Positive Health Online

Within us all exists incredible Joy and Excitement
We can get in touch with this Joy and Excitement
by healing our Birth at a cellular level

What is Rebirthing?

Rebirthing or the 're-creation' of birth is a relaxed, revitalizing, connected breathing process similar to, because of the connected breathing, but not based upon, Kriya Yoga, which is more of a discipline than Rebirthing (which has more of an intuitive, inspirational feel about it according to some who have tried it). Rebirthing brings to your awareness unconscious thoughts, feelings and memories – some of which may go back to your birth, although that is not the only focus – with the intention of accepting and integrating anything 'negative' in the cells of your body. In other words not making anything wrong. Actually, it could be called 'Making everything Alright (All Right) Therapy'; however, more explanation of this later on.

The author (left) talking with a client

With the aid of positive affirmations, given sometimes during and after the breathing, a client will be able to create and attract to themselves exactly what they do want in their life. Yes, everything (given patience)! It is based on the philosophy that Thought is Creative, that all our thoughts and beliefs create results in our life. Very simply, if we don't like or are unhappy with our lives to start with, we need to change our thoughts. If we change our thoughts, we change our lives because everything follows on from thought.

This is very different to the way many people see what 'happens' to them (as opposed to what they create) in their lives, and it certainly lets go of 'victim consciousness'. We are ALL responsible but absolutely not to blame for our lives and we are truly the creators of them. We can change our negative thought patterns with the help of this amazing, connected breathing process and with the help of new, positive thoughts. Of course, the proof is 'in the pudding' or at least 'in the eating of it', so I encourage everyone to at least sample this incredible technique and see for yourself!

Rebirthing also helps you to free your breath in a safe and exhilarating way. Many of us don't breathe very fully or openly. This is understandable given that for many of us we had our umbilical cords cut too soon at our births and/or were turned upside down and smacked on our behinds to get us to take our first breath. Just imagine the thoughts and feelings of a tiny baby experiencing this – and please keep breathing as you read this and maybe affirm your safety (even if this sounds strange), because just reading it can get you in touch with possibly unsettling memories. This is absolutely not to blame the medical profession, or whoever was there at your birth, because it was often their panic just to keep you alive and start you breathing as soon as possible that made them perform these actions. However, most of the time this abruptness absolutely wasn't necessary and, in fact, these events in themselves, with all the thoughts and feelings surrounding them, could have had a lasting and devastating effect on your breathing. This is why it is so important to heal our birth patterns. We are meant to enjoy breathing! Our births can also have an effect upon how we think of men and women in authority in or out of the medical profession – going back to the obstetrician/doctor/nurse/ midwife or whoever was there at the time of our delivery – and these can have been the beginning of any thought of being a victim rather than of having a choice in life. We do always have a choice, and the good news is that we can release safely any possible trauma associated with the events of our birth through the breathing and by choosing new thoughts – to create new lives for ourselves.

Therefore, I think it is much safer to be rebirthed than not to be because, as it's our thoughts that draw to us our lives so-to-speak, obviously the more positive thoughts we can have in our conscious and subconscious minds – the more positive, and for some people safer – our lives will be. Also, as I'm sure we all know: what we resist – persists and what we suppress – possesses us. So it's healthier to 'let go and let God' as I say to my clients and it's safe to trust and you only have fear to lose and everything to gain. I've noticed that however our births were seems to be exactly how we create our lives. Of course, forgiveness plays a vital role in creating happier lives for ourselves; however, when we realize that we are all responsible for our lives and no-one is to blame, forgiveness usually becomes easier.

Three of the most negative thoughts that people often have that are definitely worth changing are: the thought that you are bad (not true – we are in essence good and innocent); the thought that you are separate (not true – we are all connected) even though we are unique individuals; and the thought, as I have already mentioned, that you are a victim of life (not true – we are the creators of our lives). This is the Paradigm Shift that I mentioned earlier.

What Rebirthing is NOT

Rebirthing is NOT about being smothered in a sack or rolled up in a tight carpet, etc., and having to force your way out, as apparently was the case with some poor, young girl in Colorado last year who suffocated as a result and actually very tragically died. That sounded like torture therapy.

Rebirthing is absolutely NOTHING to do with the above – in fact it is the exact Opposite. It is a very simple, profound and joyous breathing process where you usually lie down, fully clothed (apart from water rebirths which, as the name suggests, are usually in warm water) or sit down as in the case of tantric breathing where you gaze into your rebirther's eyes – and breathe in a relaxed, connected cycle. So please don't 'throw the baby out with the bath water'!

Birth is a sacred and to be celebrated event. Happy births equal happy beings. How many of us though had happy births? The answer to that is why I think Rebirthing is an incredibly important and life-saving therapy. It is also one of the fastest ways of getting to the root of why things happen in our lives. Through it you can discover the incredible joy of being YOU and being ALIVE!

What is the ultimate Goal of Rebirthing?

Very simply, the ultimate goal of Rebirthing, and surely of life, is to regain true, high self-esteem in every area of your life. I'm sure there would be fewer wars and less destruction of the planet if everyone in the world had high self-esteem.

Why is it called Rebirthing?

It is called Rebirthing because when Leonard Orr (the 'father' of Rebirthing) developed it in the early 1970s, both he and his early clients relived their own births – discovering the tremendous impact birth had had on their own lives.

Now Rebirthing is a more holistic process – focusing as well on our childhood and life experiences.

What's a Session like?

Each session involves both counselling to start with and the connected breathing process. The first session may take between 2-2 1/2 hours; thereafter a session lasts approximately two hours.

A Rebirthing session

As already mentioned, the connected breathing cycle rejuvenates the cells of your body and brings to your awareness unconscious thoughts, memories and feelings. By accepting anything that occurs in a session and making it alright (all right), as opposed to all wrong (which is why it got 'stuck' in your physical system in the first place), and continuing with the breathing, you are able to dissolve the original 'charge' and integrate whatever is happening. At some point there is usually a re-connection to Divine Energy, and as a result you may experience vibrating and tingling in your body. This is what is called an energy release – a cellular cleansing of tension and stress in the body. If this happens it almost always leaves the client in an extraordinarily peaceful and sometimes ecstatic state.

How a client breathes in a session tells me how a client breathes normally and how they are in their lives. And no way of breathing is wrong. After the breathing is integrated and complete the client will be able to share their experience and any insights they now have. I then share my own insights and intuitively give them specific, positive affirmations to attract what they do want in their lives.

How often do I need to be rebirthed?

Ideally ten sessions, but this really varies from person to person. In most people's experience even a short-term commitment to the rebirthing process brings long-term and life-enhancing results.

You will also learn how to rebirth yourself and have a precious and invaluable tool for life.

How does Rebirthing relate to Childbirth?

Rebirthing does not directly relate to childbirth, but if both parents have resolved their own births and family issues, their baby will be more likely to have a happy birth, they will generally be happier parents and have a happier child.

Since birth has a major impact on our lives, Rebirthers tend to be advocates of natural, gentle childbirth practices.

Areas of Special Benefit

• Traumatic Births;
• Tight or Shallow Breathing;
• Asthma, Cancer, Arthritis, Migraine, Insomnia, etc;
• Depression, Anxiety, etc;
• Sexual Abuse and Related Patterns of Behaviour;
• Psychosomatic Conditions;
• Suppressed Emotions;
• Recurring Negative Thought Patterns in Relationships;
• Lack of Life Purpose;
• Loneliness;
• General Stuckness in Life.

Point of Interest: Cranial-Sacral Therapy Training usually includes Rebirthing in their programme as they value and see the connection between these two precious and important therapies.

Some Clients' Feedback:

• The pain of gallstones dissolving in a client's session;
• Access of hitherto not experienced feelings;
• A lady who had been a 'blue' baby turning pink;
• An experience of clarity of purpose;
• A Past Life memory helping to clarify why a gentleman found it abhorrent to be a man, and how the breathing and specific affirmations helped him to realize his total innocence and to start to reclaim his sexuality as a man.

Case Histories

"Laura completed ten sessions and says that her sessions gave her an understanding at a very deep level of how her earliest experiences had affected her life, and she had been opened up to the possibility of a different way of being. Laura was feeling exhausted through the effort of helping some elderly people (she is a pensioner herself) who kept asking her to do things for them even though they had families nearby. She had difficulty in saying 'no' as she felt sorry for them. During the sessions she got the courage to inform one lady she would like a contribution towards petrol. She never heard from the lady again and the others just stopped calling her! They didn't know each other so there could not have been a 'grapevine' effect."
Judith David, Integrated Breath Therapist, Transpersonal Astrologer, Woking (hey.jude@ukonline.co.uk).

"J, an American, working in London, aged 28, was very unsure about a relationship he had made over here. Rebirthing helped him to clarify his feelings and after about eight sessions they shared a flat together and she became his fiancée. He had reservations because of their different backgrounds but Rebirthing seemed to help him become stronger and more certain he was doing the right thing. He had a lot of pressure from his family from the US who had expectations of a different kind of wife. He became able to face up to them."
Vivienne Silver-Leigh, Psychotherapist, Breathworker (VSilverl@aol.com).

"Maria had suffered severe migraines for 43 years. Since she experienced Rebirthing – some sessions of which were lying down and some which were in a specific position with her head hanging down very low (this position is good to release chronic migraine headaches) – she discovered she had 'held in/suppressed' her traumatic birth for many years. During the breathing sessions she got in touch with and changed her Personal Law (Personal Lie: the most negative thought she had about life) which was a deep mistrust of life and consequently always having a deep fear inside her – and having changed this thought to a positive one (her Eternal Truth) of trusting life again, she dissolved the migraine symptoms, began to trust and surrender to life and consequently relaxed and began to sleep well. She no longer has migraines."
Mel Freitas, International Rebirther & Trainer, Counselling Psychologist (melfreitas@hotmail.com).

Bibliography

Begge Deike. Rebirthing: Freedom From Your Past. UK. Thorsons. 1999.
Chamberlain David. Babies Remember Birth. Ballentine Books. 1988.
Dowling Catherine. Rebirthing and Breathwork: a Powerful Technique for Personal Transformation. UK. Piatkus. 2000.
Edward Viola. Breathing the Rhythm of Success. Gilavil. CA. Venezuela. 2001. Or order via Brigitte Martin Powell (brigitte@all-one.fsnet.co.uk)
Kravitz Judith. Breathe Deeply, Laugh Loudly: The Joy of Transformational Breathing. Ink Free Press. 1999.
Leboyer Frederick. Birth Without Violence. Fontana/Collins. 1977.
Leonard Jim and Laut, Phil. Rebirthing: the Science of Enjoying All your Life. Trinity Publications. 1983.
Manne Joy. Soul Therapy. North Atlantic Books. 1997.
Minnett Gunnel. Breath and Spirit. UK. Aquarian Press. 1994.
Moore Robert. Editor. Breathe the International Breathwork Magazine. (robert@breathe-mag.co.uk)
Orr, Leonard and Ray, Sondra. Rebirthing in the New Age. Celestial Arts. 1983.
Verney Dr Thomas and John Kelly. The Secret Life of the Unborn Child. Time/Warner. 1993.

Further Information

www.rebirthing.com
www.ecstaticbirth.com
www.bobmandel.com .
www.breathe-mag.co.uk