Put everything aside for a minute, close your eyes and try to remember your first childhood memories. How old were you? What do you remember?

Stanislav Grof, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology and the theory of perinatal matrices, believes that in the depths of the subconscious are stored memories of our intrauterine life, development, and all stages of childbirth.

We remember not only bodily sensations, but also emotions of high intensity and intensity. These memories leave a deep imprint in the psyche—the unconscious—that influences future fate: forming behavioral patterns, attitude towards the world, towards oneself, towards people around us and even a predisposition to diseases.

Sometimes we catch ourselves feeling that we are “stepping on the same rake”, “running in circles”, from which it is difficult to escape, sometimes we are overwhelmed by strange inexplicable feelings and vague images... And we do not understand what is happening, where This? Often the reason may lie in the mystery of birth.

“When we return to the experience of birth through deep self-exploration, we find that the memory of each stage of labor is associated with different experiential patterns that are characterized by a particular combination of emotions, physical sensations and symbolic images. I call these patterns the basic perinatal matrices.” (c) S. Grof.

Grof identifies four basic perinatal matrices.

I would like to note that the theory of perinatal matrices is not considered scientific now, since no experimental data have been obtained to confirm it.

Stages of development and birth and their correspondence to basic perinatal matrices (BPM)

BPM 1, "Naivety Matrix". It is formed from the moment of conception and continues throughout pregnancy until the first contraction.

BPM 2, "Victim Matrix". Forms from the first contraction until the cervix is ​​fully dilated, normally lasts 4-5 hours (up to 10 at the first birth)

BPM 3, "Struggle Matrix". It is formed from the moment the cervix is ​​fully dilated until the birth of the child, lasting from 20 minutes to 2 hours during the first birth.

BPM 4, "Freedom Matrix". It is formed from the moment the child is born and lasts up to 3-9 days.

Let us consider in detail human development from conception to the first days of life.

BPM 1. “The Matrix of Naivety”, “The Matrix of Paradise”.

This is the matrix of unity between child and mother. The whole world, the whole universe for a child during nine months of pregnancy is the uterus. The child is in a state of protection in it, with ideal comfortable temperature, always well-fed, in a comfortable, relaxed position. All his needs are met. These are oceanic experiences of complete serenity and calm.

With a normal pregnancy and if the child is desired, the ability to accept oneself, rejoice, relax, develop, and feel like a part of nature is formed.

BPM injuries 1.

The threat of abortion, miscarriage, toxicosis and illness of the mother creates a fear of death, a feeling of uselessness, and an inability to relax. “No one needs me,” “If I relax, I will die or get sick.” An unwanted child may develop a feeling of guilt for the very fact of his existence, pain that he is not accepted for who he is.

BPM 2. "The Sacrifice Matrix", "No Exit", "Exile from Paradise"

It starts from the moment of the first contraction until the dilation of the cervix.

Comfortable environment, all loving and safe world the child suddenly unexpectedly becomes aggressive - it begins to shrink, painfully squeeze and “kill”. And there is nowhere to go, there is no way out. The child finds himself in a situation of threat and horror, hopelessness, hopelessness. It is believed that at this stage of childbirth, the ability to wait and endure in difficult situations, fear of death, and feelings of guilt are laid.

BPM 2 injuries

Short matrix or lack thereof.

Occurs during caesarean section or rapid labor. A person develops impatience, an inability to complete a task and fight, and a feeling that all problems can be solved quickly. “You never have to put in effort.” People with insufficient BPM 2 tend to give up when something doesn’t work out on the first try, and they lack persistence in achieving goals.

Long matrix.

Occurs during long labor and forms the role of the victim. In life, a person can often find himself in situations where he is under pressure and usually does not resist, but endures. People with a traumatized 2nd matrix often live with a feeling of “being trapped” or under the slogan “there is no way out, but we must endure.”

BPM 3. “Struggle Matrix”, “There is a way out”

It begins from the moment the uterus opens until birth. Mother and child act together: they both push and fight for a common goal.

At this stage, the child has a way out in a world that is squeezing and killing him. The body, which has been in the “fetal position” for nine months in a state of lightness and weightlessness, is subjected to severe compression, hypoxia, and bends unusually while passing through the birth canal. This first path to freedom in life - the “hero’s path” - is full of pain, effort and suffering. But he is also full of hope. This matrix contains aggression, the ability to fight, determination, self-confidence: “I can do it!”, courage, a feeling of disgust and disgust. Sexuality is also established at this stage.

BPM 3 injuries

Short matrix. An inability to fight and defend one’s interests develops. A person is inclined to expect help in solving problems from the outside - a “magic kick” - when pushing the child out by obstetricians. If a child was born with the use of forceps, this can lead to the pattern “help is dangerous to accept” and the person will refuse it.

Long matrix. A period of childbirth that is too prolonged forms the motto “life is a struggle.” Such people find situations where it is necessary to fight with someone; they do not feel the ease of being, the joy of simple decisions.

BPM 4. "Freedom Matrix", "Return of Paradise"

The child, after long and difficult experiences, finds himself free. The main leitmotif of the fourth matrix is ​​freedom after effort. In a sense, the fourth matrix is ​​a mystical experience of death and rebirth: a person who existed in the serene “universe of the womb” dies and is reborn in a completely new quality. Contact with a new world is a huge stress. On the one hand, the horror of the killing pressure has ceased. But on the other hand, he finds himself in a hostile and, most importantly, unusual world. Here there is a different temperature, suffocation before the first breath, there is no amniotic fluid and the first collision with gravity occurs, here there is helplessness. At this stage, it is very important that the child immediately finds himself in the mother’s arms and feels security and warmth, a familiar smell. This is the return of Paradise, reconciliation with a new unfamiliar world.

BPM injuries 4.

The child is separated from his mother immediately after birth. After the difficulties of childbirth, after the “hero’s path”, the child finds himself in an aggressive environment: they begin to weigh him, wash him, measure him, put him on cold table. In this case, the pattern “It was all in vain. Why make the effort if everything ends so badly?” - a person does not see the point in actions, since they “do not lead to anything good.” Freedom can be regarded by such people not as a value, but as loneliness and coldness.

Violations in the basic perinatal matrices can and should be corrected! Love, acceptance, attention, and some special parenting methods in the first years of a child’s life largely compensate for the traumatic consequences.

Adults who want to look into the mystery of their birth and work through the negative consequences can use holotropic breathing techniques.

For those who want to learn more about

Cartography according to Grof and the meaning of the Basic Perinatal Matrices, I give an excerpt from Stanislav Grof’s book “Beyond the Brain”:

Multidimensionality of the psyche: cartography internal space

Multidimensionality of the psyche: cartography of internal space – Grof’s perinatal matrices

One of the most important contributions of the science of consciousness to the currently emerging scientific worldview was a completely new idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe psyche. Its traditional psychiatric and psychoanalytic model is strictly personalistic and biographical, and modern research consciousnesses open up new levels, spheres and dimensions in it, showing that the human psyche in its essence is commensurate with the entire Universe and everything that exists. A detailed description of this new model, which is beyond the scope of this book, can be found in a separate paper (Grof, 1975). Here I will only briefly touch on its main features, especially emphasizing their relationship with the emerging paradigm in science.

In the sphere of consciousness there are no clear limits and distinctions, however, it is useful to distinguish four separate levels or four areas of the psyche and the experience corresponding to them: 1) sensory barrier; 2) individual unconscious; 3) the level of birth and death and 4) the transpersonal area. Most people can experience experiences on all four levels. These experiences can be observed during sessions with psychedelic drugs or in modern experimental psychotherapy approaches that use breathing, music, dance or body work. Laboratory techniques for altering consciousness—for example, biofeedback, sleep deprivation, sensory isolation, or sensory overload—and a variety of kinesthetic devices can also produce many of these phenomena. It is their experience that is facilitated by a wide variety of ancient religious rites and eastern spiritual practices. Many cases of this kind can be observed during spontaneous episodes of extraordinary states of consciousness. The entire spectrum of experience related to these four spheres has already been described by historians and anthropologists in shamanic procedures, primitive rites of passage-initiation and healing ceremonies, mysteries of death-rebirth, trance dances in ecstatic religions.

The sensory barrier and the individual unconscious

Individual unconscious – Grof’s perinatal matrices

Any technique that makes it possible empirically, i.e. To enter the realm of the unconscious in an experimental way will first activate the senses. Therefore, for many people using such experimental methods, deep self-exploration begins with the experience of a wide variety of sensations. By nature, these experiences are more or less abstract and devoid of any personal symbolic meaning; they may be aesthetically pleasing, but they do not lead to greater self-awareness.

Changes of this kind can occur in any sensory area, although the most common phenomena are those related to the visual area. The field of vision behind closed eyelids comes to life and becomes colorful, a person can observe a variety of geometric and architectural forms - rapidly changing kaleidoscope patterns, mandala-like configurations, arabesques, spiers of Gothic cathedrals, domes of Muslim mosques and complex patterns reminiscent of lovely medieval miniatures or oriental carpets. Visions of this kind can occur during deep self-exploration in any form, but they are especially dramatic after taking psychedelic drugs. Changes in the auditory area may manifest as tinnitus, crickets, buzzing, bell ringing, or high-pitched sounds. This may be accompanied by unusual tactile sensations in different parts of the body. At this stage, odors and taste sensations, but much less often.

Sensory experiences of this kind do not have of great importance for self-exploration and self-awareness. It is they who, presumably, represent the barrier that must be overcome before the journey into the unconscious sphere of the psyche begins. Some aspects of such sensory experience can be explained in terms of certain anatomical and physiological characteristics of the sense organs. For example, geometric visions most likely reflect internal structure retina and other parts of the visual system.

The next area of ​​experience that is easy to access is the area of ​​the individual unconscious. Although the phenomena belonging to this category are quite interesting from theoretical and practical points of view, there is no need to spend a lot of time describing them, since almost all traditional psychotherapeutic approaches stop precisely at this level of the psyche. An extensive, albeit highly controversial, literature addresses the nuances of psychodynamics in the biographical field. Experiences belonging to this category are associated with events and circumstances of a person’s life that carry a strong emotional load from the moment of birth to the present. At this level of self-research, anything from the experimenter’s life - some unresolved conflict, some traumatic experience repressed from memory and not integrated into it, or some incomplete psychological gestalt - can emerge from the unconscious and become the content of current experience.

For this to happen, only one condition must be met: a sufficiently high emotional significance of the experience. This is where the enormous advantage of empirical psychotherapy lies over predominantly verbal approaches. Techniques that directly activate the unconscious selectively enhance the most relevant emotional material and facilitate its release to the level of consciousness. Thus, they seem to create a kind of internal radar that scans the system and looks for content with the strongest emotional charge. This not only relieves the therapist of the need to separate the necessary from the unnecessary, but also protects him from making decisions that will inevitably bear the imprint of his own conceptual scheme and many other factors.

Generally speaking, the biographical material that emerges in the course of working with experiences is consistent with Freud's theory or one of its derivative theories. There are, however, several serious differences. In deep empirical psychotherapy, biographical material is not recalled or reconstructed - it can actually be experienced again. It's about not only about emotional experiences, but also about bodily sensations, about the visual elements of the material, as well as about data from other senses. This is usually accompanied by complete age regression to the time when the event occurred.

Another important difference is that relevant memories and other biographical elements do not appear individually, but form dynamic combinations (constellations), for which I have found a term “systems of condensed experience” , abbreviated RMS . COEX system is a dynamic combination of memories (with accompanying fantasies) from different periods of a person’s life, united by a strong emotional charge of the same quality, intense bodily sensations of the same type, or some other important elements common to these memories. First, I became aware of COEX systems as the principles that govern the dynamics of the individual unconscious, and I realized that knowledge about them is the essence of understanding internal processes at this level. However, later it became clear that. systems of condensed experience represent a general principle operating at all levels of the psyche, and not limited only to the biographical sphere.

Biographical COEX systems are most often associated with specific aspects of the birth process. Perinatal motives and their elements belong to the empirical material of the transpersonal sphere. Often a dynamic constellation contains material from several biographical periods, biological birth and certain areas of the transpersonal sphere - for example, memories of past incarnations, identification with animals, mythological events. Here, the empirical similarity of these themes from different levels of the psyche is much more important than the conventional criteria of the Newtonian-Cartesian worldview, which assert, for example, that years and centuries separate one event from another, that usually the experience of a person is incomparably different from the experience of an animal, that the elements of “objective reality” are combined with archetypal and mythological.

Traditional psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy focus exclusively on psychological trauma. It is believed that physical injuries do not have a direct effect on psychological development human and are not involved in the development of psychopathology. This is in stark contrast to data obtained through deep empirical processing, where memories of bodily trauma become of paramount importance. In sessions with psychedelics and other powerful experiential approaches, re-experiencing life-threatening illness, trauma, surgery, or drowning is more than common, and clearly more significant than ordinary traumatic events. Residual emotions and bodily sensations that arise when life or the integrity of the body are threatened appear to play a significant role in the development of various forms of psychopathology - which is still not recognized by academic science.

Thus, if a child suffered a severe, life-threatening illness (for example, diphtheria) and nearly suffocated, the experience of death and extreme bodily discomfort would not be considered the most serious injury. Traditional psychology will focus on the fact that a child separated from his mother during hospitalization has experienced emotional deprivation. Empirical research clearly shows that life-threatening trauma leaves an indelible imprint and greatly influences the development of emotional and psychosomatic disorders - depression, anxiety and phobias, sadomasochistic tendencies, sexual dysfunctions, migraines or asthma.

Experiences of serious bodily trauma represent a natural transition from the biographical level to the next sphere, the core of which is the dual phenomenon of birth and death. This experience includes events in a person's life and is therefore biographical in nature. Yet the fact that these events brought a person to the brink of death and were associated with extremely difficult conditions and pain combines them with birth trauma. For obvious reasons, memories of illnesses and injuries involving difficulty breathing - pneumonia, diphtheria, whooping cough or drowning - are of particular importance.

Facing birth and death: the dynamics of perinatal matrices

Birth and death - Grof's perinatal matrices

As experiential self-exploration deepens, the element of emotional and physical pain can reach such extraordinary intensity that it is experienced as dying. The pain can become unbearable, and the researcher will feel as if the limits of individual suffering have been surpassed and he is experiencing the pain of an entire group, all of humanity, or even all living things. Typical of such experiences is identification with wounded and dying soldiers, concentration camp prisoners or dungeon prisoners, persecuted Jews or early Christians, mother and child in labor, or an animal overtaken by a predator. Experiences at this level are usually accompanied by striking physiological manifestations, such as varying degrees of suffocation, rapid pulse and heart rate, nausea and vomiting, changes in skin color and body temperature, spontaneous skin rashes or bruises, twitching, trembling, convulsions and other striking motor phenomena.

If at the biographical level only those who have actually experienced a fight with death will encounter life-threatening situations during self-exploration, then at this level of the unconscious the question of death is universal and completely rules the course of the experience. Re-experiencing injuries, mutilations, or operations will likely intensify and develop into the dying experience described above.

An empirical encounter with death with such depth of self-exploration will in many cases be organically intertwined with various phenomena associated with the process of birth. Those who experience this experience do not simply feel the struggle for birth or relief from the burden - many of the accompanying physiological changes that occur at this moment carry signs of typical events during childbirth. Researchers often experience themselves as a fetus and are able to experience various aspects of biological birth in very specific and authentic detail. The element of death can be represented by simultaneous or alternating identification with old, sick or dying people. Although the full range of experiences that occur at this level cannot be reduced to reliving biological birth, birth trauma appears to be the very essence of the process. That is why I call this sphere of the unconscious perinatal .

The connection between biological birth and the above-described experience of dying and rebirth is quite deep and specific. This makes it possible to use the stages of biological birth in the construction of a conceptual model that helps to understand the dynamics of the unconscious at the perinatal level. Typical themes are recognized in the death-rebirth experience: their basic characteristics can be logically deduced from certain anatomical, physiological and biochemical aspects of the respective stages of labor with which they are associated. As will be discussed below, judgments based on the birth model provide a unique way to gain new insight into the dynamic architecture of various forms of psychopathology and offer revolutionary therapeutic possibilities.

Despite its close connection with birth, the perinatal process transcends biology and carries with it important philosophical and spiritual dimensions. Therefore, it cannot be interpreted in a specific and simplified form. For a person who is completely immersed in the dynamics of this level of the unconscious (as a participant in an experiment or a researcher), birth can act as an all-explanatory principle. But, in my opinion, the birth process is a very convenient model, the use of which is limited to phenomena at a special level of the unconscious. If the process of self-exploration moves into the realm of transpersonal, the model must be abandoned and replaced with another approach.

Several characteristics of the death-rebirth process clearly show that the perinatal experience is not reducible to biological birth. In empirical events of a perinatal nature, emotional and psychosomatic aspects clearly appear. By the way, they also cause personal transformation. Deep Collision in own experience With birth and death, as a rule, it is accompanied by an existential crisis of incredible magnitude, during which a person thinks most seriously about the meaning of existence, about his fundamental values ​​and life strategies. This crisis can only be resolved through connecting to the deep, truly spiritual dimensions of the psyche and the elements of the collective unconscious.

The resulting transformation of personality is comparable, judging by the descriptions, to the changes that took place in ancient temple sacraments, in rites of passage, or in primitive rites of passage. The perinatal level of the unconscious therefore represents an important intersection of the individual unconscious with the collective, of traditional psychology with mysticism or with transpersonal psychology.

The experiences of death and rebirth, reflecting the perinatal level of the unconscious, are very diverse and complex. Such experience manifests itself in four typical patterns or constellations of experiences that closely correspond to the four clinical stages of biological birth. For the theory and practice of in-depth empirical work, it turned out to be very useful to postulate the existence of hypothetical dynamic matrices that control processes related to the perinatal level of the unconscious, and call them basic perinatal matrices (BPM).

In addition to the fact that these matrices carry their own emotional and psychosomatic content, they also act as principles for organizing material at other levels of the unconscious. Elements of important biographical level COEX systems, including physical violence and abuse, threats, separations, pain or suffocation, are closely related to specific aspects of BPM. The perinatal unfolding is often associated with a variety of transpersonal elements - such as archetypal visions of the Great Mother or the Terrible Mother Goddess, Hell, Purgatory, Heaven or the Kingdom of Heaven, mythological and historical scenes, identification with animals and experiences of past incarnations. As in the various layers of the COEX system, the connecting link here is the same quality of emotions, bodily sensations and similar circumstances. Perinatal matrices also have a special relationship to various aspects activity in Freud's erogenous zones - oral, anal, urethral and phallic. What follows is a brief overview of the biological basis of individual BMPs: their experiential characteristics, their functions as organizing principles for other types of experience, and their relationship to erogenous zones. A summary of the information is presented in the table.

The importance of the perinatal level of the unconscious for new understandings of psychopathology and the specific links between individual PPMs and various emotional disorders is discussed in the next chapter.

First perinatal matrix (BPM-I)

First perinatal matrix – Grof's Basic Perinatal Matrices

The biological basis of this matrix is ​​the experience of the initial symbiotic unity of the fetus with the maternal organism during intrauterine existence. During periods of undisturbed life in the womb, conditions for the child are almost ideal, but some physical, chemical, biological and psychological factors can seriously complicate them. However, in the later stages of pregnancy the situation is likely to be less favorable - due to the large size of the child, increased mechanical compression or functional insufficiency of the placenta.

Pleasant and unpleasant memories of being inside the uterus can manifest themselves in a specific biological form. In addition, according to the logic of deep experience, people tuned to the first matrix are able to fully experience all the visions and feelings associated with it. Tranquil intrauterine state may be accompanied by other experiences that are also characterized by the absence of boundaries and obstacles - for example, ocean consciousness, aquatic life forms (whale, jellyfish, anemone or algae) or being in interstellar space. Pictures of nature at its best (Mother Nature), beautiful, peaceful and abundant, also accompany the blissful state of the child in the womb in a characteristic and quite logical way. From the archetypal images of the collective unconscious that are available in this state, it is necessary to highlight the visions of the Kingdom of Heaven or Paradise in the representation of various world cultures. The experience of the first matrix also includes elements of cosmic unity or mystical union.

Disorders of intrauterine life are associated with images and experiences of underwater dangers, polluted streams, contaminated or hostile natural environments, lurking for demons. The mystical dissolution of boundaries is replaced by their psychotic distortion with paranoid shades.

The positive aspects of BPM-1 are closely associated with memories of symbiotic unity on the mother’s chest, with positive COEX systems and with the restoration in memory of situations associated with peace of mind, contentment, liberation, and beautiful landscapes. There are similar selective associations with different forms of positive transpersonal experience. Conversely, negative aspects of BPM-1 are usually associated with certain negative COEX systems and corresponding negative transpersonal elements.

With regard to Freud's erogenous zones, the positive aspects of BPM-I coincide with a biological and psychological state when there is no tension in these areas and all private drives are satisfied. The negative aspects of BPM-I appear to be specifically associated with nausea and intestinal dysfunction accompanied by diarrhea.

Second perinatal matrix (BPM-II)

Second Perinatal Matrix – Grof’s Basic Perinatal Matrices

This empirical pattern refers to the very beginning of biological birth, to its first clinical stage. Here the original balance of intrauterine existence is disrupted first by alarming chemical signals and then by muscle contractions. With the full development of this stage, the fetus is periodically compressed by uterine spasms, the cervix is ​​closed and there is still no way out.

As in the previous matrix, this biological situation can be experienced again in a very concrete and realistic way. The symbolic accompaniment of the onset of labor is the experience cosmic absorption . It consists of irresistible feelings of increasing anxiety and awareness of impending mortal danger. The source of danger cannot be clearly determined, and the individual tends to interpret the world around him in the light of paranoid ideas. Very typical for this stage are the experiences of a three-dimensional spiral, funnel or whirlpool, inexorably drawing into the center. The equivalent of such a crushing whirlwind is the experience in which a person feels himself being devoured by a terrible monster - for example, a giant dragon, leviathan, python, crocodile or whale. Experiences associated with an attack by a terrible octopus or tarantula are also common. In a less dramatic version, the same test manifests itself as a descent into a dangerous dungeon, a system of grottoes, or a mysterious labyrinth. Apparently, in mythology this corresponds to the beginning of the hero's journey; related religious themes are the fall of angels and expulsion from heaven.

Some of these images will seem strange to the analytical mind, and yet they reveal the logic of deep-seated experiences. Thus, a whirlpool symbolizes a serious danger for an organism floating freely in an aquatic environment and causes it to move erratically. The devouring scene similarly transforms freedom into life-threatening constraint, which can be compared to squeezing a fetus through the pelvic cavity. The octopus captures, fetters and threatens organisms freely swimming in the ocean, while the spider lures, grabs and destroys insects that previously fluttered freely in the unlimited air space.

The symbolic expression of the fully manifested first clinical stage of labor becomes the experience no way out or hell . It involves feeling bogged down or trapped in a nightmarish, claustrophobic world and experiencing extraordinary mental and physical agony. The situation usually seems unbearable, endless and hopeless. The person loses the sense of linear time and sees neither the end of this torture nor any way to escape it. This may result in experiential identification with prisoners in a dungeon or concentration camp, with the inmates of an insane asylum, with sinners in hell, or with archetypal figures symbolizing eternal damnation, such as the Eternal Jew Ahastherus, the Flying Dutchman, Sisyphus, Tantalus or Prometheus.

Being under the influence of this matrix, the individual is selectively blind to everything positive in the world, in his existence. Standard components of this matrix include painful feelings of metaphysical loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, inferiority, existential despair and guilt.

Regarding the organizational function, the BMP-II attracts the COEX system with memories of situations in which a passive and helpless person falls into the power of a powerful destructive force and becomes her victim with no chance of salvation. Here there is also a closeness to transpersonal motives of a similar nature.

In relation to Freud's erogenous zones, this matrix is ​​apparently associated with states of unpleasant tension and pain. At the oral level, these are hunger, thirst, nausea and painful irritations of the mouth; at the anal level – pain in the rectum and fecal retention; at the urethral level – pain in the bladder and urinary retention. Corresponding sensations at the genital level will be sexual frustration and excessive tension, spasms of the uterus and vagina, pain in the ovaries and painful contractions that accompany the first clinical stage of labor in women.

Third perinatal matrix (BPM-III)

Third Perinatal Matrix - Grof's Basic Perinatal Matrices

Many important aspects of this complex matrix of experiences can be understood in its relation to the second clinical stage of biological labor. During this stage, uterine contractions continue, but unlike the previous stage, the cervix is ​​now dilated, allowing the fetus to gradually move through the birth canal. Underneath this lies a desperate struggle for survival, severe mechanical compression, often a high degree of hypoxia and suffocation. During the final stage of labor, the fetus may experience direct contact with biological materials such as blood, mucus, amniotic fluid, urine and even feces.

On an empirical level, this scheme becomes somewhat more complicated and ramified. In addition to the true, real sensations of various aspects of the struggle in the birth canal, it includes a large set of phenomena that follow a typical thematic sequence. The most important of these will be elements of titanic battle, sadomasochistic experiences, intense sexual arousal, demonic episodes, scatological involvement and encounters with fire. All this is happening in the context of a relentless death-rebirth struggle .

The titanic aspect is completely understandable when one considers the monstrous forces involved in this stage of birth. The baby's delicate head is forced into the narrow pelvic cavity by uterine contractions that range in pressure from 50 to 100 pounds. When encountering this aspect of BPM-III, a person experiences powerful flows of energy, intensifying to an explosive eruption. Characteristic symbolic motifs here are violent forces of nature (volcanoes, electromagnetic storms, earthquakes, tidal waves or hurricanes), violent scenes of wars and revolutions, high-power technological objects (thermonuclear reactors, atomic bombs and missiles). In a milder form, this empirical pattern includes dangerous adventures - hunting, fights with wild animals, exciting exploration, exploration of new lands. Corresponding archetypal themes – paintings Last Judgment, extraordinary feats of great heroes, mythological battles of cosmic proportions with the participation of demons and angels or gods and titans.

The sadomasochistic aspects of this matrix reflect the mixture of aggression to which the fetus is subjected by the female reproductive system and its violent biological response to suffocation, pain and anxiety. Frequent themes here include blood sacrifice, self-sacrifice, torture, executions, murder, sadomasochism and rape.

The logic of experiencing the sexual component of the death-rebirth process is not so obvious. It can be explained using the example of widely known data that suffocation and inhuman suffering in general cause a strange form of strong sexual arousal. Erotic motives at this level are characterized by an exciting intensity of sexual desire, mechanical and indiscriminate in its quality, pornographic and deviant in nature. Experiences in this category combine sex with death, danger, biological material, aggression, urges to self-destruct, physical pain and spiritual origin (close to BPM-IV).

The fact that at the perinatal level sexual arousal occurs in the context of death threat, fear, aggression and biological material, becomes the key to understanding sexual deviations and other forms of sexopathology. We will discuss this relationship in detail later.

Elements of demonism at this stage of the death-rebirth process are perhaps particularly difficult for both therapists and patients. The creepy properties of such material can cause complete reluctance to deal with it. The most common themes here are the Witches' Sabbath (Walpurgis Night), satanic orgies or the rituals of the Black Mass and temptation. What the birth experience at this stage and the witches' sabbath or Black Mass have in common is a bizarre combination of experiences of death, perverted sexuality, fear, aggression, scatology and distorted spiritual impulse.

The scatological side of the death-rebirth process has its natural biological basis in the fact that in the last stages of childbirth the child may come into close contact with feces and other biological products. Such experiences usually exceed anything a newborn could actually experience. These are sensations of wallowing in excrement, crawling in garbage or cesspools, eating feces, drinking blood and urine, or disgusting scenes of decomposition.

The element of fire manifests itself either in its usual form - as identification with a victim given up for slaughter - in the archetypal form of cleansing fire (pyrocatharsis), which destroys everything rotten and disgusting in a person, preparing him for spiritual rebirth. This element of birth symbolism is the most difficult to understand. The corresponding biological component could probably be the culminating overstimulation of the newborn by a random “firing” of peripheral neurons. Interestingly, a similar experience befalls the woman in labor, who at this stage often feels as if her vagina is on fire. It should also be noted that the combustion process converts solids into energy; the experience of fire is accompanied by the death of the Ego, after which the person philosophically identifies himself no longer with solid matter, but with energy patterns.

The religious and mythological symbolism of this matrix is ​​especially drawn to those systems where sacrifice and sacrifice are glorified. Frequent are scenes of sacrificial rituals in pre-Columbian America, visions of the crucifixion and identification with Christ, and the worship of the terrible goddesses Kali, Coatlicue or Rangde. Scenes of Satan worship and images of Walpurgis Night have already been mentioned in this regard. Another group of images is associated with religious rites and ceremonies in which sex is combined with frenzied rhythmic dance - for example, phallic cults, rituals dedicated to the goddess of fertility, or various ritual ceremonies of primitive tribes. The classic symbol of the transition from BPM-III to BPM-IV is the legendary Phoenix bird, whose old body burns in fire, and a new one rises from the ashes and soars towards the sun.

A number of important characteristics inherent in this pattern of experiences distinguish it from the already described patterns of hopelessness. Here the situation no longer seems hopeless, and the experiencer himself is not helpless. He takes an active part in what is happening and feels that suffering has a certain direction and purpose. In a religious sense, the situation will be more like purgatory than hell. Moreover, the role of the individual here is not limited solely to the suffering of a helpless victim. He is an active observer and is able to simultaneously identify himself with both sides to such an extent that it is sometimes difficult to understand whether he is the aggressor or the victim. While a hopeless situation implies only suffering, the experience of the death-rebirth struggle represents the border between agony and ecstasy, sometimes a fusion of both. One might perhaps define this type of experience as “volcanic ecstasy,” in contrast to the “oceanic ecstasy” of cosmic unity.

Special characteristics of experience link BPM-III with COEX system, formed from memories of vivid sensory and sexual experiences, of battles and victories, of exciting but risky adventures, of rape and sexual orgies, or of contact with biological products. The same relationships exist for transpersonal experiences of this kind.

As for Freud's erogenous zones, this matrix is ​​associated with those physiological mechanisms that bring sudden relief and relaxation after prolonged tension. At the oral level, this is chewing and swallowing food (or, conversely, vomiting); at the anal and urethral level these are defecation and urination; at the genital level - the ascent to sexual orgasm and the sensations of a woman in labor in the second stage of labor.

Fourth perinatal matrix (BPM-IV)

Fourth Perinatal Matrix - Grof's Basic Perinatal Matrices

This perinatal matrix is ​​meaningfully associated with the third clinical stage of labor, with the immediate birth. In this final stage, the painful process of the struggle for birth comes to an end, the movement through the birth canal reaches a climax, and the peak of pain, tension and sexual arousal is followed by sudden relief and relaxation. The baby is born and, after a long period of darkness, encounters the bright light of day (or the operating room) for the first time. After cutting the umbilical cord, the bodily connection with the mother ceases, and the child enters into a new existence as an anatomically independent individual.

As in other matrices, some of the experiences associated with this stage represent an exact imitation of the actual biological events that occurred at birth, as well as special obstetric techniques. For obvious reasons, this aspect of BPM-IV is much richer than the specific elements tested in the context of other matrices. In addition, the specific details of the released unconscious material are easily verifiable. These include details of the mechanics of birth, the anesthesia used, the method of manual and instrumental labor and delivery, and the details of the postpartum experience and care of the newborn.

The symbolic expression of the last stage of labor is death-rebirth experience , it presents the ending and resolution of the death-rebirth struggle. It is paradoxical that, being literally on the threshold of liberation, the individual feels the approach of a catastrophe of enormous magnitude. In experiential sessions, this is precisely what often causes a firm decision to stop the flow of experiences. If the experiences continue, the passage from BPM-III to BPM-IV entails a feeling of complete annihilation, annihilation on all conceivable levels - that is, physical death, emotional collapse, intellectual defeat, final moral failure and eternal individual damnation of the transcendental dimension. Such an experience of “death of the Ego” consists, apparently, in the instantaneous merciless destruction of all previous supporting points in the life of an individual. Experienced in its final and most full form, it signifies an irrevocable renunciation of philosophical identification with what Alan Watts used to call the “Ego in Skin.”

The experience of complete annihilation and “direct fall to the very bottom of space” is immediately followed by a vision of a blinding white or golden light of supernatural brightness and beauty. It can be compared to the marvelous appearances of archetypal divine beings, to a rainbow, or to the intricate pattern of a peacock's tail. In this case, there may also be visions of the awakening of nature in the spring, the refreshing effect of a thunderstorm or storm. A person experiences a deep sense of spiritual liberation, salvation and atonement for sins. He typically feels free from anxiety, depression and guilt, and experiences purification and unburdenedness. This is accompanied by a flow of positive emotions about oneself, others, or existence in general. The world seems to be a wonderful and safe place, and interest in life clearly increases.

The symbolism of the death-rebirth experience can be drawn from many areas of the collective subconscious, since every major culture has corresponding mythological forms. Ego death will be experienced in connection with a variety of destructive deities - Moloch, Shiva, Huitzilopochtli, Kali or Coatlicue - or in complete identification with Christ, Osiris, Adonis, Dionysus or other sacrificial mythological creatures. A theophany can be a completely abstract image of God in the form of a radiant source of light or a more or less personified representation of different religions. Also common is the experience of meeting or uniting with the great mother goddesses - the Virgin Mary, Isis, Lakshmi, Parvati, Hera or Cybele.

Relevant biographical elements include memories of personal success and the end of dangerous situations, the end of wars and revolutions, survival after an accident or recovery from a serious illness.

With regard to Freudian erogenous zones, BPM-IV at all levels of libidinal development is associated with a state of satisfaction that occurs immediately after activities that relieve unpleasant tension - after satisfying hunger, vomiting, defecation, urination, orgasm and childbirth.

Beyond the Brain: Areas of Transpersonal Experience

Cartography of the Human Psyche – Transpersonal Experiences

With many of its features, transpersonal experience shatters the fundamental assertions of materialistic science and the mechanistic view of the world. Although these experiences occur during self-exploration, they cannot be interpreted as merely intrapsychic phenomena in the conventional sense. On the one hand, this experience, together with biographical and perinatal experiences, forms a certain empirical continuum. On the other hand, it often, and without the intervention of the senses, provides direct access to sources of information that clearly go beyond the conventional circle. It may include conscious experience of other people and other animal species, plant life, elements of inorganic nature, microscopic and astronomical regions inaccessible without special instruments, historical and prehistoric experience, knowledge of the future, distant places or other dimensions of existence.

At the level of recollective analysis, information is drawn from individual history and is therefore clearly biographical in nature. The perinatal experience appears to represent the intersection of the personal and the transpersonal, a division between both; this is reflected in its connection with birth and death, the beginning and end of individual existence.

Transpersonal phenomena reveal the connection of the individual with the cosmos - a relationship that is currently incomprehensible. One might speculate in this regard that somewhere in the course of perinatal development there occurs a strange quantitative leap, as if on a Mobius strip, when a deep exploration of the individual unconscious becomes an experiential journey through the entire Universe including what is best called the superconscious mind.

What this group of varied and ramified phenomena have in common is the feeling that the consciousness experiencing them has stepped beyond the ordinary limits of the Ego and has overcome the limitations of time and space. In a “normal”, ordinary state of consciousness, we are aware of ourselves within the boundaries of our physical body(body image), and our perception of the world around us is constrained by the physically determined range of sensitivity of external receptors. And our internal perception (intraception) and perception outside world(extraception) are limited by the usual time and space frames. Under ordinary circumstances, we clearly experience only the present situation and perceive only the immediate environment; we remember past events and anticipate or fantasize about future ones.

In transpersonal experiences, some of the above-mentioned limitations, sometimes several at once, are transcended. Many experiences in this category are interpreted by those experiencing them as a return to historical times and an exploration of their biological and spiritual past. Quite often, with deep empirical self-study, one is able to experience very clear and real episodes, recognizable as memories of the fetus and embryo. Many report vivid event sequences at the level of cellular consciousness that seem to reflect their past existence in the form of a sperm or mature egg at the time of conception. Sometimes the regression goes even further, and the person has a confident feeling of reliving memories from the life of ancestors or even connecting to the racial or collective unconscious. There have been cases in which participants in LSD sessions have reported the experience of identifying with animal ancestors in the evolutionary lineage or clearly reliving episodes from their past incarnations.

Some other transpersonal phenomena involve the transcendence of spatial rather than temporal barriers. This includes the experience of merging with another person in a state of duality (that is, the feeling of merging with another organism into one state without losing one's self-identity) or the experience of completely identifying with him or her, attuning to the consciousness of an entire group of people, or expanding consciousness to such an extent that it seems as if all humanity is covered by it. Likewise, an individual can go beyond the boundaries of purely human experience and tap into what appears to be the consciousness of animals, plants, or even inanimate objects and processes. In the extreme case, one can merge with the consciousness of the entire creation, the entire planet, the entire material Universe. Another phenomenon associated with the transcendence of normal spatial limitations is the consciousness of individual parts of the body, that is, various organs, tissues, cells. An important category of transpersonal experience with transcendence of time and/or space will be various phenomena of extrasensory perception - for example, the experience of existing outside the body, telepathy, predicting the future, clairvoyance, movement in time and space.

In a large group of transpersonal experiences, consciousness seems to expand beyond the phenomenal world and the time-space continuum as we perceive it in Everyday life. Common examples of this are the experience of encounters with the souls of the dead or with superhuman spiritual entities. After LSD sessions there are also reports of countless visions of archetypal forms, specific deities and demons, and complex mythological episodes. Other examples in this category include intuitive understanding of universal symbols, experiencing the flow of energy “chi” as described in Chinese medicine and philosophy, or awakening the Kundalini and activating the chakras. In its ultimate form, individual consciousness embraces the entire totality of existence and identifies itself with the Universal Mind or the Absolute. The highest point of all experiences will obviously be the Supercosmic or Metacosmic Void, the mysterious primordial nothingness which is conscious of itself and contains all existence in embryonic form.

Thus, an expanded cartography of the unconscious is of key importance in any serious approach to phenomena such as psychedelic states, shamanism, religion, mysticism, rites of passage, mythology, parapsychology and schizophrenia. This is not just a matter of academic interest - as will be shown below, cartography offers profound and revolutionary applications for understanding psychopathology and new therapeutic pathways unimaginable in traditional psychiatry.

– A therapist using traditional forms of psychotherapy faces important task distinguish relevant material from irrelevant material, determine the type of psychological defense and find an interpretation. The difficulty of the task is that it is limited by the paradigm. Relevance is not determined by general agreement, it all depends on what direction the therapist adheres to - the school of Freud, Adler, Rank, Klein, Sullivan or some other school of dynamic psychotherapy. If we add countertransference distortions, the advantages of the empirical approach become clear.

– Ego death and rebirth are not a one-time experience. In the course of systematic deep self-exploration, the unconscious again and again presents it in different dimensions and with different accents until the process is completed.

– This description reflects the ideal situation of a normal and uncomplicated birth. Long and exhausting labor, the application of forceps or the use of general anesthesia, or any other complications cause specific empirical distortions in this matrix.

Excerpt from Stanislav Grof’s book “Beyond the Brain”

After reading, you will understand more clearly what I talk about in the video: The Theory of Holotropic Breathwork, cartography by Ken Wilber, Stanislav Grof. Safety precautions for Holotropic Breathwork. Passing the sensory barrier, Grof's perinatal matrices, transpersonal experiences, How to stop living in the past: translate “why, for what?” – in “Why, for what?” and live in the present. An absolutely happy person, importance, social games, duality, the “victim” position, the “success” position.

Perinatal Matrices

Today I would like to talk to you about where the roots of most problems, complexes, illnesses and fears come from. About the psychology of childbirth. We work through all the problems of this period with people at ours, in particular at the seminar “Healing Women. The First Discovery of Power.”

Stanislav Grof most consistently characterized the condition of the child from conception to birth. Stanislav Grof is an American physician and psychologist of Czech origin, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology. In the concept of prenatal (prenatal) human existence he created, four main periods are identified, which are stored in the human subconscious. Grof calls them basic prenatal matrices (BPM) and characterizes in detail what happens on each of these matrices, what the child experiences, what are the features of living in each of these matrices, and how BPM can influence human behavior in later life. Each matrix forms a unique strategy for relating to the world, others, and oneself.

PERINATAL MATRIX I

Primordial unity with the mother (intrauterine experience before the onset of labor)

This matrix refers to the initial state of intrauterine existence, during which the child and mother form a symbiotic union. If there are no harmful effects, the conditions for the child are optimal, taking into account safety, protection, a suitable environment and the satisfaction of all needs.

First perinatal matrix: “Matrix of naivety”

When its formation begins is not very clear. Most likely, it requires the presence of a formed cerebral cortex in the fetus - i.e. 22-24 weeks of pregnancy. Some authors suggest cellular memory, wave memory, etc. In this case, the matrix of naivety begins to form immediately after conception and even before it. This matrix forms a person’s life potential, his potential capabilities, and ability to adapt. Desired children, children of the desired sex, have a higher base psychic potential during a healthy pregnancy, and this observation was made by humanity many centuries ago.

9 months in the womb, from the moment of conception to the moment contractions begin - HEAVEN.

Even the very moment of conception is imprinted in our psyche. Ideally, a child lives in conditions that correspond to our idea of ​​​​Paradise: complete protection, the same temperature, constant satiety, lightness (floats as if in zero gravity).

The normal first BPM is that we love and know how to relax, rest, rejoice, accept love, it stimulates us to develop.

A traumatized first BPM can subconsciously form the following behavioral programs:

At unwanted pregnancy the program “I’m always at the wrong time” is formed. You've probably met such people
If parents were thinking about abortion - fear of death, the program “As soon as I relax, they will kill me.” These people have been unable to relax since childhood; they even have toned muscles from birth.
With toxicosis (preeclampsia) - “your joy makes me sick,” or “how can you develop when children die of hunger.” This happens because the mother, for one reason or another, could not accept her pregnancy.
If my mother was sick, “if I relax, I’ll get sick.” Such thoughts also do not allow you to relax
So, the first matrix that Grof talks about is the long period from conception to the preparation of the mother’s body for childbirth. This is the time of the “golden age”. If the course of pregnancy is not complicated by psychological, physical or other problems, if the mother desires and loves this child, he will feel very good and comfortable in her womb. He is fed by his mother directly and figuratively- not only depending on her physically, but also spiritually - with her love. This period ends (one would like to say that all good things come to an end!) with the appearance of warning chemical signals in the body, and then mechanical contractions of the uterus. The primary and habitual balance and harmony of existence are disrupted, and the child experiences psychological discomfort for the first time.

PERINATAL MATRIX II

Antagonism with mother (contractions in a closed uterus)

The second perinatal matrix refers to the first clinical stage of labor. Intrauterine existence, close to normal conditions towards the ideal, coming to an end. The world of the fetus is disrupted, at first insidiously - through chemical influences, later in a rough mechanical way - by periodic contractions. This creates a situation of complete uncertainty and threat to life with various signs of bodily discomfort. At this stage, uterine contractions affect the fetus, but the cervix is ​​still closed and there is no way out. Mother and child become a source of pain for each other and enter into biological conflict.

Second Perinatal Matrix: “The Sacrifice Matrix”

It is formed from the moment of the onset of labor until the moment of complete or almost complete dilatation of the cervix. Approximately corresponds to the 1st stage of labor. The child experiences the pressure of contractions, some hypoxia, and the “exit” from the uterus is closed. In this case, the child partially regulates his own labor by releasing his own hormones into the mother’s bloodstream through the placenta. If the load on the child is too high, there is a danger of hypoxia, then he can somewhat slow down his labor in order to have time to compensate. From this point of view, labor stimulation disrupts the natural process of interaction between mother and fetus and forms a pathological matrix of the victim. On the other hand, the mother’s fear, fear of childbirth provokes the release of stress hormones by the mother, spasm of the placental vessels occurs, fetal hypoxia, and then the victim matrix is ​​also formed pathological. During a planned caesarean section this matrix cannot be formed, but during an emergency it is formed

From the beginning of contractions to the beginning of pushing - EXILEMENT FROM PARADISE or THE ARCHETYPE OF THE VICTIM

The second BPM begins from the moment contractions begin until the cervix is ​​fully opened and pushing begins. At this moment, the compression force of the uterus is about 50 kilograms; imagine that the body of a 3 kilogram child can withstand such pressure. Grof called this matrix “Victim” because the state of a victim is when it’s bad, you’re under pressure and there’s no way out. At the same time, a feeling of guilt arises (expulsion from Paradise), the blame is taken upon oneself: “I was bad and I was expelled.” The development of love trauma is possible (loved, and then hurt and pushed out). In this matrix, passive power is accumulated (“me with bare hands you won’t take it, I’m strong”), patience, perseverance, ability to survive. A person knows how to wait, endure, endure the inconveniences of life.

The negatives of this matrix are divided into two groups: when it is not there (caesarean: planned and emergency) and when it is excessive.

If the first matrix is ​​insufficient, a person does not have enough patience; it is difficult for him, for example, to sit through a lesson or lecture, or to endure an unpleasant situation in his life. The influence of anesthesia leads to “freezing” in life situations, requiring patience. With an emergency caesarean section (when there were contractions and then they stopped), it is difficult for a person to complete the job. During rapid labor, a person tries to solve problems very quickly, “at once,” and if something doesn’t work out, give up.
If there is an excess of the second matrix (long labor), a person plays a strong role of the Victim throughout life, he attracts situations when he is “pressed”, put under pressure, either by his superiors or in his family, he suffers, but at the same time subconsciously feels comfortable in this role . During labor stimulation, the program “until they push me, I will not do anything” is written down.
After a period that is meant to be a time of bliss, calm, silence, peace, “rocking in the ocean of the mother’s womb,” comes the time of testing. The fetus is periodically compressed by uterine spasms, but the system is still closed - the cervix is ​​not dilated, exit is not available. The womb, which has been protective and safe for so long, becomes threatening. Since the arteries supplying the placenta penetrate the muscles of the uterus in a complex way, each contraction limits the flow of blood, and therefore oxygen, nutrition for the baby. He begins to experience a pervasive feeling of increasing anxiety and a sense of impending danger to life. Grof believes that at this stage the newborn baby experiences a state of horror and hopelessness.

It is surprising that each person experiences this stage differently. Someone “makes a decision” to look for a way out and subordinates his entire fortune to this search. Someone shrinks in horror and makes every effort to return to their former peace. Someone falls into a state of inaction, experiencing a kind of paralysis. Some psychologists draw parallels between this matrix of intrauterine development and how in adult life a person begins to react to changed situations. The way an adult experiences a state of increasing anxiety, how he solves the problems of impending danger - the roots of his behavior, perhaps, are in the decision that he “made” in the mother’s womb.

PERINATAL MATRIX III

Synergy with mother (pushing through the birth canal)

This matrix is ​​associated with the second clinical stage of labor. The contractions continue, but the cervix is ​​already wide open, and the difficult and complex process of pushing the fetus through the birth canal gradually begins. For a child, this means a serious struggle for survival with crushing mechanical pressure and often suffocation. But the system is no longer closed, and the prospect of ending the intolerable situation arises. The efforts and interests of the child and mother coincide. Their joint intense desire is aimed at ending this largely painful condition.

Third Perinatal Matrix: “The Matrix of Struggle”

Approximately corresponds to the 2nd stage of labor. It is formed from the end of the opening period until the birth of the child. It characterizes a person’s activity at moments in life when something depends on his active or expectant position. If the mother behaved correctly during the period of pushing, helped the child, if he felt that during the period of struggle he was not alone, then in later life his behavior will be adequate to the situation. During caesarean section, both planned and emergency, the matrix does not appear to be formed, although this is controversial. Most likely, it corresponds to the moment the child is removed from the uterus during the operation.

Pushing and childbirth – LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL – MATRIX OF STRUGGLE or THE HERO’S PATH

The third BPM covers the period of pushing, when the baby moves from the uterus along the birth canal. Normally this lasts 20-40 minutes. In this matrix, active strength (“I will fight and cope”), determination, courage, courage are developed

The negatives of this matrix can also be either its excess or its deficiency.

With a caesarean section, rapid labor, or pushing a child out, people subsequently do not know how to fight; when a situation of struggle arises, they must be pushed in the back. Children intuitively develop this matrix in fights and conflicts: he fights, he is beaten.
The excess of the third matrix is ​​manifested in the fact that for these people their whole life is a struggle, they fight all the time, they always find themselves against someone and with whom.
If at the same time asphyxia develops (the child was born blue or white), a huge feeling of guilt arises and in life this is manifested in a game with death, a deadly struggle (revolutionaries, rescuers, submariners, extreme sports...).
With the clinical death of a child in the third BPM, a hidden suicide program arises.
If obstetric forceps were used, someone's help is needed in action, but on the other hand, he is afraid of this help, because it is painful.
With breaks, there is a fear of one’s own strength, a feeling of guilt, a program “as soon as I use my strength, it will cause harm, pain.”
When giving birth in a breech position in life, people try to do everything in an unusual way.
The third stage is associated with the dilatation of the cervix. An exit option appears. A very important point in psychological terms - first a person makes a decision - to look for a way out or not, and only then does the possibility of a way out appear! At this time, the child is doomed to begin the “struggle for survival.” Regardless of whether he “made” the decision to go out or try with all his might to preserve the situation, uterine contractions push him out. He begins to gradually move along the birth canal. His body is subjected to crushing mechanical pressure, lacking oxygen and suffocating. Grof notes that these circumstances make him similar to mythological characters passing through complex labyrinths, or to fairy-tale characters, making their way through impenetrable thickets. If the psyche has the courage to overcome obstacles, if the internal determination to overcome has already matured, then passing through the birth canal will become the child’s first experience of a purposeful path. There is only one way - you have to be born. But how a person overcomes this path, whether they help him along the path or not - according to the author of the theory, much depends on these circumstances in his future life.

According to Grof, it is during this period that the foundations of most behavioral, psychological and, as a consequence, social problems are laid. The first serious test in life, which a person was unable to overcome on his own, because someone “came to his aid”, lays the foundation for expecting help from others in the future. When a child is born from the family womb, he is psychologically separated from his parents, taking upon himself the burden of self-establishment social relations, he “remembers” the experience of his own birth.

PERINATAL MATRIX IV

Separation from the mother (termination of the symbiotic union with the mother and the formation of a new type of relationship)

This matrix refers to the third clinical stage of labor. The painful experience reaches its climax, the pushing through the birth canal comes to an end, and now extreme tension and suffering are replaced by unexpected relief and relaxation. The period of breath holding and, as a rule, insufficient oxygen supply ends. The baby takes his first deep breath and his airway opens. The umbilical cord is cut, and the blood that previously circulated through the umbilical cord vessels is directed to the pulmonary area. The physical separation from the mother is complete and the child begins its existence as an anatomically independent being. After the physiological balance is again established, the new situation turns out to be incomparably better than the two previous ones, but in some very important aspects it is worse than the original undisturbed primary unity with the mother. The child’s biological needs are not met on a continuous basis; there is no constant protection from temperature changes, irritating noises, changes in light intensity, or unpleasant tactile sensations.

Fourth perinatal matrix: “Freedom Matrix”

It begins from the moment of birth and its formation ends either in the first 7 days after birth, or in the first month, or it is created and revised throughout a person’s life. Those. a person throughout his life reconsiders his attitude to freedom and his own capabilities, taking into account the circumstances of his birth. Different researchers estimate the duration of the formation of the 4th matrix differently. If for some reason a child is separated from his mother after birth, then in adulthood he may regard freedom and independence as a burden and dream of returning to the matrix of innocence.

From the moment of birth to 3-9 days – FREEDOM + LOVE

This matrix covers the period from the moment the baby is born until 5-7 days after birth. After the hard work and experiences of childbirth, the child is freed, loved and accepted. Ideally, the mother should take the child in her arms, give the breast, the child needs to feel care, love, security and freedom, relief. Unfortunately, in our maternity hospitals, only in recent years have they begun to think about and implement the principles of the non-traumatic fourth matrix. Most of us, unfortunately, subconsciously associate freedom with cold, pain, hunger, and loneliness. I strongly recommend that everyone read Leboye’s book “Birth Without Violence,” which very vividly describes a child’s experiences during childbirth.

In connection with the birth experience, we also determine the experience of love in our lives. You can love according to the first BPM and the fourth. Love according to the first BPM is reminiscent of placing a loved one in an artificial womb: “I am everything to you, why do you need others - you have me, let’s do everything together...” However, such love always ends, and after a conditional 9 months a person is ready to die, but break free. Love on the fourth BPM is a combination of love and freedom, unconditional love, when you love no matter what the other person does and give him the freedom to do whatever he wants. Unfortunately, for many of us this is extremely difficult.

There are also other traumatic situations associated with childbirth, for example:

if the child was expected to be a boy or a girl, but he was born of a different gender, a trauma of gender identity arises (“will I live up to my parents’ hopes”). Often these people try to be the other gender.
If a premature baby is placed in an incubator, then a barrier subconsciously arises between itself and the world.
In the case of the birth of twins, a person needs the feeling that someone is nearby; during childbirth, the second one experiences the trauma of abandonment, that he was betrayed, left behind, and the first one experiences guilt that he abandoned him, left him behind.
If the mother had abortions before this child, they are recorded in the psyche of this child. You can experience the fear of violent death and feelings of guilt, the fear of giving yourself freedom (in case they kill you again).
Pain relief during childbirth can leave the program that my pain is not felt or stupefied.
The fourth period is childbirth itself. Grof believes that this is the completion of the feat. A sharp change in all previous conditions of existence - a transition from a water to an air type of existence, a change in temperature, the action of a strong irritant - light, the action of atmospheric pressure - all these conditions together cause severe stress to the entire organism of a newborn. According to most psychologists, it is birth shock that allows the child’s psyche to develop so intensively in the first three years of life. There is an opinion that a person is never as close to death as at the moment of birth. And at the same time, it is after this test that the impossible in other periods of life becomes possible. Within three years after his birth, any child carries out such an intellectual program that even Nobel laureate. And the feat of birth is one of main reasons such achievements.

Rapid labor, caesarean section, premature birth are extremely stressful for the child, which, according to Grof, will then negatively affect his psyche and physiology. But full breastfeeding for up to a year, good care and love can compensate for negative prenatal matrices. AND loving mother knows and feels it without any theories.

It is likely that each stage of biological birth has a specific additional spiritual component. For a serene intrauterine existence, this is an experience of cosmic unity; the onset of labor parallels the experience of a feeling of all-encompassing absorption; the first clinical stage of labor, contraction in a closed uterine system, corresponds to the experience of “no escape” or hell; pushing through the birth canal in the second clinical stage of labor has its spiritual counterpart in the struggle between death and rebirth; the metaphysical equivalent of the completion of the birth process and the events of the third clinical stage of labor is the experience of the death of the Ego and rebirth.

The first matrix has a special meaning. The process of its formation is determined by the most complex processes of development of the fetus, its nervous system, sensory organs, and various motor reactions. It is the first matrix that makes the body of the fetus and the newborn child capable of forming complex mental acts; for example, in the normal position of the fetus, it reflects the biological unity of the fetus and mother. Under ideal conditions, this is the case, and the resulting matrix is ​​manifested by the absence of boundaries of consciousness, “oceanic consciousness” connected “with mother nature”, which provides food, security, “bliss”. Under the influence of unfavorable factors during the first months and years of life, symptoms may appear, the content of which will be unconscious danger, “inhospitability of nature,” perverted perceptions with a paranoid tinge.

It is assumed that if such a person develops a mental disorder in adulthood, the main symptoms will be paranoid disorders and hypochondria. With various complications during pregnancy (hypoxia of the intrauterine fetus, emotional breakdowns in the mother during pregnancy, threat of miscarriage, etc.), memories of a “bad womb”, paranoid thinking, unpleasant bodily sensations (trembling and spasms, “hangover” syndrome) are formed. disgust, feeling of depression, hallucinations in the form of meeting with demonic forces, etc.).

The second matrix is ​​formed over a relatively short period of time (4-5 hours) as contractions intensify. For the first time after a period of “bliss” and security, the fetus begins to experience strong external pressure and aggression. Activation of this matrix under the influence of unfavorable factors throughout a person’s subsequent life can lead to the identification of nervous system patient, i.e. in memory of situations that threaten the survival or integrity of the human body. It is also possible to experience being in a closed space, apocalyptic visions of a world ominously painted in dark colors, a feeling of suffering, being trapped, a hopeless situation with no end in sight, a feeling of guilt and inferiority, the meaninglessness and absurdity of human existence, unpleasant bodily manifestations (a feeling of oppression and pressure, heart failure, fever and chills, sweating, difficulty breathing).

Of course, all statements about matrices are largely a hypothesis, but the hypothesis received some confirmation in the study of patients who underwent cesarean section. The latter leads to the fact that a child born by caesarean section does not pass the 3rd and 4th matrices. This means that these matrices cannot manifest themselves in a subsequent life.

S. Grof, who has specifically dealt with this issue, concludes that “having reached the level of birth, under hypnosis, those who were born by Caesarean section report a feeling of wrongness, as if they were comparing the way they came into this world with some phylogenetic or an archetypal matrix showing what the birth process should be. It’s amazing how they clearly miss the experience of a normal birth—the challenge and stimulus it contains, the encounter with an obstacle, the triumphant exit from a constricting space.”

Of course, this knowledge served as the basis for the development of special techniques. When giving birth by caesarean section, transpersonal psychologists believe that in order to eliminate the consequences of an unexpected severance of contact with the mother, a number of special measures must be taken immediately after birth (lay the baby on his stomach, place him in slightly warmed water, etc.) and then the newborn develops “ psychologically favorable impression of the world.”

At the same time, it is known that experienced obstetricians have long been striving (in the absence of fetal suffering) during a cesarean section to restrain the rapid extraction of the newborn, because this, through the reticular formation, contributes to the inclusion respiratory system, more precisely, the first breath of a newborn.

Recognition of the role of perinatal matrices makes it possible to come to the fundamentally important conclusion that in the womb the fetus lives its own mental life. Of course, the latter is limited by the unconscious mental, but, nevertheless, the fetus can register its own mental processes occurring during childbirth. Knowledge of the pattern of activation of matrices allows us to predict the symptoms of the development of the clinical picture in specific conditions of exposure to harmful factors.

Ways to transmit information

If we recognize that the fetus and newborn have the opportunity to record information about the perinatal period for life, then the question immediately arises about the ways of transmitting this information from the pregnant woman to the fetus and back. By modern presentation there are 3 main ways:

1. Traditional - through the uteroplacental blood flow. Hormones are transmitted through the placenta, the levels of which are partly controlled by emotions. These are, for example, stress hormones, endorphins, etc.

2. Wave - electromagnetic radiation of organs, tissues, individual cells, etc. in narrow ranges. For example, there is a hypothesis that an egg in favorable conditions can accept not any sperm, but only one that matches it in terms of the characteristics of electromagnetic radiation. The zygote (fertilized egg) also notifies the mother's body of its appearance at the wave level, and not at the hormonal level. Also, the mother’s diseased organ emits “wrong” waves to the fetus, and the corresponding organ in the unborn child may also develop pathologically.

3. Water - through aquatic environment body. Water can be an energy-informational conductor, and the mother can transmit some information to the fetus simply through the fluid media of the body.

The electromagnetic field of a pregnant woman operates in the millimeter range, changing in accordance with changes environment and plays the role of one of the adaptation mechanisms. The child, in turn, also exchanges information with the mother in the same range.

It is interesting that the problem of surrogacy can be viewed from a completely different angle. A surrogate mother carrying someone else's (genetically) child for 9 months inevitably influences him informationally, and this turns out to be partially her child. A child being carried also influences its biological stepmother.

So, after reading the research of Stanislav Grof, you can understand where you or your children may have certain health or behavior problems. Unfortunately, in our country they are only now beginning to develop a humane approach to pregnancy and obstetric care, and parents, having the opportunity to protect themselves, can plan the desired pregnancy. This means that there will be fewer people who were injured at such an early age.

Grof's perinatal matrices. First feat in life

About sensations and emotions expectant mother During childbirth, much has been written - both in scientific and fiction literature. How does the baby feel at this time? Grof's matrix theory is just one attempt to describe this. So, how will the baby experience the process of its own birth? What will he feel at this moment? What sensations will accompany his arrival into this world and what trace will this event leave in the soul of the little man? Are birth experiences reflected in the child’s psyche and how? How can we, adults, help or ease this test and is it worth doing? There are a lot of questions... To answer them, psychologists used various methods, for example biographical, when certain patterns were traced in the description of a person’s life and an attempt was made to identify the relationship between the characteristics of the person’s psyche and how the process of his childbirth took place - whether labor was slow and sluggish, or rapid and uncontrollable.

Among the many methods of studying this interesting process, there were even such extraordinary ones as the use by the researcher of mild degrees of narcotic excitation in order to introduce his own body into a psychophysiochemical state that is akin to the state of a born person. Doctors have long established an approximate “chemical picture” of the condition of a baby leaving the mother’s womb - the content of adrenaline, endomorphins (biologically active substances that affect the nervous system) and other components in the blood. It was this chemical picture that some of the brave researchers tried to recreate in themselves, in order to once again feel what we felt during our own birth.

Pre- and perinatal psychology(English: Pre- and perinatal psychology) is a new field of knowledge (a subfield of developmental psychology), which studies the circumstances and patterns of human development in the early stages: prenatal (antenatal), perinatal (intranatal) and neonatal (postnatal) phases of development, and their influence for the rest of your life. Perinatal - the concept consists of two words: peri (peri) - around, about and natos (natalis) - relating to birth. Thus, pre- and perinatal psychology is the science of the mental life of an unborn child or a newly born one (the science of the initial phase of human development - prenatal and perinatal).

It must be said right away: we have not yet reached a consensus on how a child feels during childbirth. But some general patterns can still be identified.

The first of them is the recognition that the onset of labor is the greatest stress for the child - mental, physiological and even almost moral stress. We can say that for the first time in his life the child is faced with injustice and deceit. The warm, cozy mother’s womb, which for so long provided everything necessary for life, suddenly becomes aggressive and inhospitable. She begins to be expelled from herself, “expelled from paradise.”

Stanislav Grof most consistently characterized the condition of the child from conception to birth. Stanislav Grof is an American physician and psychologist of Czech origin, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology. In the concept of prenatal (antenatal) human existence he created, the following are highlighted: four main periods, which are stored in the human subconscious. Grof calls them basic prenatal matrices (BPM) and characterizes in detail what happens on each of these matrices, what the child experiences, what are the characteristics of living in each of these matrices, and how BPM can influence human behavior in later life. Each matrix forms a unique strategy for relating to the world, others, and oneself.

4 basic perinatal matrices:

contractions(matrix 1);

passage through the birth canal (matrix 2);

actually childbirth(matrix 3);

primary contact with the mother (matrix 4).

PERINATAL MATRIX

Primordial unity with mother

(intrauterine experience before labor begins)

This matrix refers to the initial state of intrauterine existence, during which the child and mother form a symbiotic union. If there are no harmful effects, the conditions for the child are optimal, taking into account safety, protection, a suitable environment and the satisfaction of all needs.

First perinatal matrix: "The Matrix of Naivety"

When its formation begins is not very clear. Most likely, it requires the presence of a formed cerebral cortex in the fetus - i.e. 22-24 weeks of pregnancy. Some authors suggest cellular memory, wave memory, etc. In this case, the matrix of naivety begins to form immediately after conception and even before it. This matrix forms a person’s life potential, his potential capabilities, and ability to adapt. Desired children, children of the desired sex, with a healthy pregnancy have a higher base psychic potential, and this observation was made by humanity a long time ago.

9 months in the womb, from the moment of conception to the moment contractions begin - HEAVEN.

Even the very moment of conception is imprinted in our psyche. Ideally, a child lives in conditions that correspond to our idea of ​​​​Paradise: complete protection, equal temperature, constant satiety, lightness (floats as if in weightlessness).

The normal first BPM is that we love and know how to relax, rest, rejoice, accept love, it stimulates us to develop.

A traumatized first BPM can subconsciously form the following behavioral programs: in case of an unwanted pregnancy, the “I’m always at the wrong time” program is formed. If parents were thinking about abortion - fear of death, the program “As soon as I relax, they will kill me.” At toxicosis e ( gestosis f) – “your joy makes me sick”, or – “how can you develop when children die of hunger.” If mom was sick - “if I relax, I’ll get sick.” For those who find it difficult to sit through the second part of the rebirthing process - to relax, then most likely there were problems in the first matrix.

So, the first matrix that Grof talks about is the long period from conception to the preparation of the mother’s body for childbirth. This is the time of the "golden age". If the course of pregnancy is not complicated by psychological, physical or other problems, if the mother desires and loves this child, he will feel very good and comfortable in her womb. He is nourished by his mother in the literal and figurative sense - not only depending on her physically, but also spiritually - with her love. This period ends (one would like to say that all good things come to an end!) with the appearance of warning chemical signals in the body, and then mechanical contractions of the uterus. The primary and habitual balance and harmony of existence are disrupted, and the child experiences psychological discomfort for the first time.

PERINATAL MATRIX II

Antagonism with mother

(contractions in a closed uterus)

The second perinatal matrix refers to the first clinical stage of labor. Intrauterine existence, close to ideal under normal conditions, is coming to an end. The world of the fetus is disrupted, at first insidiously - through chemical influences, later in a rough mechanical way - by periodic contractions. This creates a situation of complete uncertainty and threat to life with various signs of bodily discomfort. At this stage, the uterine contractions affect the fetus, but the cervix is ​​still closed and there is no way out. Mother and child become a source of pain for each other and enter into biological conflict.

Second perinatal matrix: "The Sacrifice Matrix"

It is formed from the moment of the onset of labor until the moment of complete or almost complete dilatation of the cervix. Approximately corresponds to the 1st stage of labor. The child experiences the pressure of contractions, some hypoxia, and the “exit” from the uterus is closed. At the same time, the child partially regulates his own childbirth the release of its own hormones into the mother’s bloodstream through the placenta. If the load on the child is too high, there is a danger of hypoxia, then he can somewhat slow down his childbirth in order to have time to compensate. From this point of view, labor stimulation disrupts the natural process of interaction between mother and fetus and forms a pathological matrix of the victim. On the other hand, the mother’s fear, fear of childbirth provokes the release of stress hormones by the mother, spasm of the blood vessels of the placenta occurs, hypoxia fetus and then the victim matrix is ​​also formed pathological. During a planned caesarean section this matrix cannot be formed, but during an emergency it is formed

From the beginning of contractions to the beginning of pushing - EXILEMENT FROM PARADISE or THE ARCHETYPE OF THE VICTIM

The second BPM begins from the moment contractions begin until the cervix is ​​fully opened and pushing begins. At this moment, the compression force of the uterus is about 50 kilograms; imagine that the body of a 3 kilogram child can withstand such pressure. Grof called this matrix “Victim” because the state of a victim is when it’s bad, you’re under pressure and there’s no way out. At the same time, a feeling of guilt arises (expulsion from Paradise), the blame is taken upon oneself: “I was bad and I was expelled.” Possible development injuries love (loved, and then hurt and pushed out). In this matrix, passive strength is developed (“you can’t take me with your bare hands, I’m strong”), patience, perseverance, and the ability to survive. A person knows how to wait, endure, endure the inconveniences of life.

The negatives of this matrix are divided into two groups: when it is not there (caesarean: planned and emergency) and when it is excessive.

If the first matrix is ​​insufficient, a person does not have enough patience; it is difficult for him, for example, to sit through a lesson or lecture, or to endure an unpleasant situation in his life. The influence of anesthesia leads to “freezing” in life situations that require patience. In case of emergency caesarean section (when contractions were, and then they stopped) it is difficult for a person to complete a task. During a rapid birth, a person tries to solve problems very quickly, “right off the bat,” and if something doesn’t work out, give up.

If there is an excess of the second matrix (long childbirth) – a person plays a strong role of the Victim throughout his life, he attracts situations when he is “pressed”, pressured, either by his superiors or in his family, he suffers, but at the same time subconsciously feels comfortable in this role. During labor stimulation, the program “until they push me, I will not do anything” is written down.

After a period that is meant to be a time of bliss, calm, silence, peace, “rocking in the ocean of the mother’s womb,” comes the time of testing. The fetus is periodically compressed by uterine spasms, but the system is still closed - the cervix is ​​not dilated, exit is not available. The womb, which has been protective and safe for so long, becomes threatening. Since the arteries supplying the placenta penetrate the muscles of the uterus in a complex way, each contraction limits the flow of blood, and therefore oxygen, nutrition for the baby. He starts to experience everything volume a feeling of increasing anxiety and a sense of impending danger to life. Grof believes that at this stage the newborn baby experiences a state of horror and hopelessness. It is surprising that each person experiences this stage differently. Someone “makes a decision” to look for a way out and subordinates his entire fortune to this search. Someone shrinks in horror and makes every effort to return to their former peace. Someone falls into a state of inaction, experiencing a kind of paralysis. Some psychologists draw parallels between this matrix of intrauterine development and how in adult life a person begins to react to changed situations. The way an adult experiences a state of increasing anxiety, how he solves the problems of impending danger - the roots of his behavior, perhaps, are in the decision that he “made” in the mother’s womb.

PERINATAL MATRIX III

Synergy with mother

(pushing through the birth canal)

This matrix is ​​associated with the second clinical stage of labor. The contractions continue, but the cervix is ​​already wide open, and the difficult and complex process of pushing the fetus through the birth canal gradually begins. For a child, this means a serious struggle for survival with crushing mechanical pressure and often suffocation. But the system is no longer closed, and the prospect of ending the intolerable situation arises. The efforts and interests of the child and mother coincide. Their joint intense desire is aimed at ending this largely painful condition.

Third perinatal matrix: "Struggle Matrix"

Approximately corresponds to the 2nd stage of labor. It is formed from the end of the opening period until the birth of the child. It characterizes a person’s activity at moments in life when something depends on his active or expectant position. If the mother behaved correctly during the period of pushing, helped the child, if he felt that during the period of struggle he was not alone, then in later life his behavior will be adequate to the situation. During caesarean section, both planned and emergency, the matrix does not appear to be formed, although this is controversial. Most likely, it corresponds to the moment the child is removed from the uterus during the operation.

Attempts andchildbirth – LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL – THE MATRIX OF STRUGGLE or THE HERO’S PATH

The third BPM covers the period of pushing, when the baby moves from the uterus along the birth canal. Normally this lasts 20-40 minutes. In this matrix, active strength is developed (“I will fight and cope”), determination, courage, boldness

The negatives of this matrix can also be either its excess or its deficiency. So, with a caesarean section, rapid labor, or pushing a child out, people subsequently do not know how to fight; when a situation of struggle arises, they must be pushed in the back. Children intuitively develop this matrix in fights and conflicts: he fights, he is beaten.

The excess of the third matrix is ​​manifested in the fact that for these people their whole life is a struggle, they fight all the time, they always find themselves against someone and with whom. If at the same time asphyxia develops (the child was born blue or white), a huge feeling of guilt arises and in life this manifests itself in playing with death, in a deadly struggle (revolutionaries, rescuers, submariners, extreme sports...). With the clinical death of a child in the third BPM, a hidden suicide program arises. If obstetric forceps were used, someone's help is needed in action, but on the other hand, he is afraid of this help, because it is painful. With breaks, there is a fear of one’s strength, a feeling of guilt, a program “as soon as I use my strength, it will cause harm, pain.”

When giving birth in a breech position, people tend to do everything in an unusual way in life.

The third stage is associated with the dilatation of the cervix. An exit option appears. A very important point in psychological terms - first a person makes a decision - to look for a way out or not, and only then does the possibility of a way out appear! At this time, the child is doomed to begin the “struggle for survival.” Regardless of whether he “made” the decision to go out or to try with all his might to preserve the situation, uterine contractions push him out. He begins to gradually move along the birth canal. His body is subjected to crushing mechanical pressure, lacking oxygen and suffocating. Grof notes that these circumstances make him similar to mythological characters passing through complex labyrinths, or fairy-tale heroes making their way through impenetrable thickets. If the psyche has the courage to overcome obstacles, if the internal determination to overcome has already matured, then passing through the birth canal will become the child’s first experience of a purposeful path. There is only one way - you have to be born. But how a person overcomes this path, whether they help him along the path or not - according to the author of the theory, much depends on these circumstances in his future life.

According to Grof, it is during this period that the foundations of most behavioral, psychological and, as a consequence, social problems are laid. The first serious test in life, which a person was unable to overcome on his own, because someone “came to his aid”, lays the foundation for expecting further help from outside. When a child is born from the family womb, psychologically separated from his parents, taking upon himself the burden of independently establishing social relationships, he “remembers” the experience of his own birth.

PERINATAL MATRIX IV

Separation from mother

(termination of the symbiotic union with the mother and the formation of a new type of relationship)

This matrix refers to the third clinical stage of labor. The painful experience reaches its climax, the pushing through the birth canal comes to an end, and now extreme tension and suffering are replaced by unexpected relief and relaxation. The period of breath holding and, as a rule, insufficient oxygen supply ends. The baby takes his first deep breath and his airway opens. The umbilical cord is cut, and the blood that previously circulated through the umbilical cord vessels is directed to the pulmonary area. The physical separation from the mother is complete and the child begins its existence as an anatomically independent being. After the physiological balance is again established, the new situation turns out to be incomparably better than the two previous ones, but in some very important aspects it is worse than the original undisturbed primary unity with the mother. The child’s biological needs are not met on a continuous basis; there is no constant protection from temperature changes, irritating noises, changes in light intensity, or unpleasant tactile sensations.

Fourth perinatal matrix: "Freedom Matrix"

It begins from the moment of birth and its formation ends either in the first 7 days after birth, or in the first month, or it is created and revised throughout a person’s life. Those. a person throughout his life reconsiders his attitude to freedom and his own capabilities, taking into account the circumstances of his birth. Different researchers estimate the duration of the formation of the 4th matrix differently. If for some reason a child is separated from his mother after birth, then in adulthood he may regard freedom and independence as a burden and dream of returning to the matrix of innocence.

From the moment of birth to 3-9 days – FREEDOM + LOVE

This matrix covers the period from the moment the baby is born until 5-7 days after birth. After the hard work and experiences of childbirth, the child is freed, loved and accepted. Ideally, the mother should take the child in her arms, give the breast, the child needs to feel care, love, security and freedom, relief. Unfortunately in our maternity hospital Ah, only in recent years have they begun to think about and implement the principles of the non-traumatic fourth matrix. Most of us, unfortunately, subconsciously associate freedom with cold, pain, hunger, and loneliness. I strongly recommend that everyone read Leboye’s book “Birth Without Violence,” which very vividly describes a child’s experiences during childbirth.

In connection with the birth experience, we also determine the experience of love in our lives. You can love according to the first BPM and the fourth. Love according to the first BPM is reminiscent of placing a loved one in an artificial womb: “I am everything to you, why do you need others - you have me, let’s do everything together...” However, such love always ends, and after a conditional 9 months the person is ready to die , but break free. Love on the fourth BPM is a combination of love and freedom, unconditional love, when you love no matter what the other person does and give him the freedom to do whatever he wants. Unfortunately, for many of us this is extremely difficult.

There are also other situations associated with childbirth, for example, if the child was expected to be a boy or a girl, but he was born of a different gender, a trauma of gender identity arises (“will I live up to my parents’ hopes”). Often these people try to be the other gender. If a premature baby is placed in an incubator, then a barrier subconsciously arises between itself and the world. In the case of twins, a person needs the feeling that someone is nearby; during childbirth, the second has the trauma of abandonment, that he was betrayed, left behind, and the first has guilt that he abandoned, left behind.

If the mother had abortions before this child, they are recorded in the psyche of this child. You can experience the fear of violent death and feelings of guilt, the fear of giving yourself freedom (in case they kill you again). Pain relief during childbirth can leave the program that my pain is not felt or stupefied.

The fourth period is actually childbirth. Grof believes that this is the completion of the feat. A sharp change in all previous conditions of existence - a transition from a water to an air type of existence, a change in temperature, the action of a strong irritant - light, the action of atmospheric pressure - all these conditions together cause severe stress to the entire organism of a newborn. According to most psychologists, it is birth shock that allows the child’s psyche to develop so intensively in the first three years of life. There is an opinion that a person is never as close to death as at the moment of birth. And at the same time, it is after this test that the impossible in other periods of life becomes possible. Within three years after his birth, any child carries out an intellectual program that is beyond the capabilities of even a Nobel laureate. And the feat of birth is one of the main reasons for such achievements.

Swiftchildbirth , C-section , prematurechildbirth - this is extreme stress for the child, which, according to Grof, will then negatively affect his psyche and physiology. But full breastfeeding for up to a year, good care and love can compensate for negative prenatal matrices. And a loving mother knows and feels this without any theories.

STAGES OF LABOR

It is likely that each stage of biological birth has a specific additional spiritual component. For a serene intrauterine existence, this is an experience of cosmic unity; the onset of labor parallels the experience of feeling everything volume burning absorption; the first clinical stage of labor, contraction in a closed uterine system, corresponds to the experience of “no escape” or hell; pushing through the birth canal in the second clinical stage of labor has its spiritual counterpart in the struggle between death and rebirth; the metaphysical equivalent of the completion of the birth process and the events of the third clinical stage of labor is the experience of the death of the Ego and rebirth.

First matrix has special meaning. The process of its formation is determined by the most complex processes of development of the fetus, its nervous system, sensory organs, and various motor reactions. It is the first matrix that makes the body of the fetus and the newborn child capable of forming complex mental acts; for example, in the normal position of the fetus, it reflects the biological unity of the fetus and mother. Under ideal conditions, this is so, and the resulting matrix is ​​manifested by the absence of boundaries of consciousness, “oceanic consciousness” connected “with mother nature”, which provides food, security, “bliss”. Under the influence of unfavorable factors during the first months and years of life, symptoms may appear, the content of which will be unconscious danger, “inhospitability when childbirth", perverted perceptions with a paranoid tinge. It is assumed that if such a person develops a mental disorder in adulthood, the main symptoms will be paranoid disorders, hypochondria. For various complications during pregnancy ( hypoxia intrauterine fetus, emotional breakdowns in the mother during pregnancy, threat of miscarriage, etc.) memories of a “bad womb” are formed, paranoid thinking, unpleasant bodily sensations (trembling and spasms, “hangover” syndrome, disgust, a feeling of depression, hallucinations in the form meetings with demonic forces, etc.).

Second matrix forms over a relatively short period of time (4-5 hours) as contractions intensify. For the first time after a period of “bliss” and security, the fetus begins to experience strong external pressure and aggression. Activation of this matrix under the influence of unfavorable factors throughout a person’s subsequent life can lead to the detection in the patient’s nervous system, i.e. in memory of situations that threaten the survival or integrity of the human body. It is also possible to experience being in a closed space, apocalyptic visions of a world ominously painted in dark colors, a feeling of suffering, being trapped, a hopeless situation with no end in sight, a feeling of guilt and inferiority, the meaninglessness and absurdity of human existence, unpleasant bodily manifestations (a feeling of oppression and pressure, heart failure, fever and chills, sweating, difficulty breathing).

Of course, all statements about matrices are largely a hypothesis, but the hypothesis received some confirmation in the study of patients who underwent C-section. The latter leads to the fact that a child born by caesarean section does not pass the 3rd and 4th matrices. This means that these matrices cannot manifest themselves in a subsequent life.

S. Grof, who has specifically dealt with this issue, concludes that “having reached the level of birth under hypnosis, those who were born by Caesarean section report a feeling of wrongness, as if they were comparing the way they came into this world with some phylogenetic or archetypal matrix ", showing what the process of birth should be like. It is amazing how they clearly lack the experience of a normal birth - the challenge and stimulus it contains, the encounter with an obstacle, the triumphant exit from a compressive space."

Of course, this knowledge served as the basis for the development of special techniques. When giving birth by caesarean section, transpersonal psychologists believe that in order to eliminate the consequences of an unexpected severance of contact with the mother, a number of special measures should be taken immediately after birth (placing the child on stomach, place in slightly warmed water, etc.) and then the newborn develops a “psychologically favorable impression of the world.”

At the same time, it is known that experienced obstetricians have long been striving (in the absence of fetal suffering) during a cesarean section to restrain the rapid extraction of the newborn, because this, through the reticular formation, contributes to the inclusion of the respiratory system, more precisely, the first breath of the newborn.