Holotropic Breathing is a powerful tool for self-exploration and self-knowledge, which also has therapeutic effects , healing and transformation of the individual. In his theory and practice incorporates elements of ancient and indigenous traditions, the Eastern spiritual philosophies and modern Western psychology, including research on modern consciousness.
This technique was developed by Stanislav Grof and his wife, Cristina, about 27 years ago and since then have been working with her. Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist of Czech origin, residing in California (USA) since 1967. It is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology, current within psychology that arises formally in California in the late 60's. The importance of their work is not only in the development of this technique, but also in its research of non-ordinary states of consciousness, which goes back nearly 50 years, and that led him to create a cartography of the psyche very complete. It extends the biographical framework of traditional psychology, also going to include perinatal and transpersonal dimension of the psyche.
The technique itself combines accelerated breathing, evocative music, bodywork technique and artistic expression. The basic idea is to use the breath to contact the internal mechanisms and move towards healing the whole (hence the word "Holotropic" which comes from the Greek 'holo' means and 'trepein' move, and which literally means moving toward wholeness.) This idea is nothing new, but already is in most mystical traditions.
So, in meditation or yoga, seeks contact with Being, which in the context holotropic call the 'inner healer. " It is a mystery. Some people regard it as a spark of divinity within us all, other divinity itself, others the higher self. Each person must experience it for themselves.
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All Mankind seeks a way to get to the whole. Many spiritual traditions say it and speak it is a human being's innate motivation. In our materialistic culture and technology we have been moving away from this idea of \u200b\u200bconnection with everything and there is not much room for practices that facilitate this. Sometimes this leads us to look the wrong way, as in the case of addictions (alcohol, drugs ...). The use of music is nothing new. Many cultures talk of worlds that are beyond the material, and many of them are expressed through music. The music transcends the intellect and allows us to connect with our own processes. Would like the language of the soul. Its use to try to get the whole is nothing new. Comes from the appearance of man on the planet with the pace.
regard to body work, focuses on a particular area of \u200b\u200bthe body. Working with energy and breathing is sometimes arise locks emotional energy somatised remaining somewhere in the body, either during the session, resulting in stress or pain at some point that one's breath does not dissolve, or at the end of it. With the body work we help dissolution and completion of the session. Bodywork is also energy.
The healing power of mandalas
Once we finished the session is passed to artistic expression. Although you can use other means, generally we will use a "mandala." "Mandala" in Sanskrit means "circle" and is used because it is a symbol that facilitates go "outside" to "inside" and connect with our inner space. It's trying to translate what has been experienced during the session or whatever we at that time in order to facilitate the integration of experience. This is not new, mandalas are also used in other cultures, including India, Tibet, American Navajo ...
The importance of Holotropic Breathwork is that it allows to induce, in a safe, non-ordinary states of consciousness, which have great healing potential. These states produce the mobilization capacity of spontaneous healing of the psyche, enabling bring unconscious contents to consciousness with a strong emotional.
will distinguish between regular and non-ordinary state of consciousness. The ordinary state is one in which we are usually in our daily lives, and in it we identify with our bodies, our feelings, our emotions, our ego, and we are limited by space and time. In the non-ordinary leave to be identified with our bodies and our selves and move on to a state where we can identify with any other time or situation. There
non-ordinary states of consciousness that are not available for healing. For example, when we have delusions from the fever, overdoses of some drugs, brain trauma ... In these cases consciousness is altered, but not expanded. In non-ordinary states of consciousness holotropic consciousness expands, it is states in which we remain fully conscious, and that is where healing occurs, where its healing potential.
There is a large gap between the modern conception of the psyche in the West and the way the world has understood. Our culture is the only one who denies the existence of non-ordinary states. On a psychological level have pathologized (for example, mystical states of Santa Teresa de Jesus and San Juan de la Cruz are considered psychotic), and scientific level states that do not exist. The only non-ordinary state is not considered a disease is sleep.
But there is a wealth of mystical and shamanic traditions for thousands of years, which considers these statements are absolutely necessary both for the transformation of the individual and the culture. Considered necessary to know oneself, nature, philosophical systems, mythological and spiritual. So using shamanic rituals, songs, dances, meditation, yoga, fasting, ingestion of psychoactive substances ... to induce.
Transpersonal Psychology takes this. The basic idea is that in certain states of consciousness we can experience different perspectives of reality that are not normally available to our perception. Transpersonal Psychology is devoted to study the impact that these states have in the lives of people and their healing potential. Includes, therefore, the spiritual dimension of human beings, and that spirituality has to do with direct contact with these dimensions.
Sometimes these non-ordinary states occur spontaneously, and this Grof calls it spiritual emergencies. May arise from a physical cause: accident, serious illness, childbirth, abortion ... Situations involving physical weakening which means that, in turn, weaken the psychological barriers and unconscious material to emerge into our consciousness. Also by death of a loved one, a divorce. Also sometimes occur as a result of the practice of certain spiritual techniques (any meditation technique, Sufi techniques, yoga, tai-chi ...). More than the external stimulus, which appears to influence the development or disposition of an individual for inner transformation. Sometimes
follows a professional disappointment: people who use the outside world as an outlet for their emotional problems. When the outside world fails, the person is forced to confront his inner world, which had been running (and no escape) and there is a crisis. This crisis is a symptom, an expression effort to heal the body, the need for inner transformation. And there are times when the emergence of unconscious material substantially interferes in daily life.
drugs 'plug' the real problem
In traditional psychology, these symptoms are considered as diseases and are often treated with drugs that suppress. Sometimes, after a while the symptoms re-emerge, and there has been no change, have simply been "covered" by the drugs. In Holotropic therapy, however, the symptom is an opportunity and homeopathy works as a psyche, the are looking for an intensification of symptoms to expedite the process and finish it. And this is how the transformation of the individual.
These non-ordinary states can be contacted, in addition to the biographical dimension of traditional psychology, with perinatal and transpersonal dimensions. In the case of the biographical dimension also is a major difference with traditional verbal therapy.
Holotropic therapy is experiential and allows re-experience the biographical experiences, releasing the emotions that are repressed and leading to their integration, assimilation, which has a strong character healer. Since we are fully aware, while we experience emotions and physical sensations of a traumatic situation from the perspective of the time it occurred (eg. the children) can analyze and evaluate experiences from an adult perspective. It would be a regression at the time of the experience. This also allows the use of physical contact at the time of regression to heal the biographical situation of strong emotional deprivation in childhood, which have important implications for adult life of the individual in his relations with the rest of the world (fear of intimacy. ..).
As perinatal dimension, refers to all those experiences around (this is what 'peri') at birth but does not include the earliest moments of conception. Grof divides this dimension into four phases or perinatal matrices:
- 1 ª perinatal matrix: includes the times spent in the womb. 2 nd
- perinatal matrix: when they start labor contractions but not yet open the birth canal. 3 rd
- perinatal matrix: the passage through the birth canal to exit. 4 ª
- perinatal matrix: the final expulsion of the canal and cutting the umbilical cord.
In each of these matrices have different physical and emotional experiences that stay etched in our psyche:
In the first we have experiences of good or evil womb. For example, if a mother smokes during pregnancy the fetus does not get oxygen and lives like an intoxication. The mother's emotions also affect the fetus, which is charged even if you want or not. All that is already steeped in our psyche.
The second compression have strong experience of being trapped, oppressed, to be "swallowed" and no exit in sight.
The third is going through a hard struggle to get out. At birth (if natural) not only the mother but also pushes the child. While we strive to leave oppressed by the birth canal. The fourth
experienced a great release accompanied by decompression. Also the way we receive allows us to trace (if we host our mother in her arms, if we take an incubator ...).
perinatal matrices are so important in our psyche that can determine the type of personality you have (for example, that a person likes the risk, who likes the caves ... all have been connected with the matrices perinatal). Addition, psychopathologies established by traditional psychiatry would find their connection with them.
all born biologically, but not emotionally, and this does not happen until you go through it again. When we are born we carry within these matrices in the form of intrapsychic structure. What makes that predominates in each matrix is \u200b\u200bperinatal or other postnatal life, traumatic events. Also, further biographical life may soften the effects of matrices.
perinatal dynamics are always below our consciousness and emerge in our lives. There is an inner tendency to heal (the "inner healer") and how this happens is constantly trying to escape our consciousness. This occurs unconsciously, and even that does not "wake up" and we realize we repeat this perinatal behaviors, often compulsively. To Perinatal heal these dynamics need liberation from rebirth.
In the human psyche there is a universal pattern of death-rebirth, which is common to many cultures. In the process of revival in some way we are liberated from fear of death and this has powerful implications in the way we see the world change the way we act in it because we are liberated from our fears. Experiences
identification
Finally, the transpersonal dimension can be lived experience of identification with other people, animals, plants, minerals, mythological, archetypal, having also had access to living areas, past life experiences. Examples would be the mother goddess archetypes, the wise old man, the eternal child ... The ultimate expression in this dimension would be the identification with the cosmic mind or cosmic void.
contact The fact a kind of experience or the other depends on our own inner wisdom, the "inner healer." This makes a difference compared to other therapies where you can also have regressive type experiences where it is the therapist who leads the session. Here is our "inner healer" that makes contact with those who in every moment we are prepared to take and process. For
Finally, it should be noted that the work with Holotropic Breathwork consciousness expands and opens a lot of the psyche, so it is very important work of integration that arises in the session. The whole purpose of integration is to remain in contact with the 'inner healer' to rearrange after a session and has its own time (5 minutes, hours, overnight or longer in a dream). Each session and each person has their own time.
For integration and understanding experience using the frameworks described above, which extend existing within traditional psychology. However, sometimes a transformation Staff can occur without any rational understanding.
Here comes another important concept, which Grof calls COEX (system of condensed experience). A COEX would be a set of experiences from different moments of our lives that we have in common a certain emotional and physical characteristics. Is a constellation of experiences with a common thread between them, like a beaded necklace collar where the rope is the theme (eg, neglect) and the accounts different times of our lives around that topic. Experiences may be biographical, perinatal (each COEX has deep roots perinatal about any of the four perinatal matrices) and trans (past lives, identification with certain archetypes). The COEX is important because it unifies different aspects of the process and integrates them. Finding the COEX in the process of deepening and is a very good tool to complete the integration. Includes certain aspects of the mystical traditions (samskaras or karmic patterns).
Babies are born marked with certain experiences and tend to see everything with that particular lens (the life is leaving, I'm not supported ...). The rest of life is how a series of neutral experiences. However, because the lens creates a particular reality and there comes a time when all of reality is viewed with the lens. When
COEX is discovered, the concept changes from "I can not believe this is happening to me again" to "I can not believe I'm falling into this again." To work it must dis-identify it. Each time we will have more awareness and will be weakened, it will fall less (there are many layers COEX that takes time to work them). It is this way in everyday life where we have to do the job, is to pay attention to our lives. How Holotropic Breathwork expands consciousness, allows us to "realizing" COEX previously unaware. COEX
is also positive, as "life is a safe place," "I can trust ',' I am loved. " Many of them originate in the fourth perinatal matrix.
Holotropic Breathing produces profound metamorphosis in people.
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