 Certified Holotropic® and Integrative
Breathwork Practitioner
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 Holotropic Breathwork is a powerful technique of self-exploration. It combines insights from consciousness research, spiritual practices, and depth psychology. The composite word, Holotropic, literally means "oriented toward wholeness" or "moving in the direction of wholeness" (from the Greek "holos", whole, and "trepin", moving toward or in the direction of something. This suggests that in our everyday state of soncsciousness we identify with only a small fraction of who we really are.
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Tav Sparks, Stan Grof, Albert Hoffman and H.R. Giger at recent Holotropic Breathwork Workshop at Giger’s Castle in Switzerland.
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The best way of explaining what holotropic means is to refer to the Hindu distinction between "namarupa" (the name and shape that we have in our everyday existence) and "Atman-Brahman" (our deepest identity which is commensurate with the cosmic creative principle). In holotropic states of consciousness, we can transcend the narrow boundaries of the body ego and reclaim our full identity. We can experientially identify with anything that is part of creation and even with the creative principle itself. Read Stan Grof's two newest books: WHEN THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS, Sounds True; and THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY, CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE MYSTERY OF DEATH, from MAPS, release May 2006.
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Giger, Grof and Grey at Albert Hoffman’s 100th Birthday Party.
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"Holotropic experiences play an important role in shamanic initiatory crises, healing ceremonies of native cultures, aboriginal rites of passage, and systematic spiritual practice, such as various forms of yoga, Buddhist or Taoist meditaion, Sufi dhikers, Kabbalistic exercises, or the Christian Jesus Prayer (hesychasm). They have also been described in the literature on the ancient mysteries of death and rebirth conducted in the Mediterranean area and other parts of the world in the names of Inanna and Tammuz, Isis and Osiris, Dionysus, Attis, Addonis, Mithra, Wotan, and many other deities. In everyday life, holotropic experiences can occur in near-death situations or spontanwously, without any obvious trigger. They can also be induced by powerful forms of experiential therapy developed in the second half of the twentieth century." (Excerpt from When the Impossible Happens, by Stanislav Grof.)
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Alex Grey and Albert Hoffman beside Alex’s portrait of Dr. Hoffman
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The basis of this breathwork is the mobilization of the spontaneous healing potential of the psyche in non-ordinary states of consciousness. Breathwork assists in inducing non-ordindary states by breathing and evocative music. Focused bodywork, safety and mandala drawing are other important elements of the process. During sessions, participants work in dyads and alternate in the roles of experiencers and sitters.
Holotropic Breathwork mediates access to all levels of the human experience; including pre-and-peri-natal conditioning, unfinished issues from postnatal biography, sequences of psychological death and rebirth, and the entire spectrum of transpersonal phenomena. It is a subtle, experiential, non-intellectual process.
The theory and practice of Holotropic Breathwork is described in the books by Stanislav Grof, M.D.:Beyond The Brain, The Adventure Of Self Discovery and The Holotropic Mind.
Frida and Thomas
by Sauts
Other important books on Holotropic Breathwork have been written by Kylea Taylor: Exploring Holotropic Breathwork, Selected Articles from a Decade of the Inner Door; The Breathwork Experience (Exploration and Healing in Nonordinary States of Consciousness); and, The Ethics of Caring (Honoring the Web of Life in Our Professional Healing Relationships). (Hanford Mead Publishers, PO Box 8051, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-8051. (831) 459-6855. email:HanMead@HanfordMead.com Thomas authored several of the articles in Exploring Holotropic Breathwork.
Post Session Breathwork Mandala
Following his 1989 Certifications in both basic and advanced Holotropic Breathwork, as well as, Integrative Breathwork Certification, Thomas offered large-group and affinity group, Holotropic Breathwork monthly for more than twenty years.
Breathing As One, Global Breathwork Day, June 11, 2011, was a good day to retire from facilitating workshops--Thomas' first breathing session being twenty-five years earlier in 1986 at Omega Institute in Rheinbeck, New York. June 11 is also our wedding anniversary and my wife 'Tangle' is so greatful that I did years of Holotropic Breathwork before I met her. :-)
Saturday, June 11, 2011, there were 76 registered breathwork events in 28 countries.
Thomas contributed a feature story to the May 11, 2011 issue of The Inner Door Newsletter, titled: "Imagine This: The Holotropic Way Reaching Around the World." This issue was designed to promote 1) the 'Breathing As One' event; 2) an online educational series of lectures about Holotropic Breathwork and Transpersonal Psychology; 3) a combined birthday celebration for Stan and Christina Grof on their 80th and 70th birthdays to be held in September with an 'Open Space' process gathering in Joshua Tree, California, relative to the future of the Holotropic Breathwork.
Many are curious about breathwork and want more information before registering for a Holotropic session with a certified practitioner. We offer an orientation to breathwork process at Mentoring rates of $75 per hour. We will assist you in finding a breathwork practitioner, session format and duration that you desire. We highly recommend group sessions as group-work can catalyze pathways of surrender into the Holotropic process just by the nature of random group dynamics.
Private breathwork sessions with me in a 4-5 hour format are sometimes available by appointment for $300--primarily for previous clients and those with extensive prior breathwork experience.
First-tme breathers are required to schedule a preliminary two-hour breathwork overview which costs $150. This is a one time expense and necessary for optimum safety, set and setting for the experience. This only applies when I agree to personally facilitate an HB sesssion for one person.
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Thomas Merton Brightman with
Stan Grof, Christina Grof & Jacquelyn Small
and the 1989 Graduating Class of Certified Practitioners.
Make an appointment for a Life Strategist dialog, a MARI® card reading, Career coaching, Telephone Thomas® Mentoring. The more you know about yourself the safer your world becomes. Come to Change of Heart Center® and learn more about Self.
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