Yogic Sleep and Meditation States during Holotropic Breathwork Kylea Taylor,
M.S., M.F.T. is a California licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
(MFC #34901) and is a senior trainer for the Grof Transpersonal
Training at www.holotropic.com.
She is the author of The Breathwork Experience and The Ethics of
Caring and Editor of Practicing Holotropic Breathwork: A Decade
of Articles from The Inner Door. She is the President of Hanford
Mead Publishers, Inc. which has just published the new book, SoulCollage
by Seena B. Frost. Kylea has a private practice in Santa Cruz, California,
USA. www.soulcollage.com / www.hanfordmead.com.
Sometimes people will arrive at the group sharing with either
no mandala, or a beautiful mandala, and a report that they have
no idea what happened.
"I must have fallen asleep," they offer, wistfully, after hearing
the vivid stories of the other participants. There is usually
a belying radiance about them, and upon further probing, they
usually do report a feeling of serenity and a sense that "something"
happened ¾ they just don't know what.
My theory is that such people are experiencing one of the meditation
states which have been described by very specific Sanskrit terms
for thousands of years. I have begun to include a reference to
these states in the Introductory Talk along with the descriptions
of other possible holotropic experiences. I usually say something
quite simple, such as:
"Sometimes the inner wisdom decides that the conscious, censoring
mind needs to be turned off in order for some kind of healing
to occur below the level of consciousness. People often think
they have fallen asleep, but it is practically impossible to breathe
heavily for an hour and then fall into ordinary sleep. When we
have observed people during a "sleep" episode, we have noticed
that their breathing pattern is unlike normal sleep. Yogis have
identified many meditation states with Sanskrit terms to differentiate
them from ordinary sleep. It is not necessary to have a dramatic
experience or even to remember one's experience to have had a
profound and healing experience."
When participants are reminded about this after having such an
experience, it usually provides sufficient reassurance for people
that "something Happened" and that their own experience was an
important one.
Some people, however, want to know even more about the yogic sleep/meditational
states. Whether or not they have conscious memory of their experiences,
some of the information below may be of interest to some Holotropic
Breathwork participants.
Tandra - Yogic Drowsiness is experienced in meditation
and is different from a tired drowsiness. When prana, life energy,
begins to be released, the body becomes further relaxed and loose.
Yawns come in quick succession. This often appears to be happening
in Holotropic Breathwork as people cross the threshold between
ordinary and nonordinary consciousness and need to be reminded
by their Sitters to breathe. The increased prana drives the external
organs or limbs to perform numerous movements. After the external
organs become fatigued and inactive, the prana begins to do subtle
work in the internal organs.
Yoga Nidra - This means Yogic Sleep. After the external
organs have moved and become fatigued, the prana becomes stabilized
and generates a state called Yoga Nidra. This is a state which
may be experienced in meditation or during the night or in a nap
as part of sleep, but is not ordinary sleep. The mind is deeply
introverted. If it is a very deep state, there are no thoughts
or dreams. If it is not so deep, there are dreams, but the mind
remains more focused than in ordinary dreams. In a Yoga Nidra
dream there is concentration on detail in the dream and the "action"
of the dream moves very slowly and vividly. It does not flit from
one scene or topic to another. In deep Yogic Sleep after the release
of prana, the mind is not attached to the body or to prana and
can rest deeply. Its main characteristic is very slow breathing.
It may be so slow, it seems to have stopped, but it does not fully
stop. This state comes on slowly and leaves slowly.
Murcha - This means Swoon. Ordinary swoon is a physical
disorder. Yogic swoon occurs when the prana tries to move up through
the body and hits a blockage. As meditation (or Breathwork) practice
continues, the energy passages through the body are gradually
cleansed and the Swoon state no longer occurs. A high degree of
spiritual concentration is required before anyone experiences
Swoon. There are two kinds. One is Videhalaya, in which
there is no physical awareness, only identification with the astral
body. The other is Prakritilaya, in which there is no physical
or astral awareness but only identification with the asual body.
In both there are no thoughts, dualities, and desires. The breathing
process in Murcha comes to a sudden halt, not gradually as in
Yoga Nidra. And the person returns to consciousness suddenly as
well. All ordinary thoughts, dualities, and desires return as
well, when the swoon passes.
Jada Samadhi - In this state the body remains static and
the mind becomes unconscious. It is closer to swoon than samadhi.
The body is locked into one position if sitting, whereas in Murcha
it would fall down if sitting. The mind is even more concentrated
than in Yoga Nidra.
Sabija Samadhi - This is a very high level of meditation
where there is no loss of consciousness, and there is very slow
breathing. The mind and the prana still exist.
Nirbija Samadhi - This is the highest level of meditation
where the mind and the prana dissolve and there is only Consciousness.
The breath may stop completely.
Reference
Kripalanada, S. (1977.) Science of Meditation. Bombay,
India: New Karnodaya Press.
