The Description and Evaluation of an African Breath Psychotherapeutic Workshop

Abstract

An African breath psychotherapeutic workshop is described and evaluated with a small group of participants (students =9, males = 3, females =6, age range =24 to 59 years, mean age 40.3 years) all of whom were professionally registered psychologists. There were 3 Xhosa, 2 Zulu, 1 Tswana, 2 English and 1 Afrikaans home language speakers. The workshop, which was based on accessing original Spirit through ancestral and personal breath-based spirituality, was called Shiso, an acronym for Spirit, Heart, Image, Soul and Oneness. Findings indicated significant improvement in self-perceived ratings of spirituality on a standardized scale by all participants. Individual student descriptions and focus group discussion indicated some awareness of original Spirit as revealed through subtle breathing experiences invoking the universal and personal ancestral presence of the participants. The experience was meaningfully described in such terms as relaxation, connection, openness, harmony, integration, awareness, amazement, healing and transcendence.

Keywords:

• African
• breath
• psychotherapy
• workshop
• spirituality
• spiritual healing