What is Holotropic Breathing?
Holotropic Breathwork is a therapeutic breathing technique that’s designed to stimulate an altered state of consciousness. This is intended to help with emotional healing, emotional release, and personal growth. The process involves breathing very fast or very slow for a period of time, which could be a few minutes or hours.
This changes the balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body and the reduced or increased level of oxygen can induce a state of altered consciousness. Music is incorporated in the session and the goal is to improve the individual’s psychological and spiritual development and activate the natural human capacity for healing.
The Importance
Holotropic breathwork produces an altered state of consciousness. In this state, individuals gain access to deep parts of their mind that aren’t accessible in their daily lives and report a range of physiological, emotional, mental, and spiritual effects. It is a powerful technique that aids self-exploration and personal empowerment.
People get release from the trauma and difficult experiences they may have buried, and gain the capacity to move toward positive transformation and wholeness.
There have also been reports of a higher level of trust in self, release of stress, and clarity in personal issues.
Changes In The Brain
A 2018 study on breath control and meditation by researchers at Trinity College Dublin showed that the way we breathe directly affected levels or noradrenaline in the brain, a chemical messenger that can help the brain grow new connections, and is typically released when we are focused, curious or intellectually stimulated. Controlled breathing, they suggested, may not just improve our focus but actually improve brain health.
“There is a strong connection between breath-centred practices and a steadiness of mind,” Ian Robertson, co-director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity and principal investigator of the study, wrote in the report.
“Our findings could have particular implications for research into brain ageing. Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long-term meditators. More ‘youthful’ brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks.”
Changes In Your Life
The aim of holotropic breathwork is to allow the patient to self-heal, and improve their physical and psychological well-being. Through the use of quick and slow breaths, the breather elevates their oxygen in the blood. The process causes participants to reach higher states of consciousness.
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Holotropic breathwork, in particular, is a type of breathwork that was developed for therapeutic benefits. It was developed to stimulate a psychedelic experience.
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Holotropic breathwork is based, at its core, in meditative breathing practices that have been around for thousands of years.
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These traditional forms of breathwork are based around using breath and forms of meditation to shift stagnant, blocked or negative energies in the body, in order to make room for positive energy.
How do you practice holotropic breathwork?
So what does a holotropic breathwork session look like?
Here’s a general rundown:
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Each session lasts 1-3 hours.
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Participants are taught about the basics of the breath, and a technique called full body breathing.
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Stretching for 10 minutes to get the body comfortable.
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The participant will lie or sit on a mat throughout the session.
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Rhythmic Breathing begins.
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Rhythmic music (such as drumming or chanting) will be used to help participants enter into altered states of consciousness. Meditative music is then used towards the end of the session, to help the ‘breather’ come back to a more grounded state, and eventually back to full consciousness.
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Once the session is complete, participants are welcomed to discuss their experiences and take notes of particular events or lessons they may be ready to implement into their lives.
Psychedelic State
Holotropic breathwork can stimulate psychedelic changes, elevated states of consciousness, intense emotions, and profound physical feelings.
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It’s intense.
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The techniques used, such as rapid breathing, can be unsettling for some people, but using a trusted practitioner to guide you through the process will make it much easier.
Although you may feel uncomfortable in the beginning, learning to push through (at your own pace) will eventually lead you to practice the breathwork correctly, and gain the full benefits from each session.
The thought of entering into an altered state of consciousness can also be scary for some people, but many describe it as more of a dream-like state than being in an altered state of mind. This state allows you to delve into deeper dimensions and see things differently to how you normally perceive them.
