Tbilisi · July 18–19, 2026

Holotropic Breathwork

The body knows how to release what it has been carrying for years — if you give it a safe space and breath.

Two days of deep self-exploration in a small group. Led by Grof Legacy Training certified facilitator Igor Felitsin.

Sign up What is it ↓

Personal invitation (video in Russian)

What is it

Breath, music and support — nothing else

Holotropic Breathwork is a practice of deep self-exploration. You lie on a mat with your eyes closed and breathe faster and deeper than usual to specially curated music. Your sitter-partner and a team of facilitators are with you the whole time. No substances: only breath, music and support.

Where the method comes from

Created by Stanislav and Christina Grof in the 1970s at Esalen, California. "Holotropic" comes from the Greek holos (whole) and trepein (moving toward): moving toward wholeness. Over 50 years, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have experienced the method.

Who guides the process

Not the facilitator — your own psyche. It brings up exactly the layer of experience that matters most right now. No need to formulate an intention, and there is no such thing as a "right" experience.

Why a facilitator and a sitter

Their role is to hold a safe space. Not to direct, not to interpret, not to intervene unless needed — to stay present for as long as the process unfolds.

How effective is it

The holotropic approach opens access to wholeness at a depth usually out of reach for rational, talk-based ways of working with yourself. Body and breath reach where words and analysis hit their limit.

How the day goes

Two sessions, two roles

In one day each participant both breathes and sits — accompanies their partner's process. Both roles are a full experience.

Gathering and arrival

Opening circle, tea, tuning in to the two days. Breather–sitter pairs are formed.

Introduction

How the method works, the breathing technique, the roles, the safety guidelines. Everything you need to know is explained here; no preparation required.

First session and mandalas

Half of the group breathes, half are sitters. A session lasts about three hours; afterwards — mandala drawing: a way to give the experience form without words.

Break and switching roles

Lunch, rest, time to be with yourself or in the garden.

Second session

The roles switch: those who accompanied now breathe. Being a sitter is no less powerful an experience than breathing yourself.

Sharing

Closing circle: everyone can speak about their experience — or stay silent. Integration begins here.

A holotropic experience cannot be put into words — but it is tangible in what changes: in the body, in your state, in your life.

Dates · Venue · Price

A weekend at Yoga Villa Tbilisi

When

July 18–19, Sat–Sun

10:00–20:00, both full days

Where

Yoga Villa Tbilisi

37 Oniashvili St, Saburtalo. A fireplace, six windows, a garden.

Price

By donation

Charity format — contribute what feels right

Yoga Villa Tbilisi

Yoga Villa Tbilisi — 50 m² of warm wood and light: a fireplace, six windows, and a garden around the villa.

Igor Felitsin

Facilitator

Igor Felitsin

In my life, the holotropic approach of Stanislav and Christina Grof played one of the key roles. In a moment of deep crisis — personal, economic, existential — it became the turning point. Over several years of intensive inner work I rebuilt my business after bankruptcy, built immeasurably deeper and warmer relationships with people — and arrived at a lastingly different state of mind and quality of life.

I am grateful to this approach, to Stan and to the people who developed the holotropic movement — and I am glad to help it spread further. For millennia, human history held a tradition of mysteries: a living personal experience of contact with the sacred that transformed a person. I believe such practices can enrich our time as well.

Certified facilitator, Grof Legacy Training

a three-year professional program of Stanislav Grof's legacy

Psychology department, St. Petersburg State University (ontopsychology) · Philosophy department, Moscow State University · Executive MBA, Skolkovo · process-oriented therapy (Mindell school) · transpersonal therapy · holoscendence (Sergey Kupriyanov) · integral approach (Eugene Pustoshkin's course)

Participant testimonials

What people take home

Below are the living words of participants from past workshops: names withheld, texts shortened without changing the meaning. Not promises — testimonies: what exactly changed in the body, the state, the life. Translated from Russian.

The armor

On the first day nothing special happened… But the psyche distributes the load on its own — and I came back for the second day. It felt like a cork being pulled out of champagne… After the session — a feeling that a rigid armor had been removed, very gently. Not with the nerves left raw — more as if I had come back home, closer to myself. I had worried breathwork would destabilize me — the opposite: it gathers what matters inside, and the excess falls away. And a day later something strange happened: as if the world turned to face me — and I am visible again, woven back into the fabric of being. A week later: as if a spark of joy and optimism had appeared inside… It was very gentle and very powerful at the same time.

participant, first holotropic breathwork experience

Rebirth

If I had to name this year of my life in one word, it would be "rebirth" — and Holotropic Breathwork became a very important part of that process… What did I live through in these two days? Pain, forgiveness, acknowledgment, acceptance, awareness, love. With every cell of my body I felt the inner healer switch on: the body comes alive, believes that I hear it — and I know this will bear fruit.

participant, first experience

A professional's view

I have known Holotropic Breathwork since 2010, when I first breathed alongside several hundred people — and my world turned upside down… I was delighted with this event. How thought-through everything was, down to the smallest details. An amazing team of facilitators… After the workshop I had more energy and inspiration; during the breathing, new ideas for my current projects kept coming. As a sitter, I admired every participant — how beautiful each person is in their authenticity.

certified holotropic breathwork facilitator (GTT), trauma therapist

The researcher

I was curious how Holotropic Breathwork differs from the inside from rebirthing, Lowen, Reich… And I felt it fully. The "secret" ingredient is the particular way the process is supported by the facilitators and the sitter… From the first minutes of the first session the central theme was set — and the culmination of the second session became its resolution. It is very beautiful. A state has remained in my bodily experience that I can return to and draw from. If I had to describe it in two words — it is a practice of love.

designer, experienced in other breathing practices

"In the first session I felt such boundless love — it is impossible to put into words."

participant

An honest story — no wow effect

A day of clearing out expectations

"I dreamed that after the session something extraordinary would open up in me… The wow effect didn't happen — and if everything had ended on the first day, it would have been one of my biggest disappointments. But now I see it as a day of clearing out expectations… On the second day people started opening up to me in a new way; my labels were falling away like autumn leaves. Being a sitter touched me more: serving people, caring for them — it was probably the first time I felt what it is like to see a spark of light in everyone. The main thing that surfaced was a precise feeling that all my processes are on time and exactly as they should be."

participant, first experience · we publish this because there is no such thing as a "right" session

"The tension in my body released, and I began to trust and open up to people more and more."

participant

"My endurance in training grew — as if something got cleared, unclenched and started flowing the way it should."

participant, amateur athlete

"Inner calm, good working capacity, a clear view of things."

participant, entrepreneur

"A very pronounced lightness in the body. Something evaporated — heavy and pressing."

participant

"You can lean not only on yourself: sometimes, in trust, you hand your weight over — to people, to the field. It is not about dropping responsibility, it is about accepting support."

participant, psychologist

"In two days I lived through two questions that really matter to me — and in one of them the integration was instant. The fruits of this experience will keep growing for a long time."

participant, psychologist

"In everything the team did there was service — from the highest mission down to the invisible details."

yoga teacher

"Being a sitter turned out to be no less powerful an experience than breathing myself."

participant

"I remembered myself, I lived my body and soul anew… I want to return to music again — I had been on a creative pause for a year."

participant, musician

"This is an order of magnitude above most of what today's 'market' of spiritual and transpersonal practices offers, in quality and in depth."

practitioner and teacher of somatic practices

"I am not what happens to me — I am how I respond to it. I consider this, too, an after-effect of the breathwork: the experience is still unfolding."

participant, three weeks later

Contraindications

This is a serious practice — and it has boundaries

Holotropic Breathwork involves serious psychological and physical load, comparable to an intense athletic workout. It is an experience of personal growth, not a substitute for psychotherapy. The workshop is not suitable in case of:

—pregnancy
—cardiovascular problems: heart attacks, heart surgery, severe hypertension, atherosclerosis, angina, arrhythmia
—epilepsy
—diagnosed psychiatric conditions
—recent surgery, fractures or fresh stitches
—acute infectious diseases
—glaucoma or retinal detachment
—an active psychospiritual crisis

If you take psychopharmacological medication — be sure to mention it before registering. Each participant is personally responsible for informing the facilitator about their health conditions; if you are unsure whether the practice suits you — consult your doctor and write to Igor: t.me/IF777. That is a normal and right step.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

The method has existed for more than 50 years and has been refined by hundreds of thousands of participants worldwide. The body has built-in self-regulation mechanisms: the protective mechanism of the cardiorespiratory system kicks in within the first minutes of intense breathing. At the same time the load is comparable to a serious workout — hence the contraindications, and a sitter and a team of facilitators accompanying every session.

There is no prescribed sequence of experiences: bodily sensations, emotions, images, memories — or a quiet, calm session. The psyche brings up exactly the experience that is needed now. There are no "right" processes.

Your partner for the duration of the session. When we touch vulnerable layers, it matters to know that someone is continuously caring and ready to support — without that anchor, part of the process simply does not unfold. Then you switch roles — and the sitter's experience often proves no less valuable.

Yes. You can ask to be paired together — or, on the contrary, work with someone you don't know: both options have their advantages.

No. Grof recommends letting go of expectations and trusting inner wisdom: we formulate intentions from our habitual state, while in an expanded one we see ourselves and our true needs differently. A rigid agenda tends to get in the way of a soft, natural experience.

A quiet session is still a session. The psyche doses the load itself, and the absence of fireworks often turns out to be the most precise experience.

No. This is a conscious practice: contact with reality is preserved even during very intense experiences, and at any moment you can return to normal breathing — the intensity will decrease. You control the depth of the process with your own breath.

No. No preparation is required — everything you need is explained in the introduction on the first day. All you need is a basically stable condition (see contraindications) and a readiness to be open to whatever unfolds.

Get a good night's sleep, avoid alcohol for a couple of days, ideally eat lightly the day before. Bring comfortable clothes for movement and a light lunch. Nervousness and doubts before the practice are normal and natural.

After the workshop

The practice doesn't end at the door

The experience keeps working for several more days — and it is worth giving yourself that time.

Keep the evenings of both days free: body and psyche need time to reorganize.

A general recommendation — avoid abrupt life decisions for two weeks.

Post-session support is part of the facilitator's work: if difficult states arise — write to Igor.

A few days later — an online integration meeting of the group: to compare notes, ask questions, anchor what was found.

Breathwork is part of a larger practice. If you feel like continuing the path — there is "100 Days of Spirit": a long-distance daily practice of inner work.

Sign up

Write to Igor — a short conversation to answer your questions. No commitment.

Message on Telegram Message on WhatsApp Call: +995 555 235 172