Journalist and novelist Stephanie Theobald, who may know more about celebrities than anyone on the planet, notes that Goldie Hawn and Deepak Chopra have been into transformational breathing for many years. On Times Online, Theobald shares with us her own experience, including her history as a willing but unsuccessful beneficiary of various alternative medicine modalities in the past. To transformational breathing, she gives top marks:
I felt fantastic, as if I had just stepped out of the healing pool at Lourdes. I felt stoned, but without the paranoia bit, and my skin had a glow that cognitive behavioural therapy never gives you.
Judith Kravitz, the originator of this practice, introduced transformational breathing three decades ago. She lists the positive results that manifest themselves: resolution of past traumas, improved physical healing, emotional freedom, and connection with spirit. Kravitz says Transformational Breath® is a complete self-healing system that is uniquely different from other forms of breathwork, and is quite clear in her belief that conscious breathing will not only increase personal joy, but enhance the world’s chances for peace.
Now, getting back to Theobald: she is chiefly known for having been Senior Editor at the British Harper’s Bazaar. A party aficionado, she also writes on many subjects for an array of publications including The Guardian, The Financial Times, Vogue, Elle and The International Herald (as if that weren’t enough, Theobald is also a novelist). The breathwork practitioner she had visited was Alan Dolan, who calls his version of transformational breathing “turbo therapy.” He gave it a new name because a mental health professional remarked to him that its potency equals a couple of years’ worth of therapy distilled into two hours. Whatever it’s called, this kind of breathing is also said to be effective in breaking addictions, and who among us does not have one or two of those? Dolan regrets that so many people ignore the potential. He says,
Imagine owning the most high-specification TV in existence, keeping it plugged in on standby and then living with it for years and years without ever actually turning it on. Sadly most of us live in ‘standby mode’ most of the time.
Theobald has more to say about her experience with turbo therapy. She finds that giving it 15 minutes in the morning sharpens her mind for the whole day. Greater energy, a strengthened immune system, and better concentration are other benefits she mentions. She attended a transformational breathing retreat for more intense work with daily 90-minute sessions, and was incredulous at the results. And the great thing about transformational breathing or turbo therapy is, you don’t even need to go to a therapist. You can do it at home, and Theobald’s article tells how.
Breathing is an important component of any meditation. In her article “How to Heal Toxic Thoughts,” Sandra Ingerman reminds us that breathing is one of the simplest ways to transform energy. One of the everyday ceremonies she recommends is to greet and honor the element of air in which we live. In Sandra’s audiobook of guided journeys, titled Shamanic Meditations, she recommends starting out any and all of the exercises the same way — “Take some deep breaths where you will find yourself opening your heart space.”
Let’s wind up with a quotation on breath from Yoko Ono, from the speech she had recently given at Oxford University:
The latest news is that even a couch potato is useful for us, in that their breathing helps to balance the atmosphere. The world and its mechanics are still very much a mystery.
Source: “The trippy new breathing therapy,” Times Online, 02/07/10
Source: “TransformationalBreath,” Transformational Breathing
Source: “Journalism,” StephanieTheobald.com
Source: “Breathwork,” BreathGuru.com
Source: “A Quiet Revolution,” Imagine Peace, 03/10/10
Image by alicepopkorn, used under its Creative Commons license.
