Holotropic Breathwork
Information

Dr. Stanislav Grof's interest in non ordinary states and their healing potential began in the late 1960s in Czechoslovakia. Dr. Grof had studied medicine and psychoanalysis at the Charles University School of Medicine in Prague in the early 1950s. Then in the 1960s, He became a principle investigator in a clinical study of the possible therapeutic potential of a psychedelic drug, Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). He noticed that under highly controlled conditions, many subjects entered a "non ordinary state" which was "indistinguishable from those described in the ancient mystical traditions and spiritual philosophies of the East." In 1967, Dr. Grof came to the United States to continue his research. He became an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University and the Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

During this time, feeling that the current psychological model was too limited Dr. Grof, Abraham Maslow and Anthony Sutich, started a new psychological field called "transpersonal psychology." This form of psychology addresses the relevance of experiences which occur prior to birth, are outside the boundaries of our bodies, and greater than our personal (ego) identities. Dr. Grof also created a comprehensive map of human experiences in non ordinary states, which includes sensory, biographical, perinatal, and transpersonal experiences. In addition, Dr. Grof developed a model of the birth process which He called Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPM1-BPM4) and a theory regarding repeating life patterns and the energies behind them which he named COEX’s for (Condensed Experiences).

In 1974, Christina Grof, after ten years of intense yoga practices, experienced what some would call a "Kundalini Awakening" (a sudden experience of powerful life force energy and change in consciousness) during a meditation period led by a Siddha Yoga Master. This Kundalini Awakening led Her on a roller coaster of extreme emotional experiences over the next year. In 1975, Christina was referred to Dr. Grof by Joseph Campbell, Dr Grof was able to help her fully experience the emotions flowing through Her and move through them.

Shortly after this Stan & Christina Grof joined together and began to develop Holotropic Breathwork. Dr. Grof knew from his scientific research that powerful transformation was possible in non ordinary states of consciousness, and that the most powerful techniques for inducing non ordinary states were psychedelic substances. (Psychedelic plant substances, shamanic journeys, drumming and many other methods have been used in cultures to induce non ordinary states and transformation for thousands of years.) However, Dr. Grof also knew that the use of psychedelic substances involved serious risks. Therefore, the Grofs developed a safe and effective way to use one's own breath and evocative music to induce non ordinary states; Holotropic Breathwork.

In the 1980s, Dr. Grof and his wife Christina began traveling all over the world leading workshops and presenting their findings related to Holotropic Breathwork and Transpersonal Psychology. By 1987 they had developed a comprehensive Holotropic Breathwork facilitator training; the Grof Transpersonal Training (GTT). With the creation of Holotropic Breathwork and the facilitator training tens of thousands of workshop participants all over the world have experienced Holotropic Breathwork.

“I lay wailing on the floor, tears streaming down my face, I was getting it, I got it. It wasn’t my fault, IT WAS NOT MY FAULT!!! The energy moved through my body, every part of it tingling and vibrating, the energy was surging and moving out. Then the energy would get stuck again in my hands, they would clench up, I hit them against the floor, banging them hard and the energy would start flowing once again. I was shocked by the idea of my body holding energy, any energy, positive or negative, but here I was lying on the floor crying and some deep part of me knew, ABSOLUTELY KNEW, that I wanted this energy out of me.” ~ J.B. (describing his first Holotropic Breathwork experience of fully recognizing, at an energetic level, that what occurred during the agony of his childhood was not his fault.)

“As the breathing started and the music began my first experience was that of tremendous physical energy moving through my body. Intense tingling and burning in my hands and feet, radiating up my limbs and in to my core. I found my body feeling the need to move; dancing on my back, shaking, arching, stretching, and bending, these all seemed to be happening to my body without my conscious intention of their occurring. At one point I felt an intense constriction feeling around my entire body, followed by what I can only describe as a melting into vastness around me, an oceanic feeling of being dissolved in a void.” ~ C.P.

“I felt in my soul that I have done this a thousand times before in other life times. It felt really natural to me, like we, as modern humans are finally reclaiming our birth right to the mystical realms of knowing.” ~ S.M.

For thousands of years almost every culture of the world has 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, ostracism, and in some cases even death. Many disciplines of transpersonal psychology and in particular Holotropic Breathwork create experiences where we can once again experience our inner knowing, our own inner healer.

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 happens.