A new "Die Before You Die" workshop with Dan Posney
by Bob Banner
A new friend invited me to join with him and some friends to participate in a workshop called Die Before You Die, a three-hour event. Since lately I've been talking and contemplating about dying before I die more so than ever, I decided to make a reservation to attend.
About a week before the workshop, Dan Posney posted more specifics about it namely that it was going to include some Holotropic Breathwork*, music, some guided meditation around dying and rebirthing. An immediate "yes" came to me originally and again as I read the specifics. I just returned from the workshop and wish to jot my notes down before I lose the fresh memory of the class.
I was blown away. I've done a number of Holotropic Breathwork sessions before (by certified breathworkers) so I understood the intense emotions that can emerge. However with the officially sanctioned HB sessions, they would often times last the entire day using both Sitter, as one who would watch over the Breathers who experienced the breath as well as the music lying down as well as switching roles… in addition to spending time creating a Mandala Collage to discuss with the group of about 15 people afterwards. Dan creatively used a revised edition of the traditional HBreathwork along with the incredible music that typically evolves from music that stimulates the base chakra and gradually moves to the higher chakras in a slow rhythmic progression.
Dan instructed us on how to breathe: a short intake breath through the nose and then a heavy quick outtake through the mouth. Definitely a different style than the traditional HBreath work but the same benefits ensued. With the heavy breathing in place as we all lied down with fellow breathers and warm blankets on yoga mats in case we got cold and with eye pillows in place, I began to scream to the wild music. Slowly it shifted into crying. Then the sobbing got even louder and for a strange reason it all catharticly shifted unpredictably into uproarious laughter. I think I was one of the first to make so much noise. But that didn't matter much because soon enough we all were making loud cathartic sounds.
I got very relaxed and didn't care much about anything. It was my opportunity to breathe heavily on a floor in an "undisclosed location" whose living room could hold six people lying down. And with the incredible music that was simply a joy to release what was there to release. Some of "Passion" by Peter Gabriel, some Jimi Hendrix, I think some Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan and other famous global musicians. The music is such a great seducer and of course the heavy breathing eases us recklessly to "let go." At times it reminded me very much like Rajneesh's dynamic meditation** where one would intensely breath ("hu hu") as one stood blindfolded while rhythmically shaking one's arms while jumping.
In any event, it was the perfect thing to do to clear up the chakras, to shake them all loose. I discovered that when others were coaxed to cathart by the same music later on in the journey, I became somewhat quiet. It's so interesting to just simply stop the judging mind and to simply trust what the body needs to do, in its own time, rather than listening to the constant chattering of the mind.
When it was time and when the designed music got to a more meditative moment, Dan started to read a meditation whereby we imagined we were to die or that in fact we were witnessing our death, letting go of the upper body and then various organs. He spoke softly yet deliberately, allowing us to imagine this particular arduous imagined near death experience.
My imagination glommed onto his words and I began to feel my death, as much as is possible to do. I moaned and cried as I was imagining. Then it stopped and I neutrally played with the imagination. At one point I recalled how totally focused I became on the "sound" of the music. I think the thought behind the intensity of focus was that if my body was going to die at least I could hear the music to keep a semblance of aliveness! Of course that thinking is not very logical but it is what I did.
And for the remaining time I lied there quietly, allowing the music to penetrate every fiber of my being even though "I" was dying. What a trip!
Before we came back into the body Dan came around and hugged each of us by touching both top and bottom of our spine, not sure why but I did sit up and got touched and then got kissed on the forehead to then be slowly eased back onto my pad to continue listening to the music. [He later on described this "hug" as Shaktipat***.]
After he concluded making contact with each of us then the process of coming back into our bodies ensued.
Wow again. Perhaps it's the power of suggestion or my active imagination but I started to feel the incredible preciousness of this physical plane, my bones, my muscles, my hearing, my weight, my eyes and sight and my heart beating… Oh my God! I was getting drunk on words and feelings and sensations. And to be listening to Deva Premal's divinely mothering voice was priceless for this phase of the workshop....It was sublime, yet totally focused and slowly it was time for us to gradually sit up and move into a circle to share. Nearly three hours had passed, with time in the very beginning with some yoga and a bit of laughter yoga to lighten and loosen us up... before the journey.
The stories people shared were fascinating, about where they went, how pleasant it was being out of the mind, out of the body and more.
The lights stayed low so we could talk in a way that complemented our mood of expansiveness. After a while a friendliness atmosphere emerged as we walked around slowly eating some snacks that consisted of crackers, fruit and cheese. We all continually chit chatted and slowly moved to hug people... And then it was all over.
I was so altered that I had to sit outside awhile admiring the beautiful clear night sky with incredible stars shimmering down upon us before heading back into my car to drive a half-hour trip to my house. And I slept like a baby when I got home. ahhhhhhhh.
I recall that Dan was so happy that we all went for it. He's done this a number of times but never with six people and he was so stoked at our feedback. He was on fire to share this with other people. He said that he had been wanting to do this for a long time. And now is his time! I highly recommend it!
If you are interested and want to know more or to reserve a space in his next workshop, please contact Dan at… http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php?type=1#!/dan.posney (or at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
) His next one, Oct 29th in Santa Barbara at COTH, is listed HERE .
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Bob Banner publishes HopeDance online (www.hopedance.org) and screens positive and transformative documentary films in a number of cities in California. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
* http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holotropic-Breathwork/111981242151691?ref=ts&sk=info
** http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=39857684764
