The world of modern psychotherapy is a reflection of the modern world as a whole: speed and efficiency are everything. Various psychotherapeutic techniques compete with each other in speed, depth and strength of the therapeutic effect. One of the first places in this “arms race” rightfully belongs to breathing psychotechnics. Their names are somewhat strange to the Russian ear: vibration, Free Breathing, rebirthing and holotropic breathing. Sometimes they are combined into one large group - intensive integrative psychotechnologies (IIPT). This article is devoted to the similarities and differences, results and possibilities of breathing psychotechniques. Breathing psychotechnics: principles of work. Breathing psychotechnics are a group of methods of psychotherapy and personal growth that use breathing to achieve changes in a person’s consciousness and life. The attention of modern psychotherapy to conscious work with breathing is far from accidental. All traditional spiritual and philosophical systems, focused on revealing the inner potential of a person, turn to breathing as a universal tool for personal transformation. Here it is appropriate to mention pranayama in yoga, qi gong in the Taoist tradition, concentration on breathing in Buddhism, various forms of working with breathing in martial arts, and much more. But psychotherapy does not just take ready-made recipes from the past. Modern scientists are creatively rethinking ancient knowledge, enriching it with the latest achievements of the sciences of the brain and psyche. The influence of breathing on consciousness is one of the “hot spots” of modern science. Changes in the frequency and depth of breathing trigger a cascade of biochemical reactions that change the functioning of the nervous system. The result of these changes is the activation of those neural structures that are responsible for the unconscious part of the psyche, emotional processes and long-term memory. The totality of these changes is reflected in consciousness - the so-called altered state of consciousness is formed. An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is the key that unlocks the door to the world of the unconscious. Truly deeply and effectively working psychotherapy is possible only by relying on the unconscious forces of the psyche, which simultaneously contain all psychological problems and methods for their healing. Breathing psychotechniques create a unique physiological basis for psychotherapeutic changes. No other psychotherapeutic technique of our time can boast of such closeness and involvement in unconscious processes while maintaining awareness and activity in the client himself. Breathing psychotechnics literally activate the unconscious, directing all its power to achieve life changes. This is precisely the general principle of the work of all breathing psychotechniques: vibration, Free Breathing, rebirthing and holotropic breathing. Breathing psychotechniques: differences from other types of psychotherapy. An altered state of consciousness (ASC) and conscious work with breathing is both the key difference and the key to the high effectiveness of breathing psychotechniques in the world of modern psychotherapy. ASC together with conscious breathing make it possible for everyone to find their own , a unique path to healing, transformation and change in life situation. The intervention of a specialist psychologist and his professional role as a leader and advisor-mentor is minimal. Instead, the leading role belongs to the inner wisdom of the body and the creative forces of the unconscious. In other words, the process of psychotherapy is encouraged and supported rather than actively directed by the psychological specialist. This quality of breathing psychotechniques is called “non-manipulative influence.” Such minimal intervention on the part of a professional psychologist in the course of psychotherapy and trust in the natural forces of the body are unprecedented in psychotherapy. This is a completely different philosophy, theory and practice of providing psychological assistance. Non-manipulativeThe approach of breathing psychotechnics is entirely justified in terms of effectiveness. Solutions and therapeutic insights that occur in an altered state of consciousness are distinguished by their extreme relevance, value and “non-contrived” nature. They easily find embodiment in life, transforming it. It cannot be otherwise: after all, such decisions are the result of one’s own activity, they are born from the creative impulse of the unconscious towards happiness and well-being. What changes can you expect from breathing psychotechniques? Breathing psychotechniques allow you to deeply work through psychological trauma and transform their consequences - various kinds of tension and limitations (in consciousness, life, behavior) into constructive life experience. Previously blocked by trauma, personal resources and capabilities are released and become available for use. The specific results of such changes can be very diverse: gaining confidence in oneself and one’s strengths, increasing resistance to stress, and a more active life position, determination and effectiveness. On the other hand, consciousness, freed from the oppression of traumatic experience, becomes more open to the perception of everything new, life changes, creative activity and search. Such changes literally transform life, as they allow you to gain a new perspective on your own life path and its trajectory. Moreover, this view does not come from fears that arose from the “milk burn”, which now forces one to blow on ice cream on a winter day. A new life position leads along milky rivers straight to the banks of jelly, for this is the conscious and active choice of the owner of his own life. Breathing psychotechniques: differences. Breathing psychotechniques have a lot in common: it is, first of all, conscious work with breathing, activating unconscious processes. But from this common “root” come various psychotechniques, each of which has a unique identity, focus of work, and, most importantly, ways of working through the traumatic experience actualized by breathing. The key difference between breathing psychotechniques lies in the breathing technology itself, on which the depth of the ASC (modified state of consciousness), and, accordingly, the degree of activation of the unconscious. Based on this feature, we can conditionally arrange breathing psychotechniques in order of increasing the activation of unconscious processes: vibration, Free Breathing, rebirthing, holotropic breathing. Thus, the minimum activity of the unconscious is observed when using vibration, the maximum is observed when using holotropic breathing. The difference in the degree of activity of the unconscious explains other differences in breathing psychotechniques. So, for example, the “less activated” end of the spectrum of breathing psychotechniques (vivification, Free Breathing) is suitable for those who prefer to solve problems in an evolutionary and conscious way, the “more activated” pole (rebirthing and especially holotropic breathing) will provide the experience of revolutionary transformation, breakthrough In order to more accurately describe the differences that exist between breathing psychotechniques, we will briefly consider each of them separately. Holotropic breathing. Holotropic breathing (from the Greek “holos” - whole, holistic, “tropein” - leading, i.e. “breathing leading to integrity”) is the most actively used breathing psychotechnics in the Russian space. The author of the method, Stanislav Grof, has visited Russia several times; Our country has an international training program GTT (Grof Transpersonal Training). The reason for the popularity of holotropic breathing is the deep theoretical development and high therapeutic effectiveness of this method. The peculiarity of the theory of holotropic breathing is that Stanislav Grof created an expanded cartography of the psyche with the inclusion in the sphere of the unconscious of the so-called perinatal area (from the Greek “natalis” - childbirth) . Grof creatively reworked the ideas of Wilhelm Reich (a student of S. Freud) about the influence of the birth experience on the patient’s adult life, and proposedan original theory according to which the circumstances of birth are of key importance for the further development of a person, his psychological destiny and character. Now this theory is part of the general psychological worldview, but only holotropic breathing is capable of working at this very deep and ancient level, allowing for a revolutionary transformation in the consciousness and life of a person. Another theoretical feature of holotropic breathing (with far-reaching practical consequences) is a systematic approach to any traumatic experience. Grof practically proved that all psychological traumas are united according to the principle of similarity into special complexes, which he called systems of condensed experience (SEX). The essence of the COEX system is that all situations are combined into one group when, for example, a person felt pressure from the outside and a feeling of helplessness. Then one COEX system will include a wide class of experiences - the dramatic situation of birth (pressure from the passage of the birth canal), and difficult relationships with an older brother or father, and pressure from an authoritarian teacher at school and difficult relationships with a tyrant boss. Holotropic breathing allows you to work with the entire group as a whole, rather than with each situation separately. This allows you to significantly reduce the time required to achieve significant changes in life. And finally, another, purely practical feature of holotropic breathing is the unique union of active psychotherapeutic factors. Holotropic breathing (in addition to breathing itself) also organically interweaves other forms of psychotherapy - body-oriented, group, music and art therapy. Such a “cocktail” of psychotherapeutic methods, on the one hand, places high demands on a psychologist, and on the other hand, demonstrates simply amazing effectiveness. Thus, if you try to explain the essence of holotropic breathing in a nutshell, then these words will be speed and efficiency . Rebirthing. Almost simultaneously with Grof and independently of him, Leonard Orr worked, who created another breathing technique - rebirthing (from the English rebirthing - rebirth). Strictly speaking, rebirthing itself as a breathing psychotechnics is part of Orr’s more global philosophical system called “Eternal Yoga life”, which left its mark on breathing psychotechnics. Thus, breathing is understood and thought in terms of the flow of energy (which brings rebirthing, on the one hand, to Reich’s theory, and on the other hand, to the ancient philosophical systems of the East), and “rebirthing” itself is often interpreted in symbolic and metaphorical terms. sense, and not as a elaboration of a specific birth trauma (for Grof). Rebirthing is interesting for its numerous practical applications. For example, Orr suggested combining conscious breathing with affirmations (positive statements), bringing rationality to work with the unconscious. Later, affirmations widely entered into psychotherapeutic practice, and few people remember that they originally appeared in Orr’s concept of “thoughts create reality.” Another extremely interesting application of rebirthing is its “water” form (the so-called water rebirthing), when the breathing itself the process takes place in water (a pool or a natural body of water), thanks to which the experience of the intrauterine state easily arises and the opportunity to work with the trauma of birth appears. In general, rebirthing, thanks to such an abstract name and the flexibility of the technique, has given rise to many applications and continuations; Currently, there is practically no “classical” rebirthing. The remaining two breathing techniques – vibration and Free Breathing – can be considered as a continuation and evolution of rebirthing. Vivation. The original name of this method is “integrative rebirthing,” which directly indicates the origin of this breathing psychotechnics. Then its creators - Jim Lenard and Phil Louth - gave their brainchild another name - vivation, which can be roughlytranslate as “vitality” or “life-creation”). Vitation differs from rebirthing in that it is more theoretically meaningful and formalized in its approach. This is how 5 rules of vibration appear, clearly describing the process of psychotherapy, special attention is paid to the classes of breathing. Vivation is a “modest and quiet breathing technique” (an apt expression by A. Zenger). There are no acute experiences, no dramatic breakthrough, no frantic search. All these critical experiences and revolutionary transformation fall to the share of holotropic breathing and, partly, rebirthing. But vibration has its own, discreet charm: no other breathing psychotechnics allows you to master the “here and now” state so much, to work with the entire spectrum of your own sensations, because they form the feeling of the reality of existence. The goal of vision is not to change this reality, not to create a new one, or even to work with dramatic episodes of one’s own biography. The essence of vibration is to create a partnership with this reality, to feel alive, creating this life right here and now with all the feelings that exist in the present moment. For residents of modern megacities, isolation from the natural environment, existence in a kind of “virtual space” “creates a certain deficit of such states. Vivation, on the other hand, provides an opportunity to “celebrate a life that has been going on for a long time” (J. Lenard). This is what led to the popularity and widespread use of this method. Free Breathing. Free Breathing is a specific Russian breathing psychotechnics created in the early 90s. Vladimir Kozlov. The creator of this technique creatively reworked the best ideas contained in other breathing psychotechniques and created his own, in many ways quite eclectic, but no less interesting model. Thus, Free Breathing included: expanded cartography of the psyche, musical and art-therapeutic accompaniment of respiratory processes (from holotropic breathing); 5 rules of breathing (i.e. the breathing technique itself) and the concept of breathing classes (from vibration); flexibility of technique, the ability to include any elements in the process of psychotherapy, adapting the breathing process to the specific needs of the client or group (from rebirthing). The result of this creative synthesis was the emergence of breathing psychotechnics, the exceptional quality of which is maintaining a unique balance between effort and its absence, as in the course of psychotherapy itself, and in the midst of everyday life. Free Breathing teaches you to be aware of your capabilities and limitations, to understand the first and push the boundaries of the second. Free Breathing, based on an attentive attitude to one’s own feelings and sensations, turns attention (“inner contemplation” in the terminology of V.V. Kozlov) into a tool for personal growth and psychotherapy. Collecting work with breathing, attention and progressive relaxation into a single whole, Free Breathing allows you to develop the ability to look at problems in a non-trivial way and feel trust in this world in the broad sense of the word. All these qualities make Free Breathing an attractive psychotechnique that creates very comfortable conditions for internal transformation and development. Free Breathing is not a struggle with yourself, not a breakthrough through cacti to the stars, but a look at yourself from the depths of yourself and honest work on your limitations and illusions. Of course, in this short article it is not possible to describe breathing psychotechniques in their entirety. For those for whom this article has aroused an interest that requires further research, I can recommend the book by V.V. Kozlova “Psychotechnologies of altered states of consciousness” (2005). And for those who are most interested, I remind them of the old Taoist wisdom: “It is better to eat once than to hear ten conversations about food.” I can promise you, dear reader, that your own experience in breathing psychotechniques will be ten times more interesting than all the articles you will ever read. And, as always, I will be happy to answer all your questions. © Olga Mokhina,.