VIVATION® and REBIRTHING
CONSCIOUS BREATHING, JOYFUL LIVING

Individual Sessions and Workshops, offered by
David A. Pierce, AVP, Certified Rebirther & Vivation Professional *

Toll-free  800-707-2785 -- Email: dpierce@pobox.com
Silver Spring, Maryland -- and Gettysburg, PA

Vivation®  and Rebirthing utilize the power of the breath to assist us in awakening to who we really are.  In a session you are facilitated both in clearing past experiences where limiting thoughts were formed and in directly experiencing the richness of the Now, free of those thoughts.

The Process    The Breath    5 Elements    Vivation&Rebirthing    Sessions    Facilitator Bio


Rebirthing, Vivation, Conscious Breathing each refer to a kinesthetic process for achieving emotional resolution and thus maximizing the feeling of aliveness and enjoyment of life which are our birthright.  The process involves applying circular breathing and other learned skills to develop positive ways of relating to our feelings and experiences.  It is a body-centered therapy that uses a the power of the breath to help activate and release stored stress, pain, and emotional trauma of many types.  The results are often profound as this process works directly at the core of these issues whether conscious or unconscious.  That is, while the process often involves uncovering limiting beliefs and suppressed feelings that originate before, during, and after birth, frequently such material can be integrated at the subconscious level without re-experiencing it.   In either case the result is more space in your life for joy, love, health, prosperity and functional relationships.

Rebirthing was developed a quarter century ago by Leonard Orr and Sondra Ray, and is now widely recognized as a powerful, efficient healing method.  Vivation was developed in the 1980s by Jim Leonard along with Phil Laut, and combines the breathwork of Rebirthing with several innovations (such as the 5 Elements below) to maximize the effectiveness of the process.

The Power of the Breath.

The Latin work "Spiritus" means to breathe, so that at its fundamental level there is a spiritual dimension to breathing.  That is, when we breathe we cause the movement of energy - life force energy - through our bodies, as well as the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide.  Rebirthing and Vivation work predominately through breathing consciously in such a way that (a) the breaths are connected, or "circular", and (b) more than the usual amount of air is taken in.  This conscious, connected breathing thus brings in more life force energy than one is normally used to having in the body.  This extra life energy may initially appear as heat, pressure, cold, tingling, vibration, and other body sensations.  Specific areas of the body may become activated as this force flows through, bringing awareness to areas in the body/mind that heretofore have been blocked.  Emotions and memories suppressed by these blockages are thus free to surface, to be experienced and, if appropriate, released.  There may be areas of our lives that are currently not working due to these long-held energy blocks, so that people frequently report significant changes on long-standing issues.

Even by itself, proper breathing has profound effects on our health.  The increased air circulation has significant cleansing and detoxification effects, at both the physical and etheric levels.  Good breathing supports muscle growth and rejuvenation, fosters relaxation in place of stress, and increases our energy level and sense of well-being.  Very often our "breathing mechanism" is in need of healing as a result of a lifetime of habit and suppression, perhaps even beginning with our very first breath.

5 Elements

While the power of the breath is a most important factor behind the process, it can work even more effectively when the breathing occurs in an appropriate context.  The best such context that I have seen was developed by Jim Leonard and is known as the 5 Elements of Vivation® (originally, the 5 Elements of Rebirthing).  The 5 Elements are concepts to pay attention to during the Breathing session and, for that matter, during one's entire life.  They are

  1. Circular Breathing - as described above.  By increasing and connecting the flow of energy in the body, suppressed material is accessed and our over-all feeling of aliveness is increased.
  2. Relaxation also helps the energy flow.  The idea is to relax as much as you can except for the inhale (and muscles used to support your posture if you are sitting).
  3. Awareness means focusing on what's real at the moment, what's actually going on, whatever patterns of energy or feelings are coming up for you - rather than, e.g., daydreaming, falling asleep, thinking about the rest of the day, or otherwise being distracted.
  4. Integration into Ecstasy consists of shifting one's viewpoint from a negative context to a positive context, that is, finding a positive way to relate to the feelings and energy patterns that are being experienced during a session (or at any other time).
  5. Willingness - the process is not about "doing it right".  A desire to engage in Rebirthing and an intent to have the process work for you ensure that it will work, regardless of how "correctly" you engage in the first 4 elements.
The 4th element (Integration into Ecstasy) is essentially coming to view the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.  To a degree this is a choice that you consciously make; but the first 3 elements are powerful assists in doing this.  About the wording: "Integration" may be described as finding a positive context in which to hold whatever it is that you're experiencing. embracing or accepting it just the way it is.  "Ecstasy" is the context where everything is allowed to be perfect and enjoyable in its own right, rather than made wrong (compared to an imaginary standard).  The name refers to the fact that existence itself, far from being merely neutral, is fundamentally enjoyable and pleasurable (ecstatic), without anything needing to be any certain way; and that the only thing standing in the way of our consistently experiencing it in this way is our make-wrongs (judgements, aversions, and also attachments) and suppressions (make-wrongs at a subconscious level).  Vivation and Rebirthing are excellently designed to transcend these self-created obstacles to our happiness.

Vivation and Rebirthing

I have a rather eclectic view on the various schools of breathwork, and see the differences as primarily of emphasis.  On one hand, the breath is central to the process and was also the most likely impacted by the birth trauma, which in turn is for some of us a reason that we need such a process as this to begin with.  This is in line with Leonard Orr's thought and the historical roots of Rebirthing.  On the other hand there is much more to doing the process successfully besides breathing -- in particular there are also the other 4 elements -- and there is more to our unhappiness or limiting patterns and consciousness than derives from the birth trauma.  This is in line with the principles of Vivation and its founder Jim Leonard.  So as it is with so many things, advocates of either of these practices (or any of them - for there are also holotropic breathing, the transformational breath, the quantum light breath, etc. etc.) each have their valid reasons for their emphasis.  For historical reasons if none other, Rebirthing seems to be the "generic" process of which the other breathwork practices are variants, descendants, or refinements.  And in my opinion Vivation is the best of those refinements.

Sessions

The context for all my work is that we are already have within us everything we need to achieve enlightenment and lasting happiness — and that the main goal of self-improvement work is to become fully aware (consciously and unconsciously, and at the mental, emotional and spiritual levels) of this fact.  Vivation and Rebirthing are particularly suited to this, for not only is the breathwork a powerful kinesthetic process to bring us to this aware state, but also the 5 Elements provide a valuable structure for this aware state to strengthen and to persist.

In a Vivation or Rebirthing session I assist you in this process, both by coaching you in staying in the 5 Elements (in the session and in your life) and by honoring the truth of who you really are while that truth may still be surfacing.

Vivation®  is a registered service mark  of Associated Vivation Professionals 1-800-829-2625

David A Pierce has been a Vivation Professional for over 10 years, having been trained by Jim Leonard and