TB® Breathing and other breathing techniques: origins and differences
Origins and differences
Conscious circular breathing was brought to the West by Leonard Orr in the 1970s. Since then, many variations of what he called Rebirthing have emerged. Rebirthing means rebirth and it is a fact that with conscious breathing, whatever the technique, a rebirth takes place in those who practice it. Breathing brings us deep into that part of us called unconscious where all our traumas, unresolved issues, cultural and family conditionings are deposited and brings them back to the light to dissolve and understand them, to give them a meaning, making us, as the author says, reborn free to express our true nature. At about the same time Stanislav Groff, a Czechoslovakian psychiatrist naturalized in the United States, co-creator with other psychiatrists of
Transpersonal Psychology, used the circular breath calling it Holotropic, and he too realized the great power of the breath to turn our attention to all the material that each of us has relegated to the unconscious, freeing it. What struck Groff was the altered states of consciousness that the breath was able to evoke and bring the consciousness to depths never experienced before. Another technique that has as its main feature the circular breath is Vivation by Jim Leonard, who with his five elements has structured the whole technique around the breath, which like the others allows the consciousness to get rid of unconscious psychic patterns and access to joy naturally.
There are no contraindications
This breathing technique aims to recover the fullness and fluidity of the original breath so, unlike other techniques, it has no contraindications, we facilitate newborn children and even elderly people. It is particularly indicated to facilitate pregnancy and labour. There are no contraindications for cancer patients or people with heart or respiratory problems, on the contrary it is advisable for those undergoing chemotherapy because it is particularly effective in freeing the body from toxins.
Breathing with Transformational Breath®
Transformational Breath® contains everything the other techniques have brought but offers us something new which is just the way to breathe. Transformational Breath® emphasizes abdominal breathing, and a deep inhalation and a short, relaxed exhalation while the other techniques do not specify what the circular breath should be. These differences are crucial for a few reasons. First, the circular breathing typical of Rebirthing and other techniques leads to those who breathe, to do it mainly in the chest, because the speed of breathing and the lack of pauses inevitably pushes to breathe more superficially, but in this way we lose the abdominal breathing, typical of the child, and with it we lose contact with the root and our most authentic part. Anyone who has experienced the difference has realized how a fast and high breathing (thoracic) can more easily lead to altered states of consciousness without these being well rooted in our being. Moreover, it is in the belly that the memories closest to birth and also the most unconscious ones reside. The breath must start from here and then rise to the chest, but remaining connected to the belly where the navel with the start of life. In addition, the breathing cycle includes a long and deep inhalation and an exhalation short and relaxed that should prevent anyone to go into respiratory alkalosis trying to get closer to the breath more physiological and spontaneous. It is precisely the transformation of the breath to trigger the process of inner transformation starting from our personal experience. In this way the unconscious is freed, and consciousness can more easily access joy as a natural feeling of a life lived fully.
Transformational Breath® frees us from the patterns that have conditioned our lives since birth. Along with this different way of breathing, Transformational Breath® uses toning, invocations and affirmations, kicking and punching and other maneuvers that all have the purpose of opening and connecting the breath, transforming it.
The intent of Transformational Breath® is not to heal. A "healing" can be the natural result of constant application and a gradual and inexorable inner transformation that will inevitably be reflected outwardly in greater physical health and joy.
The constant use of TB will surely consciously accelerate your evolution allowing you to be protagonists of this growth and not simply passive actors. Transformational Breath® is a gentle and powerful teacher. The physical sensations it evokes can be quite strong when breathing is activated and limiting patterns are brought to light. Emotions can be intense and moving in the process of integration. Thoughts can flow quickly, creating space for awareness of the workings of our psyche (mind and emotions) and our bodies. Spirit can be perceived (felt, seen and heard), because through breathing Spirit (or Prana, i.e. the life force) mixes with matter. Breathing brings immense Joy and allows us to access experiences in the realms of ecstasy and transcendence. Transformational Breath® allows us to become aware of what is not working in our lives and what we can do, in a concrete way, to transform it and make it useful and profitable. Awareness must be followed by action and our thoughts must be transformed into concrete actions. This process has no end, our problems do not dissolve into nothingness; rather, we learn to welcome the flow of events and surf between them. The most important and dynamic tool we can use to master our consciousness is the breath. Angels, gurus and New Age techniques cannot save us from ourselves or transform us into conscious beings. It is we who have taken on human form to learn to master our life here - to bridge the gap between human personality and Soul consciousness. So we use Transformational Breath® to bring these stages together and to achieve harmony and balance in our everyday world. And we continue to live in this world, participating fully and joyfully. This process of breath transformation transforms ourselves and our emotionality, and is the heart and essence of Transformational Breath®. If we continue to breathe regularly, this transformation will continue to invest our whole being bringing us health, vital energy, joy, great openness and expansion, and authenticity with both ourselves and others.