Morning Moon over Joshua Tree, CA. Holotropic Breathwork workshop
Feb, 2009. Photo courtesy of Christian Frick

Holotropic Breathwork

For thousands of years the cultures of the world have had ways of accessing deep inner experiences. What we are now calling non ordinary states of consciousness. In these states humans have experienced PROFOUND healing. They have experienced the deepest and most intimate connections with the Divine, they have released toxic energies which have kept them chained from their highest potential. Humans have connected with the deepest truths and wisdom of the ages. In all of these ancient cultures beings have gone inward to find the answers to some of life’s most troubling and desperate problems. Until recently we in the West have lost these insights. Fortunately for us now, in this time and age, it is once again permissible to explore these mystical realms without fear of persecution, and ostracism. Many disciplines of transpersonal psychology and in particular Holotropic Breathwork create experiences where we can once again experience our inner knowing, our own inner healing potential.

A focus of Humanistic psychology and subsequently transpersonal psychology has been that there is an innate drive within us always moving us towards wholeness. In other words no matter who we are, what we have done, or what has happened to us, we are always moving towards our optimal health and the healing of our wounds. We just need to get out of the way and let our natural healing impulses do their work. This is what non ordinary states of consciousness do, they allow us to access without blocks and restrictions our inner healer. One of the necessities in doing this is that we must get out of our thinking, rational minds and open to the true radiance of what we are, our essence, Holotropic Breathwork creates a space where this can happen.

Leaving ordinary time and entering sacred time, Holotropic Breathwork™ combines deep and rapid breathing, evocative music, focused bodywork (as requested), integrative artwork, and group process to enter and explore non-ordinary states of consciousness, allowing access to both personal and transpersonal experiences that facilitate deep healing of our body-mind-hearts, and opening to the truth of our interconnectedness in the great Web of Life.

Holotropic Breathwork is experienced in dyads, so you will have the opportunity to witness and support another person in his or her inner journey, and receive the same for yourself. This "sitting" for your partner can be a profound teaching about the true nature of helping. For some people, the sitting experience is filled with as much emotion, insight, and self-discovery as the breathing experience. You do not need to register with a partner, although some people do.

Again Holotropic Breathwork is a profound and deep modality allowing us assess to our inner wisdom. There is a part of all of us deep and wise. This part of us knows exactly what we each need in any given moment for our highest healing and growth. This is like going directly to the source to understand our problems rather than trying to rationalize with our thinking minds. Our minds and thoughts certainly have their place in our healing, but we can be very limited in our ability to perceive exactly what we need to facilitate our healing. This is because our wounds and blind spots get in the way of clear perception.

Our psyches can take us on incredible varied experiences, with no two experiences ever being just alike. We do find though that these types of experiences will fall within a few different categories. We can have experiences of a sensory type...

Holotropic Breathwork opens the door to a wide range of physical, emotional, and spiritual experiences, which cannot be predicted in advance. The process can evoke strong emotional and physical stress and can put people with the following conditions at risk. These conditions include pregnancy, serious heart conditions (history of heart attacks, cardio-surgery, cerebral hemorrhage, hypertension, high blood pressure, etc.), epilepsy, glaucoma, retinal detachment, history of severe mental or emotional disorders, acute infectious disease and recent injury or surgery.