The Brain Benefits of Holotropic Breathwork, Transformational Breathing and Rebirthing TherapyBreathwork and something called pranayama, or yogic control over the prana or energy in the breath, is a key part of the traditional system of yoga and even if you dont do yoga, breath work by itself is one of the most practicaland quickest waysto tap into parts of your brain nervous system that are normally out of your control, or not under conscious control.And as it turns out, its not fluffy stuff, it has tons of research for proof of how it can bust stress, aid in recovery from buried trauma, help recover from chronic anxiety and panic attacks.If you dont have any ofthose issues it is also one of my favourite ways to hit the reset button, and re-energize after a stressful day or week and release tension that you dont even realize you are holding onto until its gone!Dr. J. Allan Hobson, a psychiatrist atHarvardUniversity, and leading brain researcher, sums up whybreath work is so powerful. It is the one physical thing in our bodies that we can access easily that links what he refers toas ourbottom up processes in the brain or autonomic processes and those processesin the brain that areunder our voluntary controlcalled top-down processes. The breath is the link between thebottom up and top down uncounnsouc andconscious processes inthe brain.Various styles ofbreath workspan an entire spectrum of uses and effects on the nervous system, on one end of the spectrum you have breathing to relieve stress and induce calm (such as the healing breath) and on the other end, you have specific breathing to produce acatharsis and intenseemotional release, such as something called Holotropicbreath work alsoknown as rebirthing therapy and transformationalbreathing.Holotropic Breathwork also uses music as a catalyst to access deep emotion and unconsciousthoughts, feelings and emotions and tensionsalong with deep circular breathing. Thispractice was coined andstudied by Dr. StansilovGroff in the 1960s as a powerful therapeutic tool and this is the practice I am going to focus on in this video.Hyperventilation SyndromeA question I have had from my doctor colleges in the past about some forms of circular breathingor holotropicbreath work, is about something called hyperventilation syndrome. This is where the carbon dioxide levels decrease in the bloodand can cause constriction of blood vessels, including those in the brain and the heart in extreme very rare cases. In milder forms of hyperventilation, feelings of dizziness, agitation and strong emotions, tingling in the hands and feet,and muscle spasms can happen, which are harmless in most people. If you have severe asthma or any heart issues you should always do breath work under the coaching a qualifiedpractitioner to be on the safe side. But the good news is that there are no reported cases ofheart attacks, stroke or other serious ill effects from breathwork reported in the research literature, so appears to be quite safe in general formost healthy people.The Difference Between Circular BreathingAnd Hyperventilation SyndromeTHere is one theory about thedifference between circular or holotropicbreathwork and hyperventilation syndrome,in the extreme medical sense, where very low levels of CO2 in the blood and brain lead to a deceased drive to breath in again. This could be because in the technique of circular breathing,you inhale consciously right at the end of the exhale, without waiting for your carbon dioxide levels to rise above a certain level first, avoiding some of the negative effects of hyperventilation syndrome.Another theory isin clinical hyperventilation syndrome (HVS), there is lots of Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) activation or fight or flight mode activationvs. much less sympathetic activation in breath work if its done rightand with a qualified coach.Based onpreliminary research, both HVS and breath work may actually activate similar regions of brain and lead to mild decreases in CO2 and increases in O2 and activation of parasympathetic dominance toreach altered states without ingesting any substances pretty coolstuff! Studieshave now shown that Holotropic breath work actually improves hRV or heart rate variability and state anxiety level, which both are known tosignificantly decrease the chance of ever having a heart attack or stroke!Speaking of substanceinduced trance like states, Dr. Stanislof Groff, one of the modern pioneers of breath workactuallystarted to experiment with breath work after working with LSDbecameillegalin the 1960s. He started off usingLSDin his research to help people toprocess trauma and help the brain integrate painful or really emotionalmemories, buried memories and also to gain access to intuition and creativity in altered states of consciousness. What he found was that he could help people reach similar states without any drugs using specific breath work. In fact, if I look at a brain EEG recording of brainwaves when someoneis doing holotropic breath work, the delta and theta patterns are similar to the shamanic state of consciousness, in other words, the trance-like state where slow waves dominate the brainwave patterns. One study also found that when someone was in thisbreathworkinduced trance state and they had an emotional experience, flashback or accessing emotional past memories or working through strong emotions, their brain EEG pattern changed to showbursts of higher voltage, related to emotionally intensesubjectiveexperiences they report.Another question I get about this type of stimulating breath work is can it cause a panic attack? In most cases, evenin people who have had a panic attack in the past, the answer is no. If you start to feel breathless or like you cant catch your breath during a circular breath work session, it means that you need to relax the breath more and not force it, and you can simply stop anytime it becomes too overwhelming. But feeling breathless is nota usual experience with this type of breath work even for people who suffer with physical symptoms of anxiety in daily life.I can tell you from personal experience with this practice as well as theresearch evidencethat it can be extremely powerful and it is one of my favourite mind body practices, especially when itis done with a skilled facilitator to coach you properly throughout a sessionand provide support if you need it. I was recently at Bali Spirit Festival and was able to take part in an amazingbreathworkworkshopwith ourfriendChristabelZamor, founder of Breath ofBliss, and for anyone new tobreath workI highly recommendchecking outherretreats.

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