Holotropic Breathwork

by Grof, Stanislav

• ISBN13: 9781438433943
• ISBN10: 1438433948
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-01
• Publisher: Excelsior Editions

Summary

The definitive overview of this transformative breathwork.

Author Biography

Stanislav Grof, MD, is a psychiatrist who teaches at California Institute of Integral Studies and is the founder of the International Transpersonal Association. He is the author and editor of many books, including Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research: The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness; Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution; The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration; Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy; and Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science, all published by SUNY Press. Christina Grof, PhDhc, is cocreator of Holotropic Breathwork, founder of the Spiritual Emergence Network (SEN), and the author of many books, including Beyond Death: The Gotes of Consciousness; Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis; the Stormy Search for the Self: A Guide to Personal Growth through Transformational Crisis (all with Stanislav Grof), and the Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spirit. They reside in Mill Valley, California.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Historical Roots of Holotropic Breathwork	p. 1
Sigmund Freud and the dawn of depth psychology	p. 1
Humanistic psychology and experiential therapies	p. 2
The advent of psychedelic therapy	p. 3
Abraham Maslow, Anthony Sutich, and the birth of transpersonal psychology	p. 4
Theoretical Foundations of Holotropic Breathwork	p. 7
Holotropic states of consciousness	p. 7
Dimensions of the human psyche	p. 12
The nature, function, and architecture of emotional and psychosomatic disorders	p. 14
Effective therapeutic mechanisms	p. 16
Strategy of psychotherapy and self-exploration	p. 16
The role of spirituality in human life	p. 20
The nature of reality: Psyche, cosmos, and consciousness	p. 25
Essential Components of Holotropic Breathwork	p. 29
The healing power of breath	p. 30
The therapeutic potential of music	p. 32
The use of releasing bodywork	p. 37
Supportive and nourishing physical contact	p. 40
Mandala drawing: The expressive power of art	p. 44
The Practice of Holotropic Breathwork	p. 47
Use of Holotropic Breathwork in individual sessions and groups	p. 47
Setting and interpersonal support system	p. 49
Theoretical preparation of participants	p. 53
Screening for physical and emotional contraindications	p. 55
Practical instructions for breathwork sessions	p. 61
Preparation for the session and the relaxation exercise	p. 63
Conducting Holotropic Breathwork sessions	p. 66
The spectrum of holotropic experiences	p. 67
The role of the facilitators	p. 87
Mandala drawing and the processing groups	p. 91
Integration of the Breathwork Experience and Follow-Up Work	p. 99
Creating conditions for optimal integration	p. 99
Easing the transition to everyday life	p. 100
Conducting follow-up interviews	p. 102
Using various methods complementing Holotropic Breathwork	p. 104
Trials and Tribulations of Holotropic Breathwork Facilitators	p. 109
Encounter with the military junta in Buenos Aires	p. 109
Competing with the exhibition of Doberman pinshers	p. 113
Culture-bound challenges for Holotropic Breathwork facilitators	p. 114
Technological ordeals in Holotropic Breathwork sessions	p. 117
The pisspot, oinking piglets, and smoldering Kleenexes	p. 120
Supreme ordeal Down Under	p. 121
Conducting Holotropic Breathwork in adversarial settings	p. 122
Therapeutic Potential of Holotropic Breathwork	p. 125
Healing of emotional and psychosomatic disorders	p. 125
Favorable effect on physical diseases	p. 127
Effect on personality, worldview, life strategy, and hierarchy of values	p. 129
Potential for healing of cultural wounds and historical conflict resolution	p. 133
Therapeutic Mechanisms Operating in Holotropic Breathwork	p. 147
Intensification of conventional therapeutic mechanisms	p. 147
Dynamic shifts in the psyche's governing systems	p. 152
The therapeutic potential of the death-rebirth process	p. 153
The therapeutic mechanisms on the transpersonal level	p. 155
Healing as a movement toward wholeness	p. 157
Physiological Mechanisms Involved in Holotropic Breathwork	p. 161
Biochemical and physiological changes	p. 161
Holotropic Breathwork and the "hyperventilation syndrome"	p. 163
Psychodynamics of psychosomatic disorders	p. 169
Past, Present, and Future of Holotropic Breathwork	p. 177
Training of Holotropic Breathwork facilitators	p. 177
Holotropic Breathwork and the academic community	p. 179
Benefits of the holotropic perspective	p. 181
Holotropic states of consciousness and the current global crisis	p. 182
Special Situations and Interventions in Holotropic Breathwork Sessions	p. 185
The experience of choking and of pressure on the chest	p. 185
Experience of muscular tensions and spasms	p. 186
Problems related to blockages in the genital area, sex, and nudity	p. 188
Overactive, erratic, and aggressive behavior	p. 192
Working with demonic energy	p. 194
Excessive self-control and inability to let go	p. 195
Working with nausea and the tendency to vomit	p. 196
Standing and dancing in the sessions	p. 197
Reliving the memory of biological birth	p. 197
Holotropic Breathwork and Other Breathing Techniques	p. 199
Bibliography	p. 201
Index	p. 211
About Grof Transpersonal Training	p. 219
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