AHBI Mission and FAQs

The mission of AHBI is to support the practice of Holotropic Breathwork as a resource for healing and transformation.
We aim to do this by:
Striving to make Holotropic Breathwork available to all who might benefit from it.
Supporting the practice of Holotropic Breathwork facilitators and participants.
Enabling connections and communications among all who are interested in Holotropic Breathwork.
Promoting awareness about Holotropic Breathwork by distributing information and research in a variety of languages and formats.
Supporting research into the theory, practice, and effects of Holotropic Breathwork.

FAQs About AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International)
Q: What is AHBI?
Q: Who are the Advisory Board members of AHBI?
Q: What is the mission of AHBI?
Q: Who can join AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International)?
Q: What is the Cost for Membership in AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork
International)?
Q: What are the benefits of joining AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International)?
Q: What is the History of AHBI?

Q: What is AHBI?
The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International became an official non-profit
membership-operated organization in 1989. Incorporating officers, Cary Sparks, Kylea Taylor, and
Laurie Weaver held the first meeting on April 8, 1990, and together with Stanislav and Christina
Grof present, developed a statement of purpose. Laurie Weaver was elected as the first AHBI
President and Kylea Taylor remained the acting editor of the publication, The Inner Door until 2007
when she retired from AHBI.

Q: Who are the Advisory Board members of AHBI?
Current Advisory Board members are as follows. More information about Advisory Board Members at this site page.:

Stanislav Grof, MD, PhD, co-creator of Holotropic Breathwork and one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology;
Christina Grof, author, teacher, artist, psychotherapist, founder of the Spiritual Emergence Network, and co-creator of Holotropic Breathwork;
Jack Kornfield, PhD, founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock and author of multiple books including A Path with Heart;
Richard Tarnas, PhD, professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and author of The Passion of the Western Mind and Cosmos and Psyche, winner of the Book of the Year Prize from the Scientific and Medical Network in England;
Chris Bache, PhD, award-winning professor, Director of Transformative Learning at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and author of Lifecycles and Dark Night, Early Dawn; and
Kylea Taylor, M.S., M.F.T., one of the three initial incorporators of AHBI, who served as Editor of the newsletter and member of the Exeutive Committee until 2006. She is the author of The Breathwork Experience, The Holotropic Breathwork Workshop Manual, and is the editor of the AHBI anthology, Exploring Holotropic Breathwork, among others.

Q: What is the mission of AHBI?
The mission of the Association for Holotropic Breathwork International is to support the practice of
Holotropic Breathwork as a resource for healing and transformation.
AHBI does this by:

Striving to make Holotropic Breathwork available to all who might benefit from it,
Supporting the practice of Holotropic Breathwork facilitators and participants,
Enabling connections and communications among all who are interested in Holotropic Breathwork,
Promoting awareness about Holotropic Breathwork by distributing information and research in a variety of languages and formats, and
Supporting research into the theory, practice, and effects of Holotropic Breathwork.

You can support the publishing of HB research and research projects by becoming a member of
AHBI or donating to AHBI. Contact AHBI or find out more at www.ahbi.org..

AHBI provides this extensive online community web site where interested parties can gain
understanding about Holotropic Breathwork, communicate with practitioners and trained
facilitators, find Breathwork workshops, and discover additional reading materials and resources.

Q: Who can join AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International)?
Membership in AHBI is open to anyone who cares about Holotropic Breathwork for a set annual
membership cost, part or all of which may be tax-deductible for U.S. residents working in a related
field.

Q: What is the Cost for Membership in AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International)?
AHBI Membership is just $65 per year (or $35 for those on low incomes or from developing
countries).

Q: What are the benefits of joining AHBI (The Association for Holotropic Breathwork International)?
AHBI members have a unique opportunity to directly support the practice of Holotropic
Breathwork, research into Holotropic Breathwork, and to help make it available to ever-greater
range of people who seek insight, healing, and improvement in their everyday lives. AHBI members
receive a quarterly publication, The Inner Door -- the only regular publication exploring issues of
interest to those on the holotropic journey. They also enjoy free access to an online archive of Inner
Door articles. Certified facilitators also receive a searchable listing on the AHBI web site.

Q: What is the History of AHBI?

The original idea for the formation of AHBI was the inspiration of Cary Sparks in 1988, after she received her Holotropic Breathwork Certification.
Carlin Scherer provided the original funding for the start-up organization. Cary Sparks, Tav Sparks, and John Scherer organized and edited the first issues of The Inner Door, which later became AHBI’s quarterly newsletter. The organization was transformed into a membership-operated organization and created as an official non-profit organization in 1989. Cary Sparks, Kylea Taylor, and Laurie Weaver were the incorporating officers.
AHBI had its first meeting on April 8, 1990, with Stanislav and Christina Grof present. A statement of purpose was developed. Laurie Weaver was elected as the first AHBI President.
In July 1991, Kylea Taylor became editor of The Inner Door. Kylea remained the acting editor until 2007 when she retired from AHBI (but not from life!). Sharanya Naik graciously served as interim editor for the May 2007 Tribute to Kylea issue while the search for a new editor was launched under the leadership of Kevin Sachs. The new editor, Alysson Troffer, began her work in July 2007. The Inner Door was printed and distributed for ten years by Richard and Carleen Blum and is now printed and distributed by the AHBI office.
The first AHBI conference was held in January 1992 in Orlando, Florida with Stanislav and Christina Grof in attendance. The Grofs made educational presentations, and there were presentations by others about using Holotropic Breathwork with various therapeutic populations such as those in addiction and recovery, those engaged in community building, and in creativity.
The second AHBI conference was held in May 1993 in San Rafael, California. Its topic was “Creativity of the Human Psyche”. John Mack, M.D., Jim Fadiman, and Brenda Love gave presentations. An AHBI meeting was held. The AHBI Board committee proposed Holotropic Breathwork Ethical Agreements, which were approved. Charlie Knutila was elected the next AHBI President.
The third AHBI conference was held in October 1994 in San Francisco, California. The conference topic was “Moving toward Conscious Relationship – Nature, Self, and Other”. Jim Fadiman gave a presentation on “ The Holy Triangle of Relationship”. Presentations were also given about using Holotropic Breathwork with female trauma survivors and those with disocciative identity disorder, and on the use of shamanic inebriance in ethnic cultures. A discussion was also held on the evolution of the AHBI Ethical Agreement.
In February 1996, Carol Trescott was elected President. In August 1996 an AHBI meeting was held in Byfield, Massachusetts. Charlie Knutila was re-elected as AHBI President.
Another AHBI meeting was held in August 1997 in Byfield, Massachusetts. Several informational presentations were given by AHBI members on topics such as trauma, multiple personality disorder, and electronic mixing of music sets using a personal computer. Lenny Gibson was elected President of AHBI.
In 1999, AHBI hired its first part-time employee, Sarah Burdge, for the position of Office Coordinator. Later Glenn Wilson became the AHBI Office manager and administrator.
AHBI went through a long "transformation process" led by Marty Boroson from 2004 through 2006. This process climaxed with Kylea Taylor's retirement from AHBI at the end of 2006. Was there an AHBI "after Kylea?" It wasn't so clear. But thanks to a lot of good work by involved people AHBI re-emerged in the summer of 2007 with a new board, a new mission, an advisory board, a new Inner Door editor, and a plan for implementing its mission (see above).
In 2008 the AHBI Research Committee led by Oliver Williams collected and published online on the AHBI web site a considerable body of research documentation as well as information about ongoing research projects. Tim Brewerton, MD, joined the AHBI board with a focus on collecting, documenting, and publishing case studies concerning the effects of Holotropic Breathwork, especially in relation to addiction recovery.
Also in 2008 the AHBI board approved a new membership approach and authorized an internet presence to be constructed to better support the full Holotropic Breathwork Community.
In 2009 AHBI launched a Holotropic Breathwork On-line Community welcoming everyone interested in Holotropic Breathwork to participate with conversations, blogs, mandalas, and special interest groups. The new community also included an improved Facilitator Search capability and was opened to all certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitators.