Workshop Info

Schedule 2026

One-day Workshop

Friday

19 June 2026
18 September 2026

Intensive 2-day workshop

Saturday and Sunday

13–14 June 2026 (waitinglist)
4–5 July 2026 (almost full)
12–13 September 2026
21–22 November 2026

Friday and Saturday

2–3 October 2026
11–12 December 2026

Online introduction in English

4 June 2026 19:30–21:30

Click here for introductions in English

English
Please see www.holotropicbreathwork.nl

Formats

Day workshop
Minimum 8 and maximum 12 participants.
Each participant has 1 breathing session and 1 sitting session.
The day starts at 08:45 and ends around 19:30.

Intensive 2-day workshop
Minimum 8 and maximum 12 participants.
Each participant has 2 breathing sessions and 2 sitting sessions.
Both days start at 08:45 and end around 18:30 (indicative).

A Holotropic Breathwork® workshop always consists of:

a one-time introduction to Holotropic Breathwork®
opening
round of introductions
forming pairs
breathing session
simple vegan/vegetarian lunch
sitter session
drawing a mandala
sharing round

Want to register right away? First read the rest of the website carefully. Below the information you will find the registration form.

Individual sessions

If you prefer an individual session, that is of course also possible. It is a powerful accelerator for any form of therapy you are following.

In addition, I guide people with psychotherapy both in combination with Holotropic Breathwork® and without. For more information, see www.free-your-energy.nl

In total you will be at the practice for about 4.5 hours, including arriving, the breathing session (3 hours), mandala and sharing your experience.

Everyone follows a one-time introduction to Holotropic Breathwork®. This can be individual or by participating in an online group introduction.

For rates for individual sessions, see www.free-your-energy.nl.

Stanislav Grof is one of the most important pioneers in the scientific understanding of consciousness...

Deepak Chopra

Who am I?

Judith Smit

I have been working with people in non-ordinary states of consciousness for 14 years now, both through deep Holotropic Breathwork® sessions and with psychedelics.

People describe me as warm, open, honest, humorous and down-to-earth. My core values in my work are safety, connection, trust and welcoming everything that presents itself!

Through trainings, my personal healing and many years of experience with clients I have both theoretical and practical knowledge of prenatal psychology, transpersonal psychology, developmental psychology and attachment issues. I have therefore specialised in guiding people with early childhood trauma, birth trauma and transgenerational trauma.

With great passion I help people get to know and accept parts of themselves that are hurt or (deeply) wounded and then heal and integrate them. This creates a healthy inner dynamic, which automatically leads to a healthier relationship with the outside world.

I do this with a form of psychotherapy in which there is space for the whole person: body, emotion and psyche. This therapy works both with and without Holotropic Breathwork®.

General Info

What is Holotropic Breathwork®?

Holotropic is derived from the words Holos and Trepein and means “moving toward wholeness”.
Holotropic Breathwork® is a very powerful format for resolving emotional and physical blockages, gaining insight into behaviour patterns and thoughts, and becoming your true Self. The healing power of Holotropic Breathwork® can be explained by a number of factors. The format was developed by Stanislav Grof and his wife Christina and combines insights from modern consciousness research, various forms of depth psychology, anthropology, transpersonal psychology, Eastern spiritual practices and mystical traditions.

Grof's work is the most important contribution to personality theory in several decades

Abraham Maslow

What happens during the breathing?

Through connected breathing you enter a non-ordinary state of consciousness. A non-ordinary state of consciousness is a state of awareness similar to a kind of trance or dream state and activates your cellular memory. When you are in a non-ordinary state of consciousness, your self-healing capacity is strongly activated. This self-healing capacity brings unresolved experiences into your consciousness for processing. When you fully live through the experience, it is finally processed and can be released. Sometimes an experience is so stuck in the body that a form of bodywork is used to help release it.

Integration of experiences after a breathing session

Within the Holotropic Breathwork® format there is also space for integration. The processing of your experiences is initiated in two ways: emotional processing by drawing a mandala, and cognitive processing by putting the essence of your experience into words during a sharing round.

The experiences, insights, emotions, feelings and thoughts you gain during Holotropic Breathwork® can be integrated into your daily life in different ways. You can talk or write about them. Walks in nature, dance, sports or meditation are also good methods. In addition, various forms of therapy are recommended. If you do nothing with the experiences, a large part will fade over time, just like a dream. It is therefore very important that you actively work with them in order to benefit as much as possible.

According to Stanislav Grof and now also in my own experience, the most optimal form of therapy is a combination of:

Work in a non-ordinary state of consciousness, such as Holotropic Breathwork®
Forms of psycho(social) therapy, such as Gestalt, psychoanalysis, Voice Dialogue, creative therapy
Bodywork, such as Emotional bodywork, various forms of massage, acupuncture

It is therefore advisable to visit a therapist to help you with the integration. Look for a therapist who is open to the ideas of Stanislav Grof and transpersonal psychology. For integration of your experiences you can of course also come to me (online as well). Read more at www.free-your-energy.nl

Key Factors

There are three factors that contribute greatly to the healing potential of Holotropic Breathwork®. These distinguishing factors are also the biggest differences with other forms of breathwork. They are duration, safety and (no) external stimulation.

Duration

Stan Grof has researched the effectiveness of different session lengths. This has shown the following: the activation of your inner process is optimal during a 3-hour session. Of course, a large part of the process already takes place during the session. You can see it as a kick-start. After the session your process continues for days, weeks and sometimes even months. By actively working on the integration of your experiences, you optimise the effect!

In Holotropic Breathwork®, Stan and Christina have blended scientific and intellectual understanding, masculine and feminine, and ancient and post-modern wisdom and made their work and training available on every continent...

Jack Kornfield

Safety

The safer you feel, the more you dare to sink deeper into the non-ordinary state of consciousness. Several aspects contribute to this, namely:

A good introduction (psycho-education) to this work. During this introduction you receive information about the very deep states of consciousness you can enter and how these are handled during your breathing session. You also receive information about contraindications in breathwork and whether participation is safe given your physical and psychological condition.
Time to arrive calmly at the location and settle into your place
Plenty of time for your breathing session (3 hours)
A thorough check-out
Time for immediate integration of your experiences
A well-trained, certified facilitator, an assistant and a sitter

Why a sitter?

Holotropic Breathwork® is characterised by working with sitters. During the introductions you form pairs. One person breathes in the morning while the other acts as sitter; in the afternoon the roles are reversed. This greatly contributes to the feeling of safety.

In addition, it is important how safe you feel with yourself. The more often you breathe, the more this sense of safety grows.

Stimulation

Holotropic Breathwork® uses evocative music. This music stimulates those areas in the subconscious where your unresolved events are stored. The unresolved emotions are touched by the music, bringing the event back into your consciousness. You respond to the music that triggers you, and you do not respond to other music.

In Holotropic Breathwork® there is therefore no directing. In other forms of breathwork instructions are given, people talk to you, or you are touched without being asked in order to change or heal something in you. Words address the rational mind and largely direct your process; you then do not enter a non-ordinary state of consciousness and the self-healing capacity is not activated.

Results

Precisely because the self-healing capacity determines what is brought into consciousness, you cannot have expectations about the result. The tip is therefore to let go of all expectations. And… my experience has taught me that the results are greater than you could ever have imagined.

Below is a selection of results reported by participants in Holotropic Breathwork® workshops:

You start recognising the cause of emotions, feelings and thoughts and learn to break behaviour patterns
Traumas are processed and released
You discover the cause of psychosomatic conditions and physical imbalance
It reduces or heals psychosomatic and psychological complaints
It contributes to your personal and spiritual growth and development
You come into contact with your true Self
You dare to live your true Self more
You learn to accept yourself and others more

I lived and worked for many years at Esalen Institute... In terms of therapeutic effectiveness, Grof's was by far the most powerful.

Richard Tarnas

For whom?

For whom is it suitable?

For people whose issues do not improve or disappear after regular and/or alternative mental health care
People with psychosomatic complaints
People with an addiction sensitivity
People with unresolved trauma
People with depressive symptoms or depression
People with anxiety
For people with birth trauma

For whom is it less suitable?

Contraindications

Because Holotropic Breathwork® can work powerfully, a number of contraindications apply. During the intake we will assess safety together.

The contraindications include:

Cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure
Psychiatric disorders (e.g. (predisposition to) psychosis)
Stroke, TIA, neurological disorders
Recent surgeries, physical injuries
Infectious and contagious diseases
Glaucoma, retinal problems
Epilepsy, osteoporosis, asthma
Pregnancy
Active drug or alcohol addiction

Rates

Introduction

Online group introduction (psycho-education): € 150 of which you receive a discount twice:
- € 50 discount on your first and € 50 on your second workshop, or
- € 40 discount on your first and € 40 on your second individual session
Personal psycho-education session (can also be online): see prices at www.free-your-energy.nl

Workshops

Workshop with 1 breathing session per person:

Early bird: € 160 up to 4 weeks before the workshop
Last 4 weeks: € 200

Intensive with 2 breathing sessions per person:

Early bird: € 295 up to 4 weeks before the workshop
Last 4 weeks: € 340

Individual session

See www.free-your-energy.nl

Cancellation

An online group introduction can be cancelled free of charge at any time.

A workshop can be cancelled free of charge up to 4 weeks before the start. After that you will receive your money back minus € 75 administration costs.

Registration

Interested? Then register.

After registration you will receive an appointment confirmation and 3 questionnaires. Please fill these in before the appointment. On the first day of the quarter in which the workshop or introduction is scheduled, you will receive an invoice. Your place is only reserved after payment.