Chaotopia

BREATHWORK EVENTS AND NEWS
Connected breathwork is taught both individually and in groups. Both formats have their advantages - you may prefer to learn the skill of breathwork with just you and the coach present. On the other hand, many people find the effects are more powerful in a group setting.
I offer individual sessions - go to Learning Breathwork to arrange your series of sessions - and group work in Sheffield, London and sometimes in other areas.
BREATHWORK COURSES
Community Edcation Lewisham
Following the highly successful 3 day Introduction to Connected Breathwork at CEL, an expanded version of the course has been accepted for next year (09-10). Announcement of dates to follow.
BREATHWORK MEETINGS IN SHEFFIELD
This series of five meetings is open to all, whether or not you've had breathwork experience. Complete beginners receive coaching, experienced breathworkers get a chance to practise in a group setting.
In the final two meetings we will focus on the transpersonal effects of group breathwork. (For more information on this see my (forthcoming) essay 'Body Alchemy'.)
Session run from 2 to 5pm on weekend afternoons - let me know if Saturday or Sunday is better for you.
Meeting 1: Introductory session for newcomers, practise for experienced breathworkers.
Meetings 2 and 3: More of the above plus co-coaching experience.
Meetings 4 and 5: Group breathwork experience.
To help schedule the next series of meetings, email me at info@chaotopia.co.uk.
Cost:
Single meeting £10, £5 unwaged.
Whole series of 5 meetings £40, £20 unwaged. (This option also gives you a discount on subsequent one-to-one sessions - you only pay £30 instead of £45 for the first session.)
BREATHWORK MEETINGS IN LONDON
If enough people are committed to a weekend course in London, I shall arrange one.
If you're interested in helping schedule weekend courses in London, email me at info@chaotopia.co.uk and I'll put you on a mailing list for current developments.
BREATHWORK MEETINGS ELSEWHERE
The same applies to other towns - I've taught breathwork in many places and will be happy to visit your area if enough people are interested.

WHAT BREATHWORK DOES
Connected breathwork has been described as ‘the science of enjoying the whole of your life’. Here are some comments from my clients:

Claire D: "Breathwork is excellent for me. I have suffered with my nerves for a long time and tried various things including therapy and hypnosis, but breathwork is the only thing that has really worked. After my first session I felt happy and very calm, in fact I couldn't remember the last time I felt so calm. I took things in my stride rather than getting stressed out like usual - it was great! My husband and my parents noticed straight away. The following sessions I had, went really well too during and afterwards I always felt very relaxed. I always ended feeling really happy and couldn't help the big smile on my face!”

“Breathwork has really helped my outlook on life as when I am calmer I don't seem to worry so much and can reason with myself and feel more positive. Its great to know that when I do have bad days (which are becoming less frequent) I have my breathwork to lift me up. I'm very grateful to Dave for giving me the chance to learn this technique and improve my quality of life."

Susan T: “At my first connected breathwork session I was quite nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. Dave put me at ease straight away with his friendly manner and we chatted about the basics of connected breathwork and what I hoped to gain from it.
I have suffered from anxiety for many years and this has lead to various problems with depression, poor sleep patterns etc. My first session went well and I felt calm and uplifted. After several connected breathwork sessions with Dave I cannot believe how well I feel. Because I am calmer I can deal with the day to day stresses of everyday life without them becoming major problems, my sleeping has improved and I just feel happier with myself as a person. The difference it has made to my life has been fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone.
Steve S: ‘Connected Breathwork has worked for me like no other ‘therapy’ or technique of meditation I have ever encountered. This incredibly simple practise has enabled me to get through the aftermath of a very painful divorce and instilled a degree of confidence in me I didn’t know I had! Breathwork has brought me a level of calm assurance in everyday matters that I’d previously lacked. After the very first session the levels of anxiety and depression I was experiencing were dramatically reduced.
‘Subsequently, breathwork has transformed my approach to life so noticeably that friends, family and colleagues have all commented on how much more relaxed and ‘together’ I seem to be these days’.

Connected Breathwork is a technique of breathing which relieves anxiety and stress, improves outlook on life, causes bliss states, puts you in touch with the profound life-energy of breath - and cures boredom!

MY BREATHWORK STORY
At a conference in 1991 Lionel Snell introduced a group of us to Rebirthing breathwork. I lay on the floor of the mediaeval room and within the first few minutes was overwhelmed with a flood of emotion. After the session and my initial surprise, the emotions resolved smoothly, and I found myself happy, bewildered and impressed.
Awed by the power of so much emotional release with such a simple technique - who’d have thought that just breathing could achieve so much? - I vowed to do more of it.

Back home, I found a Rebirthing practitioner in Sheffield and went for a series of sessions over six months. Connected breathwork came into my life during a difficult year. My father was dying and a relationship of seven years was coming to an end. My life had lost its sparkle and vigour. Breathwork sessions opened it all up, like letting air and light into a shuttered, dusty room.
It was so effective that I decided to go in for professional training.
I learned that there are two modern ‘lineages’ of connected breathwork techniques, both from the early 1970s, one starting with Stanislav Grof’s ‘Holotropic Breathwork’ and the other with Leonard Orr’s ‘Rebirthing’. Each has given rise to a few ‘schools’ of connected breathwork.
The Rebirthing movement gave rise to a new development called ‘Vivation’ by its originators Phil Laut and Jim Leonard. They trained Hilary Newman of London, who launched her first Vivation Professional Training course in Autumn 1992.
In six weekends in London over a year I qualified, and we had a graduation party picnic in August 1993 at Oxleas Wood, recently saved from demolition.

So my experience of connected breathwork started with the gentle Rebirthing approach, then I qualified in its close relative, Vivation, then much later I experienced the healing bedlam of group Holotropic sessions under Stan Grof.
I developed my own approach to breathwork and have been coaching professionally in Britain and occasionally mainland Europe and the USA, for fifteen years. In 1999 I wrote ‘Connect Your Breath’, a booklet with accompanying CD. Click here to read samples of it.

If you want to know more about the mystery of how I think this powerful, gentle technique works, (though it isn’t necessary to understand it to get impressive results) have a look at the other writings on these pages - my essay The Mythic Breath and the excerpts from my book.

LEARNING BREATHWORK
In order to master this technique, you will need a coach. After a few hours of coached sessions, you should have enough experience to do a full session on your own. Coaches aim to equip the student with enough experience to be able to work alone indefinitely if desired
A few sessions led by a coach should convince you of the power of this technique to let go of negativity, and fill yourself with life-energy.
Individual Sessions
I run sessions both from my home and at clients’ homes in the Sheffield area, and also work out of London by arrangement, usually at the client’s home.
Fees are £45 for the first session and £30 for subsequent sessions, £50 and £35 respectively for London sessions.
Special offer - a series of five sessions
Many of my clients have found that the basics of maintaining connected breathing for a whole one-hour session can be learned in five sessions, so I offer your first five sessions for an advance payment of £140, saving £25.

To book a session or series of sessions, email me at info@chaotopia.co.uk

Clients are offered individual support between sessions, and if you wish you can join my Yahoo group, which is a further resource of group support and information. Email me if you are interested in the Yahoo group.

BREATHWORK RESOURCES
Breathwork books
Dave Lee-Connect Your Breath! - Breathwork, Ecstasy and Healing.
Booklet and CD set. Pub. Attractor, 2002
All the basic information relevant to all schools of Connected Breathwork, plus a 60-minute audio CD which works as a ‘virtual coach’ for solitary sessions. Order from here.

Jim Leonard and Phil Laut-      Vivation - The Science of Enjoying All of Your Life.
       Vivation Publishing, 1988 (?)
Originally published as Rebirthing - The Science of Enjoying All of Your Life. Excellent introduction to Vivation and Rebirthing by the teachers who broke away from Rebirthing to form Vivation.

Catherine Dowling -Rebirthing and Breathwork. Pub. Piatkus, London, 2000
Very good general introduction to Rebirthing.

Kylea Taylor - The Breathwork Experience Very readable and practical introduction to Holotropic Breathwork.
Details from http://www.hanfordmead.com/books/breathwork_abstract.php

Stanislav Grof & H. Bennett-The Holotropic Mind: Three Levels of Human Consciousness and How They Shape Our Lives
Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1992
Grof is the originator of Holotropic Breathwork, and all his books are very interesting and highly recommended for those pursuing deep personal development. They do not, however, tell you anything about how to actually do breathwork.

Online resources
The Healing Breath - international peer-reviewed journal: http://www.healingbreathjournal.org/

Website for education about connected breathwork:   http://www.learn-to-breathe-energy.com/. Features breathwork lectures and interviews.

Breathe magizine http://www.breathe-mag.co.uk/. Began in 1984 as a Rebirthing magazine, now includes other Breathwork techniques. Includes international contacts for practitioners.

Breathwork Belgium: free breathwork articles, further links. http://www.breathwork.be/

Leonard Orr's website: http://www.rebirthingbreathwork.com/

Rebirthing in New Zealand: http://www.rebirthing.co.nz/