Holotropic Breathwork® One Day Workshop
HILLSDALE, NY • Saturday, OCTOBER 12, 2024 • 9am to 8pm
Breathe, Heal and Awaken in Upstate NY
Holotropic Breathwork® was developed by Stanislav Grof, M.D. and his late wife Christina as an experiential method of accessing enhanced states of consciousness for personal discovery, healing and transformation.
Laying comfortably on a mat each participant uses the power of their own breathe along with loud and evocative music to journey into the session and open up to the full spectrum of possibility within their psyche and the cosmos at large.
Participants are encouraged to breathe until they are surprised and allow the journey to unfold organically. Everything is possible in a Holotropic Breathwork session. For some the process is quite visionary, while for others it brings up strong feelings and emotions as well as physical and somatic experiences.
Every experience is unique, but what participants commonly report is that their sessions are profound, powerful, meaningful, insightful, deeply transformative and even cathartic. Participants are encouraged to work with whatever authentically emerges, and to allow and express everything to its fullest extent.
This work provides a powerful way to process the past, release stored emotions, heal through trauma and discover mystical new worlds. Join us for this special one day experience to discover the deep and transformative practice of Holotropic Breathwork®!
COMMON EXPERIENCES AND BENEFITS OF THE WORK
Explore enhanced states of awareness
Step into Radical Self Empowerment
Tap into archetypal energies and other-worldly experiences
Deep healing, personal discovery and spiritual awakening
Receive powerful insights, guidance and direction
Process and release trapped trauma, stagnant energies and old emotions
Experience spiritual, mystical and shamanic states similar to plant medicine like journeys in a safe and sacred environment
What is possible?
The Cartography of Experience below outlines commonly reported experiences, though truly anything is possible!
Personal Biography: Re-experience anything from your life’s history. These can be known or not yet remembered.
Perinatal Stages: Re-experience any of the stages around the time of your birth.
Transpersonal Experiences: Any experience that is beyond your ordinary singular sense of identity. Having an experience as an animal, as other people, or tapping into large archetypal energies (feeling the energy of the earth, giving birth to a galaxy, receiving the love of all the mothers of the world)
Somatic Experiences: Buzzing, Tingling, Body Sensations, Movement and other Energetic Sensations. Meditative and Yogic Sleep States.
OVERVIEW OF THE DAY:
Opening Circle and Introductions
Discover the Theory and Practice of Holotropic Breathwork®
Breathwork Session #1
Mandal Making and Lunch Break
Breathwork Session #2
Mandala Making and Dinner Break
Closing Circle with Group Sharing and Integration Talk
This is a deep dive experience which requires a full day together. The day begins at 9am and we will close at / by 8pm.
SESSION OVERVIEW
There will be 2 Holotropic Breathwork sessions during the day. Each session runs about 2.5 hours long. Everyone will have a partner and will breathe in one of the sessions as “the breather” and sit for their partner in the supportive role as “the sitter” in the other session.
During your breathwork session, you will lay down on a thick cushioned mat with eyes closed and covered with a blindfold. We begin with a gentle relaxation where the facilitators guide a simple body scan to help you to relax and open to the mystery of the session. The music will be loud and evocative to help support the session and provide a powerful wall of sound which helps to carry you through the process.
The music will play for about 2.5 hours during the time of your journey. Your role as the breather is to breathe deeply and relax as much as possible into the natural process which begins to unfold organically. You are encouraged to trust the process, stay with it and amplify whatever is happening. You’re encouraged to make sound, move the body, feel your emotions, and anything that needs to be expressed. The facilitators will walk the floor to keep you and the others in a safe and sacred environment. They will offer support, as needed by the participants to help them move through their experience as deeply as possible.
Once the session ends we will have an opportunity to participate in an expressive mandala making practice and enjoy a meal break to ground while we prepare for the second session. Session 2 will take place in the same fashion as before with the roles reversed. The breathers will now sit and the sitters will now breathe. After the second session is complete we will have another meal and mandala break. The day will close with a share circle where all the journeyers can sit around the “camp fire” and tell their stories of the day. Before we say goodbye the facilitators will offer words of wisdom on wise sharing and integration to help you continue your experience as you head back home.
Potential Contraindications to Holotropic Breathwork
Pregnancy, Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Attacks, Angina, Severe Hypertension, Epilepsy, Glaucoma, Retinal Detachment, Severe Osteoporosis, Recent Surgeries, Serious Physical Injuries, Recent Infectious or Communicable Diseases, Psychiatric Hospitalization or Prior Diagnosis by a Healthcare Professional of Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder.
These are not all absolute. If any of these apply to you please contact Jeffrey before you register.
