Holotropic Breathwork – a Powerful Meditation for Emotional Release and Healing

Holotropic breathwork is mostly known as a deep and intense breathing technique which allows tapping into one’s emotions and mind. It was developed by Dr. Stanislav Golf and Christina Golf, who researched the effects of LSD and found a natural way to achieve non-ordinary state of consciousness using meditation. In my case, I participated in a guided meditation that lasted for one hour and it was more than enough to achieve intense results!

The Process

Meditation is usually guided by the sitter who sets the pace and intensity for the breather. The breather has to find a comfortable position and is allowed to move freely during the meditation while continuing to breathe at a consistent pace. I had no difficulty remaining in the lying down on my back position for an hour. My sitter increased the pace of breathing gradually and I quickly attuned to the tempo that was roughly a couple of seconds for the inhale and exhale. Sitter asked me to focus on the pauses between breaths, breath itself and my emotional and personality center. What I’ve experienced was nothing compared to the meditations I’ve had before.

The Effect

My hands started slightly tickling and went numb when the breathing intensified. It was a pleasurable sensation during which I understood that I’m very relaxed, relatively quickly in comparison with my usual meditation practices. My legs numbed shortly after. When the sitter encouraged me to focus on what comes with the inhale and the exhale I couldn’t help but feel my lips slightly tingling and smiling. I found that the center of my emotions and personality is the chest and as soon as I dwelled into it I felt a tremendous amount of love and gratitude. This feeling wasn’t directed towards anyone specific, it grew with every breath and felt as if I’ve tapped into my soul. My chest started feeling tingly and I’ve been purely enjoying the intense physical and emotional sensations. Sitter suggested me to see how my perfect self would look like and encouraged me to meet her. It was a beautiful experience of self-exploration and self-love. After the meditation I’ve felt energized for the day.

Although the strongest emotion I’ve experienced was love, the holotropic meditation has very individual effects on different people. One can discover and be able to release inner sorrows, biases, stress. Meditation also might be helpful to crystallize priorities, needs and choices.

Holotropic meditation is suitable for everyone who wants to discover and release hidden emotions, explore their inner self and experience body, mind and soul relaxation. I’m very much looking forward to my holotropic meditation practices in the future!

Click here for more information on our next retreat with a breathwork session.