Ecology of health: Stanislav Grof is called without exaggeration a living classic, Freud of the 21st century. He still personally conducts trainings around the world and teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He looks much younger than his 78 years. During sessions of "holotropic breathing" Grof was "born" again more than four thousand times. This is the number of sessions that the pioneering psychiatrist has conducted in his more than 45 years of practice.

Stanislav Grof, without exaggeration, is called a living classic, Freud of the 21st century.

He still personally conducts trainings around the world and teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He looks much younger than his 78 years.

During sessions of "holotropic breathing" Grof was "born" again more than four thousand times. This is the number of sessions that the pioneering psychiatrist has conducted in his more than 45 years of practice. Thousands of times returned to the mind of a newborn - maybe that's why he looks so young?

About Holotropic Breathwork

Grof has written more than ten scientific and educational books, created a successfully functioning International Transpersonal Organization, trained more than one hundred thousand certified teachers ...

Millions of people around the world have attended his trainings. The holder of the highest scientific degrees and prestigious awards, Grof is, in addition, a very wealthy person. It would seem that you can already “retire” and rest on your laurels! But no.

One of Grof's books is called "The Frantic Search for Oneself" (1990): this is what he realizes in his own example - "eternal fight" with a shadow, the search for perfection. According to Gorf, the "frantic search for oneself" is a problem only faced by spiritually fragmented individuals, and then only until a cure. In the course of practice, it turns into another task facing mentally healthy people - the super-task of expanding consciousness, spiritual evolution.

As Grof points out from his own “journeys” into the unconscious (or more accurately, “superconscious”) and from his observations of thousands of “journeys” taken by his patients, there are three ways to go beyond this limit: taking LSD (which is an illegal drug), the method of holotropic breathing proposed by Grof and the psycho-spiritual crisis, or "spiritual exacerbation".

Common to these three situations, as Grof writes in the preface to The Call of the Jaguar (2001), is that they cause unusual states of consciousness, including the subspecies of them that he calls "holotropic", that is, beyond, in contrast to ordinary experience, which he calls "hylotropic", that is, terrestrial.

The term "holotropic" is derived from the Greek roots holos, meaning "whole," and trepein, meaning "to move in a direction." Together they mean "move towards wholeness".

Grof notes in "The Call of the Jaguar" that in psychedelic therapy (now banned, but legal in Grof's younger years), such states were caused by the use of psychoactive drugs, including LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, tryptamine, amphetamine derivatives (DMT, ecstasy and etc.).

In the Holotropic Breathwork method developed by Grof and his wife Kristina in 1975, to change consciousness, a combination of the so-called bound breathing is used(when there is no pause between inhalation and exhalation, exhalation and inhalation) and music that puts you in a state of trance(often ethnic, tribal: African drums, Tibetan pipes, etc.); sometimes additional work with the body is applied.

In the case of "spiritual exacerbations" holotropic states arise spontaneously, notes Grof, and their causes are usually unknown.

Thus, the third method is uncontrolled, the first is illegal: only holotropic breathing remains.

Grof conducted his research for over forty-five years.. He began with experiments with LSD. After the discovery of the psychotropic properties of the drug in 1943, it was assumed for some time that it causes symptoms similar to schizophrenia (and therefore was recommended for use by psychotherapists), but this hypothesis was subsequently refuted.

After the prohibition of this drug in the United States in the late 1960s, Grof began to use the method of special holotropic breathing in his research, in which he actively used the experience gained during experiments with psychoactive drugs (including precautions).

Perhaps the prototype of the specific breathing used in the holotropic method was the rapid breathing of Grof's patients under LSD - in the case when the problem that emerged from the depths of the subconscious could not be immediately worked out, integrated into a healthy psyche.

Such breathing helped them to remain in an expanded state of consciousness and discharge the psychological material that manifested itself in the form of unpleasant symptoms. So the "bad trip" turned into a method of psychotherapy.

Research in the field of psychedelic therapy and personal experience of holotropic breathing allowed Grof to discover that behind the "last frontier" of human consciousness - the consciousness of the embryo - there is no blank wall(as a materialist might assume, on the assumption that human life is limited to the interval between conception and death).

Behind this “wall”, as Grof found out, there is also life, more precisely, many forms of life.. There lie "superhuman" worlds where time and space, the limitations of brain memory and the current human birth in general cease to be limiting factors. Namely, they stop holding back what always lives inside us and conducts its “frantic search” both before and after our physical death. In some philosophical and religious systems, this “something” is called “soul”, “consciousness”, “true Self”.

But even this, empirical, accessible to everyone proof of the existence of "life after death", is the most surprising in Grof's experiments. The main thing, from the height of spiritual, superhuman consciousness, it becomes obvious: the boundaries of the human and those psychological barriers that cause various pathological effects that prevent a person from becoming himself, and then go further, rise above himself - these boundaries are not created by a whim of fate and are fueled by no one - by an evil will, but by the person himself - more precisely, by his false, limited self-identification.

That is, it turns out that we ourselves - with all our might - keep our “doors of perception” locked, preventing true health, prosperity and freedom from entering them. A person spends very significant forces on maintaining his mental barriers, much more than he can afford! And these forces can be used much more rationally and profitably.

For example, these forces, with which a person keeps his “doors of perception” shut, could help him in his journey through these doors, and therefore, allow him to become a happy and spiritually developed person. And even more than that - to step further, beyond the boundaries of the human, which we, it turns out, have established for ourselves.

In fact, during his long life, Grof created a whole new direction, not just psychoanalysis, but total superhumanistic psycho-correction, which can be useful to everyone.

From the point of view of Stanislov Groff, it would not hurt us all to “treat” according to his method- after all, it must be admitted that even the most healthy people in terms of the level of consciousness are far from the ideals that demonstrate spiritually developed personalities, teachers of humanity, enlightened mystics. And he is not a mystic, he just sets the bar higher, much higher than is usually done in psychotherapy.

He draws our attention to the tragic gap between what mankind aspired to and the post-humanistic, mechanistic society that it has now arrived at. Grof, being himself a professional physician, doctor of medicine, a psychiatrist with fifty years of experience, who grew up in the school of traditional psychoanalysis, notes that modern science sins with one-sidedness, bordering on blindness.

Traditional medicine stubbornly turns a blind eye to the fact that the problem of a person's mental health is organically connected with the problem of his spiritual development, even more than that, it actually opposes these processes. Everything that goes beyond the traditional worldview, limited by very narrow limits, receives the label of "abnormality".

In one of his interviews, Grof notes: from the point of view of modern medicine, it turns out that if we discard rituals, leaving only specific behavior and unusual states of consciousness, then any religion and spirituality in general is pure pathology, a form of mental disorder. Buddhist meditation, from the point of view of a psychiatrist, is catatonic, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a schizophrenic, St. John the Baptist was a degenerate, and Gautama Buddha, since he was still, so to speak, capable of adequate behavior, at least stood on the verge of insanity ...

One of the problems of modern medicine, according to Grof, is that it tends to consider any altered states of consciousness that occur under certain circumstances in perfectly healthy people as pathological manifestations or even one of the symptoms of schizophrenia. In fact, medicine is now powerless to distinguish a prophetic vision (examples of which are offered to us by the scriptures of different peoples of the world: the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, etc.) from a painful schizophrenic delirium, a drug trance from a religious trance.

Where, then, to draw the boundary of "normal"? And the question that follows from here is: where to draw the border of the “real”, what is the reality in which we live in general? And who are we really, what can and what can not the so-called "man"?

Grof began his medical career with traditional psychoanalysis according to Freud, but soon, in the course of his practice, he realized the one-sidedness of the traditional approach: after all, a Freudian is forced to reduce everything to sexual desire, libido, supposedly the main driving force of a person.

But the most important thing that did not suit Grof was the method of word-oriented "speaking" on a leather couch itself, although it leads, if successful, to an accurate diagnosis and identification of the event that caused the pathology, it is not always effective for actually ridding the patient of oppression this event and the actual pathological symptoms.

Gradually, he came to understand that not just a formal recollection, but a direct re-experiencing of these key events - including the most traumatic event in the life of any person - his own birth - much better able to help both in the cure of the disease, and the expansion of consciousness.

It should be noted right away that modern medicine does not confirm the fact that a person can remember his own birth, and even more so intrauterine experience. In fact, on the contrary, there is evidence that the human brain is not able to remember anything that happened to the body up to two years.

However, the experience of Grof and millions of people who use holotropic breathwork suggests otherwise. To understand "how deep the rabbit hole" that Grof pointed out, it must be noted that people's experiences in holotropic breathing sessions are not limited to perinatal (experienced at the time of birth) or even prenatal (embryonic, intrauterine) experiences.

It includes extremely vivid and unusual experiences, experiences that, before the invention of this technique, were available only to advanced mystics and saints of various denominations.

In particular, this is the activation of the chakras, experiences of past incarnations, foresight, clairvoyance and clairaudience, identification with other persons, with animals, plants, objects and even all creations at once (Mother Nature), the entire planet Earth, moreover, experiences of meetings with superhuman and spiritual, divine, as well as beings from other universes...

Unlike prenatal and perinatal memories, which in a number of cases were actually confirmed, it is not possible to refute or confirm such experiences.

Just as, say, it is impossible to find out whether the Catholic saint, the founder of the Jesuit order, Ignatius de Loyola, in his meditations really comprehended the torments of Christ on the cross! Science, as mentioned above, in such cases simply cannot fix the fundamental difference between “true” and “false”.

As one of the researchers (and followers) of Grof, Vladimir Maikov, notes in his article “The World of Stanislav Grof”, the same law of the uncertainty relation that the outstanding German physicist W. Heisenberg discovered in the quantum world is applicable to the world of psychology, the world of human souls: the more precisely we try to determine the coordinates of an event, the more uncertain becomes our knowledge of what actually happened.

Moreover, physics has now come to understand that at the most microscopic level it is impossible to conduct research without making changes in the properties of the material.

If, for example, a bar of gold can be measured as much as one likes without prejudice to the "subject", then, say, one quark of gold will inevitably undergo significant changes. In addition, microscopic particles, the constituent parts of matter, are more of a process, a wave, than a material particle ...

The same with in-depth studies of the human psyche- with a sufficiently deep immersion in this question, a person, as it were, ceases to be a person, but appears as a kind of evolution of consciousness, taken in a certain approximation, and only in this approximation is he a man.

For example, someone begins to practice holotropic breathing in order to get rid of psychological trauma or to overcome a life crisis. Finally, he sees and, with a clarity exceeding that available in ordinary life, experiences, say, his own birth, that is, he is, as it were, born again.

Having survived and integrated (dissolved) this trauma, he goes deeper and deeper, revealing other - perinatal - traumas. Experiences, integrates and them. The possibilities of "remembering" in this particular body are, as it were, exhausted; psychological trauma, it would seem, too. But then strange things begin to happen: a person plunges into experiences outside the body, outside this life, experiences other incarnations, experiences of planetary, non-human consciousness, finally, the experience of the birth of the Universe, then ...

He opens up an infinity of perspective - which actually existed always and everywhere. In fact, everything that made him human disappears, V. Maikov concludes, noting the paradox: often, Grof's patients experienced complete mental healing only after experiencing precisely these “beyond”, out-of-body and extraterrestrial experiences ...

In general, it turns out that the whole focus is on what we identify ourselves with.

The fact remains that hundreds of thousands of people have found healing for their mental illnesses and emotional problems during Holotropic Breathwork sessions. And Stan Grof - perhaps the greatest "psychonaut" of the planet - does not slow down the pace of his research and psychotherapeutic work, which, in fact, is a "frantic search" for the superhuman: the eternal search for the Divine.

As Heisenberg liked to say, "The atheist takes the first sip from the glass of science, but God waits at the bottom of the glass." After all, the truth is somewhere out there, at the bottom of the rabbit hole.

People who practice holotropic breathwork have a better understanding of their body, but they experience this sensation in a trance state, since such healing takes place at an unconscious level.

The feeling of inner freedom by a person allows you to overcome difficult life situations with confidence. During the therapeutic course, holonauts work more on the state of mind, rather than physical, which instills harmony and peace in the minds of each person.

Holotropic breathing as a technique used in psychotherapeutic practice is a method of getting rid of serious psychophysical disorders. It was first explored by Stanislav Grof. Initially, the holotropic served as a substitute for psychotropic drugs.

Carrying out such a procedure involves the suggestion of a psychologist against the background of intense breathing of a patient listening to special music.

A sitter or personal assistant during a breathing session helps the patient to more effectively eliminate stress and negative emotions. The method helps to forget about bad habits, addictions, neuroses, emotional disorders. Technique allows you to search for solutions to problems at a creative level, develop the ability to be creative.

The technique that stops the internal dialogue is due to immersion in human consciousness. The procedure opens up the possibility of moral liberation from experienced traumas, conflict situations, psychological discomfort. The session makes a person relive past emotions, which in a short time relieves accumulated problems that are forced out by consciousness in the course of treatment.

The holotropic breathing procedure includes the following main elements:

• patient adjustment using relaxation techniques;
• the holotropic breathing session itself;
• technology integration.

The method ensures the elimination of obstacles that impede the full development of a person. The technique allows you to avoid the implementation of rash acts in the future by removing internal blocks.

Human consciousness, freed from internal fears, is free for:

• creative self-expression;
• self-realization;
• self-actualization.

The psychotherapeutic technique of holotropy is based on immersing a person into a trance against the background of light music. The sitter arranges the alternation of breathing with relaxation in a certain way. The technique is effective as an esoteric method of self-knowledge.

Pros and cons of technology

The benefits of the Holotropic Breathwork technique are as follows:

• overcoming a large number of psychological barriers;
• changing thinking to a more positive, creative and successful one;
• elimination of psychological trauma, relief from stress.

The disadvantages of the method suggest:

• a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood due to trance, which causes the death of brain cells;
• classes can cause tantrums or hallucinations, as well as fainting;
• making gross mistakes by the sitter can lead to death.

Before using the holotropic technique, it is important to master the technique of proper breathing, otherwise the course of treatment will not bring results.

In the future, procedures can cause serious health problems. Classes that cause irreversible consequences if carried out incorrectly are very dangerous. The trainer should not go anywhere from the holonaut in a trance state in order to avoid excesses and provide all possible assistance if necessary.

Differences between Holotropic Breathwork and Rebirthing and Waiving Techniques

Holotropic Breathwork is such a healing, which in its therapeutic purpose is included in the group of the “big four”:

1. Vaivation.
2. Free breathing.
3. Rebirthing.
4. Holotropic Breathwork.

All mechanisms give the same result, but the difference between the holotropic and the rebirthing technique lies not only in who is the developer of the method, but also in the way the session is conducted. Holotropic Breathwork was founded by a psychiatrist and Rebirthing by a spiritual healer. Leonard Orr, unlike Stanislav Grof, emphasized an individual approach.

Holotrope has an optimal effect on the psyche during group sessions. Rebirthing is effective as an independent procedure, and not just a group healing method practiced by a trainer. The breathing techniques under consideration have many common elements, but the contraindications to the use of these mechanisms are different.

Rebirthing sessions are not recommended for those suffering from serious mental disorders, for whose treatment the relaxing procedures of the technique are too mild. The holographic technique is not recommended for people with severe movement restrictions. Both techniques provide the patient with the best understanding of their body.

The use of the waiving technique by people with experience does not require the presence of a trainer. The holotropic algorithm allows you to force out a hopeless life experience, an assistant is required during the procedure. Vaivation does not have as many contraindications as the holotropic method of healing has.

Basic concepts of holotropic breathwork

Holotropic breathing as a method in psychiatry was registered by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in 1993. The treatment system is associated with transpersonal psychology. In total, the practice of psychotherapy has 28 methods.

Technological elements include:

• stimulating melody;
• rapid breathing of sufficient depth;
• techniques for releasing energy from the body;
• ongoing patient care.

In addition, you can attend creative classes in clay modeling, free dancing, and mandala drawing. Holotropic Breathwork is such an active spiritual healing that can only be realized in the presence of a sitter. A professional trainer conducts sessions with one holonaut or with a group of patients.

Before starting a course of treatment, a specialist is obliged to conduct a briefing for people who are to undergo a course of treatment. Before the session, the trainer divides all participants into pairs and explains the basic concepts associated with the use of the technique. In a pair, an assistant (sitter) and a breather (holonaut) interact. At the end of the procedure, there is a change of roles between the participants.

Contraindications to exercise

The active method of holotropic breathing is associated with the manifestation of body movements of the holontaut.

Based on this condition, contraindications to the use of technology can be:

• acute infectious disease;
• pregnancy;
• dislocations and diseases of the bones;
• diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• brain diseases;
• bronchial asthma;
• glaucoma and increased eye pressure;
• mental disorders;
• congenital or acquired epilepsy;
• transferred operations.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers are strictly prohibited from practicing holotropic breathing.

A session can interfere with normal gestation, which is associated with a risk of miscarriage. Breastfeeding can also be interrupted by the mechanism. Holotropic massage sessions are especially dangerous for women with gynecological diseases. Blood flow greatly exacerbates the course of the disease.

Holotropic Breathwork in Psychotherapy

According to the initial opinion of psychoanalyst Stanislav Grof, the use of psychedelic substances in the process of treating patients provides an accelerated effect from holotropic breathing sessions.

After numerous studies, scientists have found that a separate application of the method of active breathing expands the range of emotional sensations. The model developed by Freud began to lose relevance in comparison with the holotropic method.

Research allowed Stanislav Grof to develop a new cartography of the psyche, including the following main areas of the unconscious:

1. Personal (Freudian) and biographical.
2. Transpersonal - according to the teachings of Jung, based on collective experiences.
3. Perinatal - the transition from the personal to the transpersonal against the backdrop of experiences associated with death and rebirth.

The impact on the unconscious leads to the transformation of the patient's personality, which was proved by the practicing psychiatrist Stanislav Grof. The holotropic mechanism, which influences the perinatal, is able to change the patient's psycho-spiritual attitudes. At the same time, they are associated not only with the development of the fetus and its birth, but also with the gradual formation of human consciousness.

Thanks to the experience of Grof and his followers, sessions conducted around the world allowed the psychiatrist to draw important conclusions. After conducting 4000 sessions of holotropic breathing, Grof proved that the psychedelic effect on the perinatal unconscious makes the transpersonal level of human consciousness accessible.

The holotropic method made it possible to raise psychological experiences from the unconscious of patients even before the worldwide ban on the use of psychoactive drugs. The technique of active breathing allows you to achieve an emotional state that is typical for patients who have taken a psychotropic drug.

This is possible thanks to the musical accompaniment of classes. The change of roles between the holonaut and the sitter leads to more intense experiences and obtaining the necessary psychotherapeutic effect.

Listening to music while breathing quickly allows you to relive all the emotional upheavals that a person has experienced in the past. This state can only be achieved by taking psychotropic substances. After the session, the holonaut is no longer able to maintain the pace of active breathing.

Benefits of Holotropic Breathwork for Weight Loss

The holotropic technique was not developed specifically for weight loss, so it does not provide specific techniques or settings for this purpose. The course of treatment may be associated with weight loss if the underlying causes of this result are known.

The advantages of the technique include:

• improvement of the psychological state;
• normalization of metabolism;
• stimulating the work of internal organs based on the breakdown of fat cells.

As a result of this effect on the body, a person's weight decreases. Anyone can fail at work or in their personal lives, so the technique allows you to solve various psychological problems. Techniques that cause weight loss affect the subconscious of the holonaut.

The patient's condition during the session should be normal. This allows you to use the technique without time limits.

Holotropic breathing is such a deep complex psychotherapeutic treatment that has been used in practice for many years, requiring the association of holonauts into groups, which allows you to get the greatest effect.

If the patient does not feel any changes after the sessions, then the course of treatment should be stopped. The result is individual, so practice does not always lead to weight loss.

Before treatment with active breathing, a beginner needs to learn the rules of working in pairs. The place for conducting classes can be a hall without unnecessary items. An unconscious person can injure himself if the room is filled with interior items.

Holotropic breathing sessions at home should be conducted with an assistant. The sitter or assistant should monitor the holonaut's condition. During active breathing, the assistant should assist the patient at his request.

The practitioner of the holotropic method should be focused and calm before the session. Classes are best done in comfortable clothes, removing all accessories. Contact lenses must be removed before the session. It is better to eat in advance, and not immediately before the active breathing procedure, otherwise exercising on a full stomach will be difficult.

The sitter must be chosen with great care. If the assistant cannot be trusted, then it is better to find another assistant. It is important to analyze the respiratory process, in which a large role is assigned to the sitter. If the holonaut wants to end the session, then you need to say the word "Stop".

Breathing during classes should not be focused on their thoughts. After their completion, the sitter needs to make sure that everything is fine with the holonaut. The patient should not worry about anything if he stopped actively breathing after working on himself under the supervision of a sitter.

Technique for performing holotropic breathing: a set of exercises

The main feature of the mechanism of active breathing can be considered a group way of conducting classes. This allows the holonauts to relive the memories associated with the trauma of the psyche in the past. A person practicing holotropic breathwork can recall a number of similar situations that have ever caused fear.

The photo shows how group sessions of holotropic breathing take place.

"Inner Wisdom of the Organism" is another feature of the holotrope, so named by Stanislav Grof. The practice of active breathing allows you to identify injuries that happened to people at a very early age.

The method of treatment in psychotherapy, which provides intensive breathing to music, involves the following set of exercises, suggesting breathing of the following rhythms:

Before the session, it is better not to eat or have a small snack if the feeling of hunger cannot be overcome.

How to do holotropic breathing yourself at home?

To move to another state of consciousness, the holonaut should lie on the floor. In the first 20 minutes after the start of the session, the patient goes into a trance. Subsequent sensations are associated with tension in the body, spasms or pain. Rhythmic mouth breathing should be frequent, deep and continuous.

In this process, the upper part of the chest should be involved. Intense breathing, causing hyperventilation of the lungs, makes a person survive situations of a negative nature that happened in the past.

Exhaling the air, the holonaut must imagine that negative emotions, negative thoughts, various diseases and problems are leaving at the same time. The holonaut, who is in a state of trance, relaxes the muscles as much as possible. Simultaneously with intense breathing against the background of music, the holonaut activates the process of thinking in order to smooth out the tension in various parts of the body with the effort of thought.

During the session, a person needs to realize that the negative moments that emerge from the past no longer affect the present. Having processed his own experience of experiences in his mind, the holonaut displaces memories of past mistakes from him. After practicing active breathing, it is better to move on to creativity.

The most suitable tools for this purpose are:

• drawing;
• dancing;
• molding, etc.

The spiritual states worked out at the session, the holonaut needs to express creatively. Suitable conditions in practice helps to create musical accompaniment.

Choosing the Right Music for Practice

To compose a musical composition for classes should be according to a certain principle. The entire session should flow to the sounds of melodies that allow you to smoothly move to the next level of active breathing at each stage of the session.

For each time interval of the session, the following special melodies should be selected:

1. Light stimulating music (1-8 min.) - intensive breathing setting.
2. Invigorating sounds of a melody (8-20 min.) - stimulation of holotropic breathing.
3. Ethnic music to the rhythm of drums (20-40 min.) - an active impulse to a breakthrough.
4. Dramatic music of a breakthrough nature (40-80 min.) - the culminating stage of the classes.
5. Pleasant melodious sounds (80-95 min.) - the end of the session.

During the rest of the time after an hour and a half from the beginning of the session, a creative melody should play, allowing you to get out of the trance state. The holonaut must feel the altered consciousness under a meditative melody of a calm nature, allowing the holonaut to feel his inner world. All melodies from the beginning to the final stage should be launched in turn.

Frequency and duration of classes

Holotropic Breathwork is such a healing used in psychotherapeutic practice. His method must be implemented in accordance with a special schedule that allows sessions to be held at the right time. The procedure usually takes 2-3 hours. During this time, the process can be completed naturally, but there are also prolonged sessions.

After the session, the facilitator suggests moving on to the creative stage of working with the body, for example, dancing. This allows you to complete the entire process of active breathing on the emotional and physical levels. The essence of the work of an assistant or sitter is to observe the situation in the process of breathing the holonaut and control the process of his self-expression in any manifestations.

Breathing at the beginning of the session for 10-15 minutes. will not immediately become intense. The process ceases to be difficult for the holonaut after 20 minutes. after the start of classes. The return of breathing to normal occurs after 1-1.5 hours. If a holonaut is diagnosed with schizophrenia, then the duration of the session should be 4-5 hours.

When will the effect of holotropic breathing come?

Studies of the results of active breathing allowed psychiatrists to determine the time of onset of the final effect of the treatment. This happens after 2-6 years. People who regularly attend holotropic breathwork classes or conduct sessions at home notice more and more positive shifts in their minds.

The effect of the exercises, associated with the expansion of consciousness and its transition to a new level, occurs after muscle relaxation at the last stage of the session. After a short session, reminiscent of a superficial dream, the holonaut notices the discharge of problems, the removal of stress, the elimination of stupid and evil thoughts.

Self-healing as a result of a properly conducted session is possible only with a deep concentration of the holonaut on his feelings.

The effect of a set of exercises suggests harmony between the body and mind. Such a change in the state of the soul of a person will be immediate if the practitioner of holotropic breathwork will perceive this spiritual healing correctly, fully trusting the wisdom of his body.

Video about holotropic breathing, its benefits and rules for performing

What is Holotropic Breathwork?

Stanislav Grof on Holotropic Breathwork:

Often, psychotherapeutic methods of healing the human soul are on the verge between earthly and universal realities. The breathing process itself has almost magical power: life is impossible without enriching the body with oxygen. At the moment of saturation of the lungs with air, an invisible communication with the outside world occurs. Since ancient times, shamans and original ethnic groups have used the technique of deep breathing to get rid of all diseases. It formed the basis of religious and mystical rites. Indian yogis and Shaolin monks are still adherents of this technique. Modern psychotherapy also uses the method in the process of centuries-old practice of studying the human soul.

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Description

Holotropic breathing is a method of psychotherapeutic influence on a person, which is based on intensive breathing. Its history goes back to the 50s. previous century. The technology was developed by Christina and Stanislav Grof. It was created as a legitimate alternative to LSD and other psychedelic treatments. After the use of psychoactive drugs was banned, the method became especially widespread.

At the time of the holotropic breathing session, the following manipulations are used:

• rapid and intense breathing;
• the sound of rhythmic music or similar sounds;
• bodily work.

As a result, it is possible to achieve experiences of all spectrums of emotions. Unlike psychedelic effects on the psyche, active breathing causes softer inner sensations. In part, a holotrope is able to control feelings even in an unconscious state. The fundamental difference between the holotropic method and the impact of psychoactive drugs is the use of a biological, natural process - breathing.

What is the essence of the methodology?

In the process of performing holotropic breathing, a person is exposed to deep, intense and connected breathing. There are no pauses between inhalation and exhalation. Accompanying rhythmic music encourages these actions. The patient gradually sinks into an unconscious state. His perception of reality turns into his own fantasies. During the session and immediately after it, you can draw mandalas, perform body-oriented therapy techniques, and reflect on current life problems.

The person who performs this technique is called a holotrope. Translated from Greek, this term means "the path to healing." The purpose of the method is self-knowledge, self-healing, unification of consciousness and perception of the real world, the desire to understand one's own desires, the study of one's emotions. Already after the first session, a person feels invisible maturation and personal growth.

An experienced psychoanalyst who practices holotropic breathing is already in the process of the 1st session able to reveal all internal experiences, psychological trauma and conflicts. It does not matter when exactly all this happened, the work is on the healing of consciousness. Most situations may not be remembered by the holotrope, but unpleasant aftertaste and associations with certain actions may remain. The technique is aimed at eliminating them.



Benefit and harm

Among doctors there are many supporters and haters of this method of treatment. Holotropic Breathwork was developed to replace the use of LSD, so it has pros and cons. When performing the technique, a person breathes intensively and deeply through the mouth. This condition is comparable to intense long-distance running, climbing mountains, or the state of a woman in labor. It causes excessive saturation of body tissues with oxygen, which occurs as a result of hyperventilation of the lungs.

In the process of such breathing, the appearance of dangerous conditions that are of physiological significance is possible. Among them are:

• reflex narrowing of the lumen of blood vessels;
• a sharp increase in blood pressure;
• inhibition of hemoglobin functions;
• violation of acid-base balance and metabolism.

A person may experience temporary suffocation, brain hypoxia and a negative effect on the cells of the central nervous system with their partial death.

During one session, several liters of carbon dioxide are lost, which in medicine is characterized as hypocapnia. Carrying out the method at home, without the supervision of an assistant, is extremely dangerous, as irreversible changes can develop, up to death. Possible permanent damage to the central nervous system, heart, liver, kidneys and other vital organs.

Supporters of holotropic breathing are sure that nothing threatens a healthy person, without the presence of severe pathological changes in the state of physiological health. By themselves, acts of deep intense breathing do not pose any harm, as they are controlled by the sitter (assistant).

This method of psychotherapy for decades of existence has proved that it can be used to identify deep disorders of psychosomatic health and create effective ways to solve existing psychogenic problems, especially since the impact is based on the physiological function of the body.

Holotropic breathing achieves the main goal in psychotherapy, which is to release the patient's inner consciousness. He is able to open up and talk about his problems without any barriers, unconscious inhibition, built-up blocks and other mental stress. This technique encourages a person to decisiveness and an inevitable desire for the speediest self-realization.



Indications and contraindications

Due to the fact that holotropic breathing involves a certain rhythm, it has a number of limitations. First of all, these are people with chronic and acute pathological processes of internal organs. Breathing can exacerbate these conditions.

Contraindications to the technique:

• the presence of cardiovascular diseases, including arterial hypertension, acute emergency conditions, heart failure, impaired vascular patency;
• bronchial asthma of moderate and severe degree;
• pathological changes in the brain and spinal cord;
• pregnancy and breastfeeding;
• the presence of infectious diseases;
• glaucoma;
• traumatic injuries of the musculoskeletal system;
• a history of surgical interventions on the abdominal cavity in the last year;
• age up to 14 years;
• psychoemotional disorders of unknown etiology.

If the patient has epilepsy or psychological disorders, the decision on the possibility of carrying out the technique is made by the attending psychotherapist. If the answer is positive, the person attends individual classes, during which the mentor helps to breathe correctly and controls any change in the state.

Indications for psychotherapy using holotropic breathing are many psychogenic states of a person. It is most often used for:

• food, gaming, drug, alcohol addictions;
• depression;
• chronic stress;
• neuroses;
• insomnia.

Along with psychological problems, there are physiological disorders of the body, such as psoriasis, VVD, sexual disorders, and the initial manifestations of bronchial asthma.

For people in difficult life situations, when they experience a personal crisis, experiences in connection with unhappy love, the loss of a loved one, problems with mutual understanding in society, holotropic breathing helps to understand their own emotional and spiritual spectrum. Among holonauts, one can often meet people who do not have a clear position in life, who lack something for natural personal growth. After the session, they have a pronounced desire to develop creatively, certain abilities and leadership inclinations appear, and intuition develops.

Periodic use of the holotropic breathing technique helps to get enough energy, increase efficiency and improve overall mood.

Instruction

It is necessary to prepare for the session in advance, gradually adjusting and preparing the workplace. It is important for a person to concentrate on the upcoming session. The instruction assumes the presence of the correct clothing, only comfortable clothing is allowed, which will not hamper the necessary range of movements. It is worth giving up accessories, hairpins, brooches, rings, bracelets and other items. People with poor eyesight should remove their glasses and lenses before starting the class.

The last meal should be a few hours before the session, while only light foods that promote rapid digestion are allowed. This will help you breathe easily, quickly and cleanly. The holonaut needs to satisfy all his physiological needs before the start of the session, as a full bladder or thirst can distract from the process.

The holotropic breathing technique requires the presence of a sitter, it controls the state of consciousness. His choice should be treated with special attention. It should be a stranger or acquaintance who does not cause any emotions. Until the moment you start breathing, you need to relax and relieve muscle tension. This is facilitated by:

• sounds of nature;
• melodic music;
• relaxation techniques.

The music that sounds during holotropic breathing can be any, the main thing is that it be without words, as they can distract from concentration.



Group Holotropic Breathwork Session

Maximum responsibility is required from both the holotropic and his sitter, before the session they must agree on non-verbal signals that will be given to each other. Everyone should be clearly aware of their actions and their own significance in this process. The sitter performs the function of a guardian who not only watches over the holonaut, but is also able to provide support if necessary.

Breathing should be as deep, intense and frequent as possible. After an immersion into one's own consciousness occurs, a person himself regulates its depth and intensity. At the moment of performing the technique, the sitter is the main and only person that exists on the planet. There is no one other than him for the holotropic.

In moments of pronounced physical activity, when a person experiences maximum excitement caused by internal experiences, the sitter is obliged to restrain him. Otherwise, physical injury may result. It is permissible to limit the range of motion with the help of pillows or your own body. You cannot interfere in the process unless the holotrope asks for it.

After the end of the session, a person should not make sudden movements, he should gradually restore natural breathing and be in a relaxed state for some time. It is necessary to "digest" and comprehend the experienced emotions. For some time it is recommended to lie still, think and draw a mandala. In group therapy, all patients sit in a circle, speaking aloud their experiences.



An example of a mandala created by a holotrope after a session

How to do the technique yourself?

A competent holonaut and a specialist in his field will categorically forbid carrying out the technique at home, since there may be undesirable consequences. Given the desire of many people to relieve the growing tension and get rid of problems, it is possible to perform the method at home, but with extreme caution.

The main focus should be on safety. To do this, you need to choose a room in which the risk of traumatic injury is minimal. The venue for the session must be carefully prepared - for this, all sharp corners are covered, mirrors and other objects that can cause harm are removed. Performing the holotropic breathing technique without the presence of an assistant is categorically contraindicated. Only the presence of a sitter allows a psychotherapeutic effect at home. Otherwise, it is impossible to guarantee the avoidance of injuries and complications on the part of the body.

As a sitter, it is necessary to choose an experienced person who understands the essence of the process. In addition to providing security and assistance at all stages of the session, at the end of the session, he should listen to the holotrope and provide him with possible assistance.

The key importance is given to the process of breathing, which is somewhat reminiscent of shortness of breath. It is necessary to control the depth and frequency of breaths, especially in the first 20 minutes of the session. It is during this period that a person plunges into a trance, going into the depths of his own consciousness. At the end of this time, he must listen to his own sensations and independently control the frequency and intensity of breathing. It is not uncommon for a person to stop breathing in the middle of a session because they don't feel like doing it. Short pauses indicate the normal course of the therapeutic process. A prolonged absence of inhalation signals the assistant to remind him of the beginning of respiratory activity, otherwise the holotropic will develop oxygen starvation, hypoxia, and other negative consequences.

To conduct a session, you need to choose the right musical accompaniment:

• During the first 8 minutes of the session, the music should be motivating, stimulating, facilitating the act of breathing, but light enough.
• The next 12 minutes - to help stimulate the process of immersion in one's own consciousness.
• Further, within 20 minutes of the session, a rhythmic melody, similar to a drum roll, is needed.
• This is followed by 20 minutes of quintessence characterized by a breakthrough.
• Only after that comes 15 minutes of warm music, which activates the feeling of flight, frankness, helps to get out of the state, pushing for decisive action.

In the process of performing holotropic breathwork without prior preparation or its primary use as part of professional treatment, a person may encounter a number of difficulties. The key problem is the unwillingness to deal with certain blocks and clamps. In the unconscious process, when the second and third stages are underway (reproduction of personal experiences), bodily clamps can be observed that will disrupt the movement of emotions. This condition can be dated to the immobility of the arms and legs.

It is difficult for an inexperienced holotrope to plunge into their own feelings and begin to experience unpleasant memories with the whole body. In this case, a lot depends on the sitter, which is able to remove the blocks. In order not to be distracted from the process of reproducing unpleasant sensations, partners must agree in advance on wordless contacts, during which their interaction will be carried out. Under no circumstances should the sitter touch the throat, face, genitals, or chest of the holotrope. These areas are strictly prohibited.

After the end of the treatment session, a person should lie down for a while, think about what he has experienced, draw a mandala, which is a circle. All the experienced feelings that can come to the mind of a holotropic fit into it, they are conveyed by paints in a chaotic or regular order of application. After that, you need to express all your thoughts on the results of the session to the opponent. Then the final stage begins, characterized by psychoanalysis, during which the assistant helps to move on to decisive action in achieving the desired results - including in the process of dealing with urgent problems.

Recently, it has become fashionable to get involved in various breathing techniques that are used in modern psychology. Increasingly, it is possible to come across information about a particular psychotechnics, the method of its implementation, effectiveness, and various reviews. This also applies to Holotropic Breathwork. Many people talk about this topic, attend seminars, trainings, express their impressions, share their experience. Let's see what this technique is, how and why it is used.

What is Holotropic Breathwork?

If you take the term “holotropic” apart, its origin comes from the Greek words holos (in translation: whole, whole) and tropein (leading). When the meanings of the translated terms are combined, a "breath leading to wholeness" is obtained. This is a kind of psychotherapy with work on the personal growth of a person, it consists in a special breathing technique that people do for a certain time to the music.

Holotropic breathing starts a whole chain of chemical reactions in the human body, which leads to changes in the functioning of the nervous system: the structures responsible for unconscious processes, long-term memory, and emotions are activated. This is how breathing therapy takes place at a deep level, which frees a person from long-standing psychological traumas. After a certain time, the patient is transformed, cured of diseases.

Breathwork using the holotropic technique was developed by an American psychologist named Stanislav Grof in the fifties. Twenty years later, when a lot of positive research was done, the technique was officially recognized and allowed around the world as an alternative method. It is used instead of the use of psychotropic drugs and is considered an effective therapy for patients.

The goal of therapeutic breathing exercises using holotropic techniques is to heal a person so that he achieves wholeness while immersing himself in one of the deep levels of consciousness. The basis on which this technique is based is a set of spiritual and psychological practices of the whole world, acquired by mankind over many millennia of existence.

In fact, classes that include this unique technique look like this: rapid, deep, connected breathing is performed without pauses between inhalation and exhalation; exercises are accompanied by stimulating rhythmic music. As a result, a person plunges into an unusual state, during which he receives a stream of unconscious experience. Further, drawing, dancing, and discussion of the ongoing process are connected to the technique.

Holotropic Breathwork: Harm or Benefit?

This breathing technique, like drugs, has a positive and negative effect on human health with side effects, so the opinions of psychotherapists are radically divided. Those who practice Holotropic Breathwork claim that it is the safest way to treat psychological problems. The rest of the experts consider the technique very dangerous for the psyche and physical condition of the patient. Here is the negative impact of this breathing technique on human health:

• It is compared with how a woman breathes during childbirth, an athlete during a sprint race, a tourist when he climbs mountains. As a result, the following happens: the level of carbon dioxide in the tissues rises sharply, which causes hyperventilation of the lungs. These processes are a catalyst for such dangerous reactions as: reflex vasoconstriction, a sharp increase in blood pressure, a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood, metabolic disorders. A person experiences temporary suffocation of the brain, the nerve endings begin to die off gradually.
• In the process of one breathing session using the holotropic technique, the human body loses up to three liters of carbon dioxide, which can lead to dizziness, loss of consciousness.
• If you perform such holotropic therapy on your own, without knowing all the features of the correct breathing technique, there is a risk of cerebral edema and death.
• Having made even one wrong manipulation during a holotropic breathing session at home, it is possible to cause irreparable harm to the central nervous system, myocardium, liver, and kidneys.

Psychotherapists who are supporters of the holotropic method of therapeutic breathing hold the opposite opinion. They argue that an absolutely healthy person who has no contraindications and who has undergone professional training from Stanislav Grof's followers in certified centers will receive only a positive effect on health. Here is how this technique affects the human body:

• Holotropic breathing is considered the fastest method among other psychotechnics. It leads to quick personal changes. This happens because during a holotropic session, not every traumatic situation from the past is considered separately, but a whole generalizing block.
• Your internal body system itself chooses which psychological problem should be considered at the moment, thanks to which a specialist psychologist does not manipulate your consciousness (unlike other areas of psychotherapy). This is called the non-manipulative feature of the holotropic technique.
• Breathing, on which this technique is based, helps to work out during the lesson the deepest particles of the negative psychological experience received.
• Thanks to classes using the holotropic technique, a person, while breathing, is aware of the roots of his psychological stress and is freed from them.
• The holotropic breathing technique effectively treats psychosomatic diseases (pathologies caused by a negative psychological state of a person) even in the most hopeless cases.
• The patient can easily overcome bad habits, addiction by attending classes based on rapid breathing.
• By performing the exercises of their holotropic methodology, a person almost immediately gets rid of the consequences of chronic stress, fatigue, and a sense of inner harmony returns to him.

What else is Holotropic Breathwork used for?

The holotropic technique with unique breathing cannot be considered a panacea for all the troubles and diseases of people, but its use still has its positive effect in many cases. The use of such breathing psychotherapy is so widespread that it is compared to the endless possibilities of human consciousness. Holotropic breathing is successfully used not only for the treatment of psychological pathologies. It is effective in the fight against excess weight; works well during therapy for drug or alcohol addiction. How this breathing technique works to treat certain problems:

• For weight loss. During the application of the breath used in holotropic therapy, hyperventilation of the lungs occurs. The body receives a huge amount of oxygen, which contributes to the effective burning of fat cells. As a result of such breathing, metabolic processes are accelerated, and this helps to cleanse the body of harmful substances and toxins.
• For the treatment of alcoholism. Holotropic breathing technique has a therapeutic effect for patients suffering from alcohol dependence. When using it, a person plunges into the depths of his consciousness and is faced with a negative experience that led him to this problem. The patient experiences this situation in the head in a new way, gains awareness and heals from the previous trauma. The need for alcohol doping disappears, which allows you to successfully overcome addiction.

How is a group session going?

To perform breathing according to the holotropic technique, appropriate conditions are created in specialized centers, which are aimed at relaxing a person and liberating from negative experiences. This is achieved by fulfilling the simple requirements that are necessary for classes:

• A group session using holotropic breathing technique takes place in the form of seminars, the number of which depends on the individual problems of each visitor (from 8 to 15 sessions).
• The duration of one lesson can vary from three to eight hours.
• Participants are divided into pairs: one will play the role of a sitter (an assistant who ensures the safety of the person performing breathing), and the other will play the role of a holonaut (breather).
• The lesson begins with relaxation and relaxation to specially selected rhythmic music (it helps to maintain heart and respiratory rhythms).
• When the main stage of the breathing session comes to an end, all participants begin to creatively express their emotions: they draw, dance freely, and sculpt fanciful figures from clay. If they want, they can discuss everything that they experienced during these hours.
• The lesson is accompanied by specially selected music (read more about it below).

Is it possible to master this technique on your own?

If you have unequivocally decided for yourself that you are able to engage in this method of self-knowledge, and have a great desire, at home it is possible to independently master the holotropic technique with a certain way of breathing. Thanks to Internet resources, specialized literature, various video lessons, you have a unique opportunity to conduct classes effectively. Read on for a holotropic breathing technique that you can do at home on your own.

Holotropic Breathwork Technique at Home

When doing homework with the use of holotropic technique, the disadvantage for the usefulness of the session is the absence of a sitter. If a novice trainee has the opportunity to secure a mate, ideal. The impossibility of performing a lesson with a "nanny" cannot be an obstacle to the use of this technique. Here are some important tips for home practice that uses Holotropic Breathwork:

• Before the session, choose a comfortable room for the lesson, having previously ventilated it.
• Stock up on suitable music (more on this in a separate paragraph below).
• Determine for yourself what specific problem you want to solve with the help of holotropic therapy with rapid breathing (personal or family, for example). You must breathe in order to achieve a specific effect, not for the sake of the process itself.
• Perform the deepest, most frequent breaths, do not pause in your breath. Additional specific recommendations are not needed here, this is a non-verbal technique, which consists in minimal intervention during the session. In some ways, it can be compared with meditation.
• Use different body positions that your consciousness will prompt.
• After experiencing an emotional experience, engage in your favorite creative process, for example, drawing the images you see, dancing, sculpting in clay or plasticine.
• You must be aware of the emotions you have experienced.

What kind of music is needed?

Choose relaxing music: sounds of nature, tambourine, drum roll. It will be better if you choose different music selections for each stage. First, there should be a stimulating and inciting melody, then a dramatic one mixed with a dynamic one. At the end, there should be a musical breakthrough with a transition to more calm, meditative music. Check out the step-by-step description of the musical accompaniment of the entire lesson in holotropic technique:

1. For the first 8 seconds of the lesson, light music should sound, encouraging, stimulating breathing.
2. Before the 20 second session, record an even more breath-stimulating tune.
3. For the next 20 seconds of the holotropic session, an ethnic recording using drum roll should be played.
4. After - the intensity of the breathing session with the holotropic technique is replaced by a trance state, so for the next 35 seconds a dramatic melody should sound.
5. Then the drama subsides, and the style of musical accompaniment is replaced by hearty, warm music. This lasts for the next 15 seconds of the holotropic breathing session.
6. After - the melody should smoothly turn into a calm one, but maintain intensity. This rhythm should be followed until the very end of the holotropic breathing session.

Medical contraindications for use

Before performing breathing exercises, you need to find out if you have any medical contraindications to the use of this technique. There are many contraindications to doing this type of breathing. Check out the detailed list of diseases / indications, the presence of which prohibits practicing holotropic therapy:

• In the process of conducting a lesson on rapid breathing, a person can experience emotional outbursts, stress, physically feel their experiences (through an increase in body temperature, for example). For those who suffer from angina pectoris, hypertension, heart failure, asthma - all this is very dangerous and can be fatal.
• Pregnancy. This can lead to the death of the fetus in the womb.
• Classes using holotropic therapy are not indicated if a person suffers from epilepsy. The use of such a technique increases the risk of a seizure from the received emotions.
• Do not engage in holotropic techniques if you have recently had surgery or any kind of injury. Intense breathing exercises can lead to tearing of the stitches.
• Classes based on the holotropic technique are contraindicated during the acute stage of infectious diseases.
• Children under the age of 14 are not allowed to attend such sessions.

Video lesson: How to learn to breathe correctly

If you want to use the holotropic technique effectively, it is important to learn how to breathe correctly. Otherwise, it will not only have no effect in the course of therapy, but may even lead to huge health problems and irreversible processes in the body with a fatal outcome. Check out below a comprehensive video tutorial teaching proper breathing technique during a holotropic session. So you will learn a lot of useful recommendations, instructions that will help you get a healing effect from using this method.