Ayurveda and Yoga on Holotropic Breathwork
Let us explore the ancient links found in Ayurveda to what we now call “holotropic breathwork” and how we use breathwork to awaken kundalini via saraswati nadi.
Holotropic breathwork is traditionally taught as open-mouth pranayama. This breathing practice is rarely taught in yoga and Ayurveda, except when using the breath to increase the rise of kundalini through Saraswati nadi. Saraswati nadi runs alongside the well-known Sushumna nadi, so as we move prana through Saraswati nadi, we often awaken dormant kundalini. Saraswati nadi runs from the navel centre to the tip of the tongue. The open-mouth breath is said to increase Kapha, mainly Bodhaka Kapha increasing fluids in mouth.
Ayurveda offers insights into how emotions and trauma are stored in the breath and lungs. Vata (air and ether) is stored high up high in the lungs (fear), pitta (fire and water) is stored in the middle of the lungs (anger, resentment), kapha (water and earth) at the base of the lungs (grief, greed and attachment). Pranayama and breathwork help to relieve the body of the past karma and the emotions that are stored in the body and breath.
There are many ancient scriptural references that support the modern science of how trauma is stored in breath and body:
“The idea of past karma sustains the body”
This verse from ancient Advaita Vedanta text, Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, captures a truth now explored by Western medicine. Modern medicine now needs to consider the science of how the memories of the past are also stored in the breath, not only the body.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in chapter 1, verse 31, remind us that pain and suffering from the past are stored in the face, the body, the breath and the limbs. (Yoga Sutra 1.31). Any agitated breathing, shakiness, shortness of breath shows us the nervous system is holding onto the past and the individual is not in the state of Yoga.
Stan Grof’s Holotropic Breathwork
Holotropic breathwork, advocated by Stan Grof, a psychiatrist with over 50 years of experience, is employed to facilitate the entry into holotropic states of consciousness for therapeutic purposes.
Grof had a history of exploring altered states of consciousness not only holotropic breathwork, but also through Hinduism, Vedanta, Yoga and Kashmir Shaivism with Guru, Swami Muktananda.
Muktananda has been affectionately named by his long term student, Sally Kempton in My Life of Devotion, as a “Radical Kundalini Master”.
Dr Grof transformed Yogic pranayama exercises he learned from Swami Muktananda into a form of holotropic luminous experience, with remarkable benefits.
With this technique, Dr Grof facilitates the expansion of consciousness in practitioners through rapid and repetitive breathing. Watch Stan Grof as he explores “holotropic” states of consciousness, challenging fundamental assumptions in modern psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. Listen to Dr Grof’s inights into Kundalini Shakti, Yoga, Kashmir Shaivism, Yogic Pranayama and connection to Guru.
What are some other ways we can experience expanded states of consciousness?
What can be currently seen through research is an increase in high-amplitude gamma brain wave frequency seem to be present during these significant experiences of expanded consciousness.
Gamma wave frequencies are seen to increase in these five ways:
- Near-death experiences (NDEs),
- Cardiac arrest,
- Wim Hof Breathing and certain forms of SOMA Breathwork2,
- Long dark retreat, which is an ancient practice in Eastern yogic traditions, and
- Gamma waves can also be increased from bhramari pranayama1.
(Listen to the ABC Health report to understand Gamma wave amplification at the point of death: “Researchers observed the cardiac and neural signals from a small number of ICU patients when ventilatory support was withdrawn. They recorded the new phenomena of electrical activity in a particular brain area.”)
About the Author
Celia Roberts is a Senior Yoga Teacher and Therapist with Yoga Australia and Meditation Australia, holding a degree in Bio-Medical Science. Her extensive education and experience have shaped her commitment to providing the highest quality education. Celia continually revisits and reinvestigates research, resources, and values, ensuring excellence in the teaching of yoga, meditation, and mind-body medicine.
