Kylea Taylor in her book, “The Breathwork
Experience” (Hanford Mead Publishers, 1994) describes Breathwork as a safe and
powerful way to enter non-ordinary states of consciousness. Using controlled
breathing, music, and focused energy release work in a safe atmosphere,
participants may see emotionally charged images, sense energy moving through
their bodies, receive intuitive insights, and clarify troubling issues in their
lives.
Breathwork is now practiced in many countries throughout
the world. The term Holotropic Breathwork was trademarked by the Grof’s. The
process is described in their books, “The Holotropic Mind”, “Beyond the Brain”,
“The Stormy Search for Self”, “The Adventures of Self Discovery”, and “The
Thirst for Wholeness”. Holotropic is derived from Greek roots meaning ‘moving
towards wholeness’. Plants turn in the direction of the sun in heliotropic
motion. In the same way, during a Holotropic session, the human organism moves
to integrate, to make itself whole, and to heal the various injured or
fragmented parts of the self. Holotropic Breathwork assists this process by
including the state of non-ordinary consciousness and by creating a safe
context for this important work.
What is the philosophy
behind Holotropic Breathwork?
Holotropic Breathwork operates under the principle
that we are our own best healers. The broad purpose for using Breathwork is to
enter a non-ordinary state. In non-ordinary states we move more deeply and
rapidly towards wholeness as physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual beings.
Many experiences per se (or any particular experience, such as rebirth or
ecstasy) are not the purpose. The goals are wholeness, healing, and wisdom.
Experiences are the means to these goals.
Holotropic Breathwork incorporates many elements,
e.g. music, one-on-one supervision, art, a flexible and open ended time period,
and a thorough training of its practitioners, all of which ensure the safety
and healing in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Since the 1950’s, psychiatrist Stanislav Grof has
been supervising sessions for people in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
He is a keen observer, major researcher, and theorist of transpersonal
psychology.
Reconnecting using
Holotropic Breathwork
The breath is our key to reconnecting with aspects
of life from which we have become split off. We may have unresolved issues from
the past that are affecting our daily life. These issues can keep our emotional
and physical energy from flowing naturally and may even appear as an illness or
unwanted recurring behavior patterns. If this energy continues to be stuck, our
ability to respond fully to life decreases.
We may feel disconnected from our own spirit.
Experiences of the spirit, such as when we feel close to nature, when we are in
love, when we are feeling grateful, or when we feel tuned in to other parts of
life—these are the experiences that feed our souls. When we deprive ourselves
of such experiences, we find it more difficult to be inspired or creative. If
we reconnect to this element of life, we can transform the rest of or
experience to life.
The breath connects us
The breath is invisible, yet it affects the
visible. The Greek word ‘pneuma’ means ‘spirit’ as well as ‘breath’. Through
the breath we can connect our conscious to our unconscious thoughts, our
bodies, our emotions, and our spirits. Because breathing is both voluntary and
involuntary, we can bridge these parts of us by controlling the breath.
Controlled breathing has been used for centuries as
a technique for psychological and spiritual development. Breathwork is the
modern term for a system using the breath combined with a variety of supportive
techniques to mobilize our bodies, minds, and spirits for spontaneous healing.
When the breath energizes the psyche for healing,
it does so in much the same way as our bodies enlist forces when we are
injured. We do not have to think about or direct the healing. The body just
goes to work spontaneously, sending more white cells to the injured area,
repairing tissue, and bringing wholeness and healing to the body again. The
psyche also has this ability. When the body and the mind enter a state of
non-ordinary consciousness through controlled breathing, our inner wisdom uses
the opportunity to work towards physical healing, and even developmental
change.
Can we have a powerful healing and transforming
experience simply by controlling the breath? For those who have not experienced
Breathwork, this seems hard to believe, but it is true.
Why do people participate
in Breathwork?
People attend their first Breathwork session for
many reasons. A friend recommended it, they feel curious, they are in the midst
of major life changes, they have read about non-ordinary states of
consciousness and want to try it, they have done psychedelics and want to enter
non-ordinary states of consciousness without taking a substance, they find
themselves attracted to participating but cannot really say why …
Breathing in the midst of
life changes
When we are in the midst of life changes, we may
want to do something like Breathwork. We are usually attracted to Breathwork at
a time when we are willing to explore. We come when we have the flexibility and
sense of adventure required to expand the idea of who we are and what life is
about. Our psyches have called us to attention, and we have responded with the
courage to jump into the unknown.
Sometimes that inner call to exploration comes out
of the blue. Everything else is working well in our lives, but we have an urge
to experience and understand more. Sometimes we become more willing to
undertake risks of new exploration when we are in a crisis, when the urge to
change arises from the dissolution of familiar structures in our lives. When we
feel in some sense that we have little else to lose, or we need a larger, newer
structure to accommodate our larger sense of ourselves, we want to try
something new.
Such crisis comes in many forms. It may be a change
in an external situation, such as the loss of a home, loss of a relationship
through death or separation. It may be a sudden change in our sense of
identity. Changes in identity can come about through shifts in career, aging, a
change in health or the sudden recovered memory of childhood physical,
emotional, or sexual abuse. Any of these can trigger an urge to explore, heal
and move on.
Using Holotropic Breathwork
as an adjunct to therapy
If you are already in therapy and want to
complement cognitive understanding with deep experiential exploration,
Breathwork may attract you. Artists or writers who are experiencing a block in
their creative flow or those practicing some spiritual discipline that has
become mechanical may have a longing to feel reconnected and inspired. Through
pain or crisis, through joy or discomfort, or through various spontaneous
psycho-physical events, the motivation to define and experience our true selves
grows stronger.
Answering the inner call to
explore
Occasionally the call to begin some deep
experiential work like Breathwork sounds as a gong deep inside us. It is as if
our organism has reached a new stage of development in which the task at hand
is to delve deeply into our own inner experience. We feel a compelling need to
heed this inner urging. Other life options seem to hold less nourishment, less
interest than the choices highlighted by our inner call. One choice is bright
and glowing, other choices are drab. With such clear demarcation of where our
“bliss awaits”, it is not hard to “follow your bliss”. When we are in this
situation, others see us as very brave, but we do not feel courageous. Instead
we often say, “I didn’t really have a choice but to follow where the path leads
to the adventure of self discovery.”
Who participates in
Breathwork?
Anyone who is attracted to Breathwork and who feels
willing and ready to do this deep experiential work is a candidate for
Breathwork. Many who come to Breathwork sessions say, “I have never done
anything like this before.” Still we feel drawn to the inner exploration and we
are willing to experiment. Attraction and willingness to explore—these are the
chief requirements of participants.
Some have been spiritual mediators or explorers for
a long time, or involved in one path or another. We may feel that Breathwork is
the next step, the next learning tool for us. Some of us, although not thinking
of ourselves as spiritual explorers, have been students of medicine, science,
philosophy, or psychology. We are curious observers of others and of life
itself. Our curiosity extends to Breathwork. Our past backgrounds are not as
important as our present commitments to inner development, self exploration and
pragmatic self-observation.
There are a few exceptions having to do with health
and fitness. We need to be in good health because the experience may be
strenuous. Age itself is not a factor. If we are older, we may be more likely
to have some conditions that preclude participation in Breathwork. If we do not
have these conditions and we engage in regular exercise, we are good candidates
for Breathwork.
Children under eighteen must have permission from
their parents to participate. The attraction of Breathwork and willingness to
experience non-ordinary states of consciousness must come from inside each
individual—adult or child.
The breath is our key to reconnecting with aspects
of life from which we have become split off. We may have unresolved issues from
the past that are affecting our daily life. These issues can keep our emotional
and physical energy from flowing naturally and may even appear as an illness or
unwanted recurring behavior patterns. If this energy continues to be stuck, our
ability to respond fully to life decreases.
If you are already in therapy and want to
complement cognitive understanding with deep experiential exploration,
Breathwork may attract you. Artists or writers who are experiencing a block in
their creative flow or those practicing some spiritual discipline that has
become mechanical may have a longing to feel reconnected and inspired. Through
pain or crisis, through joy or discomfort, or through various spontaneous
psycho-physical events, the motivation to define and experience our true selves
grows stronger.
