Holotropic Breathwork: A Transpersonal Somatic Means Towards Wholeness

Holotropic Breathwork (HB) is an experiential therapeutic method of self-exploration that Stanislav and Christina Grof developed in 1975 at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California (Miller & Nielsen, 2015). HB induces non-ordinary states of consciousness by nonpharmacological means and was developed after S. Grof’s previous research with LSD in Europe and later in the U.S. This new approach, therefore, was not associated with the complex political and legal issues of hallucinogenics (Grof, 1998).

Before exploring HB further, it is essential to understand the concept of non-ordinary states of consciousness.  With their healing and transformative potential, ancient civilizations have used non-ordinary states of consciousness in ceremony and ritual since time immemorial and were often deemed technologies of the sacred (Grof, 2003). Grof (in Schlitz et al., 2005) asserted that in the everyday state of consciousness and through psychological fragmentation, one only experiences a small fraction of who we really are, leaving expressions of cosmic consciousness hidden. However, extraordinary shifts in sensory perception can alter the experience of reality beyond the Newtonian materialistic paradigm. This involves transcending the boundaries of the body and ego, space and time, all of which restrict our perception of the world.

Grof (1998) created a subgroup of non-ordinary states of consciousness he coined holotropic to differentiate it from other more grossly impaired states such as intoxication. This compound word means “oriented toward wholeness” or “moving in the direction of wholeness” (Grof, 1998, p. 2). In this state, other dimensions are intensely experienced while still remaining fully oriented with everyday reality.

In a holotropic state of consciousness the experience is often mystical or numinous in nature. As Grof (1998) described it:

We can experience sequences of psychological death and rebirth, and a broad spectrum of transpersonal phenomena—such as feelings of union and identification with other people, nature, the universe, and God. We might uncover what seem to be memories from other incarnations, encounter powerful archetypal figures, communicate with discarnate beings, and visit numerous mythological landscapes. (p.2)

Instead of psychedelics to elicit holotropic states of consciousness, HB utilizes hyperventilation, evocative music, focused bodywork, and mandala creative expression within a supportive group environment (Rock et al., 2015). The basic tenet of HB is that emotional symptoms represent an organism’s attempt to liberate itself from old traumatic imprints, heal itself, and return to a homeodynamic sense of coherence (Grof, 2003). The HB therapeutic process of self-exploration is “spontaneous and autonomous; it is governed by the inner healing intelligence of the breather” (Grof & Grof, 2010, p. 29).

Grof and Grof posited that holotropic states of consciousness ignite an ‘inner radar’ that detects emotionally charged material and brings it into awareness for processing and subsequent healing and integration (Rock et al., 2015). In short, “holotropic experiences have the potential to help us discover our true identity and our cosmic status” (Grof & Grof, 2010, p. 10) and offer a radical opportunity for healing and psychospiritual evolution.

History and Theoretical Underpinnings

Holotropic Breathwork was designed to access the ordinary and non-ordinary dimensions of the human psyche. The ultimate goal of HB is to unearth and resolve trauma rooted in the depths of human experience (Holmes et al., 1996). S. Grof’s background was originally in clinical psychiatry, but the main underpinnings upon which HB was developed are humanistic psychology, psychedelics, and predominantly transpersonal psychology (Grof & Grof, 2010).

Humanistic Psychology

After the Freudian era in the twentieth century, Maslow, critical of behaviorism for being biologically reductive, developed humanistic psychology (Grof & Grof, 2010). Maslow questioned why consciousness and introspection were omitted in the study of the human psyche as well as unique human qualities such as “love, self-consciousness, self-determination, personal freedom, morality, art, philosophy, religion, and science” (Grof & Grof, 2010, p. 2).

Maslow emphasized the capacity of human beings to be intrinsically motivated to achieve self-realization. Because humanistic psychology focused on the whole person and held a multidimensional, transpersonal perspective, it provided rich soil for the development of Holotropic Breathwork.

Psychedelics

S. Grof spent two decades in the vanguard of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) research in Europe and later in the United States (Grof, 2014). Grof is considered a pioneer of transpersonal psychology due to his empirical data based on over 2,600 LSD session reports that led to his formulation of a multilayered human psyche cartography. These findings were placed within a broader spiritual and cultural context that held the perennialist philosophy's undergirding (Hartelius & Ferrer, in Friedman & Hartelius, 2015).

The Food and Drug Administration completely shut down LSD research in the United States in the mid-1970s, motivating Grof and Grof to create a transpersonal non-pharmacological method to achieve non-ordinary states of consciousness that was free from legality issues (Grof & Grof, 2010).

Transpersonal Psychology

According to S. Groff (in Schlitz et al., 2005), traditional Freudian psychiatry and psychology used a model limited to biology and postnatal biography. In order to include all the numinous phenomena occurring in non-ordinary states of consciousness, he vastly expanded the existing map of the psyche. Grof’s cartography (see Figure 1) incorporated additional transbiographical and transpersonal realms as potential locations of traumatic material.

Figure 1

Grof’s Cartography of the Human Psyche (Thomas, 2017)

Grof transcended the Newtonian-Cartesian materialistic paradigm by including the perinatal and transpersonaldomains in addition to the postnatal biographical level. As Grof (1998) explained, “emotionally relevant memories are stored in the unconscious, not as a mosaic of isolated imprints, but in the form of complex dynamic constellations” (p. 7). Each of these three domains will be explored briefly to understand better the sources and richness of the excavated traumatic material in HB sessions (Grof, in Schlitz et al., 2005).

Biographical Level

The foundation of Grof’s revised map is the biographical domain, which consists of personal history from birth onward (Thomas, 2017). Biographical information is mined through remembering forgotten events, deciphering dreams to help reconstruct the past, reliving traumatic memories, and lifting repression (Grof, 1998). In HB, one does not simply remember an emotionally significant event; one actually experiences the original emotion, sensations, and perceptions in complete age regression (Grof, in Schlitz et al., 2005). This type of reenactment, or abreaction, holds tremendous healing potential.

Perinatal Level

Grof asserted that few psychological problems are rooted solely in the biographical

level (Holmes et al., 1996). He claimed that many psychopathology disorders were informed

by aspects of the birth experience which make up the second level, the perinatal. Perinatal experiences are often physical rather than cognitive (Thomas, 2017) and represent the critical sense of survival, just as a baby is determined to free itself from something like an umbilical cord around its neck, for example (Grof, in Schlitz et al., 2005). On a subconscious level, these experiences influence everyday life and can contribute to pathologies such as phobias and anxiety. Through HB, one can access these birth memories in order to process and deactivate the charge they hold.

Transpersonal Level

The third level is the transpersonal level, literally translated to beyond the personal or transcending the personal (Grof, 2003). Transpersonal experiences extend beyond the boundaries of the body, time, and space (Holmes et al., 1996). Examples include past life memories, profound unitive experiences, identification with an animal species, mystical journeys, and ancestral and karmic memories (Grof & Grof, 2010). HB can grant access to transpersonal realms offering multilayered, interconnected roots to untangle, process, and resolve.

Holotropic Breathwork Essential Components

As stated earlier, HB is a relatively simple method that combines faster breathing, evocative music, releasing bodywork, and post-session mandala creative expression. Each component will be reviewed, and subjective perspectives from a few members of the author’s community who have experienced HB firsthand (also described as breathers) will be shared.

Hyperventilation

Since ancient times, nearly all major psychospiritual systems seeking to understand human nature have held the perspective that breath is an essential link between the material world and body-mind-spirit (Grof & Grof, 2010). HB harnesses the effects of hyperventilation, or rapid breathing, on the central nervous system to produce a temporary, innocuous, and potentially therapeutic holotropic state of consciousness (Rock et al., 2015). One breather shared, “I was in my own body, own world.” as she felt the effects of hyperventilating, she went on an inner journey.

Another breather relayed, “I felt like I time traveled. Saw amazing places and ended up at the base of a giant Buddha. I crawled up the Buddha and rested in his arms.”

While this may appear to be the main component of Holotropic Breathwork, given its name, the amalgamation of all the pieces of the technique leads the breather into a transpersonal altered state and a place of healing.

Evocative Music

Like breathing, music—such as monotonous drumming, rattling, and chanting—has been used in ritual and spiritual practice for millennia as a sacred technology to alter states of consciousness (Grof, 1998). Curated music opens the door to the unconscious. It aids the breather in mobilizing repressed emotions and memories, bringing them to the surface and allowing their full expression (Grof & Grof, 2010).

The flow of music follows a wave pattern that helps the breather move through difficult experiences and blocks in order to completely surrender (Grof & Grof, 2010). HB sessions start with dynamic, powerfully rhythmic music. At the midway mark, the music switches to what Grof and Grof called “breakthrough music” (p. 36) that supports the climax of the experience, then ends with less intense, soothing, meditative music.

One breather enthusiastically shared, “The music was where it was at! She had recordings from her shamans in Peru; it was loud and intense, but the point was to somatically move through your body to the sounds.” The music also functions to mask noises of other breathers in the group, expressing visceral sounds through abreaction so as to not disrupt others. Though, one breather appreciated the group aspect and shared a story of a fellow breather, “hearing a man cry and be vulnerable allowed her to forgive and let go.” It is clear that music, like the breath, is essential to HB as it powerfully facilitates shifts in consciousness.

Releasing Bodywork

Faster breathing can result in varying degrees of intense psychosomatic manifestations (Grof & Grof, 2010). In HB sessions, there is an intensification of tensions in the body followed by profound relaxation. Grof and Grof describe the sequence of the HB experience as having “a certain resemblance to sexual orgasm” (p. 37) due to the buildup, release, and relaxation.

The degree of muscular tension and the acute emotions linked with them decreases over time with additional sessions. Moreover, depending on the case, these tensions tend to move from one part of the body to another. Therefore, not only are emotional energies associated with traumatic material released in the holotropic state of consciousness, but physical bioenergetic blocks are also released and become available for peripheral discharge.

According to Grof and Grof (2010) tensions carried in the body can be released in two ways; one is a combination of "catharsis and abreaction—discharge of pent-up physical energies through tremors, twitches, various movements, coughing, gagging, and vomiting … crying, screaming, or other types of vocal expression” (p. 38). One breather shared a cathartic story, “My husband cried a lot throughout the session. Healing stuck guilt with his mother’s death.”

The other mechanism is tetany, where tensions surface as intermittent muscular spasms of varying degrees and duration. These somatic manifestations that emerge during HB sessions tend to resolve organically and are followed by deep relaxation.

If the session feels incomplete, a specific style of bodywork is applied (Grof & Grof, 2010). The breather is asked to focus on the problem area and do whatever is necessary to intensify felt sensations. The facilitator aids in the process through appropriate external physical intervention using a nurturing touch. The facilitator is advised to only support what is spontaneously emerging until the session is adequately complete, as the breather signals.

Mandala Creative Expression

After the HB session, the breather returns to an ordinary state of consciousness and is guided to create a mandala with provided art materials. In Sanskrit, mandala means circle or completion (Grof & Grof, 2010). The art of mandala drawing holds multicultural significance and is used globally in ritual and spiritual practices. In Jungian terms, it is a symbol of the totality of the self. More specifically, Jung described them as “The severe pattern imposed by a circular image of this kind compensates for the disorder and confusion of the psychic state—namely, through the construction of a central point to which everything is related” (p. 44).

In HB, mandalas are not used as a diagnostic tool but as a visual talking point for group sharing sessions. The breather is the best interpreter as the mandala represents their experience in the session and may or may not make sense cognitively to others.

Integration

After a completed session, like all healing techniques, mind-body integration can take time. If a session is particularly intense or produces significant emotional breakthroughs complementary approaches are recommended to ensure good integration (Grof, 2014). Talking about the session with a trained facilitator, journaling, meditation, mind-body movement (e.g., yoga or qigong), and creating additional mandalas are suggestions to catalyze integration. It is also recommended to engage in physical exercises (e.g., jogging or swimming) or receive bodywork with a therapist trained in somatic expression to help remove residual bioenergetic material. Finally, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) can be beneficial in refining insights on the content from the holotropic experience.

Conclusion

This paper explores Holotropic Breathwork through its history, theoretical underpinnings, and essential components. In looking at all its facets in detail, the overall picture and understanding of the potency of this healing modality that was developed nearly 50 years ago has come into clear view.

At a time when psychedelic research was halted and riddled with legal problems, non-ordinary states of consciousness were still of research interest and being investigated. Hence, the brilliant development of HB and decades of research on holotropic states of consciousness (Grof, 2003). S. Grof’s findings proved their value as “goldmines of revolutionary new information about consciousness, the human psyche, and the nature of reality” (Grof & Grof, 2010, p. 10). 

The extraordinary phenomena associated with holotropic states are inexplicable within the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm (Grof, 2003). S. Grof’s HB data of transpersonal experiences shatters Western science’s basic fundamental philosophical assumptions (in Schlitz et al., 2005). Grof is a revolutionary researcher and scientist who made remarkable contributions to transpersonal psychology. Moving from solely verbal to an experiential approach to mental health and psychotherapy unearthed the recognition of the innate healing intelligence of the client’s own psyche. Acknowledging the critical role of cosmic consciousness was a pivotal marker in human sciences.

Nearly 50 years later, this technique is still employed and has provided others with a jumping point, to further expand human understanding of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Psychedelics are undergoing a renaissance, with Grof’s extensive work bolstering non-ordinary states of consciousness trajectories in this field.

Perhaps with the earth’s current overall poor health status, we—now more than ever—need to access and utilize the transpersonal realm, mine its primordial intelligence, and translate it into a new, more accurate reality where coherence and wholeness can be experienced once again.

References

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