Further information on holotropic breathwork

Transpersonal Psychology and Holotropic Breathing

By Sylvester Walch

Im „Tao Te King“ heißt es: „Wenn wir dort, wo wir sind, auch wahrhaftig anwesend sind, stiften wir Frieden.“Vor etwa 20 Jahren hatte ich als Teilnehmer einer von Stanislav Grof geleiteten Atemsitzung ein eindrucksvolles Erlebnis. Ein Gruppenmitglied fiel in einen extremen Zustand. Sie zitterte über Stunden hinweg am ganzen Leib, stieß immer wieder furchtbare Schreie aus und wurde wie von Energiewellen geschüttelt. Gegen ein Uhr nachts, als die anderen Gruppenmitglieder längst den Gruppenraum verlassen hatten und ich alleine mit Stan noch neben ihr saß, verebbten allmählich die Bewegungen, es entspannte sich ihr Körper mehr und mehr und plötzlich kehrte tiefer Frieden ein. Stan brachte ihr eine Tasse Tee.Sie trank ihn, lächelte und sagte: „Danke, dass ihr bei mir geblieben seid. Ich bin glücklich und voller Liebe

Part 1,   Part 2,   Part 3,   Part 4

 

Holotropic Breathwork: New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Self-Exploration

By Stan Grof

Excerpted from Healing Our Deepest Wounds: The Holotropic Paradigm Shift, published by Stream of Experience Productions.

Holotropic Breathwork is an experiential method of self-exploration and psychotherapy that my wife Christina and I developed at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, in the mid-1970s. This approach induces deep holotropic states of consciousness by a combination of very simple means - accelerated breathing, evocative music, and a technique of bodywork that helps to release residual bioenergetic and emotional blocks. The sessions are usually conducted in groups; participants work in pairs and alternate in the roles of "breathers" and "sitters."

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Healing and Transformation: The Use of Non Ordinary States of Consciousness

(with special reference to the work of Stanislav and Christina Grof)

By Martin Boroson, Martin Duffy, and Barbara Egan

Psychological illness, or neurosis, can be defined simply as a restriction of consciousness or - to borrow a Hopi Indian idea - a way of living that calls for a new way of living. Psychotherapy, self-exploration and spiritual questing can all be seen as attempts to gain access to the “foreign” realms of the psyche, the territory that transcends the tight, limited boundaries of the ego. Healing begins when the individual finds some way to reach across the divide between ego and non-ego, and acknowledges some of the material as his / her own. The individual dies to his / her former self-image and world-view, and is reborn at a higher (more expanded) level of awareness. [...]

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Is your Birth Experience still affecting you Today?

Understanding the perinatal matrix and how it can affect us for life

By Jacob Devaney
Just as a seed contains the blueprint for the life of a plant, the creation story of a human has a profound influence on their life. According to the father of Transpersonal Psychology, Stanislav Grof you are probably more effected by your birth experience than you realize. Grof's perspective is supported by leading research in the field of pre and perinatal psychology. There is a biological matrix of emotional imprints and patterns that can often be traced back to your very emergence into this world. Grof refers to these as Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPM), and understanding them can reveal a whole lot about you as well as providing a great framework for releasing old patterns, healing, and personal growth. [...]

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This Popular Practice Is Known To Induce Psychedelic States Without The Use Of Psychedelics

By Jeff Roberts
Humans have a unique appetite for experiencing altered states of consciousness, and this inclination is evident in many facets of social culture today, such as our attraction to alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, psychedelics, and more. But is it possible to access these altered states without the help of a substance? Do we all possess the inner mechanisms to heal our latent traumas?

Dr. Stanislav Grof, an 83-year old Czech-born psychiatrist, fascinated by the healing capabilities of non-ordinary states, has just the answer to these questions. Stanislav teaches a powerful technique called holotropic breathwork, a practice he's been developing and teaching to clients since the mid-70s. What makes holotropic breathwork particularly fascinating is its remarkable ability to induce psychedelic states. [...]

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Entering A Psychedelic State - Without Psychedelics: Inside Holotropic Breathwork

By Kevin Franciotti

"Now start to increase the speed of your breath. Breathing faster and deeper each time." Dr. Stanislav Grof is instructing a room full of attendees who are about to embark on a three-hour journey using a powerful technique called holotropic breathwork . With his very calm and deliberate manner of speaking, Dr. Grof leads a brief relaxation exercise before signaling the onset of catalytic music that aids the immersive experience. The music starts playing over a powerful sound system - a loud and fast rhythm centered on drums and pulsing beats. For the next three hours, the 'breathers' will be utilizing the power of this technique in the hopes of reaching a profound and non-ordinary state of consciousness. [...]

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Eczema As Koan Part 2: Descent into Hell

By Guy James

This is part two of my account of how I came to experience full healing from a very severe experience of eczema lasting several years.

[...] I am not going to go into the full story of what HB is, (other than to say it involves rapid breathing until one enters a kind of trance), or what happened at this workshop, but suffice it to say , it was extremely intense, and the latter part of it involved reliving my own birth, both from my own perspective as a tiny baby, but also from my mother's perspective (even more strange, although it felt perfectly natural at the time). [...]

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Frustration about Holotropic Breathwork: a Holotropic experience

By Alain Menier

In my practice as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator, I often get the feeling that the individuals who feel disappointed after a HB session are among the persons who could benefit from it.
I remember feeling extremely frustrated after my first few HB sessions, because I had expected something as powerful as my previous psychedelic experiences. However, even though I dutifully breathed for almost the whole duration of the session, I did not perceive any significant change to my state of consciousness. It was frustrating. And feeling this frustration, I handled it the only way I knew how: by justifying it rationally and projecting it outside. I remember thinking "What a rip off!" and feeling that everyone who seemed to have experienced something were somehow “faking it”. [...]

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