Sacred Breathwork

C. Mikkal Smith developed Sacred Breathwork as a form of ceremony to connect deeply with the Great Spirit through powerful non-ordinary states of consciousness, for purposes of worship and renewal, the healing of old wounds, and for the exploration of the visionary and archetypal realms of the collective unconscious. It is the creative expression of the Divine through breath, dance, art, poetry and chanting.

Sacred Breathwork is rooted in shamanism and the soul psychology inspired by C.G. Jung. It has been synthesized from numerous other sources originating with the Holotropic technique developed by Stanislav and Christina Grof in the early 1980's. This procedure is rigorously modified by C. Mikkal Smith in the light of his thirty years of practice in shamanic healing and breathwork, clinical psychological and concurrent medical anthropological research into powerful healing systems across cultures.

The method and setting of Sacred Breathwork is comprised of 8 major elements which work together in concert:

1. Connected breath.
2. Ritual context and ritual leadership protocol (for the facilitator).
3. A safe sacred space/time module with attention to low numinal-ambient lighting, "allowing" space, physical comfort, and natural location (where possible).
4. Profound music selection based on numinous and non-specific evocative qualities and ritual phase-specific criteria. 

Sacred Breathwork is a process done in group workshops or individual sessions. Participants alternate in roles as a Journeyer (breather) and an Ally (sitter). The Ally’s job is to support and protect the journeyer, above all holding space for the process of the Journeyer to unfold. So they are Guardians as well as Allies. The Ally’s focus as compassionate witness does not interfere with the Journeyer’s process unless safety is at stake. The same is true for the facilitator as Ritual Elder.

The safety of the Journeyer and the space in which the ceremony is being held is the paramount rule at all times.