing alone can ease and transform a symptom, sometimes the breather needs help focusing. At their request, the facilitator helps them feel the symptom of the emerging material more fully, so that it comes completely into awareness. With the breather's consent, the facilitator helps the participant intensify the sensation by offering resistance, so that the blocked energy of the experience, held in the body, can be released. The release can express itself in any way – through screaming, laughter, crying, anger, joy, deep peace, trembling and so on. Intervention happens only at the breather's request. Before the end of the session, we carefully check that all breathers have returned to "ordinary consciousness."
Začetek integracije
Mandala Drawing
After the breathwork comes the first expression of integration. Participants are encouraged to express their experience of the session through creative drawing or painting, which begins the process of bringing a powerful, insightful experience into everyday life. It is a way of honoring the reality of the holotropic experience, and it can help to expand and complete it.
People from all professions and walks of life
Who attends the workshops?
Participants come from all over the world and from many different backgrounds, each seeking a sense of wholeness and meaning, looking for that "something missing." Some come specifically to connect with suppressed emotions. People who are "in recovery" and in 12-step programs find Holotropic Breathwork very helpful. Some use the process as a very deep form of meditation on human nature and the universe. Whatever the intention, the psyche in its wisdom chooses and brings to the surface what the person needs in that moment.
In Holotropic Breathwork, all inner experiences are welcome. Allowing whatever happens to happen, and surrendering to the process, carries us from fear……into trust. Ultimately, the process leads us to profound spiritual experiences.
“A human being is neither a thing nor a process, but an opening or clearing through which the absolute can express itself.”
Authors
Jean Farrell, Mojca Studen
Further reading
Literature
The Holotropic Mind, Stan Grof
The Way of the Psychonout, Stan Grof
Holotropic Breathwork, Stan & Christina Grof
The Adventure of Self Discovery, Stan Grof
The Stormy Search for the Self, Stan & Christina Grof
The Breathwork Experience, Kylea Taylor