Exploring Holotropic Breathwork: Selected Articles from a Decade of the Inner Door [Hardcover]

Kylea Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

"Exploring Holotropic Breathwork" collects 144 field reports from a widespread practice of contemporary, non-drug, altered-state work. These articles were first published from 1991-2002-85 authors, trained in Holotropic Breathwork (HB) by Stanislav Grof, M.D., who is the author of "Psychology of the Future." Most of the authors included are professionals in medical, academic, therapeutic, and spiritual fields who also practice HB on a part-time basis. The articles were originally written to share their professional experiences and emerging theories with their peers. "Exploring Holotropic Breathwork" is therefore a rich source of information, not only giving information about the practice of Breathwork and anecdotes of psychological and physical healing in deep states of consciousness, but also discussing traditional therapy, Kundalini, shamanism, addiction and trauma recovery, astrology, and the integration of Breathwork with many other theoretical and practical systems and with ordinary living in general. The book happily includes a previously unpublished, 21-page article by Stanislav Grof entitled "Physical Manifestations of Emotional Disorders" in which he concludes that faster breathing creates a biochemical situation in the body that facilitates emergence and resolution of old emotional and physical tensions associated with unresolved psychological and physical traumas. There is a 16-page index and 18-page annotated table of contents to facilitate the use of this unique book as a reference.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

We are proud of this large, handsome book, which provides unusual reference material written about the experiences of being a participant experiencing, or a practitioner facilitating, altered states of consciousness--HB in particular. During this decade and a half (1988-2003), Holotropic Breathwork(tm) practitioners were returning from training with Stanislav and Christina Grof to their far-flung communities around the globe. They began providing HB workshops to local participants, working in relative isolation from each other.-writing articles for "The Inner Door", these facilitators achieved professional connection and disseminated their accumulating professional experience to the growing, worldwide HB community.

For the most part, the articles in "Exploring Holotropic Breathwork" are written by people whose day job is not the practice of HB. The biographies of the authors in this book are notable for the breadth and depth of their experience and service.

Eighty-five (85) different authors have contributed a total of 144 articles and poems, five informed consent forms, and three research questionnaires to this book. The authors include medical doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, researchers, ecology activists, psychotherapists, philosophers, astrologers, bodywork practitioners, writers, artists, ministers, publishers, shamanic practitioners, university professors teaching in several disciplines in several countries, poets, salespersons, meditation teachers, students, specialists in recovery from chemical dependency or trauma, organizational consultants, directors of non-profit organizations, hypnotherapists, psychiatric social workers, professional and amateur musicians, an astronomer, a priest, a lawyer, a playwright, a radiologic technician, an acupuncturist, a cartographer, a stock trader, and a television producer. These authors all bring their unique educations, their own languages and cultures, their particular vocational expertise, and their life experiences to the tasks of describing their own and others' Breathwork experiences and the effects of those experiences. They aim their own particular lenses to view the interface between HB and other psychological models and spiritual systems. Some of the authors are trained in other breathwork schools as well, such as Integrative Breathwork, Hendricks Body-Centered Transformation, and rebirthing. The authors' native countries include: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. Those who are interested in the theory, practice, and history of HB, and in non-ordinary (altered) states of consciousness in general, now can have easy access to this primary source material.

From the Author

As Editor of "The Inner Door" newsletter since 1991, I have been amazed at the large number of subjects and the broad range of experience of contributors. I wanted to collect these articles and make them accessible as a reference text to people interested in Breathwork and altered states of consciousness (non-ordinary states of consciousness).

The writers of these articles are adventurers on the "inner frontier". Students of Stanislav Grof, they are attracted to the edges of paradigm change in science, psychology, and spirituality. Most of them are now also supporting others to connect their inner experiences with ordinary life and community in ordinary states of consciousness.

In all these articles I hope the reader will feel as I do the deep trust gained from profound direct experience with the psyche. HB calls this "trusting the process" or "trusting the Inner Healer". All the contributors to this book have had the repeated experience of surrendering to and marveling at the emerging material of their psyches. They have discovered over time that healing and grace is the result of that fearless surrender. They have come to know experientially that the process of birth, death, and rebirth is present in all changes, and that this process can be trusted.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 605 pages
• Publisher: Hanford Mead Pub (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964315866
• ISBN-13: 978-0964315860
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,266,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kylea earned her Master of Science degree from San Jose State University, San Jose, CA in Marriage, Child, and Family Counseling. She started working as a counselor in the addictions recovery field in 1970 and served as the executive director of a New Jersey community counseling center for sixteen years. Her study of kundalini yoga in the 70's began her enduring interest in the interface between psychological, physical, social, and spiritual aspects of ourselves. She has extensive personal and professional experience with addiction, post-traumatic stress, and dissociation (including multiplicity or DID), women's issues, and spiritual emergence(y) and kundalini phenomena.

Kylea Taylor began ongoing study in 1984 with Stanislav Grof, M.D., in transpersonal psychology and non-ordinary states of consciousness. She is a certified Holotropic Breathwork(tm) Practitioner and was active as a senior trainer in the Grof Transpersonal Training from 1993-2000. Kylea has assisted Stanislav Grof at many large workshops and has facilitated workshops and presented her own work at conferences in the United States and abroad.

Kylea is the author of the following books from Hanford Mead Publishers, Inc.: "The Ethics of Caring" (also published in German), "The Breathwork Experience" (also published in Spanish), "Considering Holotropic Breathwork" and "The Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator's Manual" (available to those enrolled in the Grof Transpersonal Training only) and is the editor of "Exploring Holotropic Breathwork." She has also written numerous articles for print and online magazines and journals. Kylea served for 17 years on the Board of the Association for Holotropic Breathwork International and for two years as the Ethics Chair on the Board of the Santa Cruz California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) Board.

Kylea is currently working with Seena B. Frost, author of "SoulCollage" to hold SoulCollage(R) Facilitator Trainings. Kylea is also a Prantherapist and is currently enrolled in the School for Spiritual Healers at the Federation of Damanhur in Italy. Kylea's blog is at kyleataylor.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, invaluable guide, May 15, 2003

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exploring Holotropic Breathwork: Selected Articles from a Decade of the Inner Door (Hardcover)

The price tag of Exploring Holotropic Breathwork: Selected Articles From A Decade Of The Inner Door is weighty indeed - but so is the information packed within its covers. This guide gathers well over a hundred field reports related to a non-drug altered-state work. Over eighty authors trained in breathwork published these articles between 1991-2002, providing a foundation of important information to practitioners in fields ranging from medical to spiritual areas. From work with trauma survivors to work with lupis and HIV patients, this details a range of effects of breathwork and offers invaluable advice on how it can blend with traditional and alternative therapies. A unique, invaluable guide highly recommended for the new age health library.