Breathing, Moving, Singing, and Speaking

Michael Grant White, founder of Breathing.com, the leading website devoted to breath-related subjects, will be conducting a demonstration of his techniques at this June's Global Inspiration Conference. According to White, "Breath is life. The physical act of your breathing can be a major metaphor or guidepost for your entire life. Breathing more is living more. Breathing better is living better. When your breathing is deeper, easier, softer, longer, wider, smoother, one coordinated thing instead of a series of events...so then is your life. Wear a belt or brassiere five sizes too small and think how life would be if your breathing was hard, shallow, rough, short, narrow, uncoordinated and undetected and you will sense something of what we mean. When positive breathing changes are sustained, many of the restrictions and/or problems of life reduce or disappear. When one learns how breathing is developed in a safe, easy, systematic manner, they will be better able to breathe and help others do the same."

White will use exercises, ergonomics and custom hands-on techniques to show audience participants how to improve their breathing for all to see and enjoy.

White will be a featured speaker at the International Breathwork Conference The International Breathwork Conference comes to U.S. in 2001 Breathwork is coming of age in the United States. Evidence of this is the first Global Inspiration Conference to be held in the Western Hemisphere, June 22-29, 2001 near Merrimac, Wisconsin. The theme of this historic worldwide gathering of breathwork schools, practitioners and proponents is "Uniting in the One Breath." The event itself is a creative blend of education, illumination, personal growth and lighthearted fun -- true "recreation for the soul."

Global Inspiration Conferences began in Sweden in 1994 and have since been held in Poland, Italy, Austria, France and Spain. They are sponsored by the International Breathwork Foundation (IBF), which grew out of the first conference. The IBF's purpose is "to promote a heart-centered approach to breathwork, its theory and practice, for the expansion of consciousness and for personal and global transformation." These are lofty intentions, pursued with earthy enthusiasm by conference attendees.

The schedule for GIC 2001 provides for large group attunements, meditation and individual sessions in the mornings. This is also when IBF business is conducted. The afternoons offer a variety of workshops, forums and presentations. Major breathwork trainers from more than 17 countries will share the best of what they have. Forums will be conducted by invited experts in their fields and involve audience discussion and group interaction.

Forum leaders include:

Sondra Ray, a charismatic speaker and prolific author in the breathwork movement.

Jasmuheen, a unique presence, international lecturer, author and breatharian from Australia.

Kylea Taylor, M.S., a holotropic author who presents a provocative, engaging forum on ethics.

Other forums will be moderated by Jim Morningstar, Ph.D. on training and practice standards, Cathy Gawlik, M.S. on breathwork's adaptation to other healing modalities, and Bo Wahlstrom on business and breathwork.

Michael Grant White, Executive Director of Breathing.com, breathing and voice development specialist and author of Secrets of Optimal Natural Breathing will present an experiential demonstration/lecture teaching the actual mechanics of Optimal Breathing™ and how breathing stronger, easier, deeper, smoother, longer, greater, and more coordinated become metaphors for Life.

Early evenings are devoted to lectures by major proponents and founders of breathwork schools. These include:

Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., author of Conscious Breathing, Learning to Love Yourself and The Corporate Mystic.

Leonard Orr, father of rebirthing, creative thought theorist and international trainer.

Tav Sparks, director of Grof Transpersonal Training and leading theorist in transpersonal recovery.

Bob Mandel, worldwide breathwork trainer and author.

Bob and Judith Wright, founders of the School for Exceptional Living.

Late evenings are open for the free-lance breathwork of song, dance, drumming, etc.

Breathwork has evolved over the past 25 years. It has brought together ancient breathing techniques for health and spiritual awareness with contemporary growth and therapeutic practices. The result has been the evolution of powerful and incisive healing and consciousness-changing modalities. This has given birth to the field of breathwork which has promoted significant advances in medical, psychological and spiritual domains.

Conference organizer Jim Morningstar is finalizing plans for an accredited Masters and Doctorate Program in Spiritual Psychology with a specialization in breathwork. He also is proposing an International Breathwork Certification Alliance among breathwork schools, to be discussed at the conference.

The goals of the GIC 2001 are "to share an atmosphere of mutual inspiration and creativity guided by the spirit of breath, to promote interchange in the areas of technique literature and research and to establish ongoing vehicles for inspirational and creative exchange."

The GIC is intended for breathwork practitioners of all schools, professionals wanting to incorporate breathwork into their work and all interested in integrating breathwork into their lives and learning from worldwide leaders in the field.

Beautiful South Central Wisconsin is the Setting for the first American Global Inspiration Conference being held at the Devils Head Resort and Convention Center, a full-service facility with indoor and outdoor pools and whirlpools, tennis, golf, hiking and mountain bike trails.

The center is located on the hillside of a heavily forested, 1200-acre nature preserve in South Central Wisconsin with views of the Wisconsin River and the Baraboo Range. The conference center is accessible through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, as well as the airports in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. The motif of this first American GIC is Native American and the wide range of activities include sweat lodge and touring effigy mounds. Many other recreational and family activities will be available.

Michael White will present Optimal Breathing™. This is NOT a "breathwork" program of Yoga, meditation, or high intensity energy work. It will be an experiential demonstration/lecture teaching the actual mechanics of Optimal Breathing.

Our nervous system and experience of our inner self is significantly driven by the breathing patterns as they relate to the Autonomic Nervous system and its physical, mental and spiritual influence on the human body.

The "breather's breathing" must be stabilized so that he or she can achieve a dependable nervous system homeostasis. Altered states of consciousness stemming from the breathwork must be balanced with a developed internalized home base or center. Michael will discuss how optimal breathing looks, feels, acts, and sounds, how it relates to day-to-day living and personal transformation.

He will guide the participants in several self-tests for optimal breathing and demonstrate techniques to help optimize breathing as well as choose one or two people from the audience and work on them in front those in attendance.

Michael is the author of Secrets of Optimal Natural Breathing. He is an ordained minister, Licensed Massage Therapist and breathing development specialist combining several alternatives techniques and practices into his work. 3:30 Monday June 25th

For more information and for registration materials, please contact:

Transformations Incorporated
4200 West Good Hope Road
Milwaukee, WI 53209
tel: 414.351.5770
fax: 414.351.5760
e-mail: info@gic2001.com
Web: http://www.gic2001.com