Rebirthing-breathwork, also called Intuitive Energy Breathing and Conscious Energy Breathing, is a form of alternative medicine that mainly consists of breathing techniques that are said to connect the subject to cycle of birth and death.
Proponents of this form of medicine believe that being connected to the birth-death cycle enables the human spirit to become a conscious expression. They believe that rebirthing-breathwork is the ability to breathe not only air, but energy as well.
History of Rebirthing-Breathwork
Unbeknownst of the practices of "kriya yoga" and "pranayama," Leonard Orr developed rebirthing-breathwork as a series of breathing techniques that would enable the subject's memories of birth to come to the conscious mind. He believed that by connecting to the trauma of birth, he could, in fact, heal the after-effects that this trauma causes through life. He worked on modifying this technique through 1962 to 1974 and found that these modifications brought about improvements in general health and mental well-being.
Development of this breathing technique for therapeutic purposes began in 1974 and has gain popularity worldwide. It is estimated that since the use of rebirthing as a therapy session, more than ten million people have learnt the technique and more than a hundred thousand people have gone on to become certified practitioners. It has become a very popular alternative treatment in Israel.
Technique for Rebirthing-Breathwork
Rebirthing is a gentle, yet conscious breathing technique. The main breathing technique is a connected breathing, wherein there are no pauses between inhalation and exhalation. This causes a build up of oxygen in the blood, and the proponents believe, a build up of life energy or "prana" as well. Breathing sessions are done lying down and may take up to three hours.
The process involves the following steps:
- You explore your issues with your rebirther for about 30 to 50 minutes.
- Then you begin the breathing session while lying down. You learn to consciously connect your breathing so that there are no pauses between each inhalation and exhalation. You are guided to find a rhythm that may be faster than what you are used to. This breathing session lasts for about 60 to 70 minutes.
- You discuss any material that arises from the breathing session.
- An integration session of about 10 to 15 minutes completes the session.
The Belief System Behind Rebirthing-Breathwork
The practitioners of rebirthing-breathwork believe that human birth is traumatic and the memory of it is repressed in the subconscious. In addition to the cerebral memory, they believe that humans also possess cellular memory, where the recollection of trauma is distributed through the body's cells and tissues. The belief is that the specific nature of the trauma caused by birthing leaves a marked impression on the psyche and shapes one's perception of life and it's experiences. An example of this mentioned in Wikipedia says that if someone is born with the use of forceps may rely on others to bail them out of difficult situations. Also someone born breech may believe that they can hurt people or women in particular.
Rebirthing-breathwork teachings state that it can improve a person's human potential, inner peace and mental strength. Proponents say that human breathing is inadequate, it allows the build up of carbon dioxide to levels that suppress large amounts of emotional and mental stress. The breathing technique enables the level of oxygen to increase in the body, thus detoxifying the body and the spirit. They believe that the levels of physiological transformations that can be achieved are such that many illnesses may go into permanent remission.
The philosophies that make up the practice of rebirthing are loosely connected to Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism and western metaphysics.
Rebirthing-Breathwork Criticism
It is quite clear that the process of birth may have lasting influences on a person due to hormonal or developmental factors, it is not scientifically proven that the birthing process causes psychological trauma. Moreover, there is no scientific proof of the existence of cellular memory or non-cerebral memory. In fact, it has been scientifically proven that the human brain is unable to preserve conscious memory until about the age of two.
Another point of criticism surrounds the heavy breathing of the rebirthing process, as it can cause hyperventilation.
Please note that this article is purely informational. Also there are other techniques that go by the name of rebirthing, but are compression therapies or holding-nurturing process and are completely unrelated.
Sources:
Jaan Jerabek. 2004. Rebirthing Breathwork with Jaan Jerabek on www.jaanjerabek.com (Retrieved 22 March 2010)
Rebirthing Breathwork with Leonard Orr: The Official Website. RebirthingBreathwork.com (Retrieved 21 March 2010).
The British Rebirth Society: What is Rebirthing? on RebirthingBreathwork.co.uk (Retrieved 21 March 2010).
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