DOCSLIB.ORG

The Purpose of This Phenomenological Study Is to Describe the Effects Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Purpose of This Phenomenological Study Is to Describe the Effects Of AN INTUITIVE INQUIRY INTO EXPERIENCES ARISING OUT OF THE HOLOTROPIC BREATHWORK™ TECHNIQUE AND ITS INTEGRAL MANDALA ARTWORK: THE POTENTIAL FOR SELF-ACTUALIZATION by Rubye Lee Cervelli A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Palo Alto, California November 6, 2009 I certify that I have read and approved the content and presentation of this dissertation: Genie Palmer, Ph.D., Committee Chairperson Date Leonard Gibson, Ph.D., Committee Member Date Judith Cornell, Ph.D., Committee Member Date UMI Number: 3380360 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3380360 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 Copyright © Rubye Lee Cervelli 2009 All Rights Reserved ii Abstract An Intuitive Inquiry Into Experiences Arising Out of the Holotropic Breathwork™ Technique and its Integral Mandala Artwork: The Potential for Self-Actualization by Rubye Lee Cervelli The qualitative Intuitive Inquiry research method was employed to deepen understanding of experiences arising out of the Holotropic Breathwork™ technique and its integral mandala artwork. Highlighted is this transpersonal, experientially based technique with a focus on its creative expression aspect. To qualify for participation, within 12 months of this study a volunteer was required to have completed the equivalent of a Grof Transpersonal Training Holotropic Breathwork™ retreat. A total of 15 volunteers were qualified and selected to participate in this study with no attrition. Of the 15, 7 were female, were male; ages ranged from 25 to 62; average age of 50 and mode of 52; 13 were college-educated; 9 were living in the United States; 2 in Canada, 1 resided in Germany, and 1 resided in the United Kingdom. Each participant was individually interviewed, the interviews transcribed, thematically analyzed, and the findings integrated using the 5 cycles of Intuitive Inquiry. The Holotropic Breathwork™ technique and its integral mandala artwork and the use of a transpersonal research method for the study’s findings both solidly contributed to the field of transpersonal psychology. The findings reveal that this technique positively impacts the process of self-actualization and self-healing. Moreover, results indicate that the Holotropic Breathwork™ technique and the integral mandala artwork may be effective for some individuals for spiritual development, personal-growth workshops, or as an adjunct or compliment to conventional individual, group psychotherapy or spiritual guidance and direction. iii Additionally, decoupled from the Holotropic Breathwork™ technique, findings suggest that mandala artwork creation is a transpersonal practice in and of itself. Hence, mandala artwork may be used independently or in conjunction with various systems associated with spiritual development and in most psychotherapeutic environments including clients of all ages. As a result, the use of mandala artwork may contribution to the field of creative expression. iv Dedication I dedicate this work to my father, Leo Benedict Cervelli, a man with a wonderful presence, a big laugh, a big voice, and an even bigger heart. v Acknowledgments To all my guides, both seen and unseen, words fall short on how deeply I appreciate the paths you have shown and the dimensions of my Self you have revealed. I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation for the support Stanislav Grof, M.D. gave me both through his encouragement and endorsement of my study. His work has been a personal and professional inspiration in the unfoldment of my study and life. Thank you to my all teachers of the Truth. A. H. Almaas, Karen Johnson, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda and Stanislav Grof each in their own way introduced me to a life adventure beyond anything I could imagine. All of their teachings have blessed my life and contributed to every aspect of this study. I want to thank Genie Palmer for her unfailing dedication, vision, and warm hearted support. Along with giving so much of herself, I also want to thank Genie for her gift of introducing me to Rosemarie Anderson’s Intuitive Inquiry Research method. Rosemarie’s genius in the particulars of this method became evermore apparent with each cycle of the technique. So, although I have never met Rosemarie, I want to thank her for this gift of Self wrapped up in a research method. Expertise in the Holotropic Breathwork™ technique and Mandala Artwork for this study was provided by my committee members, Leonard Gibson and Judith Cornell respectively. Thank you to Leonard for his brilliant and incisive support, and Judith for her leadership, encouragement, and intentions filled with blessings. The heart of my topic could not have been explored without my study’s participants’ openness and willingness to share their hearts and souls. Thank you to each of them for their willingness to so fully and completely take part in this research and for allowing their beautiful mandala artwork to be published and shared. Bringing strength to this quantitative study through verifying my findings was an extremely important contribution. This can only be accomplished by individuals with experience, knowledge, and training in the Holotropic Breathwork™ technique. Thank you to the Resonance Panel Members who volunteered their time, expertise, and insight to support the strengthening of my researcher. A special thank you to my fellow ITP students, Maureen Gatt and Jayne Mulvihill, for being true friends. Also, when everything is going wrong, the ITP Library staff is always there to help make it right through their invaluable assistance. Without fail, my husband, Reid Ewing, was not only the inspiration for my journey into academia, but an unfailing support in every dimension imaginable. For this and all of who he is, I am forever grateful that our lives are so intricately entwined. vi Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ............................................................................................................................v Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Background ..............................................................................................................2 Purpose and Importance ...........................................................................................4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................5 Holotropic Breathwork™ Components ...................................................................6 Overview of Approach, Design, and Method ..........................................................8 Summary ................................................................................................................10 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature ...................................................................................11 Definition and Explication of Terms .....................................................................12 Psychedelic Therapy ..............................................................................................17 Foundational Developments ..................................................................................18 Fast breathing pattern .................................................................................18 Transpersonal experiences .........................................................................19 Holotropic Breathwork™ technique compared to predecessor .................20 Mandala Artwork in the Role of Integration..........................................................21 Archetypal Symbolism of the Mandala .................................................................24 Holotropic Breathwork™ and Mandala Artwork Research ..................................26 Mandala artwork research ..........................................................................26 vii Holotropic Breathwork™ research—normal-functioning participants .....31 Holotropic Breathwork™ research with psychotherapy clients ................35 Holotropic Breathwork™ research and substance abuse ...........................37 Indications of Research Findings ...........................................................................42 Self-Actualization as a Process ..............................................................................42 Conclusion and Summary of Literature Review ....................................................46
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rebirthing: the Transformation of Personhood Through Embodiment and Emotion
    Rebirthing: the transformation of personhood through embodiment and emotion Elise Carr The University of Adelaide School of Social Sciences Discipline of Anthropology and Development Studies July 2014 Thesis Declaration I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution in my name and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University‘s digital research repository, the Library catalogue and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. Elise Carr TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. VI ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Reviewing the Heroic Experience: a Humanistic and Existential Counselling Perspective
    Heroism Science Volume 4 Issue 1 Article 6 2019 Reviewing the Heroic Experience: A Humanistic and Existential Counselling Perspective Peter Bray University of Auckland, [email protected] Peter James University of Auckland, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/heroism-science Part of the Counseling Psychology Commons, and the Developmental Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Bray, Peter and James, Peter (2019) "Reviewing the Heroic Experience: A Humanistic and Existential Counselling Perspective," Heroism Science: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 6. DOI: 10.26736/hs.2019.01.06 Available at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/heroism-science/vol4/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Heroism Science by an authorized editor of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Heroism Science: An Interdisciplinary Journal (ISSN 2573- 7120) https://scholarship.richmond.edu/heroism-science/ Vol. 4 No. 1 (2019) pp. 1-34 Reviewing the Heroic Experience: A Humanistic and Existential Counselling Perspective PETER BRAY1 University of Auckland [email protected] PETER JAMES University of Auckland [email protected] ABSTRACT: Taking a humanistic and existential counselling stance, this brief review of heroism and the heroic experience begins by discussing the utility and structure of Joseph Campbell’s (1949) monomythic narrative of the hero’s journey, whilst considering the Jungian conceptualisation of the archetype and the collective unconscious. With their shared assumptions about transformation and growth, modern psychology and the therapeutic practice of counselling and psychotherapy are reviewed in terms of their utilisation of the hero-journey as a developmental metaphor for clients, particularly in trauma recovery.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychedelics and Entheogens: Implications of Administration in Medical and Non- Medical Contexts
    Psychedelics and Entheogens: Implications of Administration in Medical and Non- Medical Contexts by Hannah Rae Kirk A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Biology (Honors Scholar) Presented May 23, 2018 Commencement June 2018 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Hannah Rae Kirk for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Biology presented on May 23, 2018. Title: Psychedelics and Entheogens: Implications of Administration in Medical and Non-Medical Contexts. Abstract approved:_____________________________________________________ Robin Pappas Psychedelics and entheogens began as religious sacraments. They were apotheosized for their mind-expanding powers and were thought to open realms to the world of the Gods. It was not until the first psychedelic compound was discovered in a laboratory setting a mere hundred years ago that they entered into formal scientific study. Although they were initially well-received in academic and professional circles, research into their potential was interrupted when they were made illegal. Only recently have scientists renewed the investigation of psychedelic substances, in the hope of demonstrating their potential in understanding and healing the human mind. This thesis will explore the history of psychedelics and entheogens, consider the causes behind the prohibition of their research, and outline their reintroduction into current scientific research. Psychedelic compounds have proven to be magnifiers of the mind and, under appropriate circumstances, can act as medicaments in both therapeutic and non-medical contexts. By exploring the journey of psychedelic substances from sacraments, to therapeutic aids, to dangerous drugs, and back again, this thesis will highlight what is at stake when politics and misinformation suppresses scientific research.
    [Show full text]
  • The Human Encounter with Death
    The Human Encounter With Death by STANISLAV GROF, M.D. & JOAN HALIFAX, PH.D. with a Foreword by ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS, M.D D 492 / A Dutton Paperback / $3.95 / In Canada $4.75 Stanislav Grof, M.D., and Joan Halifax, Ph.D., have a unique authority and competence in the interpretation of the human encounter with death. Theirs is an extraordin­ ary range of experience, in clinical research with psyche- delic substances, in cross-cultural and medical anthropology, and in the analysis of Oriental and archaic literatures. Their pioneering work with psychedelics ad­ ministered to individuals dying of cancer opened domains of experience that proved to be nearly identical to those al­ ready mapped in the "Books of the Dead," those mystical visionary accounts of the posthumous journeys of the soul. The Grof/Halifax book and these ancient resources both show the imminent experience of death as a continuation of what had been the hidden aspect of the experience of life. —Joseph Campbell The authors have assisted persons dying of cancer in tran­ scending the anxiety and anger around their personal fate. Using psychedelics, they have guided the patients to death- rebirth experiences that resemble transformation rites practiced in a variety of cultures. Physician and medical anthropologist join here in recreating an old art—the art of dying. —June Singer The Human Encounter With Death is the latest of many re­ cent publications in the newly evolving field of thanatology. It is, however, a quite different kind of book—one that be­ longs in every library of anyone who seriously tries to un­ derstand the phenomenon we call death.
    [Show full text]
  • Truly Transformative: Assessing the Impacts of Learning Focused Intention Technique®
    TRULY TRANSFORMATIVE: ASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF LEARNING FOCUSED INTENTION TECHNIQUE® By KATHERINE BIRD Integrated Studies Project submitted to Reinekke Lengelle in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta March, 2012 Truly Transformative Assessing the impacts of learning Focused Intention Technique Katherine Bird Table of Contents Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Defining Formal and Non-formal Education 4 Theoretical Background 7 The transformative education perspective 8 The feminist perspective 11 The Question of Legitimacy 13 The Training 17 The Research Project 36 The research intention 36 The method 38 The results 40 Conclusion 56 Sources 60 Appendix 1 66 Appendix 2 67 i Truly Transformative Assessing the impacts of learning Focused Intention Technique Katherine Bird List of Figures Figure 1 The Whole Self Model 21 Figure 2 Participant Demographics 40 Figure 3a Stated Issues: Physical/Health 42 Figure 3b Stated Issues: Physical/Social/Environment 44 Figure 3c Stated Issues: Spiritual/Belief 45 Figure 3d Stated Issues: Mental/cognitive 46 Figure 3e Stated Issues: Emotional 47 Figure 4 Holistic Assessment Part 1: Mean Scores 48 Figure 5 Holistic Assessment Part 2: Participant Totals 50 Figure 6 Holistic Assessment Part 2: Mean Scores 51 Figure 7 Percentage Reduction Totals 52 Figure 8 HRV Score Comparisons 53 ii Truly Transformative Assessing the impacts of learning Focused Intention Technique Katherine Bird Abstract Throughout North America there are scores of well-attended programs training participants to apply alternative/complementary health approaches for their own or professional use. While the exclusive influence of the medical discipline is beginning to accept that patients are seeking alternative roads to mental and emotional healing, empirical evidence remains the crux of formal recognition by mainstream health systems.
    [Show full text]
  • Powerpoint Slide 1
    ‘Holotropic BreathworkTM - healing through a non-ordinary state of consciousness’ Dr. Nicola Crowley Introduction The concepts of ‘healing’, and the ‘therapeutic power of altered states’ of consciousness are not mainstream concepts in psychiatry, but are increasingly being considered as valid and necessary subjects to consider in our expanding understanding of brain, mind and consciousness. This is challenging to doctors who are grounded in the biomechanical model and the Newtonian-Cartesian paradigm within which it is structured. Experiential data derived from work with non-ordinary states of consciousness challenges these basic tenets. Defining the ground Definitions form an important basic frame of reference as we start to explore a field that is essentially experiential, about experiences that can be beyond words. Healing The concept of healing is different to curing. The word ‘heal’ traces its roots back to the Anglo-Saxon word hal, which means ‘whole’. Curing on the other hand, implies that someone is trying to eliminate a disease, symptom or crisis. In psychiatry, medication is our curing tool. Suppressing symptoms to buy time, containment, and comfort and to gain balance and perspective are all possible. But the healing process is one of not suppressing symptoms but actually moving into them as a way of reaching wholeness. Sometimes our attempts at cures can deny the possibility of healing rather than facilitate it. Curing as an attempt to control our experiences can interfere with our ability to move into the unsolicited experiences we need to restructure our lives 1. In his essay ‘The Spirit in Health and Disease’ psychiatrist Laurence Bendit 2 spoke of healing as rebuilding one’s life anew from chaos and disorder: ‘Healing is basically the result of putting right our wrong relationship to the body, to other people and…to our own complicated minds, with their emotions and instincts at war with one another and not properly understood by what we call ‘I’ or ‘me’.
    [Show full text]
  • A Perinatal Interpretation of Frightening Near-Death Experiences: a Dialogue with Kenneth Ring
    A Perinatal Interpretation of Frightening Near-Death Experiences: A Dialogue with Kenneth Ring Christopher M. Bache, Ph.D. Youngstown State University ABSTRACT: While endorsing several of Kenneth Ring's conclusions, I pro pose a more comprehensive interpretation of frightening near-death experi ences (NDEs). I criticize Ring's interpretation of meaningless void NDEs as emergence reactions and argue that all three forms of frightening NDEs inverted, hellish, and meaningless void experiences-are better understood as rooted in the perinatal level of consciousness. I expand Ring's account of resistance to ego death as the cause of these NDEs, and develop the broader implications of a perinatal reading of frightening NDEs. Finally, I introduce and explore parallels with the "dark night of the soul" experience. Anyone familiar with Stanislav Grof's work cannot help but be struck by the phenomenological parallels between perinatal symp tomatology (Grof, 1975, 1985, 1988) and frightening near-death experi ences (NDEs) (Atwater, 1992; Grey, 1985; Greyson and Bush, 1992; Irwin and Bramwell, 1988; Rawlings, 1978). These extensive parallels suggest that Grof's concept of the perinatal level of consciousness may hold an important key to understanding these enigmatic NDEs. Ken neth Ring is aware of these parallels and discussed them in his anal ysis of the meaningless void variety of NDE in his article, "Solving the Riddle of Frightening Near-Death Experiences" (1994). Ring's analysis is insightful and productive, yet I believe that the parallels with perinatal experience are much more extensive than he has recognized. Christopher M. Bache, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University.
    [Show full text]
  • Rebirthing-Breathwork Is to Free Blocked Breathing and to Gently Relax the Chronic Muscle Tensions (The “Body Armour”)
    The Healing Breath a Journal of Breathwork Practice, Psychology and Spirituality Volume 5, Number 2, 2003 General Editor: Joy Manné, Ph.D. Email: [email protected] VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2, 2003 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Am Breathed By Margot Biestman................................................................................................................ 2 Breathwork Spirituality, Contributed by Carol Lampman................................................................................... 4 Exploring Healing With The Experience Of Breath: My Story by Margot Biestman ©2002............................... 5 An Impact of the Conscious Connected Breathing Training on Emotional States by Alicja Heyda................... 9 When Consciousness looks at itself: the Shamanic Life pattern and Breathwork by Joy Manné ................... 18 Potential breathwork specialisations: Trauma Treatment A Review Article by Joy Manné............................. 31 Book Reviews .................................................................................................................................................. 40 Kylea Taylor (2003) (ed), Exploring Holotropic Breathwork: Selected Articles from a Decade of The Inner Door. Santa Cruz, CA: Hanford Mead Publishers, Inc. Soren Gordhamer (1995), Meetings with Mentors: A young adult interviews leading Visionaries. Santa Cruz, California: Hanford Mead Publishers. Aaron Hoopes (2002) Perfecting Ourselves Co-ordinating Body, Mind and Spirit. Wethersfield CT: Turtle Press. Dina Glouberman (2002),
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Breathwork.Pages
    Contemporary Breathwork by Jim Morningstar, PhD TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Definition and Types of Breathwork 3.1. Slower Than Normal Breathing 3.2. Natural Breathing 3.3. Faster Than Normal Breathing 4. Importance of Good Breathing 4.1. Physical Health 4.2. Emotional Wellbeing 4.3. Mental Clarity 4.4. Spiritual Growth 5. History of Breathwork 5.1. The role of breathwork in China 5.2. The role of breathwork in India 5.3. The role of breathwork in Tibet 5.4. Beginnings of Contemporary Breathwork 6. Anatomy and Physiology Breathing 6.1. Breath chemistry 6.2. Breath mechanics 6.3. Sensory feedback 6.4. Pathway to our cells 6.5. Vicious cycle 6.6. Factors influencing breathing 7. Healthy Breathing / Unhealthy Breathing 7.1. Good Breathing 7.2. Poor Breathing 7.3. Hyperventilation 7.4. Breathwork in the Healing of Anxiety, Depression and Addictions 8. Research on Uses of Conscious Breathing for Health and Wellbeing 8.1. Effects of Meditation and Breath Awareness on the Brain and Body 8.2. Meditation Reduces Activity in the Brain’s “Me Center” 8.3. Meditation’s Effects Rival Antidepressants for Depression, Anxiety 8.4. Just a Few Days of Training Improves Concentration and Attention 8.5. Meditation Reduces Anxiety — including Social Anxiety 8.6. Short Meditation Breaks Can Help Kids in School 8.7. The role of the vagus nerve as a link between brain and body. 8.8. Meditation and Breath Awareness 8.9. What can Continual Breath Awareness do? 8.10. Therapeutic Breathwork and Healing Trauma 9.
    [Show full text]
  • Holotropic Breathwork
    HOLOTROPIC BREATHWORK . History . Technique . Theory . Perinatal Dynamics History Stanislav Grof, M.D., the preeminent psychedelic therapist and founder of transpersonal psychology, created Holotropic Breathwork with his wife Christina. It uses his research from the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Baltimore, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, and Esalen Institute. It incorporates material from disciplines such as Yoga, indigenous shamanic practices, and intense experiential psychotherapies. The Grofs have conducted Holotropic Breathwork workshops around the world for decades, involving more than fifty thousand participants, and counting. Technique Group process Intensified Breathing Evocative music Focused Bodywork Expressive Drawing Holotropic Theory Cartography and dimensions of the psyche: biographical, perinatal, transpersonal The nature and architecture of emotional and psychosomatic disorders Therapeutic mechanisms and the process of healing The strategy of psychotherapy and self- exploration The role of spirituality in human life The nature of reality Cartography and Dimensions of the Psyche Biographical Postnatal biography Perinatal Related to the dynamics of gestation and birth Transpersonal Ancestral, racial, collective, and phylogenetic memories, karmic experiences, and archetypal dynamics Emotional and Psychosomatic Disorders involve more than biographical traumas in infancy, childhood, and later life. They include significant contributions from the perinatal level and the
    [Show full text]
  • Integrative Healing Arts Weekend Brochure 2019
    Integrative Healing Arts Weekend Two Saturdays of Workshops: Sound Healing Meditation, Friday, January 18, January 19 and 26 7:00 pmpm. $20. “Give yourself permission to experience life Differently”— dr. michael ryce We offer 22 workshops in a variety of fields. Rediscovering Relationship with Your Pas- You may select three for $40 at the door/$30 in How does your lifestyle affect your health? Is advance. Or, you can get a two day package sion: Tapestry Workshop, Sunday, January your life out of balance? Do you wake up feeling 20., 1:001:00----3:003:00 pm. $20. for $50 in advance. You may attend Individual Presents alive and excited about the new day ahead of you? Do you want to learn techniques and skills workshops for $15 each. Opening Yourself to Spirit Communication, to improve your body, mind and spirit? These Sunday, January 27, 2:00 pm. $15 Integrative workshops may offer what you are looking for! SCHEDULE OF WORKSHOPS Healing Night, Monday, February 4, 77----99 pm9 pm—pm Immerse yourself in alternative holistic ap- where various healing modalities such as Healing Arts proaches to improve your life. Learn how diet Saturday, January 19 Reiki, Access Bars, EFT, etc. are offered. and physical therapy work with your physical Love offering. 2019 body; affirmations, sound and meditation can 1:001:00----2:152:15 pm relieve stress; and how development of intuition, self inquiry and more can help you learn more 1. Could Thyroid Be the Cause of Your Weight DIRECTIONS: about yourself and assist you in achieving your Gain or Hair Loss? goals and dreams.
    [Show full text]
  • Perinatal Roots of Violence. Stan Grof (USA)
    Psycho-spiritual Roots of Human Violence and Insatiable Greed Stan Grof (USA) Abstract. Diplomatic negotiations, administrative and legal measures, economic and social sanctions, military interventions, and other similar efforts have had so far very little success in alleviating the rapidly escalating global crisis. Drawing on the observations from forty-five years of research of non-ordinary states of consciousness, the author explores the implications of this material for the understanding of the psychological and spiritual roots of the problems humanity is currently facing. The vastly expanded cartography of the human psyche that has emerged from this work offers a new understanding of insatiable greed and malignant aggression, two powerful forces that have played a critical role in human history and currently represent a serious threat for life on our planet. The author suggests that the problems in modern world are products and symptoms of a psychospiritual crisis and that any effective solution will require a deep inner transformation of humanity and a new scientific world view emphasising unity, co-evolution, and co-operation. He explores the possible role of ancient and modern methods facilitating spiritual opening and consciousness evolution in achieving these goals. The research of holotropic states of consciousness has important implications not only for each of us individually, but also for the future of humanity and survival of life on this planet. In this chapter, I will explore how the experiences and observations from consciousness research can help us understand the nature and roots of the global crisis we are all facing. I will also discuss some new strategies for coping with this critical situation that have emerged from this work.
    [Show full text]