Stanislav grof psychology. Stanislav Grof: “People are controlled by matrices. The idea of holotropic breathwork

Part of the audience was still crowding at the entrance, sorting out the headphones, when a large man slowly came out from behind the scenes and sat down on the prepared sofa, comfortably and calmly, as if not on the stage, but in his living room. The first impression is that he is younger than I expected (he is 81 years old). Even younger than his own photograph on the big poster to the right of the sofa. On the left is a poster with a famous portrait of Freud. I involuntarily compare them. Grof's face is just as significant and unsmiling.

Transpersonal psychology is associated with the mystical (and not only for me: here on the cover of the book, which is sold there at the entrance to the hall, Grof is all in concentric circles, with a slicked-down hairstyle of an experienced gigolo, with a third eye in his forehead). And the mystical is often the work of charlatans. I went to meet him with trepidation and a great desire to check how it really is. But his behavior is very even, there is no steely gleam in his eyes, there is no desire to charm in his manner, there is no desire to convince in his voice. In response to a question about working with cancer patients, he says, “We didn't see the magic. The pain went away, sometimes for up to two weeks, such that the drugs no longer removed. But there were no cures."

The meeting begins with a conversation about psychedelics. Grof explains that he does not consider himself an LSD propagandist. Psychedelic plants should not be used for fun, he emphasizes. They are sacred and deserve respect and responsibility. For him, it is just a tool, "like a microscope in biology or a telescope in astronomy."

He says that he prefers to call states of consciousness "special" (nonordinary) rather than "altered." Changed means bad, flawed. And this, on the contrary, is a state of expanded consciousness. In addition, in English, the word "altered" refers to castrated animals. The owner of a cat can ask another: “Well, how did you “change” yours?” Of course, such a word is not suitable!

His way

1931 Born in Prague (Czechoslovakia).
1957 Graduated from Charles University in Prague.
1965 Received a degree (Ph.D.) in medicine.
1977 Became one of the founders of the International Transpersonal Association.
2012 Conducts master classes in different countries of the world, including Russia.

psychology:

Transpersonal psychology is an approach that uses non-ordinary states of consciousness and "supernatural" experiences. How would you describe them?

Stanislav Grof:

Any state of consciousness that differs from the usual, waking state, by definition, turns out to be “unusual”: meditation, trance, relaxation, intuition work, acting, mystical experience, erotic experiences, hypnosis, dreams, dreams ... Transpersonal psychology explores precisely them. They allow us to go beyond our personal biological and psychological history and gain access to the past, present and future of our Universe and other levels of reality described in the great spiritual traditions. There are also "supernatural" experiences - for example, clinical death, "memories" of previous lives and such parapsychological phenomena as telepathy, clairvoyance, foresight ... Something that is inexplicable within the framework of classical psychology. But we must remember that transpersonal psychology is not parapsychology. It expands the field of activity, including research in the field of experimental psychology, neuropsychology, biology, quantum therapy. It is an open system, not a set of dogmas and beliefs.

How did your interest in such states arise?

S. G.:

It arose as a result of my mystical experience, for which I was not at all ready ... I was born into a non-religious family and was raised in the most materialistic spirit, because my country, when I was 17 years old, came under Soviet influence. Everything that more or less resembled spirituality was irreconcilably rejected. Once I discovered the works of Freud, they literally fascinated me. I became interested in psychiatry, enrolled in the Prague Medical School, then joined a small group of psychoanalysts. But later psychoanalysis disappointed me, not the theory, but the practice, especially the fact that it required a lot of time and money, and the results were insignificant. Even studying medicine, which was very orthodox in our country, with a mechanistic idea of the human body, closer to plumbing than to healing, became difficult for me. I almost began to regret that I chose this career for myself.

But you continued...

S. G.:

Yes, that's how it all worked out... or that was fate. In 1956, our research department received a box of ampoules containing a strange substance from a major Swiss pharmaceutical laboratory. It was d-lysergic acid diethylamide, later known as LSD... In the letter, the laboratory asked us if we would agree to experiment with this drug, which had the ability to induce special psychotic states: first we had to test it on our patients, then on ourselves... to learn firsthand what psychosis is! Can you imagine? Of course, I volunteered to participate. I will not go into details, but what happened changed my life: after taking a small dose of this substance, I saw an extraordinary light. Later I realized that it was this inexpressible light that was described in the Tibetan book of the dead”: it said that we were destined to see him when we departed for another world. Suddenly I felt that I had flown out of my body, as if my consciousness had flown straight into space, through galaxies and black holes, expanding more and more. It seemed to me that I merged into one with everything that exists, found myself inside the physical Universe. I felt emotions of such strength that I could not imagine before. Then my consciousness seemed to "shrink" around my body and finally returned to it.

Perhaps it could be a short-term mental disorder?

S. G.:

No. I was a psychiatrist and immediately realized that this episode was not a crisis, but incredibly positive. He transformed me so much that only from that day on I felt that I had really become a man. This profound change, which is sometimes referred to as “returning to yourself,” is, by the way, one of the characteristics clinical death and some spontaneous mystical experiences. That is why I have devoted much of my psychiatric career to redefining psychosis and to exploring the therapeutic efficacy of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Initially at the Prague Institute of Psychiatric Research, where for 15 years I conducted research, systematizing all the "visions" of my patients, "travels", experiences, the impact on their quality of life, in some cases their recovery ... It was the work of a pioneer, because I didn't have any knowledge of the spirit.

You were not familiar with Jung's work?

S. G.:

No, because in the Marxist society his books were included in the list of forbidden literature! In 1967 I was invited to teach in the USA, and when the Prague Spring happened a year later, I decided to stay. In 1973 I became a permanent faculty member at the Esalen Institute for Human Research in California. Later, my wife Christina and I developed holotropic breathing, a special hyperventilation technique that allows you to "travel" into the unconscious and the other world. This confirmed my intuitive discovery that our consciousness - if you like, our "spirit" - is located outside our brain.

What is Holotropic Breathwork like?

S. G.:

This combination of intense breathing, specially selected physical exercises and music helps to remove bioenergetic and emotional blocks. The method of holotropic breathing is fundamentally different from the methods of traditional psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, which are based on verbal communication. But it has common features with psychotherapy, where the main emphasis is on the direct manifestation of emotions and on exercises for the body (for example, Gestalt therapy). But our method is the only one of all that uses the healing potential inherent in altered states of consciousness.

How are the classes going?

S. G.:

As a rule, these are group lessons. Participants pair up and take turns acting as a breather and an “observer”. During the breathing sessions, they draw mandalas in which they express their experiences. And then in small groups they talk about their experience of diving into the subconscious. The process is constantly monitored by professional instructors. Their task is to provide assistance in case of need. At the end of the class, they talk to each member of the group. Sometimes participants resort to the help of an instructor in order to fully comprehend the experience, since new experiences can be very unusual. For this, additional psychotherapeutic techniques are used.

Risk and breath

“The method of holotropic breathing seems easy, but such an impression is extremely misleading,” warns Stanislav Grof. It is not difficult to induce an unusual state of consciousness if you breathe quickly and to stimulating music. However, this can only be done under the guidance of experienced instructors. "The main risk is that the breather's subconscious mind will remain open and, if the session is not successfully completed, the unusual state of consciousness may persist for a long time and interfere with the person's daily life." In addition, this practice is contraindicated for those who suffer from heart and vascular diseases, those who have had serious emotional problems in the past that led them to hospitalization in psychiatric institutions. “It is known that hyperventilation of the lungs can also provoke epileptic seizures,” continues Stanislav Grof. “There are also some contraindications, determined by common sense, such as a recent operation, an injury, or just a serious illness.”

Most scientists explain mystical experiences by the activation of certain areas of our brain. What will you answer them?

S. G.:

To claim this is to ignore the vast body of research that proves that consciousness is not produced by the brain like bile in the liver, but is "somewhere else." I compare the brain to a television: you can take it apart, study it, understand why it has a color image and different programs, but this will not tell you anything about how programs are produced and where they come from. To say that consciousness is just a product of the brain is like saying that TV sets the show!

You claim that Holotropic Breathwork changes the lives of those who practice it. How?

S. G.:

Those who have made conscious contact with the transpersonal part of their psyche appreciate their existence in a new way and begin to respect the life of any being. Their attention is shifted from the past and future to the present moment, they are less angry and offended and know how to enjoy life. Simple circumstances bring joy to them: daily activities, food, lovemaking, nature and music. Another important consequence is the acquisition of universal spirituality. Unlike religious dogma, it is based on deep personal experience and is therefore reliable and convincing. In addition, people who have experienced transpersonal experiences feel with all their heart that they are citizens of the planet Earth, and not members of one or another racial, social, ideological, political or religious group.

How did you meet Abraham Maslow, with whom you founded transpersonal psychology?

S. G.:

When I arrived in the USA, I sent him the results of my observations, since at that time he was conducting research on spontaneous mystical experiences, which he called "paroxysmal experiences." He was fascinated by my work and my conclusions about the transcendent nature of the human mind, and he invited me to participate in the meetings of his humanistic psychology group. I once put forward the idea that in order to better understand why our psyche is able to transcend the boundaries of space and time, it is necessary to take into account research in the field of neurophysiology, biology and quantum physics. And he proposed to found a new school of transpersonal psychology, that is, a psychology that goes "beyond the personality."

How was this movement received by the American psychological community?

S. G.:

He was completely ignored in official circles*. But we were supported by well-known researchers working in various disciplines, including laureates Nobel Prize in the field of physics. To think that any spiritual impulse is psychopathology, and to look for its causes in the unresolved conflicts of early childhood, is at least 30 years behind the current level of our knowledge of human consciousness.

In Russia, your views arouse constant interest and at the same time a certain skepticism, if not fear. How do you explain it?

S. G.:

The fact is that my method radically calls into question the usual models of work. It must be admitted that it is not easy for a specialist to abandon the theory on which he has based his entire practice and even his existence in order to accept a different system of thought. But I see that everything more people every day they realize their need to establish a connection with the spiritual dimension, their higher "I". This need urgently and urgently requires satisfaction! Now I have no doubts: the psychology of the 21st century will be transpersonal, because it is involved in the transformation of the consciousness of the planet.

* The American Psychological Association does not recognize transpersonal psychology as a scientific discipline and the Association for Transpersonal Psychology as scientific structure. However, in the British Psychological Society, since 1996, a department of transpersonal psychology has been formed, and thus it has gained recognition in the professional environment.

About it

“Healing our deepest wounds. Holotropic Paradigm Shift” by Stanislav Grof (Ganga, 2012).
"Journey in search of yourself" Stanislav Grof (AST, 2004).

In psychology encyclopedias, the name of Stanislav Grof is third, after Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, among the greatest innovators in the science of the secrets of the human soul. The revolutionary discoveries of Grof, still ignored by official medicine, inspired the cult directors of the Wachowski brothers to create the film trilogy "The Matrix". The world famous scientist gave Pravda.Ru an exclusive interview.

Dear Stanislav, let me thank you for taking the time to have such a serious and large-scale conversation with us in the year of your 75th birthday. Even Carl Jung argued that the baby's psyche is not "tabula rasa". Based on many years of clinical research, you have come to the conclusion that our unconscious contains perinatal (that is, prenatal) and transpersonal areas. But why does official medicine ignore these discoveries?

Modern research in the field of consciousness has brought a lot of evidence that the models of the human psyche that dominate today in official psychology and psychiatry are superficial and inadequate. Based on years of data from psychedelic research, I had to create an extremely expanded model of the psyche by adding two large areas - perinatal and transpersonal.

The perinatal area refers to memories of intrauterine life and biological birth. This area consists of four basic perinatal matrices corresponding to the four stages of childbirth - from blissful rest in the uterus to birth. The transpersonal realm contains the experience of identification with other people, other biological species, episodes from the life of our ancestors, both humans and animals, as well as the historical collective unconscious, as Jung interpreted it.

My cartography of the psyche bears a strong resemblance to Jung's, except for a fundamental point. I was surprised and disappointed that Jung vehemently denied that biological birth had any psychological significance, that it was a major trauma. Even shortly before his death, in an interview, Jung denied any possibility of such significance.

Traditional psychiatrists, both in America and in your country, are well aware of the existence of perinatal and transpersonal experiences, since they spontaneously appear in some patients. But, unlike me, these physicians do not consider them a normal part of the human psyche, but consider them as the results of unknown pathological processes that affect the brain. That is, people whose unconscious has reached the perinatal and transpersonal levels are considered to be suffering from psychosis, mentally ill.

Do you remember your first transpersonal experience? The resistance of a large part of the academic community to the discoveries of modern consciousness research is understandable. New revolutionary data require a radical revision of all psychological and psychiatric thinking, similar to what physicists had to go through at the beginning of the 20th century, when they moved from the Newtonian understanding of matter to the quantum-relativistic picture of the world. New information in the field of consciousness research calls into question the basic philosophical provisions of Western science, undermines its materialistic orientation. Based on clinical evidence, transpersonal psychology offers a worldview similar to that of the world's great religions and Eastern spiritual philosophies.

He was so unusual and amazing that it is simply impossible to forget him. This happened in November 1956 in the laboratory of the Czech Research Institute of Psychiatry, when I volunteered to participate in an LSD session. The idea of the experiment was to expose me to a powerful stroboscopic lamp at the climax of my LSD experience. My consciousness left the body, and all the boundaries of the universe dissolved. I experienced the awe-inspiring experience of the Cosmic Mind to this day, ceased to be a separate being and became the Universe itself.

I describe this experience in my book When the Impossible Becomes Possible. Adventures in unusual realities”, soon to be published in Russian translation. The experience of half a century ago was so strong that it aroused my lifelong interest in non-ordinary states of consciousness. Of course, he could not immediately destroy my materialistic worldview, which was instilled by my studies in communist Czechoslovakia. It took years of daily observation during psychedelic sessions, both of my own and of patients, and later in sessions of holotropic breathwork and non-drug therapies developed by me withChristina. Today, I repeat, I am absolutely convinced - modern system views and concepts needs a radical revision.

After twenty years of official research, which was also carried out in the USSR by Maria Telashevskaya, psychedelics were banned. Are you not embarrassed by the accusations that the unusual states of consciousness in which the perinatal and transpersonal levels manifest themselves are associated with psychoactive substances?

For many years I thought that non-ordinary states of consciousness require strong psychoactive substances, such as L SD . And I was surprised to discover how profoundly psychic effects such simple methods as faster breathing or evocative music can have. But shamans and aboriginal cultures have known this for millennia and used sacred technologies in healing, ritual and spiritual practices. Scientific observations, including anthropologists, have shown that the gap between the so-called. "normal state of consciousness" and the unusual state is not as great as it was commonly thought. Moreover, for many people, such states can be spontaneous, occurring right in the middle of everyday life.

But isn't traditional psychiatry still treating conditions like psychosis that require mostly medication?

This is the essence of the problem. When we realize that perinatal and transpersonal experiences are a normal part of the human psyche, we will start asking and answering questions about such episodes in a completely different way. After all, the question now is not how the brain generates unusual experiences and what supposedly pathological processes cause them. It is clear to me that the experiences that arise in such states are normal components of the human psyche. The question is - why do some people need psychedelic substances or powerful non-drug techniques to plunge into the depths of their unconscious, while others spontaneously arise?

Transpersonal psychology believes that when non-ordinary states of consciousness are properly understood and maintained, they can be healing, transformative, and evolutionary. Christina and I call them "spiritual emergencies" because they represent not only a crisis, but also an opportunity to get out on your own. highest level consciousness and psychological action.

Your assertion that the mystical experience is available to every person has caused fierce controversy...

Our advances in psychedelic research and holotropic breathwork have convinced us that the capacity for mystical experiences is a fundamental human right from birth. In principle, anyone can have them, only some people find it easier than others. There are people who find it difficult, despite all their desire, to enter into such states, and they try to cause them. different ways. But there are also those for whom mystical states arise right in the middle of the day, sometimes against their will, and it is difficult for them to relate themselves to ordinary reality. By the way, my great predecessor Carl Jung belonged to the second category. He used his easy access to the unconscious as the source of a new, revolutionary psychology.

In your book "Psychology of the Future", also published in Russia, you again raise the question of the need to discuss the legal, social and medical aspects of psychedelics. Such a discussion began last year in the UK scientific community. Maybe it is worth holding it at the level of the World Health Organization in order to remove a layer of secrecy from this topic?

I believe that for specialists with many years of experience, the fallacy of such a definition is obvious. Research has shown that when used correctly and in a controlled manner, psychedelic substances have great therapeutic potential and, from a psychological point of view, are not addictive. Moreover, dissatisfaction with official psychiatric therapy, which boils down to the standard suppression of mental symptoms with tranquilizers, is growing everywhere. Symptoms are suppressed, but underlying psychological problems are not resolved. In addition, people are becoming more aware of side effects - the World Health Organization plays an important role in the control of psychoactive substances, and all WHO member countries are obliged to comply with its recommendations. Psychedelic substances, including LSD, are currently included in the "List No. 1" with the definition of "drug without therapeutic value and with a high potential for abuse"used outdated methods.

It is encouraging that the scientific climate has begun to change in recent years. The desire to find alternatives to the dead-ended methods of traditional psychiatry led to the official approval of research programs for psychedelic therapy in some centers in the United States, Switzerland, Israel and several other countries. As far as I know from articles in the Western press, particularly in the Guardian newspaper, research programs have officially begun on therapies using LSD, psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MMDA), and ketamine.

That is, researchers are returning to the experience of research in the 50s of the last century?

I think that Western society is now better equipped to accept psychedelic therapy than it was half a century ago. As I remember, then all psychotherapy was reduced to verbal, that is, verbal communication between the doctor and the patient. Strong emotions and active behavior during the session were called "external expression of subconscious mental processes" and were assessed as violations of the rules of therapy.

Psychedelic sessions, on the other hand, evoked psychomotor agitation, dramatic emotions, and vivid cognitive changes. They looked more like scenes from anthropology films depicting healing ceremonies and rituals of indigenous cultures than what was traditionally seen in a psychotherapist's office.

In addition, many observations obtained after psychedelic sessions threatened materialistic ideas about the human psyche and the structure of the Universe, based on the Newtian-Cartesian paradigm. I remember that back in the period of work in Czechoslovakia, one of the patients Richard told me after an LSD session that during the “journey” he received information from certain entities with a request to tell the relatives of a certain Ladislav that everything was fine with him in the other world. They dictated to him the name of the city of Kromerice, in Moravia, where relatives live, and even a telephone number. I recorded this information in a medical record and, as a person of then still materialistic views, left it unattended. When curiosity got the better of me and after a couple of weeks I called the number I had recorded in Kromerich and called the name the patient had heard, sobs and the words sounded on the other side of the receiver: “We lost Ladislav three weeks ago…”

Yes, there has been a real revolution in psychotherapy in recent decades. Powerful experiential techniques have been developed that emphasize deep regression, direct expression of strong emotions, and exercises that produce a burst of physical energy. Among the new approaches, I would single out Gestalt practice, bioenergetics, primitive therapy, rebirthing (rebirth through breathing) and holotropic breathing. And for physicians practicing in these areas, the introduction of psychedelics would not be a sudden change in practice, but the next logical step. I hope that a resurgence of interest in psychedelic research, which certainly requires careful legal and medical work, will put this unusual tool back in the hands of reliable doctors.

But will this help save humanity, which every year seems to be sinking more and more into a chaotic quagmire of destructiveness, greed and animal instincts?

Psychedelic research and experiments with holotropic breathing, the treatment of people in "spiritual accidents", absolutely confirmed Jung's teachings about the black and sinister sides of the human psyche. Jung aptly called them the Shadow. I myself have written extensively about the perinatal and transpersonal roots of human cruelty and greed. In particular, in the book "Psychology of the Future" there is a chapter "The evolution of consciousness and human survival: a transpersonal perspective of the global crisis."

Based on many years of clinical research, transpersonal psychology has come to the conclusion that all aspects of the current global crisis - economic, political, military, religious, environmental - have one common denominator.

And this is the denominator. The roots of human cruelty and greed lie deep in the perinatal and transpersonal areas of the unconscious. That is, much deeper than classical psychiatry imagines. Traditional forms of verbal (verbal) psychotherapy operate exclusively at the level of postpartum biography and do not reach the level at which true problems arise. If a person reaches these levels spontaneously, as a result of a "spiritual accident", then he is declared suffering from psychosis and the natural process of transformation is delayed.the use of tranquilizers.

That is why, for the survival of the human species, systematic work is needed on the spiritual revelation of the personality, first of all, of those who are in a state of psycho-spiritual transformation.

Stanislav, your views on the decisive role of the spiritual, and not the animal, dominant in the human psyche are in many ways similar to the views of the great Russian philosophers and writers. Who would you choose from them for yourself personally? And how close are your revolutionary ideas to our mentality, which prove the complete bankruptcy of pure materialism? It seems that we are involved in a terrible race for time, the precedent of which was not in the history of mankind. If we stick to the old strategies that are monstrously destructive, then the human race will not survive this century. We can only be saved by a deep inner transformation of a sufficiently large number of people, and official psychology and psychiatry have shown their complete inability here.

When Christina and I were officially invited to Soviet Union, we were shocked how open our Russian colleagues were to new ideas, including those in academic circles. People came to meet us from distant places - from Georgia, from Siberia ... I was very touched when they approached me for an autograph with a translation of "Regions of the Human Unconscious", released thanks to underground printing houses in samizdat. Of course, since I was brought up in a communist country, samizdat was not a novelty for me. But it was not a political book, but a purely scientific one! I kept such a book as an expensive memento of my visit to Russia. But, unfortunately, it burned down in February 2001 during a fire in our house, along with all my library and other property.

I think there are many reasons for the openness of Russians to transpersonal psychology. And above all, the deep spirituality inherent in the Russian people. My close friend and eminent psychologist in Russia, Vladimir Maykov, included in his book on the history of transpersonal psychology a huge number of people of Russian origin who played an invaluable role in the development of a new science of the human soul. Among them are many famous names such as Helena Blavatsky, George Gurdjieff, Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev, Leo Tolstoy and Vasily Nalimov.

Another reason for the growing popularity of transpersonal psychology in Russia is that, under Soviet rule, psychology and psychiatry were limited to a small number of philosophically acceptable approaches, such as those based on the work of Ivan Pavlov. When the old system fell, a spiritual vacuum arose, and Russian specialists showed a sincere desire to join the latest achievements in the study of consciousness.

And unlike American universities, in most of which psychology and psychiatry departments have been headed by biological, neo-Freudian and behavioral conservatives for many decades, in Russia there are much more scientists who support transpersonal psychology. I felt it during my trip to St. Petersburg in the summer of 2001. I really hope to visit great Russia again soon and I am ready to take part in the most heated and frank discussions on the topics of studying the human unconscious, psychedelic and holotropic therapy.

Reference:

Stanislav Grof was born on July 1, 1931 in Prague. From 1956 to 1967 was a practicing psychiatrist and clinician. In 1961-66, he headed the laboratory for research on the use of LSD and other psychedelics for the treatment of mental disorders at the Research Institute of Psychiatry of the Ministry of Health of Czechoslovakia. In 1959, Grof was awarded the Küffner Prize - an award from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences "for the most outstanding contribution to the field of psychiatry."

In 1967, Stanislav Grof left for the USA to study at Johns Hopkins University. From 1968-1973, he directed the psychedelic research laboratory at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, the only place in the United States where LSD research was officially continued.

From 1973 to 1987, Stanislav Grof and his wife Kristina work at the world famous Esalen Institute (Big Sur, California), where they create a unique holotropic psychotherapy based on special breathing techniques, body work and specially selected music. Currently, Grof conducts trainings on holotropic breathing, gives lectures, takes an active part in the work of the International Transpersonal Association.

Great fame to Stanislav Grof brought him scientific works- "Regions of the Human Unconscious", "Beyond the Brain", "Journey in Search of Self", "Psychology of the Future" and others. , which were recorded in terminally ill cancer patients during sessions with LSD-25. This book turned out to be in the center of attention of many religious figures - for example, references to it are in the famous book of the greatest Orthodox thinker Father Seraphim (Rose) "The Soul after Death".

For the first time Grof visited our country in 1963, he also came in the 70s to get acquainted with the studies of neuroses in monkeys in the Sukhumi nursery. But the real sensation was the arrival of the Grof spouses in April 1989 at the invitation of the USSR Ministry of Health. At the Psychoendocrinological Center on Arbat, Stanislav and Kristina gave lectures on holotropic breathing in front of thousands of fans of their ideas who came from all over the Union. At the same time, the publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences published a number of Grof's books with a circulation of 500 copies. At present, almost all the works of the scientist have been published in Russian, with the exception of LSD Psychotherapy. TNT is finishing work on a four-episode documentary about the life and work of the great innovator, which will see the light of day this year.

From the editor: Please note that the psychoactive substances mentioned by Stanislav Grof (LSD, psilocybin, DMT, MDMA and ketamine) are currently officially prohibited internationally for production, distribution and consumption in any capacity. According to the data and conclusions of official medicine, the use of these substances, especially uncontrolled, poses a threat to human health, can cause mental disorders and destructive behavior.

Stanislav Grof - M.D., American psychologist of Czech origin. His name is associated with the discovery of a new, transpersonal direction in psychology.

According to the theory of Stanislav Grof, a person's character is formed even before his birth. A passionate desire to have a child, a successful pregnancy, natural childbirth, the first feeding - this is what will provide a happy and harmonious future for a little person.

It is not true that a newborn is a blank sheet of paper! Parents, despite all their efforts, “get” completely formed personalities, Grof believes. With his attitude to this world, parents and what is happening around them. If you want to correct something, you have at your disposal pregnancy, a day after childbirth and the first hours of feeding. Will you have time?

Stanislav Grof believes that at the moment when you put a tiny body to your chest for the first time, and dad is filming this event on camera, the formation of a child's personality is completed. All further, including upbringing and education, will work with the effectiveness of a bactericidal adhesive plaster.

This is a fact proven by the majority of Grof's patients, who, in the course of research, remembered not only the circumstances of their birth, but also the previous nine months.

During this time, the fetus goes through four stages of psychological development, corresponding to the period of pregnancy, labor, childbirth and the first feeding. The information that comes "inside" is "uploaded" into the matrices (in other words, it is sorted into the subconscious), in order to then become the lifelong basis of a person's actions. And let his relatives argue over whose ears and nose he has. You managed the most important thing - to participate in the formation of the character of the baby!

Matrix 1. Paradise or the matrix of love

It "fills up" when the baby is in the womb. At this time, the baby receives his first knowledge about the world, basic and deep. With a successful pregnancy, the child formulates for himself: “The world is OK, and I am OK!”. But for a positive position, this period must be really prosperous. And not only for medical reasons, but also from the point of view of the unborn baby.

And for him, first of all, it is important to be desired.

If a mother flutters throughout her pregnancy at the thought of the upcoming replenishment, her feelings will certainly be transmitted to the baby as the setting “everything is fine with me” for any life situation. By the way, a child's sexual self-awareness is also directly dependent on "internal" information. For example, if the girl's mother strongly desires a boy, in the future the baby may have serious problems with the female nature, up to infertility.

It is also very important that the mother's body works like a Swiss watch. A healthy pregnancy is a sure guarantee that the baby will feel comfortable, expecting only pleasant surprises from life.

Your task: to lay in the subconscious of the child a positive attitude towards the world and towards oneself.

Time to decide: your pregnancy.

Correct result: self-confidence, openness.

Negative result: low self-esteem, shyness, a tendency to hypochondria.

Emotional discomfort experienced by the mother;
Expecting a child of a strictly defined gender;
An attempt to terminate a pregnancy.

Matrix 2. Hell or victim matrix

This matrix is formed in contractions, during the first acquaintance of the child with environment. The child experiences pain and fear. His experiences are: “The world is ok, I am not ok!”. That is, the child takes everything that happens at his own expense, believes that he himself is the cause of his condition. Labor induction causes irreparable damage to the formation of the second matrix. If during this period the child experiences too much pain caused by stimulation, then the “victim syndrome” is fixed in him. In the future, such a child will be touchy, suspicious and even cowardly.

It is in fights that the child learns to cope with difficulties, to show patience and resistance to stress.

Having coped with her fears, mom can control the course of contractions. This will give the child a great experience. independent solution problems.

During the period of contractions, the baby simply needs to feel the support of his mother, her empathy for him.

After all, now he must learn to look boldly into the future. If the result of the struggle was his benevolent acceptance into a new, kind, glorious world, then he again returns to paradise. The child can experience these feelings only in the mother's stomach. Where you can feel her warmth, smell, heartbeat. Then the newborn is applied to the breast, and he once again receives confirmation that he is loved and desired in this world, that he has protection and support.

If the mother demands “to do something, only as soon as possible!”, Then the baby will, if possible, avoid responsibility. There is also an opinion that the use of pain relief, which is almost always combined with stimulation or is done on its own, lays the foundation for the emergence of various kinds of addictions (including alcohol, drugs, nicotine, food). The child remembers once and for all: if difficulties arise, doping is needed to overcome them.

Your task: form the right attitude to difficulties and patience.

Time to decide: contractions.

Correct result: patience, perseverance, perseverance.

Negative result: weakness of spirit, suspiciousness, resentment.

Possible errors in solving the problem:

Stimulation of labor activity
C-section
Mom's Panic

Amendment for "cesareans": Grof believed that babies born through caesarean section skip the second and third matrices in development, and remain at the level of the first.

The result of this may be the problems of self-realization in a competitive environment that a person will experience in the future.

It is believed that if the caesarean section was planned, and the baby did not pass the contractions test conceived by nature, then he will try to escape from problems, and not solve them on his own.

Matrix 3. Purgatory, or the matrix of struggle

The third matrix is laid down as the baby passes through the birth canal. In terms of time - a short period, but do not underestimate it. After all, this is the first experience independent action baby. Because now he is fighting for his life himself, and his mother only helps him to be born. And if you provide him with proper support at this critical moment for the child, in overcoming difficulties he will be quite decisive, active, not afraid of work, will not be afraid to make a mistake.

The problem is that doctors are often involved in the birth process, and their intervention is not always justified. For example, if a doctor puts pressure on a woman in labor to advance the fetus (as often happens), the child may develop an appropriate attitude towards work: until prompted, pushed, the person will not move in indecision and will miss happy opportunities.

The third matrix is also related to sexuality.

Birth Clue: A woman in labor who is in an altered state of consciousness tends to re-enact the scenario of her own birth. And what did our mothers see in Soviet maternity hospitals? With rare exceptions, alas, nothing good.

You can change this picture:

Signing up for special courses to prepare for childbirth
Picking up a good maternity hospital in advance. Moreover, you need to pay attention not only to the big name and technical equipment, but also to the willingness of the staff to support your desire to give birth naturally and preferably without medical intervention.
By correlating the decision on caesarean section or anesthesia with information on perinatal matrices. If such manipulations are not due to medical indications, but to the desire for comfort, you will deliberately harm the child's psyche.

According to Grof, the passivity of many men, their inability to achieve the object of their love, is precisely the result of a “flaw” in the third matrix.

Your task: develops efficiency and determination.

Time to decide: childbirth.

Correct result: determination, mobility, fortitude, diligence.

Negative result: fearfulness, inability to stand up for oneself, aggressiveness.

Possible errors in solving the problem:
Medical pain relief
Epidural anesthesia
Containment of contractions
Unwillingness to participate in childbirth (“I can’t - that’s all!”).

Amendment for caesareans: The influence of the third matrix is so weakened in them that it becomes obvious that a baby born through a caesarean section will not be able to grow up as a purposeful and active person.

Matrix 4. Paradise again, or the matrix of freedom

The first hours of life are the time to reap laurels after trials. And you are obliged with all generosity, love and cordiality to provide them to the baby. After all, now he must learn to look boldly into the future. If the result of the struggle was a benevolent acceptance of him into a new, kind, glorious world, then he returns to paradise again: "The WORLD is OK, I am OK." The child can experience these feelings only on the mother's stomach, where you can feel her warmth, smell and heartbeat. Then the newborn is applied to the breast, and he once again receives confirmation that he is loved and desired in this world, that he has protection and support.

Such a ritual has long become traditional in Europe, as, indeed, in many domestic maternity hospitals. However, there are still quite a few where mother and baby are separated from each other, which, from the point of view of Grof's theory, is very dangerous. After all, this is how a child learns that all his labors and sufferings are in vain. And since there is no need to wait for a reward, then the future awaits him gloomy.

Amendment for "caesareans": These babies are usually even less lucky: immediately after giving birth, they can be separated from their mother for a long time. Therefore, for the correct formation of the fourth matrix, psychologists recommend that women choose epidural anesthesia in order to take the newborn into their arms immediately after birth.

Your task: formation of the child's attitude to life prospects and full-time acquaintance with the world.

Time to decide: first hours of life.

Correct result: high self-esteem, love of life.

Negative result: laziness, pessimism, incredulity.

Possible mistakes:

Cutting the umbilical cord at the stage of pulsation
Birth trauma of the newborn
"Separation" of the newborn from the mother
Rejection or critical attitude towards the newborn
Careless treatment of doctors with a newborn

Correction of matrices after childbirth
If you had a caesarean section, you need:

To stimulate the child to achieve the goal from infancy;
Give breastfeeding, which is harder than bottle feeding;
Teach to reach for toys and other necessary things;
Do not limit his activity by constant swaddling and the walls of the arena;
In the future, find a psychotherapist who will help the child “work through” the moment of his birth;

If there was a difficult pregnancy or separation from the child in the hospital, you need to:

Take the baby in your arms as often as possible;
Take him for a walk in a backpack - "kangaroo";
breastfeed;

If there was an imposition of forceps, you need:

Before demanding independent results from the child, patiently help him
Do not rush the baby when he is trying to solve some problem.

ATTENTION:

This post is NOT a call for drug use, just like this entire blog is NOT a call for widespread immersion in trance states, opening the third eye, contact with aliens and dancing naked with a tambourine around the fire.

Each reader has the right to take out of the information transmitted for reflection exactly as much as his personal comfort zone and its limits will allow. If the issues raised abruptly take you outside of this cherished zone and / or awaken righteous anger in you, it is recommended.

My (and not only my) experience of working with users of various drugs shows that they pollute the channels of perception in the long term, in some cases making meditative states and full-fledged energy cleansing / self-corrections difficult to implement, and can switch these channels to their own, egregorial ones ( cm. ).

People with a lot of experience with psychedelics (any) usually find it more difficult to keep the focus of attention both in the normal state of consciousness and in the meditative state. Sometimes the nervous system can be burned out to a complete lack of sensitivity to energies and perception of subtle planes, antennas are retuned to perceive illusory realities, communication with the VE is blocked, on a gray haze is formed, sometimes condensing to a black oil-like substance (strong emotions of anger, grief, hatred, etc., can have the same effect). Depending on natural defenses, breakdowns in the aura can have extremely deplorable results and attract entities according to the principle of similarity (hence the difficulties with depressive states and addiction).

However, as has been repeatedly said, there is no single rule for everyone, there is only an average cut, usually it happens in different ways.

The combination of the words "altered state of consciousness" causes some excitement and awe, just like the name of the person who devoted his life to such research. We are talking about the famous founder of transpersonal psychology named Stanislav Grof.

Curriculum vitae

He was born in Prague in 1931. Got a higher medical education, studied psychoactive substances and their use in psychotherapy for twenty years. This knowledge is set forth in the book LSD Psychotherapy.

Since 1967, Stanislav has lived and worked in America. In 1975, he meets his future wife, this gives rise to new discoveries. In connection with the prohibition of psychedelic drugs, an alternative method of immersion in a state of altered consciousness was developed - holotropic breathing. Together they begin to conduct sessions. Then Stanislav Grof begins to work on the training of transpersonal psychologists, lectures and conducts seminars around the world.

What is transpersonal psychology?

The object of interest for this was experiences of a special kind, which are called the spiritual world of man. They are conventionally divided into two groups: those included in the "objective" reality and those that go beyond it. The first group includes: the experiences of the child during the period of experience of the ancestors, the phenomena of foresight, memories of past incarnations, and much more. The second group includes the experience of mediums and spiritual experience.

The peculiarity of this trend is that it actively uses the ideas of philosophy, religious teachings, sociology and other sciences.

Most scientific communities do not recognize transpersonal psychology, believe that it has no scientific basis, and the effectiveness of its methods is extremely doubtful.

Expanded Map of Consciousness

Before Grof, it was believed in psychology that a newborn child is a blank slate. He has no memories, no experience. However, during the sessions of the scientist, it turned out that people remember both birth and the period of intrauterine development, are able to leave the limits of their body, merge with the consciousness of other living beings, even with the Universe and the planet.

Based on research, three levels of consciousness were identified:

Biographical, that is, containing information from the moment of birth.
Perinatal, covering intrauterine development and birth.
Transpersonal.

This map includes not only Western theories, but also those that contain the spiritual teachings of the East. Grof also revealed the relationship between the level of awareness and the level of energy available to a person.

The idea of holotropic breathwork

Holotropic breathing helped to gain popularity not only in narrow circles of specialists, but also among people interested in psychology for personal purposes. This is a technique created by Stanislav Grof. was developed by a scientist together with his wife in order to obtain an alternative to LSD, which was banned. However, there are points of view that similar breathing techniques have been used for a long time, for example, in the practice of yoga to achieve the highest state - samadhi.

The methodology has been criticized. It is believed that hypoxia causes the destruction of brain cells, therefore it is dangerous. Proponents argue that the experiences that a person experiences during a session are healing. This allows you to bring out from the depths of the unconscious emotions and unpleasant experiences that are not conscious, and therefore continue to disturb the person and manifest themselves as various symptoms.

The essence of the method

Holotropic breathing is a method whose essence is to create a situation through the technique of frequent breathing. This method eliminates carbon dioxide from human blood, creates a situation of oxygen starvation, to which the brain reacts with an altered state of consciousness. It is believed that this activates the unconscious, repressed experiences rise to the surface in the form of hallucinations.

There are two people in the session. One is a holonaut, he breathes, the other is a sitter, his role is to help and observe. Then the pair change places. The technique has a long list of contraindications.

Basic perinatal matrices

This is another theory, the author of which is Stanislav Grof. Matrices are a model that describes the state of the human psyche during fetal development and birth. This theory states that, living through the period of intrauterine development, and then the moment of birth, a person receives a special experience that affects the rest of his life, and can also be the cause of mental disorders.

The first matrix, called the "amniotic universe", refers to the period when the embryo is in the womb, perceives it as its own universe. This is a static matrix. If the pregnancy was easy, then the matrix is filled with a sense of peace and joy. Any complications during pregnancy add negative elements to the matrix (paradise metaphor).

The second matrix corresponds to the period of contractions before childbirth. There is no way out yet, but there is no longer enough oxygen and nutrients (a metaphor for hopelessness).

The third matrix refers to the period of attempts in childbirth. The fetus gradually moves through the birth canal, this becomes the first experience of overcoming in life (a metaphor for struggle).

The fourth matrix is related to the birth itself and the first moments that the child experiences immediately after it. This is the final loss of connection with the mother's body, the first breath, the feeling of light and others (a metaphor for rebirth).

The theory of matrices has also been actively criticized in scientific circles. However, there are studies that were conducted separately and with other goals, but they confirmed that the course of pregnancy and childbirth does indeed affect the mental development of a person.

Works by Stanislav Grof

If you liked the ideas that Stanislav Grof expressed, books are one way to get to know them better. In Russian, you can find 18 of his works. In total, his books have been published in 16 languages. What work is Stanislav Grof most proud of? Holotropic Consciousness is one of his most popular books. In it, he sets out his theories in detail, confirming with vivid stories from clinical practice.

Another interesting book written by Stanislav Grof is Beyond the Brain. In it, he not only describes his scientific theories, but also criticizes those who do not accept the ideas of expanding human consciousness and calls those who have experienced such an experience mentally ill. The book written by Stanislav Grof (“Beyond the Brain”) also examines many of the actions of famous people and politicians from the point of view of the influence of birth trauma on them. Everyone should read these masterpieces.

Are you interested in Stanislav Grof? His books will surely tell more about all methods of work, research.