Pillar three ยท Freedom
Ben Holt signature technique
Sonic Neural Breathwork
The deep one, and Ben Holt's own. Fifty-five minutes of connected breathing to music, run as a ceremony. The thinking mind quiets down and the intuitive one takes over, which is why people describe it as mystical, or as the closest thing to a psychedelic experience with nothing in your system. One session can change how you see something for good.
Before you start
- Done with a facilitator, in a retreat or ceremony setting. Set aside about two and a half hours: there is time either side for arriving and for coming back down.
- A few conditions mean this is not the right practice for you. Sit it out if any of these apply: severe heart problems or a pacemaker; seizures or epilepsy; a detached retina or glaucoma; aneurysms in your immediate family; fainting easily; prescription blood thinners; severely low, high or uncontrolled blood pressure; a history of severe panic attacks; psychosis or schizophrenia; pregnancy; stroke, TIA or other neurological conditions; uncontrolled bipolar disorder; osteoporosis.
- Severe trauma is best worked with alongside someone qualified for it.
- Once a week is the ceiling. Once a month is closer to right.
01 · Explanation
02 · The flow, 55 minutes with music
03 · Grounding
The pattern
- 01Lie flat on your back with something over your eyes. Water and chapstick in reach, good headphones on.
- 02Be on your own, or with someone who understands what this is.
- 03Set an intention. What you are letting go of, and what you are bringing in.
- 04Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, belly then chest. Then move to breathing in and out through the mouth.
- 05Ninety percent in, ninety percent out. No pause at the top or the bottom. Keep it circular.
- 06For the first ten to fifteen minutes your head will list every reason to stop. Keep breathing. After that it goes on autopilot and you can breathe however you need to.
- 07Move and make noise. Shake, rock, scream into a pillow, cry. That is the release, not a distraction from it.
- 08The track runs 55 minutes. Come back slowly: fingers and toes, wrists and ankles, roll to one side, sit up with your eyes closed.
Tingling, a dry mouth and cramping hands are normal, especially the first time, and they pass. Most first sessions are sensory rather than emotional. That is not a failure, it is the usual way in.
Some sessions are sensory, some are a release, and some are neither: a wide clear view of your own life from somewhere above it. There is no goal here and no way to do it wrong.
Integrate afterwards. Water, bare feet on the ground, food, time away from a screen, and no rushing back to work.
If it tips into panic, this is a roller coaster you can get off. Slow the breath down and take it through the nose. It settles from there.
How it lands
The first ten minutes are work and your head argues the whole way. Then it stops arguing and something else takes over. Most first times are sensory rather than emotional, tingling and cramping hands, which is the usual way in. Later ones can go somewhere else entirely.
What it does
- A mystical or psychedelic experience, with nothing in your system
- Discharges what the body has been holding on to
- Brings up what got buried, so it can be dealt with
- One session can change the course of something