The Spiritual Quest, Attachment, and Addiction

New ways to look at psychology and spirituality are offering exciting possibilities in the recovery movement, both for individual seekers and for those who work in the treatment field. This module explores a whole continuum, from the idea of addiction as an extreme form of attachment, which affects everyone and which is crucial to spiritual seekers of all practices, to the more articulate forms of addiction: substance, process, relationship, and more. Through theory, discussion and experiential exercises, we’ll look at:

  • The disease paradigm of recovery;
  • The wellness paradigm and the transpersonal recovery centre;
  • Implications of perinatal and transpersonal dimensions for recovery;
  • The 12 steps as a world yoga;
  • Addiction as spiritual emergency;
  • Addiction as shamanic crisis;
  • Recovery as a mystery school;
  • Psychedelics and recovery;
  • Recovery and the feminine;
  • Addiction from the homeopathic perspective;
  • Recovery as death/rebirth;
  • Addiction and the global crisis, and more.

Participants will have the opportunity to experience Holotropic Breathwork, a powerful approach to self-exploration, transformation, and healing that combines breathing, evocative music, and release work to explore the deeper dimensions of the psyche. This workshop will be useful to both laypersons and professionals seeking a more authentic and fulfilling lifestyle.

This will be a very experiential workshop. Besides the breathwork itself, all of the teaching is geared to participants having a direct experience of their own journey. We will work with dance, artwork, film, and other integration practices to engage the holotropic principles in a very personal, embodied way.

Music and Transcendence

This module is an exciting and transformative journey through the world of music. Sound and rhythm have always been vital creative and spiritual tools for transformation. Music has even been called the language of the soul. This is a special opportunity to learn first-hand the music structure that defines Holotropic Breathwork in such a special way. In addition, we’ll also explore other exciting strategies that help make the Holotropic perspective an essential tool for everyday living. This module includes: 1) Holotropic music: its history, theory and practice, detailed discussion of the three part structure of a Holotropic Breathwork music set; with demonstrations of specific pieces for each section; 2) Holotropic group work: it’s history, theory and practice, discussion of common group experiences and challenging situations; 3) COEX systems: how we work with multi-level patterns; 4) demonstration of relaxation; 5) facilitator self -care; 6) Practical workshop information – venue, pricing, promotion, brochure, types of workshops.

The Power Within: The Practice of Holotropic Breathwork

In this module, Holotropic theory comes alive. It’s where we experience the essence of the practice first hand. We not only discuss the principles that support and inform the practice of Holotropic Breathwork. But we go beyond theory to show why Holotropic Breathwork is such a special method for personal exploration and healing. This is a unique opportunity to move to deeper levels of your own inner process and also to learn what’s behind the Holotropic approach to working with others. As you become acquainted with accompanying others on their journeys, you will also discover how to translate the Holotropic theory into a tool for enriching your everyday living experience. Topics include:

1) The power of the Inner Healer;
2) The Holotropic Breathwork lineage; the history of the healing potential of non-ordinary states;
3) The importance of facilitator presence;
4) An inside look into the framework of a Holotropic Breathwork session;
5) How to encourage and support the integration of the Holotropic experience; and
6) Holotropic bodywork, including: its history, theory and practice, – demonstration of bodywork, – hands-on work by participants, – discussion of specific challenging situations that facilitators encounter, – ongoing exploration of the way Holotropic Breathwork can change our everyday

During the module participants will have the opportunity to know the practical experience of Holotropic Breathwork. Sitara Blasco will lead 4 Holotropic Breathwork sessions; there will be also mandala drawing and integration time. Each person will have the experience of two sessions as “breather” and two as “sitter”.