Understanding the Birth Matrix

Basic Perinatal Matrix I (BPM I) represents that point in the birth process when labor has not yet started and we are still fully inside of the mother’s uterus.  This can be a “good womb” or “bad womb” situation (or a combination of both), depending upon the circumstances.  Stress hormones from our mothers might create anxiety in utero and/or nurturing hormones could create pleasant feelings.  The surrealist artist Salvador Dali wrote in his autobiography that his own bad womb experience (his parents were in despair over the death of his brother at the time) haunted him for the rest of his life.

Basic Perinatal Matrix II (BPM II) is that point in the birth when labor has started and we are being pushed up against the cervix by the mother’s contractions but the cervix has not yet begun to dilate or open.  This can be a very scary experience, and people in later life who were traumatized at this point in their birth may feel claustrophobia, existential angst, depression, feelings of terror, or other negative consequences.  Edgar Allen Poe may have been a BPM II baby as evidenced by his short story “The Pit and the Pendulum”  where a character finds himself in a prison where walls are closing in on him and the only way out is down a bottomless pit.

Basic Perinatal Matrix III (BPM III) is when the cervix has opened and we start to move out (or push out) through the birth canal.  This can be both thrilling and also violent or dangerous (for example, the umbilical cord might strangle the fetus at this point).  People who get fixated at this point in their births may grow up to become thrill-seekers, but also potentially dangerous individuals. Adolf Hitler may have been a BPM III baby with his violent policies and his fixation on strangulation (he often had his enemies strangled).

The final stage of birth, Basic Perinatal Matrix IV (BPM IV) is when we have left the womb and are now outside in the world.  This stage may be associated in later life with feelings of expansion (possibly even agoraphobia), feelings of rebirth (perhaps associated with religious experiences), and also feelings of separation and loneliness.  People who have undergone dramatic religious conversions, such as the French philosopher Blaise Pascal or the Apostle Paul of Tarsus, may have re-experienced this stage of birth during their spiritual transformations in adulthood.

Breathwork & The Perinatal Matrices 

Grof discovered the presence of the four basic perinatal matrices when using LSD psychedelic therapy with patients suffering from mental disorders. He later created Holotropic Breathwork, which helps reveal and heal the traumas associated with the stages of the birth experience, as well as experiences associated with other stages of development such as early childhood. 

In our 60 minute breathwork sets, you may experience a reliving or memory of the birth experience in a visionary, energetic, or physical way. As always, it's important to trust and surrender to these experiences to help release any tension that may be attached to this early developmental experience in your psyche. The way past is always through! Working with a birth experience in a breathwork session is a great way to help yourself heal, learn more about yourself, and feel empowered in your healing journey. 

Source: American Institute for Learning and Human Development