Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, professor, psychiatrist with fifty years of experience in researching non-ordinary states of consciousness, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology.

In 1956 he received a medical degree from the Karlov Medical School and a doctorate from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. From 1956 to 1967 - a practicing psychiatrist-clinician.

During the same period, he actively studied the basics of psychoanalysis and took part in innovative research projects.

In 1959, he was awarded the Küfner Prize, a national Czechoslovak award given annually for the most outstanding contribution to the field of psychiatry. In the past, he headed the Psychiatric Research Program at the Prague Institute for Psychiatric Research, the Psychiatric Research Program at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, was Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and researcher Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. From 1961, he headed research in Czechoslovakia on the use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs for the treatment of mental disorders. In 1967-1969, having received a scholarship from the Foundation for the Support of Psychiatric Research (USA), he completed a two-year internship at Johns Hopkins University, then continued his research at the Maryland Center for Psychiatric Research. In 1973-1987 he worked at the Esalen Institute (California, USA). During this period, together with his wife Christina, he developed the technique of holotropic breathing, which became a unique method of psychotherapy, self-knowledge and personal growth. In 1993, at the Association for Transpersonal Psychology's (ATP) 25th Anniversary Meeting held in August at Asilomar, California, Grof was awarded an Honorary Award for his significant contribution to the development of transpersonal psychology. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Vision 97 Award by the Vaclav and Dagmar Havelov Foundation in Prague. Grof is Professor of Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco and the Graduate School of Pacifism in Santa. S. Grof conducts training seminars for professionals, writes books, and also gives lectures and seminars around the world. Stanislav Grof is the author of one of the most effective methods The method developed by Stanislav Grof is the most effective and powerful of those that are used today in psychotherapy and psychology. It was under this technique that a serious theoretical base was developed, since Grof is a professional in this area, unlike vayveyshn (D. Leonard) and rebirthing (L. Orr). changes consciousness as a result bound breathing and music, introduces into a state of trance. Sometimes body work is done as an addition. For 45 years, Grof has been conducting his seminars. During this time, he underwent more than four thousand sessions of holotropic breathing, during which he was born again, returning to the consciousness of a newborn, maybe that's why he looks younger than his years. Stanislav, together with his wife Kristina, developed the only certification program for the training of holotropic breathwork specialists called - containing standards and methodologies for conducting holotropic breathwork. Stanislav Grof often comes to Russia and during the meetings he gives lectures and seminars on Holotropic Breathwork.

Stanislav Grof's visits to Russia

In 2009, Stanislav Grof is a thinker and pioneer known for huge contribution, which he contributed to the study of consciousness and the creation of a new scientific paradigm covering all areas human experience, conducted the training "Revolution of Consciousness" in Moscow. This training preceded the congress of the same name.

On June 23-27, 2010, the 17th World Transpersonal Congress “Revolution of Consciousness” was held in Moscow: transpersonal discoveries that change the world. Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof participated in the congress.

Students of Sten and Christina Grof with their teachers, 2012

In 2012, the meeting with Stanislav and Christina Grof took place on October 31 and November 1 in Moscow, Central House of Artists. Here Stan and Christina were surrounded by the attention and support of their

At eighty years of age, Stanislav Grof is a living legend and a major reformer of psychology and psychiatry along with Freud and Jung. In addition, he is an excellent lecturer and interlocutor, a person with whom many stars, politicians and scientists of our time are proud to meet.

Meeting of Vera Konstantinova with Sten Grof in 2014, Rostov-on-Don.

The program of their stay included the opportunity to hear about the Holotropic Breathwork™ method from the lips of its creators, as well as participation in the seminar "New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Self-Research"

"Regions of the human unconscious";

"Beyond the Brain";

"Holotropic Consciousness";

"Space game";

"Revolution of Consciousness" (together with Erwin Laszlo and Peter Russell);

"Psychology of the Future"

"The Greatest Journey";

"When the impossible is possible";

"Man in the face of death";

"Frantic Search for Self" (the last two with Christina Grof.)

"Call of the Jaguar"

In addition, the following books have been published under his editorship:

"Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science"

"Evolution of Consciousness and Human Survival"

"Spiritual Crisis" (together with Christina Grof)

S. Grof founded the International Transpersonal Association and became its president, together with his wife Christina, he organized and conducted international conferences in many countries of the world: the USA, India, Brazil, Austria, etc. More than 100 of his articles were published in professional journals and 20 books which have been translated into 16 languages.

Holotropic Breathwork is the most powerful and effective breathing technique used in modern psychology and psychotherapy, among which well-known techniques are rebirthing, waving and free breathing techniques. Holotropic Breathwork was developed in the 70s by Stanislav Grof, American psychologist, born in Czechoslovakia, and his wife Kristina, as a legal alternative to psychedelic therapy. Holotropic breathing is the only breathing technique for which a serious psychological theoretical base has been developed. This is due to the fact that S. Grof, in contrast to the founders of rebirthing L. Orr and vending D. Leonard, is a professional in the field of medicine and psychology.

Stanislav Grof, MD, is a physician and scientist who has spent more than forty years researching non-ordinary states of consciousness and spiritual growth. He is one of the founders of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA) for many years he was its permanent president. He has also acted as an organizer and coordinator of international conferences in the USA, India, Australia, Czechoslovakia and Brazil. Stanislav Grof is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies, where he teaches in two departments: Psychology and Intercultural Studies. In addition, S. Grof regularly conducted training seminars for professionals on transpersonal psychology and holotropic breathing (Grof's transpersonal trainings), and also gave lectures and seminars around the world. Stanislav Grof is the author and co-author of more than 100 articles and 30 books. His texts invariably attract the attention of both professionals and all those who are interested in self-exploration and spiritual growth. Grof's books and articles have been translated into twelve languages.

A Brief History of Holotropic Breathwork.

Stanislav Grof, being a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, began to conduct research activities with LSD in the mid-1950s. Quite quickly, he was convinced of the great psychotherapeutic effect of psychedelic sessions. Continuing his research, Grof was faced with the need to revise the Freudian model of the psyche in which he was brought up, and build a new cartography of consciousness to describe the effects that occur during psychedelic sessions. Having created such a model, he described it in his numerous works. When experiments with psychoactive substances were closed, Grof began to look for a technique similar in therapeutic effect. And in 1975, together with Christina Grof, he discovered and registered a breathing technique, which he called "holotropic breathing." Since 1975, this technique has become more and more popular among psychotherapists and people interested in personal growth and spiritual development.

In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where he lived until 1987, doing writing, giving lectures, seminars, including seminars to which he invited interesting specialists from various scientific and spiritual directions. While working at Esalen, Stanislav and Christina Grof developed the holotropic breathing technique. Against the backdrop of a political ban on the use psychoactive substances(SAS) for psychotherapeutic purposes, Stanislav and Christina Grof used intensive breathing in their work. The prototype of the breathing technique of S. and K. Grof was the methods of breathing that existed in various spiritual and psychological practices, as well as breathing similar to that observed in patients during a psychedelic session if the problem was not worked through to the end and the patients began to breathe spontaneously and intensively. Such breathing was necessary in order to continue to remain in an altered (expanded) state of consciousness and to refine (discharge) the psychological material that had risen from the unconscious and reacted in the form of symptoms.

Once, while working in Esalen, Grof pulled his back and was unable to conduct the process as usual. Then Stanislav came up with the idea to split the group into pairs and hold not one, but two breathing sessions and let the participants of the seminar help each other. During the first session, one person breathes (holonaut), and the second one helps him (sitter, nurse, assistant), during the second they change places. This practice turned out to be the most effective.

History reference

Holotropic breathing was officially authorized and registered by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in 1993 as one of the 28 methods of psychotherapy.

The theoretical basis of holotropic breathing is transpersonal psychology.

The main elements of holotropic breathing are:

• deeper and faster connected breathing than in the normal state;
• stimulating music;
• assistance to the holonaut in releasing energy through specific methods of working with the body.

These elements are complemented by creative self-expression of the individual, such as mandala drawing, free dancing, clay modeling, therapeutic sandbox play.

The best thing about holotropic breathing is probably in the book Frantic Search for Self by Stanislav and Christina Grof:

“The last shadows of our doubts were completely dispelled in the mid-seventies, when we developed a method of deep empirical self-exploration and therapy, which we now call Holotropic Breathwork, and began to use it systematically in our seminars.

Holotropic Breathwork combines such simple means as accelerated breathing, music and specially selected sounds, as well as certain types body work, is capable of generating the full range of experiences that we usually observe during psychedelic sessions. In Holotropic Breathwork, these experiences tend to be milder and the person is more able to control them, but they are essentially the same in content as those that occur during psychedelic sessions, although they are obtained without the help of any no matter the chemicals. The main catalyst here is not a powerful and mysterious psychoactive substance, but the most natural and fundamental physiological process as you can imagine - breathing.

Before the first breathing experience, participants in the Holotropic Breathwork training receive in-depth theoretical training, including the main types of phenomena that occur in holotropic breathing sessions. These include sensory barrier experiences, biographical, perinatal, and transpersonal experiences. Technical instructions are also given for both the experiencers and the sitters. In addition, physical and emotional contraindications are discussed. If they concern one of the participants, then these people receive recommendations from specialists.

Holotropic breathing is more intense, that is, frequent and deep, than usual. Usually no other specific instructions are given before or during the session, such as the speed, mode, or nature of breathing, for example. The experience is wholly internal, authentic and for the most part non-verbal with minimal interference during active breathing. Exceptions are throat spasms, problems of loss of self-control, strong pain or fear preventing the continuation of the holotropic breathing session, as well as a direct request from the breather (holonaut) for intervention.

Effects of intense breathing

Altered (or holotropic) states of consciousness that occur during holotropic breathing have an extremely powerful healing (therapeutic) and transformative effect. Holotropic sessions in many cases bring to the surface difficult emotions and all sorts of unpleasant physical sensations. Their full manifestation makes it possible to free oneself from their disturbing influence. The general rule of holotropic work is that a person gets rid of a problem by openly meeting it face to face and working through it. It is a process of clearing and releasing old traumas, which opens the way for very pleasant or even ecstatic and transcendent experiences and sensations.

Contraindications

State	Reason for contraindications
Cardiovascular problems or high blood pressure	The experience can be physical or emotional stress
Pregnancy	Reviving the experience of one's own birth may work as a trigger for uterine contractions
Epilepsy	There is a danger that emotional or physical stress can trigger a seizure
Glaucoma	Reviving the birth experience or other stressful experience can increase intraocular pressure
Recent surgeries, fractures	Intensive movements can affect recent injuries
Manic-depressive psychosis, paranoid psychosis	A state of non-ordinary consciousness can trigger a manic episode; paranoid projections make it difficult to integrate internal psychological material

In other cases, a person can take part in holotropic breathing sessions. However, if you have any doubts, consult the seminar leader and his assistants.

The roles of the sitter and the holonaut

Before starting the holotropic breathwork process, the participants are divided into pairs. During the breathing session, one person is a sitter (from the English sitter, nurse, assistant), the other is a holonaut (breathing).

Sitter tasks

The sitter plays the role of a person who assists his partner in the process of holotropic breathing.

Sitters during a holotropic breathwork session should be responsible and unobtrusive, which ensures efficiency, safety of the environment, respect for the natural unfolding of the experience, and provides assistance in all necessary situations. This can be physical support, help to go to the toilet, give a napkin, etc. It is important for sitters to remain focused, accepting the full range of the breather's possible emotions and behaviors. Holotropic Breathwork does not use any kind of intervention that comes from intellectual analysis or is based on a priori theoretical constructs.

Ensure the safety of your holonaut

For the sitter, at the time of the session of holotropic breathing, the holonaut is the most significant person.

If the holonaut begins to move intensively, the sitter's task is to protect his holonaut from physical damage. (For example, if your holonaut starts hitting the floor with his hand - put a blanket or pillow on it) If a neighboring holonaut can hit yours - you, like a sitter, become a wall enclosing your holonaut. Etc.

Provide Authentic Manifestation for Your Holonaut

The sitter's task is to create conditions under which nothing will disturb the flow of his holonaut's experiences. In particular, this means that the sitter should NOT UNDER ANY circumstances interfere with the process of the holonaut, unless he asks him to do so. Also, the sitter should not stare around and it is not recommended to talk, because. speaking can bring the breather out of the trance process.

Help the holonaut relieve tensions that arise during a session of holotropic breathing

Such assistance is provided ONLY AT THE REQUEST of the breather. Unless the holonaut asks for help, the sitter MUST NOT interfere.

Assistance in relieving physical stress is carried out either by providing static physical activity on tense muscles (this is given detailed instructions during training), or by kneading tense areas of the body. The latter method is not recommended because it: firstly, does not allow spasmodic areas to be discharged; secondly, the sitter "does the job FOR THE HOLONAUT".

Remind the holonaut to breathe

Sometimes a holonaut forgets about the need for intensive breathing on an active initial stage process. In this case, the sitter's task is to subtly remind you to breathe. Usually, to do this, the sitter begins to breathe in rhythm over the ear of the holonaut. It is IMPOSSIBLE to remind about breathing with words - you will destroy the experiences of the holonaut.

In the event that the holonaut wants to go to the toilet, the sitter's task is to accompany the holonaut there and back.

In case the sitter himself needs to go to the toilet, he should ask the neighboring sitters or one of the assistants of the presenter to look after his holonaut.

The sitter can dance around the holonaut or do something else. The only thing: the sitter is STRICTLY forbidden to breathe intensively himself - otherwise, instead of the sitter and the holonaut, TWO HOLONAUTS may appear.

It is forbidden to bring your own process into the process of a holonaut

A negative example given by S. Grof. Sitter (a woman), decided that her holonaut needed motherly love and, with tears in her eyes, hugged him while breathing. And her holonaut was worried at that time that he was a Viking fighting enemies. As a result, the flow of experiences of the holonaut was destroyed.

Holonaut tasks

The holonaut (breather) is the main protagonist of an exciting action called holotropic breathing. There is only one task for a holonaut - to enter an altered state of consciousness with the help of breathing and then to manifest oneself authentically (to be oneself).

What does it mean to "be yourself"? This means that if your body wants to move - move, if you want to cry - cry, if you want to laugh - laugh, if you want to sing obscene songs - sing obscene songs. If your breakfast asks to go outside - well, let it go out (this is not your problem - but the problem of the training leader). The task of the sitter is to ensure the freedom of your manifestations.

Breathing is a metaphor for energy exchange with the world and a metaphor for life: INHALE (receiving energy from the world) - PAUSE - EXHAUST (giving back) - PAUSE. During holotropic breathing, you can breathe as you like, that is, without pauses and with pauses, nose or mouth, chest and stomach. There is only one requirement for breathing, and that is authenticity. Breathing through your nose or your mouth, with or without an accent, doesn't matter. It's important to be authentic.

The deeper a person breathes, the more powerful experiences go, the faster - the faster they change. How exactly to breathe is determined by the holonaut himself during breathing, and the rhythm, speed, frequency and depth can be changed at your discretion. If you breathe slowly and shallowly, then, most likely, there will be no intense experiences. A metaphor for holotropic work: how you work is what you get. Unlike rebirthing, the facilitator will not, at his own discretion, "support" you in the process of breathing.

It is difficult to breathe intensively for the first 10-15 minutes. Then the breather enters an altered state of consciousness (ASC) and it becomes easier to breathe intensively. After about an hour and a half, the holonaut stops breathing intensively and breathing returns to normal. You are unlikely to be able to force yourself to breathe intensively in 1.5-2 hours. There is an exception: schizophrenics, when entering intensive, can breathe for up to 5 hours.

During holotropic breathing, the holonaut can control the dynamics of breathing. In addition, the holonaut can always stop intense breathing - after about 5 minutes alkaline balance blood will return to normal and the person will become completely “normal”.

Sitter and Holonaut Memo

1. The Need for Focused Bodywork

Enough time must be allowed for a holotropic breathwork session. Traditionally, the process takes from one and a half to three hours. Approximately during this time, the process comes to its natural end, but in exceptional cases it can continue for several hours. At the end of the session and sometimes during the breathing process, the facilitator or siter provides support and offers body work when all emotional and emotional issues have not been resolved through breathing. physical stress activated during the session. The basic principle of this work is to, depending on what happens to the breather, create a situation that will exacerbate existing symptoms. While the energy and awareness are being held in the area of ​​tension and discomfort, the person should be encouraged to express himself fully in the discharge of symptoms, whatever form this may take. This body work during holotropic breathwork sessions is an essential part of the holotropic approach and plays an important role in the completion and integration of experiences.

After the holotropic breathwork session, both the sitter and the holonaut go to draw mandalas. Drawing is a creative display of your experiences. In addition, after a while, the holonaut speaks out his experiences.

3. Discussion

The group discussion takes place on the same day after a long break. During the discussion, the facilitator does not give any interpretations of the material based on any theoretical systems, including Holotropic Breathwork. It is better to ask the holonaut to further work through and clarify through reflection his insights received in the session of holotropic breathing. During the discussion, mythological and anthropological references in line with Jungian psychology can be useful, and mandalas can also be useful. There may be references to the personal experiences of presenters or other people.

Holotropic breathing, unlike vayveyshn, CANNOT be done on your own, and even more so at home and alone (there is no sitter, there is no intense music).

Musical support of holotropic breathing

Music selection supports characteristic stages, reflecting the most common features unfolding the holotropic experience. Music for holotropic breathwork serves as a catalyst for experiences and has requirements for intensity and format. Music and/or other forms of acoustic stimulation - drumming, tambourines, natural sounds, etc. is an integral part of the holotropic process. At the beginning of the holotropic breathwork process, it is stimulating and stimulating, then it becomes more and more dramatic and dynamic, and then it expresses a breakthrough. After the climax, the music gradually becomes more and more calm and at the end - peaceful, flowing, flowing and meditative. The development of the process described above is statistically average and should be changed depending on the group dynamics.

Approximate structure of musical accompaniment of a holotropic session breathing

Hours/minutes	Music types
	Light stimulating, helping breathing
	Even more stimulating
	Drum or ethnic rhythmic (play until the rhythmic movement in the room subsides)
	Dramatic (play until the drama subsides)
	Cardiac (openness, warmth, flight music)
01:30 - until the end	Contemplative (calm, but still quite intense music that can serve as a basis for continuing work)

Generalized material on Holotropic Breathwork

Holotropic Breathwork is one of the most effective breathing techniques developed for psychotherapy. Holotropic breathing, created as a legal replacement for psychoactive substances after their official ban, allows you to achieve a similar effect as from taking psychedelic drugs - that is, an altered consciousness. The experience of the plots of the unconscious (often unpleasant) leads to the activation of the "internal healer", that is, the self-healing power hidden inside the body.

The results that the holotropic breathing technique allows you to achieve are impressive - this is getting rid of stress, deep fears, old psychological traumas that, being unconscious, negatively affect your life. Holotropic breathing is a universal path to the fastest personal, spiritual growth.

History of the development of holotropic breathwork

In the mid-twentieth century, Stanislav Grof, a promising psychiatrist-clinician, led a project to study the therapeutic effects of psychotropic substances on people suffering from mental disorders. Observing patients in a state of altered consciousness, Grof comes to the conclusion that the Freudian concepts of human psychology, although they can be used, still do not give general idea about a human. Continuing his research, Stanislav Grof described 4 areas of the psyche:

• Sensory barrier
• Individual unconscious
• Region of birth
• Transpersonal level

Entering a state of altered consciousness, Grof's patients invariably encountered all four areas of the psyche, which, ultimately, led to the living of overwhelming plots, self-knowledge and getting rid of the disorder.

Also in the course of the research, the scientist noticed that patients, in an effort to continue the weakening effect of LSD, began to breathe deeply and often to fully work out the emerging plot, thus not allowing themselves to leave the state of altered consciousness. It was this observation that further prompted the creation of holotropic breathing - a technique by which altered states are achieved not under the influence of chemicals, but under the influence of the most natural process - breathing.

Soon Grof patented the invented technique and in 1993 the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation registered holotropic breathing as a method of psychotherapy.

How does a Holotropic Breathwork session work?

Holotropic breathing sessions are based on three essential elements:

• deep and rapid breathing (holotropic breathing)
• motivating music
• specific techniques of working with the body to help the holonaut in releasing energy

Before the start of the training, all participants are divided into pairs and get a deeper understanding of holotropic breathing. In a pair, one participant is a sitter - an assistant, and the second is a holonaut, that is, practicing holotropic breathing. After the first session, the participants switch roles.

The combination of music and deep, fast breathing allows you to achieve everything emotional states and experiences achieved when taking psychotropic substances.

The exit from the altered state of consciousness occurs automatically one and a half hours after the start, since the person is unable to continue to maintain the required rate of breathing.

Holotropic breathing is only as effective as actively (deeply and frequently) the holonaut breathes. During the session, the sitter does everything to help his holonaut, while not interfering in the process, unless the holonaut directly asks for it. Before the start of the session, the sitters are explained the rules of conduct.

Holotropic Breathwork is a path to self-knowledge and personal development.

Trainings "Holotropic Breathwork" is carried out in accordance with the format developed by Stanislav and Christina Grof, and meets the standards international program Grof Transpersonal Training (GTT).

Seminars and trainings on Holotropic Breathwork are conducted by Svetlana Doroganich:

– certified leader of holotropic breathing of the international program Grof Transpersonal Training, experience in teaching the HD method since 1999.

Holotropic Breathwork - effective method personal growth and self-transformation. The method is specifically designed to harness the unique healing potential and exploration possibilities of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Holotropic breathing is effective when working:

• with relationship problems
• with stress
• neurotic states
• bad habits and addictions
• psychosomatic and emotional disorders
• and also used to search non-standard solutions and creative breakthroughs.

The basic philosophical premise of holotropic breathwork is that the average person in our culture lives and acts at a level far below their potential. This impoverishment is due to the fact that a person identifies himself with only one of the aspects of his being, with physical body or ego. Such false identification leads to an inauthentic, unhealthy, and accomplishmentless way of life, and also causes emotional and psychosomatic disorders of a psychological nature.

Holotropic breathing promotes the activation of the unconscious to such an extent that it leads to non-ordinary states of consciousness. This principle is relatively new in Western psychology, although it has been used for centuries and even millennia in the shamanic and healing practices of many peoples, in the rituals of various ecstatic sects, in the ancient mysteries of death and rebirth. In this kind of work, it often becomes clear already in the first session that the roots of psychopathology extend much further than the events early childhood and go beyond the individual unconscious.

S. Grof notes that empirical psychotherapeutic work reveals, beyond the traditional biographical roots of symptoms, deep connections with non-biographical areas of the soul, such as elements of encountering the depths of death and birth, characteristics of the perinatal level, and a wide range of factors of a transpersonal nature. Grof argues that narrow "biographical" ideas about experiential therapy techniques can only be a straitjacket that gets in the way, that truly effective work cannot be limited to working through biographical problems, that the mentality concepts used in holotropic breathing must be extended beyond the biographical levels, beyond the individual unconscious, must include the perinatal and transpersonal levels.

Holotropic Breathwork and S. Grof - criticism and satire Yuri Molchanov

PART I

In the late 80s and early 90s, many enterprising people - intermediaries of "spirituality", as well as people from the "industry" of the New Age, quickly realized that in "perestroika" Russia, they, regardless of intelligence and abilities, are perceived, like a guru and a beacon of knowledge. The consequences of the long-term informational isolation of the USSR had an effect. Moreover, many people had such an idealized perception of everything Western, regardless of education and degrees. As soon as they did not call themselves, the emissaries of the New Age who poured into our country - "The world famous master", "The student of Milton Erickson", etc., "The right hand of Carl Rogers", except that there was no such name ...
It was a time when any trainings and seminars with the citizens of our country brought relatively easy and fast income.

Among the Western pioneers who mastered the market of "spiritual" and psychotherapeutic services in the vast expanses of Russia was S. Grof, a Czech psychiatrist, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology and the "holotropic breathing" method. In the early 1960s he moved
in the United States, where he lives to this day.
Short reference:
(http://jasmeet.net/james/CDP/html/Transpersonal%20Psychology.htm)
"The Association for Transpersonal Psychology (ATP) was founded in 1971. Among the organizers were many founders of the Association of Humanistic Psychology. All of them saw the need for a psychology that would study and investigate spiritual phenomena in which the sense of identity extends beyond the person or personality, embracing more broad aspects of humanity, the world around us, and the cosmos Behavioral theory ("first force"), psychoanalytic theory ("second force"), and humanistic psychology ("third force") lack the theory and practice of spirituality and consciousness This role is claimed by transpersonal psychology, which has come to call itself the "fourth force" in psychology.

But since the theories of transpersonal psychologists contradicted one another, a single conceptual understanding of the “transpersonal” was not formed, how exactly spiritual development takes place, etc. As a result, transpersonal psychology occasionally splits due to internal disputes and competing theories. In addition, this lack of consistent theories makes it possible to question scientific status transpersonal psychology. And when transpersonal psychologists petitioned the American Psychological Association (APA) to create a formal transpersonal psychology department in 1990, it was rejected, due to some of the problems associated with the "unscientific" state of transpersonal psychology.
A second application, submitted soon after, was also rejected, this time in part due to criticism from prominent humanistic psychologists such as Rollo May, who is skeptical of transpersonal psychology due to the latter's attempt to "leapfrog" the dark side. human nature focusing on transcendent states and ignoring suffering, guilt and jealousy. Albert Ellis has criticized transpersonal psychology for its irrational belief in divine beings, dogmatic tendencies, and opposition to science.
There is currently no such department as "transpersonal psychology" in the APA, although department 32 (Humanistic Psychology) includes transpersonal psychologists in its board and transpersonal presentations in its programs at APA annual meetings."

S. Grof, like some other specialists in the 1960s, studied and tried to use LSD,
for psychotherapeutic purposes. But these attempts led to extremely contradictory results, since the effect of the same amount of LSD turned out to be unpredictable and very often led to dire consequences. Even with single doses of LSD, unexpectedly long-term psychotic states have occurred that are untreatable. You can learn about the real effects of LSD use here: http://www.narkotiki.ru/expertroom.html?sid=g
In the late 1960s, LSD was banned. And then S. Grof found another way of immersion in the so-called "altered state of consciousness" - holotropic breathing.

Some try to explain the desire to use drugs by saying that a person has needs for some transcendental experiences. Or that it is a way of escaping from problems and from reality... Maybe sometimes it happens. But why generalize so much? Back in 1883, A. Welsh wrote the book "Alcoholism in Animals". He described several cases of addiction to alcohol-containing feed in horses, in breweries. Why, in these cases, do horses "run away"?
There are also many cases chemical addiction in animals, for example, bears or raccoons who love to sniff gasoline ... It turns out that raccoons also want "transcendental experiences" or "escape" from reality? (http://www.sivatherium.h12.ru/library/Korytin/glava_02.htm)

For most people who are inexperienced in physics and philosophy, reading the works of S. Grof most often invokes feelings from interest to delight, and sometimes even the temptation to try to “breathe” according to his method. " Reading the works of theoreticians and practitioners of transpersonal psychology is fascinating and interesting, like science fiction novels. But only not as science fiction, because there is simply no science in them, but rather as a fashionable fantasy genre that has replaced ancient myths for modern man.". S. Stepanov writes in the article "Worlds and Myths of Transpersonal Psychology".
(http://psy.1september.ru/articlef.php?ID=200103918)

At a cursory reading, similar sensations (interest, delight, etc.) are capable of creating many radical postmodern works. If you read them more thoughtfully, you will notice that many of them are built on false or unsubstantiated assumptions or are simply a set of beautiful words and scientific terms arranged in certain combinations - nothing more. (See Sokal A., Brickmont J. - "Intellectual tricks")
S. Grof often leads his readers to the idea that in modern physics space-time has ceased to be objective reality. It is on this "scientific fact" that he builds some provisions in his transpersonal theory.
Let's give the word to the physicists themselves, they probably know better: " To say that space-time ceases to be an objective reality in the theory of quantum gravity is somewhat premature for two reasons: on the one hand, such a theory does not yet exist; but mainly because the fact that our vision of space-time changes in the next theory - when, for example, space-time ceases to be a fundamental element for the theory and becomes an approximate description, meaningful on certain scales - does not in any way mean that it ceases to be objective, unless one understands this expression in that banal sense, in which tables and chairs are not "objective" because they are made of atoms". (A. Sokal, J. Bricmont - "Intellectual tricks")

Transpersonal psychologists like to refer to the more subjectivist texts of Bohr and Heisenberg. At the same time, “forgetting” to note the fact that in them they express mainly their philosophical views, and not the quantum theory proper.

S. Grof deftly puts all the diversity of human life into four Procrustean beds. They are called impressively - basic prenatal matrices (BPM). In words - he is an opponent of reductionism, but in this case reproduces it himself. Grof also argues that the basic determinants of a person's life and behavior patterns are formed before and during the birth process. Here again, he contradicts himself - criticizing the orthodox "mechanistic" science for its determinism and "linearity" - here, "on the spot", he postulates determinism from the prenatal period of life and "birth matrices"...

BPM are four generalized groups of hallucinatory experiences, first identified
S. Grof with his patients when he was engaged in LSD therapy. By what criteria, Grof relates hallucinatory fantasies, images and feelings, to one or another aspect of reality - remains unclear ... I believe, statements that internal images and fantasies always are symbols of our lives or specific events in reality, to put it mildly - speculation.

Today, few people without a smile perceive the sexually colored, fantasy interpretations of dreams that Z. Freud offered. However, many take seriously, no less fantasy interpretations of S. Grof - hallucinations, dreams and images that arise after taking LSD or during holotropic breathing sessions.

If experiences cannot be associated with the experience of the patient's personality, Grof, in this case, classifies them as transpersonal. For example: "meetings with aliens" or "memories of past incarnations", etc., he interprets as arguments in favor of the transpersonal theory...
As they say: "sleight of hand, and no magic and."

Indeed, some of the experiences "under LSD" are, for example, feelings and images from the distant past of a person, or may symbolically express the patient's inner world, problems. This is confirmed by some narcologists (Danilin A. - "LSD. Hallucinogens, psychedelia and the phenomenon of addiction"). And there is nothing supernatural here. However, on what basis do experiences and hallucinations under the influence of LSD or holotropic breathwork unambiguously refer to this or that symbolism or to the real life of the patient? (And sometimes literally).

I wonder why no one is trying to symbolically interpret hallucinations in alcoholic delirium, "cartoons" in case of intoxication with Moment glue or gasoline vapors, but "interpreting" hallucinations after taking LSD is the turn of those who wish?

Some call LSD the "royal road to the unconscious." Perhaps, in their opinion,
and cocaine is also a "royal path" somewhere?

S. Stepanov ("Worlds and Myths of Transpersonal Psychology") about S. Grof:
« Describing the hallucinations of his clients, he found there great amount symbolic images associated with childbirth and thus, in his opinion, confirming his theory. It is easy to see that the four Grofov's matrices are the four stages of any initiation rite - from primitive to those practiced to this day.". It turns out that holotropic breathing is some kind of initiation?
In primitive cultures, passing through the rite of initiation, a person became, for example, a warrior or a shaman. What does a person become after the "rite" of holotropic breathing...?

Orthodox psychoanalysts have often seen some kind of sexual overtones in their patients. To the followers of S. Grof, symbolism of the prenatal or transpersonal is dreaming everywhere...

One of latest articles S. Grof is called: “A transpersonal view of the global crisis
and a mitigation strategy. (http://www.kabbalah.info/rus/content/view/full/38274)
Here he is already distributing recommendations on a planetary scale in politics and economics ...
Quote from this article: “Many of the people we worked with saw humanity at a crucial crossroads with a choice: either collective destruction or an evolutionary leap in consciousness that is unprecedented in its size.” It is very convenient to inspire your ideas using the “weighty argument” - “many people”. I wonder if a holotropic-psychedelic "leap in consciousness" is meant here? And what captivating simplicity - they "jumped in consciousness" together, the whole planet - and all at once became satisfied, well-fed and dressed. And no conflicts of interest for you (apparently in the “new consciousness” they will be the same for everyone), no strife over resources, territory and power ...
And who will command this parade...?

Not to mention the theory of the "morphogenetic field" is a mortal sin in pseudosciences. And Grof states in the same article: Concepts close to the resonance of Sheldrake's forms and morphogenetic fields are decisive for understanding the functioning of DNA and the genetic code, as well as the interaction of consciousness, memory and brain...". However, "stubborn" physicists stand their ground and write about it " morphogenetic field" Sheldrake: " There is nothing in modern science that can be cited to support this "New Age" fantasy, which has nothing to do with quantum gravity anyway.". (A. Sokal, J. Bricmont - "Intellectual tricks")

A. Sokal (Professor of Physics) notes that very often New Age interpretations of ideas quantum physics lead into unjustified speculations, which, behind the complexity of the subject, hide their own emptiness and banality. The concepts that characterize quantum mechanics, are used in very special meaning ah and in order to clearly understand them, one needs knowledge of mathematical theory. Some philosophers and psychologists confidently make completely arbitrary jumps between the foundations of physics, mathematics and psychology, or even politics. The tendency to prevent oneself and others from doubting the truth of one's fantastic theories is a hallmark of pseudoscience. A. Kromer notes: "The real discoveries of phenomena that contradict the established scientific experience, are given a great rarity, while deceit, swindle, stupidity and delusions arising from excessive enthusiasm and huge illusions are too common.("The Skeptic's Dictionary" by R.T. Carroll)

In my opinion, the main technique of pseudo-healers of all times and peoples is as follows:
first you need to create (or increase) a sense of crisis or scare a person with “slag”, “evil eye”, “birth trauma”, etc., and then offer a means of getting rid of these “problems”.
This is a universal, as they say now, “wiring”. I'm not saying that there are no spiritual crises, mental trauma and suffering. What I am saying is that very often some ideas and theories are presented in a categorical or overly generalized way. For example, some argue that all people have experienced the trauma of birth. Can you imagine that nature initially, from birth, traumatizes all of us? Ask on what grounds and evidence such a statement arises ...

And where did the belief come from that discomfort or pain always and necessarily injure us with something?

S. Grof, substantiating his direction in psychology, adheres to the theory of “birth trauma”
and offers his own method of getting rid of this "trauma". If we want to get rid of it (and not only from it), then it is necessary, as it were, to be “born again” with the help of holotropic breathing. Hope for fundamental change is instilled through this experience of "second birth".
"Holotropics" offer spiritual growth"for free" - no effort of will and painstaking work, no lengthy reflections, no problems of morality are required. Development, in their opinion, occurs, in many respects, “by itself”, as a result of holotropic breathing. Isn't it a familiar picture - it resembles the desire of drug addicts to get, also "for free" peak experiences, creativity and "enlightenment" ...

Some transpersonal psychologists designate their direction very modestly, for example, as follows: “ Psychology of the Future - about transpersonal, integrative, existential and humanistic psychology". (http://www.apollina.ru)
It is also indicative with what epithets “psychologists from the future” reward each other - none other than “Great”! "Revolutionary"!
One of the criteria of pseudoscience is globality in everything. Whatever they undertake, promises of radical and revolutionary changes and upheavals in science begin to pour from them. Followers of pseudoscientific theories tend to respond to reasoned criticism, instead of facts, with metaphors or sayings. For example, this: "The dog barks - the caravan moves on." Like, any criticism is useless, and all skeptics are envious of fame and success. Well, S. Grof has been "shaking" science with "revolutionary" discoveries for more than 30 years. But the "caravan" of science is still on its own, because it is "rooted" in reality, and not in narcotic fantasies.

If, as S. Grof claims, holotropic breathing "stimulates" personal and spiritual growth, helps to find "answers to all questions", then in 30 years of his work, Grof should already become enlightened like a Buddha...
Drugs and psychedelic states have one feature, first of all, they delay psycho-emotional development and create new associative chains not related to real experience. This youthful maximalism and revolutionary spirit, invariably inherent in the followers of S. Grof…

In their publications, “holotropics” write about many people who have been made happy with their method, no doubt that there are such people. Even in authoritarian sects, where violence against adherents flourishes, there are such "lucky ones" - fans of the "guru" and his methods. Techniques that cause exaltation and catharsis are now available to many ...

PART II

In 1993, the newspaper " Soviet Russia"published the article "Breath of Death". In it, the author expresses his skepticism about the method of "holotropic breathing." (http://www.sovross.ru/old/1993/115/115_6_4.htm) Since then, critical publications about transpersonal psychology in Russian - once or twice and miscalculated.

My views on Holotropic Breathwork are based on personal experience. While still a student, I had a "holotropic" experience (21 sessions). And experienced what some call "re-experiencing the birth process." However, this “re-birth” was not perceived by me as a “birth” at all. It was a hallucination that I am a snake that is crawling somewhere. And, everything that happened was sharply opposite to how I was actually born, both in time and in physical manifestations. It made me wonder what was really going on...
During holotropic sessions, it is not uncommon for "breathers" to experience psychosis - "reincarnation" in any animal. Similar disorders of perception and brain function are described in psychiatry. (Psychopathology. Zhmurov V.A. http://www.psychiatry.ru/book_show.php?booknumber=91&article_id=6). In most cases, after the "holotropic", I had a state of mild "stupefaction". There was a feeling of emptiness, the absence of any thoughts and the inability to focus on anything. Sometimes I felt dizzy or had a headache. Some developed a high fever and severe headaches. After some breathing sessions, there was lightness and elation - similar feelings arise after a bath or moderate sports.
I believe that, despite the “rebirth”, these sessions did not have any positive impact on me and my life. Moreover, I believe that many of the feelings and images that appeared during the “holotrope” are hallucinatory experiences, which were sometimes artificially modeled through psychophysical influence to enhance them. "Holotropics" claim that special music "helps to enter" certain states. More precisely, however, music contributes to artificial modeling of these states. “Helping” and “modeling” are two different things.

It is important to note the fact that in almost any group there is one, another super-suggestible person who can induce his psycho-emotional state on the rest of the group. People with a demonstrative character structure or hypochondria are a goldmine for such teachings. Because they are very suggestible and have a rich imagination. In addition, hyperventilation itself increases a person's suggestibility. (Wein A.M., Moldovanu I.V. "Neurogenic hyperventilation")
It can also be seen that the more “charismatic” the leader of the group is, the more he is able to exert a suggestive influence on people, the more intense the “process” takes place. That is, there are more vivid hallucinations. Therefore, I believe that at least some of the "unusual" phenomena and distortions of perception may appear due to indirect suggestion.
It is interesting that people who, as they say, are “not in hell, not in God”, realists and pragmatists - almost nothing supernatural happened, except for muscle spasms and unexpressed depersonalization, which occurs in any person during hyperventilation ...
Although, indeed, some of them had memories from the deep past, however, firstly, it is not a fact that they are true. And secondly, this is quite easily explained by physiological reasons. There is inhibition of the cerebral cortex, due to its insufficient supply of blood and glucose. And since our memory is managed by deeper structures of the brain - the so-called limbic system, then it is likely that the excitement that occurs in these areas actualizes certain memories.
Hyperventilation causes a decrease in carbon dioxide levels in the bloodstream, which in turn makes the blood more alkaline. This is called respiratory alkalization or alkalosis. Alcolosis produces numbness and tingling of the fingers and toes, lips, perspiration, palpitations, ringing in the ears; trembling, feeling of fear, panic and unreality. Even more vigorous "overbreathing" can cause muscle cramps, chest pains, difficulty breathing, and fainting.

Rinad Minvaleev, PhD, Associate Professor, St. Petersburg State University and Head of Department traditional systems health improvement of the National Institutes of Health, says in an interview: “ It's about not about the development of the brain, but about its degradation, because hyperventilation that occurs during a session of holotropic breathing leads not only to a narrowing of cerebral blood flow, but also to the death of nerve cells» (http://www.utro.ru/articles/2004/11/04/370147.shtml)
Rinad Minvaleev believes that all so-called "transpersonal experiences" during holotropic breathing are caused by insufficient blood supply to the brain, since CO2 is washed out of the blood due to hyperventilation. In response to the removal of carbon dioxide from the body, a reflex constriction of the vessels of the brain occurs. With CO2 deficiency, the amount of acids in the blood also decreases and the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the brain tissues becomes more difficult. Hyperventilation leads to a mild form of euphoric psychosis, and it is on this, Rinad believes, that the popularity of holotropic breathing and all transpersonal psychology is built.
For those interested in this topic, Rinad suggests simply understanding the term hyperventilation, for example, according to the book by A. M. Wayne, I. V. Moldovan. "Neurogenic hyperventilation" or according to any textbook of human physiology, where the concept of hyperventilation is considered in sufficient detail. And you can see for yourself the hallucinatory foundations of the so-called "prenatal matrices".
(http://www.realyoga.ru/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2308&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20&sid=8fbdf336e94c32506cf127018025c313)

An excerpt from the work of Wayne A.M., Moldovanu I.V. "Neurogenic hyperventilation":
« One of the causes of autonomic disorders is often neurogenic hyperventilation. It is known that any stress response accompanied by increased respiration. With repeated stresses, hyperventilation is fixed, changing the respiratory cycle. Having become stable, it entails serious biochemical changes: CO2 in the blood decreases (hypocapnia), alkalinization occurs (alkalosis), oxygen tropism for hemoglobin increases (Bohr effect: with an increase in pH - alkalosis, - oxygen uptake in the lungs is facilitated, but its return in the tissues is difficult, and with a decrease in pH - acidosis - a reverse reaction is observed), a mineral imbalance occurs, etc. As a result, a decrease in cerebral blood flow occurs, brain hypoxia occurs, and this exacerbates the violation of the regulation of breathing. The most frequent clinical manifestation hyperventilation syndrome are cephalgia and a variety of autonomic paroxysms. Then they are joined by cardiac manifestations of the syndrome of neurocirculatory dystonia, abdominal pain of a neurogenic nature, muscular-tonic disorders, etc.»

Under all these physiological manifestations that occur during hyperventilation, "holotropics" sum up an arbitrary theoretical base, replete with assumptions that sometimes turn into pure fantasy. For example, some transpersonal psychologists explain muscle spasms during hyperventilation as "blocks and clamps", the maintenance of which the body expends a huge amount of energy. If people vomit, it is often explained by the fact that they supposedly lived with “clamps and blocks” for years, and then suddenly they “removed”, etc., etc.
In fact, the so-called muscle "blocks and clamps" are just muscle spasms (tetany) that most people experience during prolonged hyperventilation. That is, these muscle spasms are not psychological, but physiological reasons. "Holotropics" object to these arguments by the fact that during subsequent sessions, pronounced muscle spasms disappear in many people.
However, they do not agree on this:
1) Some training takes place (i.e., resistance to hyperventilation and the physiological changes that it causes increases)
2) Many people simply stop breathing too intensely and deeply due to fatigue (exhaustion of the pectoral muscles, etc.).
3) Studies of the electrical activity of muscles during hyperventilation show that one or another in severity of convulsive readiness occurs always and for everyone.
(Wein A.M., Moldovanu I.V. "Neurogenic hyperventilation")

Another important factor, with hyperventilation, which is not given due attention by "psychologists from the future" - this is the level of sugar in the blood.
Here is what Wayne A.M. and Moldovan I.V. write about this. who studied hyperventilation syndrome:
« An interesting fact is the fluctuations in the level of consciousness in patients with HVS in a state of persistent hyperventilation and in connection with changes in blood sugar levels. The latter determines the nature of fainting. After eating or at other times when the sugar level is higher, the clinical symptoms manifest themselves mainly in sensations of numbness, tingling in the limbs. During the daily fluctuations in blood sugar, the symptoms "shift" to the cerebral level - dizziness, a feeling of lightness in the head, lipotomy, fainting appear. In some patients, the manifestations of HVS and clinical fluctuations depended to a large extent on diet. During hungry (“fasting”) days, changes in consciousness became more frequent, during “well-fed” days, paresthesias and tetanic disorders prevailed.". (Vayne A.M., Moldovanu I.V. "Neurogenic hyperventilation")

There is another danger that is not advertised by the leading holotropic sessions - this is that prolonged hyperventilation can provoke involuntary apnea (breathing stops). And such cases, though rare, do occur during holotropic breathwork sessions...

In medicine, attempts have been made to use hyperventilation to correct intracranial hypertension. Since an increase in vascular tone, with hyperventilation, leads to a decrease in blood volume in the cranial cavity and a decrease in ICP. (http://www.medlinks.ru/article.php?sid=23138&mode=thread&order=0)
« AT early works it has been shown that hyperventilation can reduce ICP due to vasoconstriction and a decrease in blood volume in the brain (S.S. Kety, C.F. Schmidt, 1948; N. Lundberg et al., 1959). The facts of neurological improvement after hyperventilation were also established (A. Bricolo et al., 1972). There is also back side medals. A decrease in blood supply due to an increase in vascular tone may be accompanied by a decrease in cerebral blood flow, already reduced due to cerebral edema and vascular compression. As a result, current studies have not been able to confirm positive effects hyperventilation, at least when used prophylactically. The use of hyperventilation caused a decrease in hemoglobin saturation with oxygen in the blood flowing from the brain and an increase in the arteriovenous oxygen difference in healthy people, as well as in patients with TBI (S.P. Gopinath et al., 1994). A randomized prospective class I study on the prophylactic use of hyperventilation in TBI (J.P. Muizelaar et al., 1991) showed a negative effect of this method of treatment on long-term outcomes of brain damage.».
The general conclusion of all these studies is: “… the problem of safe use of hyperventilation in this moment far from a solution.

You will not find a single article that reliably reveals the mechanisms of the positive impact of holotropic breathing. Not to mention that no serious studies have been conducted in terms of harm or benefit for the affected mental functions.
The website of the "psychologists of the future" posted an article by Y. Bubeev and V. Kozlov " Experimental psychophysiological and neuropsychological studies of intensive breathing» (http://www.apollina.ru/Library/Holotrop_sbornik/kozlov2.php)
In it, the authors, like a pair of mixer nozzles, diligently whip up a pseudoscientific cocktail,
which can be called - "Gallop across Europe." People who care about their health should think twice before consuming such "cocktails".
You can carefully read the reasoned criticism of the article by Y. Bubeev and V. Kozlov here:
http://realyoga.ru/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=34289&highlight=&sid=
You can also compare the monograph by Wayne A.M., Moldovan I.V. "Neurogenic hyperventilation" and articles by Yu. Bubeev and V. Kozlov. Wayne A.M., and Moldovan I.V. give a huge number of references to various scientists and their experiments with hyperventilation. Everything is written in a truly scientific style, unbiasedly considering various points vision. Without self-confidently unhealthy statements to "reverse science", on the basis of one or two studies conducted in lax scientific conditions.

I could not pass indifferently past holotropic breathing and our domestic collector of fairy tales and jokes Malakhov G.P. He courageously decided to give an answer to Western producers of "psycho-spiritual healing" goods and services. In intense, highly intellectual work, he created new method- "Breath of Happiness". Perhaps the insight came to him when he suddenly remembered a fairy tale in which two peasants competed, telling each other fables.
In his multi-volume phantasmagoria "Healing Powers" Volume 4, Genesha wrote the following about the "Breath of Happiness" method: " Grof points out that ideal active breathing itself activates the material of the unconscious (by "unconscious" is meant karmic deposits directly in the primary consciousness and less deep in field uniform life), contributes to its release. But if the session ends, and residual tensions and unpleasant emotions persist, he recommends applying special work with the body.
If you carefully read the above methods several times and compare them with each other, you will understand that they all mean the same thing with slight variations and different approaches. Developed by me, based on their analysis and practical testing, the "Breath of Happiness" method is the fastest and most effective. Dianetic therapy is inferior in speed and effectiveness to Rebirthing and Holotropic therapy. In turn, the latter lose to my method, because do not take into account biorhythmology».
Let us pay tribute to the modesty and scientific honesty of the natural scientist Genesha and, let us return to our, no less honest and modest, "psychologists from the future."

CHALLENGING THE NEWTONIAN UNIVERSE

It is ... not about that collection of solid, immovable objects located in space, but about the life that is lived on the stage it creates; and, therefore, reality is not the external stage itself, but the life that is lived on it. Reality is things as they are.

Wallace Stephens

BREAKTHROUGH TO NEW DIMENSIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

There is one sight greater than the sea, and that is the sky;

There is one sight more majestic than the sky - it is the bowels of the soul.

Victor Hugo, "Fantine" Le miserables

AT During the past three decades, modern science has presented us with new problems and new discoveries that make us think that human capabilities far exceed even the wildest of our previous ideas. In response to these problems and discoveries, researchers from various fields and disciplines are working together to open up a completely new picture of human existence, and, in particular, the nature of human consciousness.

Just as the discovery of Copernicus that the Earth is not the center of the universe at all turned the world upside down, the latest discoveries of researchers around the world make us seriously think about what we are physically, mentally and spiritually. We are witnessing the emergence of a new understanding of the psyche and, with it, an amazing worldview that combines the latest achievements in cutting edge sciences with the wisdom of ancient human communities. As a result of new successes, we have to revise literally all our ideas, just as it happened in response to the discoveries of Copernicus almost five hundred years ago.

The Universe as a Machine: Newton and Western Science

The main thing that distinguishes the powerful shift in thinking that has taken place during the twentieth century is a complete revision of the understanding physical world. Before the advent of Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum physics, we were firmly convinced that the universe was made of dense matter. We thought that atoms formed the basis of the material universe, and considered them solid and indestructible. These atoms existed in three-dimensional space, and their movements obeyed certain unchanging laws; in accordance with this, matter evolved in an orderly manner, moving from the past, through the present, to the future. From this reliable deterministic point of view, we viewed the universe as a gigantic machine, and we were sure that the day would come when we would discover all the laws that govern this machine, and thus be able to recreate exactly everything that happened in the past, and predict everything that will happen in the future. Once these laws are revealed, we will have power over the entire world around us. Some even dreamed that one day we would be able to create life by mixing the right chemicals in a test tube.

In this model of the universe developed by Newtonian science, life, consciousness, human beings, and the creative mind were seen as by-products that evolved by chance from an incomprehensible agglomeration of matter. And no matter how complex and amazing we may be, we humans, nevertheless, were considered, in essence, as material objects - no more than highly developed animals or thinking biological machines. Our boundaries were defined by the surface of the skin, and consciousness was seen as nothing more than a product of a thinking organ called the brain. Everything we thought, felt and knew was based on the information we received through the senses. According to the logic of this materialistic model, human consciousness, intellect, ethics, art, religion, and science itself were considered as by-products of the material processes occurring in the brain.

Of course, the opinion that consciousness and all its manifestations originate in the brain was not completely unfounded. Numerous clinical and experimental observations indicate a close relationship between consciousness and certain neurophysiological and pathological conditions, such as infections, traumas, intoxications, tumors and cerebral hemorrhages. It is clear that all this, as a rule, is accompanied by noticeable changes in consciousness. In the case of brain tumors, dysfunction (loss of speech, coordination of movements, etc.) can help pinpoint exactly where the brain is damaged.

Such observations leave no doubt that our mental functions are connected with biological processes in the brain. However, this does not necessarily mean that consciousness is born in the brain. This conclusion, drawn by Western science, is not scientific fact, but a metaphysical assumption, and, of course, another interpretation of the same data can be offered. Let's draw an analogy: a good TV technician, by looking at specific picture or sound distortions on a TV, can tell exactly what is wrong with it, and what parts need to be replaced so that it works well again. No one would see this as evidence that the TV itself is responsible for the programs that we see when we turn it on. However, it is precisely this kind of argument that mechanistic science offers as "proof" that consciousness is produced by the brain.

Conventional science is of the opinion that organic matter and life arose from the chemical soup of the primordial ocean solely as a result of random interactions of atoms and molecules. Similarly, it is argued that matter turned into living cells, and cells into complex multicellular organisms with a central nervous system, only by chance and "natural selection". And along with these explanations, one of the most important metaphysical tenets of the Western worldview has somehow become the assumption that consciousness is a by-product of the material process that occurs in the brain.

As modern science discovers the deep interconnections between the creative mind and all levels of reality, this simplistic view of the universe is becoming increasingly unacceptable. In one apt comparison, the possibility that human consciousness and our infinitely complex universe could have arisen as a result of random interactions of inert matter is the same as if a hurricane swept over a junkyard accidentally collected a Boeing 747.

Until now, Newtonian science has been responsible for forming a very limited view of human beings and their potentialities. For more than two centuries, the Newtonian point of view dictated the criteria for what is an acceptable and unacceptable perception of reality. According to them, a "normally functioning" person is one who is able to accurately reflect the objective external world described by Newtonian science. According to this view, our mental functions are limited to taking in information through the senses, storing it in our "mental databanks", and then perhaps shuffling the sense data to create something new. Any significant deviation from this perception of "objective reality" - and in reality, accepted reality, or what most people believe to be true, would have to be dismissed as the product of an overactive imagination or a mental breakdown.

Modern consciousness research indicates an urgent need for a decisive revision and expansion of such a limited view of the nature and dimensions of the human psyche. The main purpose of this book is to analyze these new observations and the resulting radically different view of our lives. It is important to note that although these new discoveries are not compatible with traditional Newtonian science, they are fully consistent with the revolutionary achievements of modern psychology and other scientific disciplines. This new understanding will fundamentally transform the Newtonian worldview that we once took for granted to such an extent. An exciting new vision of the cosmos and human nature is emerging that has far-reaching implications for our lives, both individually and collectively.

Consciousness and space: science discovers the mind in nature

As research into the ultra-small and super-large - the subatomic realms of the microworld and the astrophysical realms of the macrocosm - developed, modern physicists soon realized that some of Newton's basic principles had serious limitations and shortcomings. In the middle of the 20th century, it became clear that atoms, which Newtonian physicists once considered indestructible elementary bricks of the material world, actually consist of even smaller elementary particles - protons, neutrons and electrons. More recently, studies have found literally hundreds of subatomic particles.

newly discovered subatomic particles exhibited strange behavior that challenged Newtonian principles. In some experiments they behaved like material particles, while in others they seemed to have wavelike properties. This phenomenon became known as the "quantum wave paradox". At the subatomic level, our old definitions of matter were replaced by statistical probabilities describing its "tendency to exist", and eventually the old definitions of matter disappeared completely in the so-called "dynamic vacuum". This exploration of the microcosm soon revealed the fact that the universe, which in everyday life seems to us to be composed of dense, separate objects, is in reality a complex network of events and relationships. In this new context, consciousness does not just passively reflect the objective material world - it plays an active role in the creation of reality itself.

In scientific research in the astrophysical realm, equally astonishing revelations are found. For example, in Einstein's theory of relativity, space is not three-dimensional, time is not linear, and they do not exist as separate entities, but are united in a four-dimensional continuum called "space-time." With this view of the universe, what we once perceived as boundaries between objects and differences between matter and empty space is now being replaced by something new. Instead of a collection of individual objects and empty spaces between them, the entire universe is seen as one continuous field of variable density. In modern physics, matter becomes equivalent and interchangeable with energy. In the light of this new worldview, consciousness is seen as an integral part of the universal fabric and is certainly not limited to the activity of our brain. As the British astronomer James Jeans said some sixty years ago, the universe of modern physics is much more like a great thought than a gigantic supermachine.

So, now we have the Universe, which is not a cluster of Newtonian objects, but an infinitely complex system of oscillatory phenomena. These oscillatory systems have such properties and possibilities that Newtonian science did not even dream of. One of the most interesting properties of this kind can be described by analogy with the phenomenon of holography.

Holography and Hidden Order

Holography is a photographic process in which coherent laser light of the same wavelength is used to create three-dimensional images in space. A hologram, which can be compared to a photographic slide from which we project an image, is a recording of the interference pattern of the two halves of a laser beam. After the light beam is separated using a translucent mirror, one half of it (called the reference beam) is directed to the emulsion layer of the photographic plate, and the other half (called the working beam) hits the plate, having previously been reflected from the photographed object. The information from these two beams, required to reproduce a three-dimensional image, is "folded" in the hologram in such a way that it is distributed over all its sections. As a result, when a hologram is illuminated with a laser, a complete three-dimensional image can be "expanded" from any part of it. You can cut a hologram into many pieces, and still, each piece will be able to reproduce the entire image.

This discovery of the principles of holography has become an important part of the scientific worldview. For example, David Bohm, an outstanding theoretical physicist and former collaborator of Einstein, was inspired by holography to create a model of the universe that could explain many of the paradoxes of quantum physics. He suggested that the world perceived by us through the senses and nervous system, with or without scientific instruments, is only a tiny fragment of reality. Bohm calls everything we perceive "unfolded" or "explicit order." These perceptions arose in special forms from a much larger matrix, which he called the "folded" or "hidden" order. In other words, what we perceive as reality is like a projection of a holographic image. The large matrix from which this image is projected can be compared to a hologram. However, Bohm's picture of the hidden order (analogous to a hologram) describes a level of reality that is inaccessible to our senses or to direct scientific research.

In his book "Wholeness and Implicit Order" ("Integrity and Hidden Order") Bohm devotes two chapters to the relationship between mind and matter as seen by modern physicists. He describes reality as an indestructible, coherent whole involved in an endless process of change called refrigeration. According to this view, all stable structures in the universe are nothing more than abstractions. We can make every effort to describe objects, entities, or events, but in the end, we must recognize that they all come from an indefinable and unknowable whole. In this world where everything is in constant flux, using nouns to describe what is happening can only confuse us.

According to Bohm, the theory of holography illustrates his idea that energy, light and matter consist of interference patterns that carry information about all other waves of light, energy and matter with which they directly or indirectly came into contact. Thus, each particle of energy and matter is a microcosm that has wrapped the whole into itself. Life can no longer be understood in terms of inanimate matter. Both matter and life are abstractions extracted from cold motion as an indivisible whole, but they can never be separated from this whole. Similarly, both matter and consciousness are aspects of the same indivisible whole.

Bohm reminds us that even the processes of abstraction by which we create our illusions of separation from the whole are themselves expressions of cold movement. Ultimately, we come to understand that any perception and cognition, including scientific work, is not at all an objective recreation of reality, but rather a creative activity that can be compared with artistic expression. We cannot measure true reality; in fact, the very essence of reality lies in its immeasurability 1 .

The holographic model offers revolutionary possibilities for a new understanding of the relationship between parts and the whole. No longer limited by the logic of traditional thought, the part ceases to be just a piece of the whole, but under certain circumstances reflects and contains the whole. We, as individual human beings, are by no means isolated and insignificant Newtonian entities; rather, each of us, being the total field of refrigeration, is also a microcosm, reflecting and containing the macrocosm. If so, then everyone is potentially able to have direct and immediate experiential access to literally any aspect of the universe, and our abilities expand far beyond the senses.

Indeed, there are many interesting parallels between the work of David Bohm in the field of physics and the work of Karl Pribram in the field of neurophysiology. After decades of intense research and experimentation, this renowned neuroscientist concluded that the puzzling and paradoxical observations about brain function could only be explained by the operation of holographic principles. Pribram's revolutionary model of the brain and Bohm's theory of refrigeration have far-reaching implications for our understanding of human consciousness, which we have only just begun to translate into the individual.

In Search of the Hidden Order

Nature is full of spirit

full of the divine

so no snowflake will escape

the hands of the Creator.

Henry David Thoreau

Revelations concerning the limitations of Newtonian science and the urgent need for a broader worldview have appeared in almost all branches of knowledge. For example, Gregory Bateson, one of the most original theorists of our time, challenged traditional notions by demonstrating that all boundaries in the world are illusory, and that mental activities that we usually attribute exclusively to humans are found everywhere in nature, including animals, plants, and even inorganic systems. In his highly creative synthesis of cybernetics, information and systems theory, anthropology, psychology and other fields of science, he showed that mind and nature are an indivisible unity.

British biologist Rupert Sheldrake made a sharp critique of conventional science, offering to look at the problem from another angle. He drew attention to the fact that in its purposeful search for "energetic causality" Western science had neglected the problem of form in nature. He pointed out that the study of matter alone is no more capable of explaining why order, form, and meaning exist in nature than the examination of the building materials of a cathedral, castle, or residential building can explain the specific forms of these architectural structures. Sheldrake suggested that forms in nature are governed by what he called "morphogenic fields" that modern science is unable to detect or measure. This would mean that all scientific research of the past completely neglected the measurement that is absolutely necessary for understanding the nature of reality 2 .

The common point of all these and other new theories that offer alternatives to Newtonian thinking is that they consider consciousness and creative mind not as derivatives of matter - more precisely, neurophysiological processes in the brain - but as important original attributes of all that exists. The study of consciousness, once considered only a poor relative of the natural sciences, is rapidly becoming the focus of scientific attention.

A revolution in the minds of a different scientific worldview

Our ordinary waking consciousness, or rational consciousness as we call it, is but one particular type of consciousness, while all around it, separated from it by the thinnest of partitions, lie the potential forms of an entirely different consciousness... No explanation of the universe in all its completeness cannot be final if it leaves aside these other forms of consciousness.

William James

Modern depth psychology and consciousness research owe much to the Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung. Throughout his life of systematic clinical work, Jung showed that the Freudian model human psyche too narrow and limited. He has collected compelling evidence that we need to look much beyond personal biography and the individual unconscious to even begin to comprehend the true nature of the psyche.

One of Jung's most famous achievements was the concept of the "collective unconscious" - a huge repository of information about the history and culture of mankind, available to each of us in the depths of our own psyche. In addition, Jung identified fundamental dynamic patterns, or primordial organizing principles, operating both in the collective unconscious and throughout the universe. He called them "archetypes" and described their effects on individuals and human society generally.

Of particular interest is Jung's research on the phenomenon of synchronicity, which we will discuss in more detail later. He found that psychological events at the individual level, such as dreams or visions, often form patterns of significant coincidence with various aspects of conventional reality that cannot be explained in terms of cause and effect. This suggests that the world of the psyche and the material world are not two separate entities at all, and that they are closely intertwined with each other. Thus, Jung's ideas challenge not only psychology, but also Newtonian ideas about reality and Western philosophy of science. They show that consciousness and matter are in constant interaction, ordering and shaping each other. This interaction must have been what the poet William Butler Yeats had in mind when he spoke of events in which "it is impossible to tell the dancer from the dance."

Around the same time that we were beginning to make important breakthroughs in physics, the discovery of LSD and subsequent research into psychedelics opened up revolutionary new directions in the study of human consciousness. In the fifties and sixties, interest in Eastern philosophies and practices, shamanism, mysticism, empirical psychotherapy and other in-depth studies of the human psyche increased dramatically. The study of death and the process of dying has provided some extremely interesting data on the connection between consciousness and the brain. In addition to this, there has been a resurgence of interest in parapsychology, and in particular in extrasensory perception (ESP) research. New data on the human psyche were also obtained by laboratories that experimented with such modern methods consciousness changes like sensory isolation and biofeedback.

Common to all of this research has been a focus on non-ordinary states of consciousness, an area that in the past has been neglected not only by mainstream science, but by all of Western culture. Highlighting rationality and logic, we have always highly valued the everyday sane state of mind, relegating all its other states to the realm of useless pathology.

In this regard, we occupy a very unique position in the history of mankind. In all ancient and pre-industrial cultures, non-ordinary states of consciousness were given special importance: they were valued as a powerful means of communicating with sacred realities, with nature and people, and used to detect diseases and heal. In addition, altered states were considered an important source of artistic inspiration and a gateway to intuition and extrasensory perception. All other cultures have spent a great deal of time and energy developing various mind-altering techniques, and have used them regularly in a variety of ritual contexts.

Michael Harner, a well-known anthropologist who also received a shamanic initiation in South America, noted that from a cross-cultural perspective, the traditional Western understanding of the human psyche suffers from important shortcomings. It ethnocentric in the sense that Western scientists consider their approach to reality and psychological phenomena to be the best and "proved without a shadow of a doubt", while at the same time declaring the views of other cultures as inferior, naive and primitive. Second, the traditional scientific approach is, in addition, "cognicentric" - as Harner calls it, meaning that it takes into account only the observations and experiences mediated by the five senses in the ordinary state of consciousness 3 .

The main purpose of this book is to describe and explore those radical changes in understanding of consciousness, the human psyche, and the nature of reality itself that become necessary when we, like all cultures before us, take into account the evidence of non-ordinary states. It doesn't really matter here whether these states are caused by meditation practice, an experiential psychotherapy session, a spontaneous psycho-spiritual crisis, a near-death experience, or the use of a psychedelic substance. Although these methods and the experiences they evoke may differ in some specific ways, they all represent paths to deep regions of the human psyche that have not been explored by traditional psychology. Recognizing this fact, thanatologist Kenneth Ring proposed a general term for them Omega experiences.

And since we are here interested in studying the most general consequences modern consciousness research for our understanding of ourselves and the universe, I use examples in this book from a wide variety of situations. Some of them are from holotropic breathwork or psychedelic therapy sessions, others are from shamanistic rituals, hypnotic regression experiences, near-death states, or spontaneous episodes of a psycho-spiritual crisis. What they all have in common is that they decisively challenge traditional thinking and offer a completely new perspective on reality and our being.

The Journey Begins: Opening the Gates Beyond Ordinary Reality

Many different paths lead to a new understanding of consciousness. My own path began in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, in the late 1940s, shortly after I graduated high school. At that time, a friend gave me to read "Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis" Sigmund Freud. I was deeply impressed by Freud's penetrating mind and his ability to decipher the obscure language of the subconscious. Literally a few days after reading the book, I made the decision to enter medical school, which was a prerequisite for becoming a psychoanalyst.

During the years of study in medical institute, I joined a small psychoanalytic group led by three analysts who are members of the International Psychoanalytic Association, and in free time He worked in the Department of Psychiatry at the Charles University School of Medicine. Later, I also took a training course in psychoanalysis with the former president of the Czechoslovak Psychoanalytic Association.

The more I became acquainted with psychoanalysis, the more I became disillusioned with it. All the writings of Freud and his followers that I have read have offered seemingly convincing explanations of mental life. But all this proved impossible to translate into clinical work. I could not understand why this brilliant conceptual system did not produce equally impressive clinical results. I was taught in medical school that once I understand what the problem is, I can find some effective way to solve it or, in the case of an incurable disease, see clearly the reasons for the limitations of my therapy. However, I was now being asked to believe that even with a full intellectual understanding of the psychopathology we are working with, we could do relatively little with it—even for an extremely long time.

Around the same time that I was wrestling with this dilemma, a package arrived at the faculty where I worked from Sandoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical laboratory based in Basel. It contained samples of an experimental substance called LSD-25, which was said to have remarkable psychoactive properties. Sandoz provided the substance to research psychiatrists around the world to study its effects and possible use in psychiatry. In 1956, I became one of the first "guinea pigs" in testing this drug.

My first session with LSD radically changed my personal and professional life. I had an amazing encounter with my own unconscious, and this experience immediately overshadowed all my previous interest in Freudian psychoanalysis. A fantastic spectacle of colorful visions opened up to me, both abstract and geometric, and filled with symbolic meaning. I felt a rush of emotions of such strength that I could not even dream of.

My first experience with LSD-25 involved special tests performed by a faculty member who studied the effects of light flashes on the brain. Before taking the psychedelic, I agreed to be illuminated with flashes of light of various frequencies, while simultaneously recording the biocurrents of my brain using an electroencephalograph.

At this stage of the experiment, I was struck by a radiance that seemed to me comparable to the light at the epicenter of an atomic explosion, or, perhaps, to the supernatural light described in the Eastern sacred texts that appears at the moment of death. This light blast threw me out of my body. I lost all awareness of the experimenter, the laboratory, and everything about my student life in Prague. My consciousness seemed to suddenly expand to cosmic proportions.

I found myself in the middle of a cosmic drama that I had never before imagined even in my wildest fantasies. I experienced the Big Bang, rushing through the black and white holes of the Universe, and my consciousness became something like exploding supernovae, pulsars, quasars and other space objects.

I had no doubt that what I was experiencing was very close to the experience of "cosmic consciousness" that I had read about from the great mystics of the world. Although the manuals of psychiatry defined such states as manifestations of serious pathology, I knew that this experience was not the result of drug-induced psychosis, but a glimpse into a world beyond ordinary reality.

Even in the most vivid and compelling depths of this experience, I saw the irony and paradox of the situation. The Divine appeared before me and took over my life in a modern laboratory during a serious scientific experiment conducted in a communist country with a substance obtained by a chemist of the twentieth century.

I came out of this experience excited to the core. At that time I did not believe, as I do now, that the potential capacity for mystical experience is given from birth to all people. I attributed everything I experienced to the psychoactive drug itself. But I had not the slightest doubt that this substance could serve as the "royal road to the unconscious." I was convinced that this remedy could bridge the gap between the theoretical brilliance of psychoanalysis and its helplessness as a therapeutic tool. It seemed to me that psychoanalysis using LSD could deepen, intensify and speed up the therapeutic process.

In the following years, from my first appointment to the Institute for Psychiatric Research in Prague, I had the opportunity to study the effects of LSD on patients with various emotional disorders, as well as on psychiatrists and psychotherapists, artists, scientists and philosophers who expressed a serious interest in this kind of experience. . These studies have led to a deeper understanding of the human psyche, as well as the possibility of increasing creativity and facilitating problem solving.

During the initial period of these studies, I found that my worldview was undermined by the daily encounter with experiences that could not be explained from the standpoint of my previous belief system. Under the relentless onslaught of indisputable evidence, my understanding of the world gradually changed from atheistic to mystical. What was first revealed to me in the experience of cosmic consciousness was fully confirmed as a result of daily painstaking study of research data.

In LSD psychotherapy sessions, we found a very peculiar pattern. At low to moderate doses, subjects' experience was usually limited to re-experiencing episodes from infancy and childhood. However, when the dose was increased or the session was repeated, each patient sooner or later moved far beyond the areas described by Freud. Many of the experiences we have been told are surprisingly similar to those described in the ancient spiritual texts of the Eastern traditions. I found this particularly interesting, since many of those who have reported such experiences had no previous knowledge of Eastern spiritual philosophers, and I certainly did not expect such unusual experiential realms to be made available in this way.

My patients experienced psychological death and rebirth, feelings of oneness with all of humanity, nature and the cosmos. They spoke of visions of deities and demons from cultures other than those they belonged to, or visits to mythological realms. Some spoke of "past life" experiences that were later verified as historical. During the deepest immersive sessions, the experiences involved people, places, and things that the patients had never before touched through the physical senses. That is, they had never read about them, had not seen their images and had not heard anything about them, but now they experienced them as if all this was happening in the present.

This study was the source of an endless string of surprises. Because I studied Comparative Religion, I had an intellectual knowledge of some of the experiences that people describe. However, I was completely unaware that the ancient spiritual systems describe with amazing accuracy the various levels and types of experiences that occur in non-ordinary states of consciousness. I was struck by their emotional power, credibility, and potential to change the way people view their lives. Frankly, there were times when I felt deeply anxious and afraid when faced with facts for which I had no rational explanation and which undermined my belief system and my scientific worldview.

Then, as I became more familiar with these experiences, it became clear to me that everything I was witnessing was a normal and natural manifestation of the deepest realms of the human psyche. When this process went beyond the biographical material from infancy and childhood, and the deeper layers of the human psyche began to open up in experiences with all their mystical overtones, the therapeutic results surpassed anything I had ever seen before. Symptoms that did not respond to other treatments for months or even years often disappeared after experiences such as psychological death and rebirth, feelings of cosmic unity, archetypal visions, and sequences of events that patients described as past life memories.

At the forefront

Over thirty years of systematic study of the human mind has led me to conclusions that many conventional psychiatrists and psychologists would find implausible, if not unbelievable. I now firmly believe that consciousness is more than a random by-product of the neurophysiological and biochemical processes that take place in the human brain. I consider the consciousness and psyche of a person to be an expression and reflection of the cosmic mind that permeates the entire Universe and all that exists. We are not just highly evolved animals with biological computers built into our skulls; we are also infinite fields of consciousness that transcend time, space, matter, and linear causality.

As a result of observing literally thousands of people experiencing non-ordinary states of consciousness, I am now convinced that our individual consciousness directly connects us not only with the environment and with various periods of our past, but also with events that are far beyond the perception of our physical senses, passing to other historical epochs, to nature and space. I can no longer deny the evidence that we are able to relive the emotions and physical sensations that we experienced while passing through the birth canal, and that we can relive episodes relating to the embryonic period in the mother's womb. In non-ordinary states of consciousness, our psyche can reproduce these situations vividly and in detail.

At times, we manage to travel into the distant past and observe events from the lives of our human and animal ancestors, as well as events that happen to people of others. historical eras and cultures with which we have no genetic connection at all. Through our consciousness, we can transcend time and space, cross boundaries that separate us from various animal species, experience processes in the plant kingdom and the inorganic world, and even explore mythological and other realities that we previously did not know existed. It may turn out that these kinds of experiences will profoundly influence our life philosophy and worldview. It is very likely that we will find it increasingly difficult to adhere to the belief system that prevails in industrial cultures, as well as the philosophical premises of traditional Western science.

Having begun this study as a convinced materialist and atheist, I was soon forced to accept the fact that the spiritual dimension plays a decisive role in the human psyche and in the universal scheme of being. I am sure that the awareness and purposeful development of this dimension is a necessary and desirable part of our being; it may even become a decisive factor in our survival on this planet.

An important lesson I have learned from studying non-ordinary states of consciousness is the realization that many states that mainstream psychiatry considers strange and pathological are in fact natural manifestations of the underlying dynamics of the human psyche. In many cases, the penetration of these elements into consciousness can be an attempt by the body to free itself from the imprints of past traumas and limitations that interfere with it, an attempt to heal and achieve more harmonious functioning.

Most importantly, consciousness research over the past three decades has convinced me that our current scientific models of the human psyche are incapable of explaining many new facts and scientific observations. They act as a conceptual straitjacket and render many of our theoretical and practical efforts ineffective and, in many cases, even worse. Openness to new data that challenges traditional beliefs and dogma has always been an essential feature of the very best in science and the driving force behind progress. A real scientist does not confuse theory with reality and does not try to dictate what nature should be like. It is not for us to decide what the human psyche can and cannot do to conform to our artfully crafted preconceived ideas. If we want to understand at all how we can best cooperate with the psyche, we must allow it to reveal its true nature to us.

It is quite clear to me that we need a new psychology that is more consistent with modern consciousness research and complements the image of the cosmos that is beginning to take shape in us, thanks to the very recent achievements natural sciences. In order to explore new frontiers of consciousness, it is necessary to go beyond the traditional verbal methods of collecting relevant psychological data. Many experiences originating in far reaches psyches, for example, mystical states, are not amenable to verbal description. Throughout the ages, spiritual traditions have called them "ineffable." Therefore, it is clear that approaches should be used that allow people to access deeper levels of the psyche without being forced to depend on language. One reason for this strategy is that much of what we experience in the innermost corners of our minds are events that happened before we learned to speak - in the womb, during birth, in early infancy - or are non-verbal in nature. . All this suggests the need to develop completely new projects, research tools and methodologies to elucidate the deepest nature of the human psyche and the nature of reality.

The information contained in this book is based on many thousands of unusual experiences of various types. Most of these experiences relate to holotropic and psychedelic sessions that I have conducted and observed in the US and Czechoslovakia, as well as during my travels; others happened during sessions conducted by my colleagues who shared their observations with me. In addition, I have worked with people in psycho-spiritual crises and over the years have personally experienced many non-ordinary states of consciousness in experiential psychotherapy, psychedelic sessions, shamanistic rituals and meditation. During the month-long seminars that my wife Christina and I conducted at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, there was an extremely rich exchange of experience with anthropologists, parapsychologists, thanatologists, mediums, shamans and spiritual teachers, many of whom have now become our close friends. They have been of great help to me in understanding my discoveries in a broad interdisciplinary and intercultural context.

The main experiential approach that I now use to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness and gain access to the unconscious and superconscious psyche is the holotropic breathing technique that I have developed with Christina over the past fifteen years. This seemingly simple process, which combines breathing, evocative music and other types of sounds, bodywork, and artistic expression, has great potential in opening the way to explore the full spectrum of inner peace. We are currently running a comprehensive training program and have already trained hundreds of practitioners who are now organizing workshops in various countries. Therefore, readers who are seriously interested in the perspectives described in this book should have no difficulty in finding an opportunity to experience them for themselves in a safe environment and under experienced guidance.

I gathered my material from more than twenty thousand holotropic breathwork sessions with people from various countries and fields of activity, as well as four thousand psychedelic sessions that I conducted in the early stages of the study. The systematic study of non-ordinary states has shown me beyond doubt that the traditional understanding of the human personality, limited to biography after birth and the Freudian individual unconscious, is extremely narrow and superficial. To explain all the unusual new observations, it becomes necessary to create a significantly expanded model of the human psyche and develop a new way of thinking in relation to mental health and illness.

In the following chapters, I will describe the mapping of the human psyche that has resulted from my study of non-ordinary states of consciousness and has proven to be very useful for my daily work. In this cartography, I have mapped out paths through the different types and levels of experience that become available in certain states of consciousness and appear to be the normal forms of expression of the psyche. In addition to the traditional biographical level, containing material relating to our infancy, childhood, and later life, this map of inner space includes two additional important areas: 1) the perinatal level of the psyche, which, in accordance with its name, refers to our experiences related to with the trauma of biological birth, and 2) a transpersonal level that goes far beyond the normal limitations of our body and ego. This level represents a direct connection between the individual psyche, Jung's collective unconscious and the universe as a whole.

When, at the beginning of my research, I first became aware of these areas, it seemed to me that thanks to the discovery of a revolutionary tool - LSD, I was creating a new map of the psyche. As this work continued, it became quite clear to me that the emerging map was not new at all. I realized that rediscover ancient knowledge about human consciousness that has existed for centuries or even millennia. I began to see important analogies with shamanism, with the great spiritual and philosophical teachings of the East, such as the various systems of yoga and the various schools of Buddhism and Taoism, with the mystical traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and with many other esoteric traditions of all ages.

These parallels between my research and ancient traditions provide compelling modern confirmation of the timeless wisdom that the philosopher and writer Aldous Huxley called "eternal philosophy." I realized that Western science, which in its childish arrogance had rejected and ridiculed ancient knowledge, must now reconsider its immature judgments in the light of these new discoveries. It is hoped that the old/new cartography described in this book will prove to be a useful guide for those who decide to travel to the far reaches of the human psyche and explore the frontiers of consciousness. And although each inner journey unique and distinct in its own way, they all also share important similarities and some common milestones. When entering new and potentially frightening territory, it is helpful and comforting to know that many other people have already crossed them before you.

Revealing the mysteries of infancy and childhood

The area of ​​the psyche that usually appears first in experiential therapy is the memory level, or biographical level, where we find memories from our infancy and childhood. In modern depth psychology, it is generally accepted that our current emotional life largely formed under the influence of events that relate to the "formative" years, that is, to that period of life when we still did not know how to clearly express our thoughts and feelings. The quality of the maternal care we received, the dynamics of family relationships, the traumatic and feeding experiences of that time play an important role in shaping our personality.

Biographical realms tend to be the most easily accessible part of the psyche and, of course, the part we are most familiar with. However, not all important events from our early life can be restored by ordinary recall. It may be easy to remember happy times, but the traumas underlying our fears and self-doubt tend to elude us. They sink into a deep region of the psyche called the "individual unconscious" and are hidden from us by a process that Sigmund Freud called "repression." Freud's pioneering work showed that through the systematic analysis of dreams, fantasies, neurotic symptoms, slips of the tongue, everyday actions and other aspects of our lives, we can access the unconscious and free ourselves from repressed emotional material.

Freud and his followers probed the unconscious mind through "free association". Most of us are familiar with this method. We are asked to say whatever comes to mind, allowing words, images and memories to flow freely and not censored in any way. This method, as well as other purely verbal approaches, turned out to be a relatively weak research tool. Then, in the middle of the 20th century, a new discipline called "humanistic psychology" emerged, which developed a variety of therapeutic methods that used "bodywork" and encouraged the full expression of emotions in a safe therapeutic setting. These "empirical" approaches have increased the effectiveness of the study of biographical material. However, like earlier verbal methods, they were applied to ordinary states of consciousness.

The therapeutic use of the non-ordinary conditions that we explore in this book sheds new light on biographical material. This work with non-ordinary states of consciousness not only confirms much of what is already known through traditional psychotherapy, but also opens the way to limitless new possibilities, providing us with completely revolutionary information about the nature of our lives. In psychoanalysis and related approaches, it can take months or even years to get to the repressed deep memories of infancy and childhood. In working with non-ordinary states, for example, with the help of holotropic breathwork, significant biographical material relating to the very first years of our lives often begins to surface within the first few sessions. People not only gain access to the memories of their childhood and infancy, but often establish a living connection with their birth and stay in the womb, and even begin to delve into the realm of experience beyond these states.

There is an added benefit to this job. Instead of simply remembering early events in your life or recreating them from bits and pieces of dreams and memories, you can literally relive those events in non-ordinary states of consciousness. You can be a two-month-old baby, or even younger, and re-experience all the sensory, emotional and physical qualities the way we first knew them. We experience our body as the body of a baby and perceive the environment in a primitive and childishly naive way. We see all this unusually vividly and clearly. There is good reason to believe that these experiences even reach the cellular level.

During experiential holotropic breathwork sessions, it is amazing to see how deep people can go when they relive the earliest events of their lives. It is quite common to see that their appearance and behavior change according to the age period they are experiencing. People who go back in their experiences to infancy tend to display facial expressions, postures, gestures, and behaviors that are characteristic of young children. In the experience of early infancy, this includes salivation and automatic sucking movements. Even more remarkable is that these people usually exhibit neurological reflexes appropriate to the age experienced. They may respond with a sucking reflex to a light touch on the lips and exhibit other so-called axial reflexes that characterize the normal neurological responses of infants.

One of the most striking discoveries was the manifestation in people regressing to the states of early childhood, a positive sign of Babinsky. This reflex, which is part of a pediatric neurological test, is elicited by touching the sole of the foot with a sharp object. In infants, the toes fan out in response to this stimulus, while in older children they tuck inward. The same adults who, during their regression to infancy, responded to this test by fanning out their toes, responded in the usual way during periods related to later childhood. And, as expected, these same people, returning to their normal state of consciousness, demonstrated a normal Babinski reflex.

There is another significant difference between the study of the psyche in ordinary and non-ordinary states of consciousness. In unusual states, the selection of the most suitable and emotionally charged material from the human subconscious occurs automatically. It is as if some kind of "internal radar" is scanning the psyche and body, looking for the most important moments and making them available to the conscious mind. This is extremely valuable for both the therapist and the patient, since it eliminates the need to decide what exactly of the material that emerges from the unconscious is important and what is not. Such decisions tend to be biased, as they are often influenced by our personal belief systems and belonging to one of the many dissenting schools of psychotherapy.

This radar function, found in non-ordinary states of consciousness, has opened up aspects of the biographical realm that had previously eluded us in studies of human consciousness. One of these discoveries concerns the impact of early physical trauma on a person's emotional development. We have found that the radar system brings to the surface memories not only of emotional trauma, but also of events associated with a threat to the survival or integrity of the physical body. The release of emotions and tension patterns that were still stored in the body as a result of these early traumas proved to be one of the most immediate and valuable positive effects of this work. Breathing problems such as diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia, or the threat of drowning played a particularly important role.

Traditional psychiatry believes that such physical injuries may be one of the causes of organic brain damage, but it does not recognize their huge impact on emotional level. People who experientially relive memories of major physical trauma become fully aware of the scars these events have left on their psyche. They also realize how great the contribution of these traumas to their current psychosomatic problems, such as asthma, migraines, depression, phobias, or even sadomasochistic tendencies. In turn, reliving and working through these early traumas often has a therapeutic effect, bringing temporary or permanent relief from symptoms and a sense of well-being that the individual could not have dreamed of before.

Systems of condensed experience (COEX) are the keys to our destiny

Another important result Our research was the discovery that the memory of experienced emotional and physical events is stored in the psyche not in the form of isolated pieces, but in the form of complex constellations, which I call COEX systems (“systems of condensed experience”). Each COEX system consists of emotionally charged memories from different periods of our lives; they all have in common that they are associated with the same emotional quality or physical sensation. Each COEX system can have many layers, each of which has its own central theme, feelings and emotional qualities. It is very often possible to identify these individual layers according to different periods of a person's life.

Each COEX system has its own theme. For example, a single COEX constellation may contain all the main memories of events associated with insults, humiliation and shame. The common denominator of another COEX system may be the horror of experiences of claustrophobia, suffocation, and feelings associated with oppressive and limiting circumstances. Another very common COEX motive is rejection and emotional isolation, which causes us to distrust other people. Of particular importance are systems that involve life-threatening experiences or memories of times when our physical well-being was clearly at risk.

It would seem easy to conclude that COEX systems always contain painful material. However, they may just as well contain constellations of positive experiences: sensations of serene peace, bliss or ecstasy, which also contributed to the formation of our psyche.

In the earliest stages of my research, I believed that COEX systems govern primarily that aspect of the psyche known as the individual unconscious. At that time, I was still guided in my work by what I learned as a student - that the psyche is completely determined by our upbringing, that is, by the biographical material that is stored in our minds. As my experience of non-ordinary states grew, becoming richer and broader, I began to realize that COEX systems were rooted much deeper than I could have imagined.

Apparently, each COEX constellation is superimposed on and attached to a certain aspect of the birth experience. As we will discover in later chapters of this book, the experiences of birth, so rich and complex in terms of physical sensations and emotions, contain elementary themes for any COEX system conceivable. In addition to these perinatal components, typical COEX systems may have even deeper roots. They can go back into the prenatal period of life and even further into the realm of such transpersonal phenomena as past life experiences, archetypes of the collective unconscious, and identification with other life forms and universal processes. My experience of studying COEX systems convinced me that they serve to organize not only the individual unconscious, as it seemed to me at first, but also the entire human psyche.

COEX systems affect every area of ​​our emotional life. They can influence how we perceive ourselves, other people and the world. They represent driving forces that underlie our emotional and psychosomatic symptoms and set the stage for our difficulties with ourselves and others. There is a constant interaction between the COEX systems of the inner world of a person and the events of the external world. External events can activate the corresponding COEX systems within us. Conversely, COEX systems help us to form our perception of the world, and based on this perception, we act in such a way that we create situations in the outside world that reflect the patterns that are stored in our COEX systems. In other words, our internal perceptions can be something like complex scenarios through which we recreate the central themes of our COEX systems in the external world.

The role of condensed experience systems in our lives can best be illustrated by the example of one man whom I will call Peter. Prior to undergoing psychedelic therapy, this thirty-seven-year-old teacher was treated intermittently and unsuccessfully in our psychiatric department in Prague. His experiences, dating back to a very dark period in world history, were dramatic, vivid and bizarre. For this reason, this example may seem unpleasant to the reader. However, the story of Peter is very valuable in the context of our discussion, because it clearly reveals the dynamics of the COEX system and how you can emotionally free yourself from those systems that cause us pain and suffering.

Before the start of the experiential sessions, Peter was almost unable to cope with the responsibilities of everyday life. He was obsessed with finding a man of a certain appearance, preferably dressed in black. He wanted to get to know this man and tell him about his cherished desire to be locked in a dark basement and subjected to physical and mental torment. Often, unable to focus on anything else, he wandered aimlessly around the city, visiting the parks, public toilets, bars and train stations in search of "the right person".

On several occasions, he was able to persuade or bribe "suitable" men to comply with his desires. Because of Peter's special gift for finding people with sadistic tendencies, he was almost killed twice, severely beaten several times, and once robbed to the skin. In those cases where he succeeded in achieving the desired experiences, he was extremely frightened and sincerely did not want the torment he was subjected to. Peter suffered from suicidal depression, sexual impotence, and occasional epileptic seizures.

When we reviewed his personal history, I found that all of his problems began during forced labor in Germany during World War II. As a citizen of Nazi-occupied territory, he was forced into virtual slave labor, forcing him to do very dangerous work. During this period of Peter's life, two SS officers forced him at gunpoint to participate in their homosexual games. When the war ended and Piotr was finally released, he found himself continuing to seek out homosexual connections by performing in a "passive" role. Over time, this began to include a fetishism associated with black clothes, and, eventually, resulted in a complete scenario of the already described obsession.

Trying to cope with his problem, Peter went through fifteen consecutive sessions of psychedelic therapy. In the process of treatment, an important COEX system emerged, which allowed us, in the end, to succeed. In the most superficial layers of this COEX system, we predictably found Peter's more recent traumatic experiences with his sadistic partners.

A deeper layer of the same SKO contained Peter's memories of the Third Reich. In his experiential sessions, he relived the horrific ordeals he was subjected to by the SS officers and could begin to resolve the many complex feelings that surrounded these events. In addition, he relived other traumatic memories of the war and all the depressing atmosphere of those dark years. He had visions of pompous military parades and Nazi gatherings, swastika banners, ominous giant eagle emblems, concentration camp horrors, and more.

Following these revelations, Peter entered an even deeper layer of the same COEX system, where he began to relive scenes from his childhood. He was often severely punished by his parents, especially his alcoholic father, who, when drunk, became enraged and often flogged Peter with a large leather belt. His mother often punished him by locking him in a dark basement for several hours without food or water. Peter couldn't remember her wearing anything other than black dresses. Here he recognized the pattern of his obsession - it seemed that he was eager to receive all the elements of the punishments that his parents subjected him to.

Peter continued his empirical research into his main COEX systems. He relived the trauma of his own birth. Vivid memories of that time - again centered on biological cruelty - were revealed to him as the underlying pattern or model for all those elements of sadistic experiences that seemed to dominate his later life. His attention was clearly focused on the dark enclosed spaces, the confinement and confinement of his body, and the extreme physical and emotional agony he was experiencing.

Once Peter experienced the trauma of birth, he began to feel free from his obsessions, as if by finally identifying the main source of this particular COEX system, he could begin to dismantle it. He was eventually able to completely get rid of his difficult symptoms and live a normal life again.

Although the discovery of the psychological significance of physical trauma added important new dimensions to the biographical realm of the psyche, this work still touched a field well known and recognized in traditional psychology and psychiatry. However, my own research into non-ordinary states of consciousness, as well as that of others, has taken us into vast new territories of the mind that Western science and mainstream psychology have only just begun to explore. An unbiased, systematic exploration of these areas could have far-reaching implications not only for psychiatry and the study of the human mind, but also for the philosophy of science and all of Western culture 4 .

A Journey Into Yourself: The Farther Territories of Consciousness

When dealing with experiences in non-ordinary states of consciousness, the amount of time people spend exploring early childhood varies greatly. However, if they continue to work in unusual states, sooner or later they leave the arena of personal history following birth and move on to entirely new territories. And although these territories are not yet recognized by Western academic psychiatry, it is by no means to say that they are not known to mankind. On the contrary, they have been systematically researched since ancient times and highly valued in ancient and pre-industrial cultures.

Moving beyond the biographical events of early childhood, we enter the realm of experience associated with biological birth. Entering this new territory, we begin to experience emotions and physical sensations of extraordinary power, which often exceed anything we used to think is possible for a person. Here we are confronted with emotions of two polar opposite types - with a strange interweaving of birth and death, as if these two aspects of human experience were somehow one. With a sense of life-threatening limitation comes a determination to fight for liberation and survival.

Since most people identify this experience with the trauma of biological birth, I refer it to the perinatal (peripartum) realm of the psyche. This term is a Greek-Latin word consisting of the prefix peri-, which means "near" or "about", and the root word natalis, which translates as "pertaining to childbirth." Word perinatal commonly used in medicine to describe the biological processes that occur shortly before, during, and immediately after birth. However, since mainstream medicine denies that a child has the ability to commit birth experiences, the term is not used in mainstream psychiatry. The use of the term "perinatal" in relation to consciousness reflects my own findings and is completely new.

Research in non-ordinary states of consciousness has provided incontrovertible evidence that we store in our psyche, often at a deep cellular level, memories of perinatal experiences. People who had no intellectual knowledge of their birth could recall, with amazing accuracy, facts about their birth, such as the use of forceps, buttock labor, and the mother's earliest reactions to the newborn. Such details have been objectively corroborated over and over again by hospital records or by adults present at the birth.

Perinatal experiences include such primitive emotions and sensations as anxiety, biological rage, physical pain, and suffocation commonly associated with the birth process. In addition, people who experience birth usually make the appropriate movements, accurately reproducing the mechanics of certain births with the position of the limbs and the rotation of the body. This can be observed even among those who have never studied the process of birth and have not observed it in their adulthood. In addition, on the skin in those places where forceps were applied, where the wall of the birth canal pressed on the head, or where the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck, bruising, swelling and other vascular changes could suddenly appear. All of these details could be confirmed with detailed birth records or credible personal evidence.

These early perinatal experiences are not limited to the birth process. Deep perinatal memories can open the way to what Jung called the collective unconscious. When we recall the pains of passing through the birth canal, we can identify with the same experiences experienced by people from other times and cultures, or even with the birth process experienced by animals or mythological characters. In addition, we can feel a deep connection with all those who have been abused, imprisoned, tortured, or otherwise abused. It is as if our own connection to the universal experience of the embryo struggling to be born almost mystically unites us with all beings who are or have ever been in similar circumstances.

Perinatal phenomena form four distinct experiential patterns that I call Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPMs). Each of the four templates is closely associated with one of the four successive periods of biological birth. At each of these stages, the child experiences experiences characterized by specific emotions and physical sensations, and each stage seems to be associated with specific symbolic images. They are strictly individual psycho-spiritual programs that govern how we experience our lives. They may be reflected in individual and social psychopathology or in religion, art, philosophy, politics and other areas of life. And, of course, we can access these psycho-spiritual programs through non-ordinary states of consciousness, which allows us to see the driving forces of our lives much more clearly.

The first of the matrices, BPM-I, which can be called the "amniotic universe", refers to our experience in the womb before the onset of labor. The second matrix, BPM-II, or "cosmic absorption and no exit", refers to experiencing the moment when labor has already begun, but the cervix has not yet opened. The third matrix, BPM III, "the struggle of death and rebirth", reflects the experience of passing through the birth canal. The fourth and final matrix, BPM IV, which we will refer to as "death and rebirth", refers to our experiences at the moment we actually leave the mother's body. Each perinatal matrix has its own characteristic biological, psychological, archetypal and spiritual aspects.

In the next four chapters, we will explore perinatal matrices in the order they naturally unfold at birth. Each chapter begins with a personal description of those experiences that are characteristic of this matrix; then there is a discussion of the biological basis of such experiences, how they are translated in our psyche into the language of specific symbols, and how these symbols affect our lives.

It should perhaps be noted that in experiential self-examination we do not necessarily experience each of the matrices in their natural order. On the contrary, perinatal material is selected by our internal radar, which makes the order of access to this material strictly individual for each person. However, for the sake of simplicity, it is useful to consider them in the order in which they are described in the next four chapters.

The most powerful and effective of the breathing techniques used in modern psychology and psychotherapy, among which the well-known techniques are rebirthing, waving and free breathing techniques.
It was developed in the 70s by Stanislav Grof, an American psychologist born in Czechoslovakia, and his wife Kristina, as a legal alternative to psychedelic therapy.
The only respiratory psychotechnics for which a serious psychological theoretical base has been developed. This is due to the fact that S. Grof, in contrast to the founders of rebirthing L. Orr and vending D. Leonard, is a professional in the field of medicine and psychology.

Ours offers classes on holotropic breathing in the basic course program in Moscow and St. Petersburg; Offsite with immersion in picturesque places remote from the city (Leningrad, Tver region), Individual sessions on holotropic breathing; Instructor courses.

1.1. Story

Stanislav Grof, being a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, began to conduct research activities with LSD in the mid-1950s. Quite quickly, he was convinced of the great psychotherapeutic effect of psychedelic sessions. Continuing his research, Grof was faced with the need to revise the Freudian model of the psyche in which he was brought up, and build a new cartography of consciousness to describe the effects that occur during psychedelic sessions. Having created such a model, he described it in his numerous works. When experiments with psychoactive substances were closed, Grof began to look for a technique similar in therapeutic effect. And in 1975, together with Christina Grof, he discovered and registered the breathing technique.

Since 1975, this technique has gained more and more popularity among psychotherapists and people interested in personal growth and spiritual development.

In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where he lived until 1987, doing writing, giving lectures, seminars, including seminars to which he invited interesting specialists from various scientific and spiritual directions.

While working at Esalen, Stanislav and Christina Grof developed the holotropic breathing technique. Against the background of a political ban on the use of psychoactive substances (PS) for psychotherapeutic purposes, Stanislav and Christina Grof used intensive breathing in their work. The prototype of the breathing technique of S. and K. Grof was the breathing methods that existed in various spiritual and psychological practices, as well as breathing similar to that observed in patients during a psychedelic session if the problem was not worked out to the end and the patients began to breathe spontaneously and intensively. Such breathing was necessary in order to continue to remain in an altered (expanded) state of consciousness and to refine (discharge) the psychological material that had risen from the unconscious and reacted in the form of symptoms.

Once, while working in Esalen, Grof pulled his back and was unable to conduct the process as usual. Then Stanislav came up with the idea to split the group into pairs and hold not one, but two breathing sessions and let the participants of the seminar help each other. During the first session, one person breathes (holonaut), and the second one helps him (sitter, nurse, assistant), during the second they change places. This practice proved to be the most effective.

It was officially authorized and registered by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in 1993 as one of the 28 methods of psychotherapy.

1.2. Technics

The elements of technology are:- Rapid breathing(“In holotropic breathing, we encourage people to begin the session by breathing faster and somewhat deeper, linking inhalation and exhalation into continuous process breathing. Once inside the action, individuals find their own rhythm and way of breathing.” - evocative music(“Carefully chosen music seems to have a special meaning in holotropic states of consciousness, where it performs several important functions. It sets in motion the feelings associated with repressed memories, brings them to the surface and facilitates self-expression.” [It is very important to surrender to the musical flow , let the music resonate throughout the body, respond to it spontaneously and involuntarily .... - Energy-releasing work of the body. This element must be applied if the respiratory process has not come to a favorable conclusion, and either unresolved emotions or residual tension remain. “The general strategy of this work is to ask the breather to focus his attention on the place where he is having difficulty and do something to increase the physical sensations. And in this case, if an appropriate external influence is required, the assistant helps to strengthen these sensations. Also, as a rule, holotropic breathing sessions take place in large groups where participants are paired up and each breather has a siter during the session, a person who helps keep you safe, maintains your breath, and sometimes does bodywork. Sessions of holotropic breathing can last 3-4 hours, then time is given to draw mandalas and discuss what happened.

1.3. The Purpose of Holotropic Breathwork

From the name of the technique it follows that the goal of holotropic breathwork is integrity. Holos - whole, integral, tropos - movement, aspiration, in total - breath leading to integrity. Unfortunately, Sten Grof nowhere in his numerous writings speaks directly about what integrity is. At the same time, he talks quite a lot about healing and the healing effect of holotropic states of consciousness. As a rule, the healing effect consists in the reunification of the repressed part of consciousness with the conscious. “…and what happens during the session is that rapid breathing, extended over a long period of time, causes chemical changes in the body in such a way that the blocked physical and emotional energies of the body associated with various traumatic memories are released and become suitable for external discharge and processing. This makes it possible for the previously repressed content of these memories to arise in consciousness and be reunited with it. Therefore, what is happening is a healing event that should be supported…..” Thus, it can be concluded that the goal of holotropic breathwork is psychic healing, which, as a rule, is formed through the release of emotional and physical tensions and repressed memories, and their reunification with consciousness. Grof pays much attention to emotional and psychosomatic disorders, finding their place and describing them in detail in the cartography of consciousness he developed. But where exactly is mental health in his model, and what it is, what the cartography of the consciousness of a healthy, healed person will look like on the basis of his works is difficult to determine.

1.4. Therapeutic Mechanisms of Holotropic Breathwork

In the theory of holotropic breathing, the therapeutic mechanisms of the breathing technique are considered in more detail than in the description of other styles, so we considered it appropriate to include this chapter here.
1. Activation of repressed memories, due to the weakening of the defenses of the psyche, which arose due to the ASC. “Non-ordinary states of consciousness, as a rule, significantly change the relationship of the conscious and unconscious dynamics of the psyche. They weaken defenses and psychological resistances. In these circumstances, not only do repressed memories usually arise, but the person is fully emotionally significant events past in a state of age regression.

2. Acting out: “Therapeutic options for re-living emotionally significant childhood episodes include several important points. Psychopathology draws its dynamic power from the repositories of repressed emotional and psychic energy. In psychedelic and holotropic therapy, the release of these energies and their peripheral discharge play a very important role. essential role. Traditionally, such a liberation is called acting out if it is associated with a certain specific biographical content. “For a response to be fully effective, the therapist must facilitate its full implementation………. This reaction can take quite dramatic forms and lead to temporary loss of control, uncontrollable vomiting, choking cough, temporary loss of consciousness (prolapse) and other similar situations.

3. Awareness of the manifested material from the point of view of an adult.

4. Full living of the traumatic experience. Grof considers the question - why should the living of a painful situation of the past become therapeutic, and not traumatic again? And he answers it as follows: the traumatic situation was not fully lived at the moment when it occurred and therefore it was not psychologically “digested” and integrated, therefore during holotropic breathing it can be fully experienced for the first time and thanks to this it is completed and integrated.

Stanislav and Christina Grof

PRINCIPLES OF HOLOTROPIC BREATHING(Theoretical positions)

A broad understanding of the human psyche that includes the biographical, perinatal, and transpersonal realms. Phenomena belonging to all these areas are considered as natural and normal components of the psychological process, they are accepted and supported as a whole.
Understanding that non-ordinary states of consciousness caused by holotropic breathing, as well as similar states that occur spontaneously, mobilize the internal healing forces of the psyche and body.
These healing powers manifest spontaneously and are not limited by experience. famous schools psychotherapy or body work.

Practical Approach

The main elements of holotropic breathing are: deeper and faster breathing, stimulating music, and assistance in releasing energy through specific bodywork techniques. This is complemented by creative self-expression such as mandala drawing, clay modeling, spontaneous dancing, and discussion of experience. Holotropic breathing work can be carried out both one-on-one and in a group situation, where participants change places: sometimes as holonauts, sometimes as sitters.
Before the first breath experience, participants receive an in-depth theoretical training that includes the main types of phenomena that occur in holotropic breathwork sessions (biographical, perinatal, and transpersonal) as well as technical instructions for both the experiencer and the seated. In addition, physical and emotional contraindications are discussed, and if they concern any of the participants, these people receive recommendations from specialists.
Breathing is more frequent and deeper than usual; as a rule, no other specific instructions are given before or during the session, such as, for example, the speed, mode, or nature of breathing. The experience is entirely internal and mostly non-verbal with minimal interference during active breathing. Exceptions are throat spasms, problems with loss of self-control, severe pain or fear that prevents the session from continuing, and a direct request from the breather for intervention.
Music (or other forms of acoustic stimulation - drumming, tambourines, natural sounds, etc.) is an integral part of the holotropic process. As a general rule, the choice of music supports the characteristic stages that reflect the most general features of the unfolding of the holotropic experience: at the beginning it is inciting and stimulating, then it becomes more and more dramatic and dynamic, and then it expresses a breakthrough. After the climax, the music gradually becomes more and more calm and at the end - peaceful, flowing, meditative. Since the development of the process described above is statistically average, it should be changed if the dynamics of the group energy proceeds differently.
Sitters during the session should be responsible and unobtrusive, this role guarantees efficiency, safety of the environment, respect for the natural unfolding of experience and provides assistance in all necessary situations (physical support, help if you need to go to the toilet, get a napkin or a glass of water, etc.). e.) It is important for sitters to remain focused, accepting the full range of the breather's possible emotions and behaviors. Holotropic Breathwork does not use any type of intervention that comes from intellectual analysis or is based on a priori theoretical constructs.
It is very important to have enough time for the session. It usually takes two to three hours. During this time, the process, as a rule, comes to its natural end, but in exceptional cases it can last several hours. At the end of the session, the facilitator offers work with the body in the event that all the emotional and physical tensions activated during the session have not been resolved through breathing. The basic principle of this work is to understand what is happening to the breather and create a situation that will exacerbate the existing symptoms. While energy and awareness are being held in the area of ​​tension and discomfort, the individual should be encouraged to fully express himself, whatever form it may take. This bodywork is an essential part of the holotropic approach and plays an important role in the completion and integration of experiences.

The group discussion takes place on the same day after a long break. During the discussion, the facilitator does not give any interpretations of the material based on any theoretical systems. It is better to ask the holonaut to further work through and clarify through reflection his insights received in the session. During the discussion, mythological and anthropological references in line with Jungian psychology can be useful, and mandalas can also be useful. There may be references to the personal experiences of presenters or other people.

The European School of Breathing conducts educational, therapeutic seminars; group and individual sessions on holotropic breathing in the form in which this technique was originally created by S. Grof. You can find out about the next Holotropic Breathwork Seminar