The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community

The article discusses the perception of the body among Source Breathwork practitioners. Source Process and Breathwork can be classified as a New Age healing practice that aims to heal the person as a whole. There is also a specific emphasis on healing birth trauma, which is understood as healing the...

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Main Author: Katre Koppel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2013-05-01
Series:Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/130
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author Katre Koppel
author_facet Katre Koppel
author_sort Katre Koppel
collection DOAJ
description The article discusses the perception of the body among Source Breathwork practitioners. Source Process and Breathwork can be classified as a New Age healing practice that aims to heal the person as a whole. There is also a specific emphasis on healing birth trauma, which is understood as healing the fundamental experience of an individual’s life. The body in New Age can be described with the notion of the ‘subtle body’, a non-dualistic approach to the body that blurs the boundaries between ‘matter’ and ‘spirit’. Subtle bodies, the ‘places’ where healing occurs, are considered energetic, invisible and nebulous. The concept of the subtle body as a scholarly tool is applied in the analysis of fieldwork data collected between 2011 and 2013 in Estonia. In a Source community, the body is considered to be energetic and to include chakras. Members of the community claim that the functioning of the body and well-being in life bear upon negative and positive thoughts or decisions that are held in the subconscious and embedded at a cellular level in the body. Moreover, the breathwork practitioners believe that an individual already makes fundamental decisions about life in the womb or during birth. Since the perception of the body and birth are closely interrelated in the Source community, the meaning of birth is viewed from the perspective of the subtle body.
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spelling doaj-art-4a27386de28e4b4fb0228df7514eefb02025-02-02T14:00:06ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872013-05-0171496495The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork CommunityKatre Koppel0University of TartuThe article discusses the perception of the body among Source Breathwork practitioners. Source Process and Breathwork can be classified as a New Age healing practice that aims to heal the person as a whole. There is also a specific emphasis on healing birth trauma, which is understood as healing the fundamental experience of an individual’s life. The body in New Age can be described with the notion of the ‘subtle body’, a non-dualistic approach to the body that blurs the boundaries between ‘matter’ and ‘spirit’. Subtle bodies, the ‘places’ where healing occurs, are considered energetic, invisible and nebulous. The concept of the subtle body as a scholarly tool is applied in the analysis of fieldwork data collected between 2011 and 2013 in Estonia. In a Source community, the body is considered to be energetic and to include chakras. Members of the community claim that the functioning of the body and well-being in life bear upon negative and positive thoughts or decisions that are held in the subconscious and embedded at a cellular level in the body. Moreover, the breathwork practitioners believe that an individual already makes fundamental decisions about life in the womb or during birth. Since the perception of the body and birth are closely interrelated in the Source community, the meaning of birth is viewed from the perspective of the subtle body.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/130subtle bodyenergybreathingbirthhealing
spellingShingle Katre Koppel
The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community
Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
subtle body
energy
breathing
birth
healing
title The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community
title_full The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community
title_fullStr The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community
title_full_unstemmed The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community
title_short The Body in New Age from the Perspective of the Subtle Body: The Example of the Source Breathwork Community
title_sort body in new age from the perspective of the subtle body the example of the source breathwork community
topic subtle body
energy
breathing
birth
healing
url https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/130
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