"Transcendental Breathing"with Thomas Amiard

My guest on the podcast this week is Thomas Amiard. Thomas currently lives in Hong Kong with his family. He is a French psychotherapist, personal development and breathwork facilitator, a speaker, a sound engineer and an artist. 

 We hear in the podcast how in 1993 Thomas met a shaman, a traditional healer in the Sierra Mazateca mountains in Mexico and how this launched him into a life long journey of self-discovery.  

 Later Thomas moved to South America with his family and encountered Holotropic Breathwork. He decided to become a certified Holotropic Breathing Coach and had the good fortune to study with Stan Grof, the co-creator of Transpersonal Psychology. We talk in detail about Transcendental Breathing and other breathing modalities that Thomas uses with his clients.

Timings
3:06 I first leave France for S.America nearly 11 years ago...arriving in Hong Kong nearly six years now.
4:33 Why I am doing Breathwork now is linked to my first trip in South America  in Central America exactly... 48hours after we arrived... what about going to a shaman for a healing session... lets go lets go...
6:37 The shaman was the niece of Maria Sabina ...famous in the 70s... Rolling Stones, Bob Dylans, the Beatles.... went to that place...
7:47 After 3 days when we went down the mountain, after 2 sessions, everything was different... the whole notion of reality had completely shift[ed]...
9:55 With this we organised our own sessions ...in the dunes....for around two years we were investigating...
10:47 I was digesting... integration is important
15 years after...my wife...I have an opportunity to go in Chile for working... it took me around 30s [to decide] .....
12:57 [Preparing for a lecture] I discovered a man I didn't know...Stan Grof...this guy knew everything about what I was interested in...shamanism...traditional techniques... eastern practices... famous psychologist and psychiatrist...co-creator of the 4th wave...transpersonal psychology... with Abraham Maslow...
14:35 I signed for a session of Holotropic Breathwork...
16:20 I need to give it a try ... I was a bit sceptical... my name is Thomas... the first session really blew my mind...
19:07 I used to bite my nails...since I was a child...[my nail biting was gone] this is a miracle... this makes sense to the session I just had... I want to be certified...
19:56 This technique didn't need any plant, any chemical...anywhere...anyone...I signed for the certification...
21:12 You know Stan[Stan Grof] ...he will start teaching again ... he will start by...[Chile]...where I was living... the loop was completed...
24:42 When arriving in HK I've been working in a medical practice a psychotherapist... At the same time I was running Holotropic Breathwork workshops...
27:57 Mostly I am doing sessions and then we recollect...
29:53 I call it Transcendental Breathwork now... a bit more adapted to HK...
31:47 In HK I am working with mostly 8-10 people...
33:59 [Transcendental Breathing] The classic one I am doing in HK for 5 years... like a retreat... in Mui Wo... a musical journey...recollection... sharing circle... on the beach...
39:52 Please come with a beginners mind... there are 4 kinds of experiences...body...biographic memory...pre-biographic...rebirthing...transpersonal realm
50:00 Most of the shamans have animal names....they connect with the consciousness of the animal...
53:44 There are three kinds of participants...[those] who have a problem... for self discovery....for experience
58:29 I am regularly running Sufi Breathwork...Dantian system... Pranayama... Buteyko...Wim Hof ...

Contact Thomas
Mindfulbreathwork.com
IG: Mindfulbreathwork

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