Introduction

Thoughts About Each Technique

• Holotropic Breathwork
  
  Holotropic Breathwork helps the breather go into a nonordinary state of consciousness. The use of nonordinary states of consciousness are seen in almost every culture. In such states, healing and reconnecting with various aspects of life are possible. One might experience a release of physical or emotional tension, deep relaxation, joy, or other experiences including transpersonal experiences.
  
  According to Kylea Taylor, there are fourteen aspects of a Holotropic Breathwork session which work together to help create a successful session:
  
  
  • Accelerated breathing
  • Evocative music
  • Trained and experienced facilitation
  • A safe setting or container for the work
  • Partnership of participants
  • Preparatory information
  • Focused energy release work
  • Fasting at least four hours before the session
  • Open body position of the breather
  • Guided relaxation
  • Mandala drawing
  • Group sharing
  • Community support
  • Silence during the workshop
  
  
  Additional Useful Points
  
  
  • The training for the breathwork facilitators is fairly extensive. It requires 150 hours of preliminary work as a participant of Holotropic Breathwork sessions (breather and sitter). 350 hours of residential theoretical and experiential modules are required. 10 hours of private consultation are required. Finally, a two-week training seminar is required for certification. This makes me feel confident about the dedication and training that the Holotropic Breathwork facilitators have.
    
    
  • I and many others have found the focused energy release work to be extremely helpful when it feels like the energy/feelings are "stuck" in a certain area of the body and the breathing and music cannot seem to change this situation. Such bodywork has, at times, helped me feel much better and more relaxed after the session.
    
    
  • I now very much like (but didn't for a long time) doing the process in a small group setting. Openly sharing your own process with others in a very nonjudgemental and caring atmosphere can be very healing. It can also be a very good way to meet others who are using holistic healing techniques.
    
    
  • The evocative music is a big help (at times) for going into a nonordinary state of consciousness. I believe this makes it possible to more easily get in touch with other aspects of our story such as the birth process and transpersonal experiences.
    
    
  • It can be slightly easier to find a breathwork facilitator with Holotropic Breathwork because it is relatively popular (as breathwork techniques go), there are alot of trained faclitators, there is an online database of practitioners (partial listing only), and referals can be obtained over the phone.
    
    
  • Session prices vary, but usually seem to be reasonable.
    
  
  

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• Integrative Breathwork
  
  Integrative Breathwork is very much like Holotropic Breathwork in that the breather goes into a nonordinary state of consciousness where some aspect of healing and transformation can occur. It seems that the main difference is that other therapies and holistic healing techniques are used along with the breathwork to help people integrate their breathwork experiences.
  
  
  Additional Useful Points
  
  
  • I like the fact that Jacquelyn Small and the team at Eupsychia have brought together a number of useful techniques into their retreats (e.g., yoga, bodywork, meditation, traditional psychology techniques, nutrition counseling, shadow work, Twelve Step meetings, etc.). This may make the process much more healing than just the breathwork alone. This might be considered a better clinical application of the breathwork techniques. (Note: Some Holotropic Breathwork retreats often have some of these other healing tools as well.) Please keep in mind that working with a trained Integrative Breathwork practitioner (as opposed to Eupsychia retreats) may include only Integrative Breathwork and less or none of the other holistic healing techniques.
    
    
  • The same Additional Useful Points listed in Holotropic Breathwork apply to Integrative Breathwork as well except that there are fewer certified practitioners and that there are no online listings...yet.
    
    
  • The Eupsychia training includes teaching how to work with people who are in deep spiritual crises (e.g., addictions).
    
    
  • The 6-day Eupsychia Intensive Retreat cost is reasonable.
  
  

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• Radiance Breathwork
  
  Radiance Breathwork is only one part of the healing and transformational process taught by practitioners certified through the Hendricks Institute. All of the tools and techniques used work together to promote healing and deep transformation.
  
  The entire program includes Breathwork (Radiance Breathwork and a short healing breathwork/presencing program to be practiced daily), Movement Therapy, and Body-Centered Psychotherapy. One may find it difficult to understand how a process which includes "psychotherapy" would be useful for a person with a chronic physical disease such as asthma or arthritis. These techniques are not used to treat those diseases, but it has my experience and the experience of many others that the deep healing which can come from such a program can have a significant positive impact on chronic physical diseases. As put eloquently by Gay & Kathlyn Hendricks:
  
  
  The Healing Journey Is Into the Body, Not Out of It
  
  In our years as body-oriented psychotherapists, we have been privileged to be with thousands of courageous people as they have journeyed through deep and life-changing transformations. Although these changes have been infinately and intricately different, they have had one element in common: They were accomplished by journeying into the body, not out of it. Each person tuned in to his or her bodily experience, amplified it through breath and movement, and flowed with the emerging waves of energy. The results have often been miraculous, and always wondrous to behold.
  
  
  All of the Inner Healing & Transformational Tools discussed on this web page are about journeying into the body.
  
  
  Additional Useful Points
  
  
  • The synthesis of body-oriented, movement-oriented psychotherapy with a short daily breathing/presencing program and Radiance Breathwork makes for a very practical healing and trasnformational program. The Radiance Breathwork has some similarities to Holotropic Breathwork in that it is a "cathartic" breathwork, while other parts of the program have some similarities to a feeling meditation (not unlike the ideas behind Vivation).
    
    
  • Feeling all feelings (pleasant and unpleasant) deeply in order to integrate them is at the heart of the Radiance Breathwork program.
    
    
  • The facilitators "have as much experience with their own [inner transformational] work as they do in facilitating others."
    
    
  • The training/retreat prices seem reasonable. The Radiance Breathwork / Body-Oriented Psychotherapy session I attended was a little pricey -- but it was with an experienced teacher in New York.
    
    
  • A good deal of emphasis is place on "willingness." This includes the willingness to take each experience as it comes, the willingness to express the truth, and the willingness to take responsibility for one's life. These are important and very useful parts of the program in my opinion.
    
    
  • The possibility of making significant transformations and not spending year after year in therapy is emphasized by practitioners.
    
  
  

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• Vivation
  
  Vivation is different than the other breathwork techniques since it is not a "cathartic breathwork" meaning that there is generally not a huge release of emotions. It tends to be gentler than the other breathworks. There may be crying at times, and in some cases physical vocalization, but it is not as common as in the other breathwork techniques.
  
  Instead of a release of emotional energy, a Vivation Professionals helps the client focus on inner feelings using some very simple, yet effective techniques and then lovingly accepting and embracing these feelings. Often what is felt emotionally and/or physically are surpressed feelings which cause energy blockages within the body. (Such energy blockages can contribute significantly to the developement of a number of chronic and some acute diseases.) By using the Vivation process to embrace and integrating the feelings, the energy is released and changed. As the session continues, more and more feelings are felt and integrated leading to the deeper healing of the body, mind, and spirit.
  
  
  Additional Useful Points
  
  
  • The focus is not on "getting rid" of the feeling or "bad" emotion, but on deeply feeling, embracing, and integrating it, thereby transforming the energy around that supressed feeling. I believe that this type of process can lead to a more permanent healing and transformation. I like the fact that emphasis is put on activating the feelings, feeling them deeply, and then significant emphasis is put on integrating the feelings. It is a good balance.
    
    
  • The Five Elements of Vivation including the breathing are coached in that suggestions are given from time to time by the facilitator. I found this very helpful for staying with the process. My willingness to stay with the process during a breathwork session used to vary considerably and it was too easy for me to say "The heck with it!" on ocassion when I wasn't coached in other forms of breathwork. (Note: Most people I have encountered in Holotropic Breathwork sessions did not have this difficulty to anywhere near the extent I did, so it may not be a problem for most people.)
    
    
  • I very much like the emphasis placed on willingness. I find it to be the key element with any form of breathwork that is used.
    
    
  • Vivation is more gentle than the other breathwork techniques (usually) and can therefore be used by nearly everyone.
    
    
  • There is a emphasis on the eventual learning of the Vivation process on your own so that you can exchange sessions with other experienced students. There is also a goal to use the Vivation process to your benefit at times during your daily activities. This is similar to the way practitioners of mindfulness meditation sometimes practice during daily life to enhance their wellbeing and spiritual growth. The facilitators are clear that it is very important to get a significant number of sessions to practice feeling, embracing and integrating before trying to do the process on your own.
    

Conclusions