A Journey of Profound Self-Discovery 
HOLOTROPIC BREATHWORK
Sandra Phocas 

“Holotropic Breathwork is among the deepest and most profoundly comprehensive work of the spirit being offered today.”  
– Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart

‘Holotropic’ means “moving towards wholeness”. It is a word coined by Dr. Stanislav Grof, co-founder of Holotropic Breathwork and a pioneer in consciousness research. Holotropic Breathwork is a process that helps participants move towards healing, awareness, and integration of all aspects of self – by opening them to their own inner healing wisdom that is deep within, and is commonly blocked from awareness in daily life. There is no limit to the types of experiences that are accessible in Holotropic sessions. They range from the cellular and energetic levels of the physical body, to the unconscious mind and emotional territories, to birth experiences, and extend all the way to the vast transpersonal realms of the psyche and universe. 

Implicit within the Holotropic Breathwork experience and perspective is the knowing that this type of deep healing opening and expansion is actually natural for us as human beings – and that virtually all indigenous cultures have had ways to access these deeper realms of Self and Universe. They have done so for healing, spiritual awakening and connection, communing with nature, ritual, and finding balance within and without. It is primarily in more modern societies that this awareness has been largely lost. 

The various ways that have been used in different cultures to access deeper realms include meditation, prayer, sacred plants, fasting, vision quests, dancing, yogic practices, drumming, chanting, sensory overload or deprivation, extremes of temperature, sleep deprivation, and a variety of breathing practices. These types of experiences shift us out of our everyday ‘ordinary consciousness’ into a ‘non-ordinary state of consciousness.’ This is characterized by increased sensory vividness, moving outside of the normal barriers of space and time, decreased distinctions between energy and matter, and an increase in openness to material from other dimensions of existence. This also brings about more connection to the personal and collective unconscious, and less to the conscious mind. 

In Holotropic Breathwork, accelerated breathing and evocative music in a safe setting, with intention to focus inward, is used to bring about these powerful states of consciousness. These altered states may bring about a vast array of experiences, including, for example, healing of emotional or physical trauma, traveling into shamanic realms, intense experiences of the energy body, intuitive wisdom, heart opening and transcendent experiences, past life experiences, reliving one’s birth, and archetypal experiences. 

If one is not aware of the possibility of accessing such powerful processes and experiences, it can seem rather far-fetched that something as simple as deeper, faster breathing and music in a workshop setting can catalyze such a wide range of intense and broad experiences. Understanding how this is possible requires the knowledge that this is natural to our being, and therefore we need primarily to just be willing to open in this way, to have support in a safe setting, and to have a process to catalyze this type of deep opening. Holotropic Breathwork provides this structure and process, facilitated by a trained facilitator. The origins of Holotropic Breathwork clarify a larger perspective into the nature of this inner work and the research supporting it. 

Dr. Stanislav Grof was one of the early researchers evaluating the therapeutic use of LSD in the 50’s and 60’s. Over the course of observing thousands of psychedelic sessions, Dr. Grof and other researchers learned that, in a therapeutic setting, LSD acted as a non-specific catalyst, amplifier, and opener of the psyche that could bring about deep healing and transformation. Studying ancient and current healing and spiritual systems brought in a further context and support for these research findings. When LSD  became illegal, Stan and his wife, Christina Grof, developed the Holotropic Breathwork as a natural technique to bring about similar healing and transformational states, using the insights gathered from modern consciousness research as well as their study of ancient spiritual systems. 

Holotropic Breathwork is highly experiential work that is primarily done in workshop settings. The participants, during their breathing sessions, lay on mats in a darkened room and close their eyes, turning their focus inward. They are led through progressive relaxation and then instructed to breathe deeper and faster than normal. Music is played to support the process, which lasts about 3 hours. The breathers are encouraged to allow whatever experience arises and enter into it fully, allowing expression or movement if needed. Because the participants’ inner healing wisdom directs their process, the experiences in each session, for each person, are always unique. 

During a Holotropic Breathwork workshop, participants pair up with one another, as there are two breathing sessions and the participants alternate in the roles of breather and sitter. The sitter’s role is to act as a witness and assist the breather if needed, but not to interfere in the process. The facilitators also honor and allow the breather’s inner healing intelligence to guide the process, assisting in the natural unfolding process only as is necessary. Focused release work is an optional component, if needed within the breathing session, to allow release of blocks in the body or to facilitate the ongoing process. 

Other important components of Holotropic Breathwork include the informational talk that begins the workshop, mandala drawing after the breathing session, and group sharing to help integrate and complete the process. 

The structure and components of Holotropic Breathwork make it a safe place to dive deeply within, to explore the vast inner territories, to heal, and to discover the true essence of oneself and the universe. 

Sandra Phocas is a shamanic practitioner and former psychiatrist who has been involved with Holotropic Breathwork since 1997, certifying as a facilitator in 2003. She has a practice in Winston-Salem where she offers individual and group healing and transformational work. She recently founded Co-Creative Evolution, a collaboration of practitioners interested in co-creating a heart-centered, spirit-infused, authentic, sustainable world. Visit http://www.Co-CreativeEvolution.com.