Holotropic breathing first appeared in the 1970s and was invented by Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof and his wife, Cristina Grof. He was known as one of the creators of transpersonal psychology. The researcher with over 30 years of experience in the field of psychotherapy and with a long CV that made him a paper for many.
Before starting these sessions, you need to know the theoretical information that is brought to your attention, so that you understand what can happen during the sessions and assure them that they will be taken care of during the process.
It also serves to exclude people for whom this practice is counterproductive for health reasons, such as those with cardiovascular problems or those who have been diagnosed with glaucoma, who cannot perform holotropic breathing.
Once all these things are brought to your attention, you will start with a guided relaxation accompanied by special music for the occasion, and the therapist will indicate the rhythm to follow. Then the experience is already completely internal.
Once these sessions start, you will be introduced to a connection state called a trance. Its purpose is to deepen different internal experiences in each person and in each session.
These experiences become a shocking indicator or system for understanding why a cause or symptom is and what we need to change to grow and heal internally.
The inner connection we are referring to allows for introspection and a better understanding of the circumstances of our life and environment to improve the relationship between ourselves and the environment.
The connection is made with the help of a holotropic breath and with the help of the breath each person connects with something different depending on his need or lack. The name “holotropic” comes from the Greek and means movement towards totality and, as I said in the column, there are three main levels that try to bring the patient to that totality. These levels are:
- The biographical one, which aims to connect with facts and the causes of their experiences, emotional emotions, physical symptoms, etc.
- The perinatal cell. This connection is made with memory and cellular experience both in the womb and at birth and how it marked subsequent experiences. In this sense, it has a resemblance to another breathing technique: rebirth or rebirth.
- Transpersonal level. It refers to the aspect beyond the life of the individual himself, it deals with archetypal and spiritual situations, so transpersonal.