The Team
We are a group of people from diverse backgrounds who have known each other and grown together for over 20 years.
Out of our passion for inner work, we have chosen to pool our wisdom and experience to create a rich resource for those people who would like to dive deep into the holotropic journey in a safe and supportive environment.
Lydia Schamschula
Lydia Schamschula is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, a German-licensed psychotherapy practitioner under the Heilpraktiker law, and co-founder of Holotropic Berlin. Before dedicating herself more fully to consciousness work, she worked as an actress and filmmaker, approaching film as a way to explore the mystery and depth of human experience.
Her inner work has been shaped by many years of meditation practice, especially Zazen, as well as Qi Gong and other approaches to self-exploration. She began her training in Holotropic Breathwork® in 2015 and became certified through Grof Transpersonal Training in the United States in 2017.
Since then, Lydia has been organizing and facilitating Holotropic Breathwork® workshops with the Holotropic Berlin team and has facilitated internationally in Spain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Georgia. A central focus of her work is preparation and integration, supporting people before and after deep experiential processes and non-ordinary states of consciousness. She has completed the ICEERS Academy Integration Training and brings a grounded, compassionate, and trauma-informed approach to her work.
Lydia lives in Berlin with her partner and their two wonderful dogs, who regularly remind her of the importance of presence, play, and long walks.
‘Through my 40 years of experience in expressive therapies, stopping and seeing meditations and living a wholesome daily life I endeavor to bring that experience and wisdom to meet, be present for the groups and each participants process whatever that may be.’ Cyrus
Cyrus Bruton
Cyrus Bruton is an international Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator originally from the UK. For over 35 years, he has been based in Berlin, Germany, where he lives with his partner and friends. For more than two decades, Cyrus has been guiding and holding space for a community grounded in meditation and wholesome daily living together with others.
During the 1980s and 90s, Cyrus lived and worked in India, immersing himself in various emotional and body-centered therapies, dance, and music. He also worked extensively as a progressive psychedelic trance and ambient DJ throughout Europe — an experience that deeply informs the spirit and curation of his Holotropic Breathwork® music sets.
Since 2017, Cyrus has intensely focused on the practice of Zazen and koan study under the guidance of Jeff Shore, attending retreats across Europe and visiting Japan. He is also the author of the book Mud, Lotus, Mystic, published in 2017.
Deepening his commitment to therapeutic and mindful practices, he is entering the Mindfulness-Based Core Process Psychotherapy training at the Karuna Institute in the UK for the 2026/27 academic year.
Cyrus first connected with Holotropic Breathwork® in 2011, participating in international modules and workshops before earning his certification as a facilitator in Spain in 2016. He is the founder of Holotropic Berlin, where he regularly facilitates and co-organizes workshops.
Cyrus brings a grounded, embodied presence to the work, honoring a lifelong fascination with the human journey.
Frank Anlauf
Frank Anlauf lives in Berlin since 2014, is a body therapist and has been working for many years in the field of osteopathy, massage, Breathwork therapy, homeopathy and as a non-medical practitioner.
His first contact with Holotropic Breathwork® was in 1998, which was followed by several years of inner work. In 2016 he started Grof transpersonal training and certified in 2019.
His work as a body therapist has changed a lot with the Holotropic perspective and above all has deepened a lot. In addition to Holotropic Breathwork®, he practices Zazen meditation regularly in a community.
For him, daily meditation is a fundamental basis and the possibility to integrate experiences from Holotropic Breathwork® sessions in a supportive way.
Viola-Franziska Bloess
Franziska was born and grew up in Hamburg. She lives in Berlin since 1994, travelled the world in her 20s, but Berlin has remained her base.
She studied theatre and film. In the last 20 years she works as a Producer in the Movie Business of fictional movies and series.
Early in her life she got interested in Meditation and the question ,Who am I?’ became her main focus.
She completed the Avatar materials and the Fisher-Hofmann Quadrinity process, got to know Osho meditations and practices Zazen-Meditation on a daily basis.
She finished her study as a healing practitioner for psychotherapy and is educated as a psychotherapist.
Franziska started the Grof Transpersonal Training for Holotropic Breathwork® in 2013 and certified 2022 in Colorado, USA. She experienced this work as a healing process through consciously facing and meeting the experience of the moment. It became a matter of the heart to share what she discovered, supporting others in this process of healing, opening and unfolding.
Astrid Arlt
Astrid is from Berlin and has worked as a nurse in hospice and outpatient palliative care for more than 13 years. In this role, she accompanies people through the dying process and non-ordinary states of consciousness, as well as supporting their loved ones through grief and loss. Accompanying people through intense life processes has shaped her work for many years.
Zazen meditation has long been an important part of her own path. Astrid practices daily and regularly attends Zazen retreats.
In 2015, she discovered Holotropic Breathwork® and was immediately touched by the possibility of giving space to one’s inner experience and allowing it to be experienced and expressed in its full depth. The work led to important personal breakthroughs and eventually brought her to the training. In 2022, she became certified as a Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator in Colorado.
For Astrid, Holotropic Breathwork brings together much of what is essential to her: personal growth, community, deep human connection, and the power of music. She feels a deep sense of gratitude toward Stanislav and Christina Grof, who developed this work, and toward all those who place their trust in the process.
Julia Metz
Julia works as an osteopath and alternative practitioner (Heilpraktikerin) in her own practice. Her work with the body and her sensitivity to its subtle processes have shaped her professional path for many years.
In 2013, she took part in a Holotropic Breathwork® workshop in Berlin with Stanislav and Christina Grof. The experience touched her deeply and ultimately led her to the Grof Transpersonal Training program. In 2024, she completed her training in Loveland, Colorado, and became certified as a Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator.
Alongside her osteopathic work, Julia has practiced Zen meditation for many years and regularly attends Zazen retreats.
For her, bodywork, meditation, and accompanying inner processes are different approaches to the same question: how people can experience themselves more deeply and learn to trust their own process.
Julia lives in Berlin with close friends and a much-loved cat.
Edith Friedel
Edith was born and raised in Switzerland and has been living in Berlin for over 40 years.
Shaped by experiences within her own family and by her role as a mother, she discovered the value of inner work and meditation. She practices various approaches to self-reflection and regularly participates in Zen meditation retreats.
In 2012, she discovered Holotropic Breathwork® and has since attended numerous modules and breathwork sessions. She experiences this work as a profound process of transformation, both within herself and in her personal life.
She is trained in CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), is a certified hypnotherapist, and is a Heilpraktikerin for Psychotherapy. She works part-time in a therapeutic practice.
During HB sessions, Edith loves to support participants through her natural presence and to create a caring and supportive space for their well-being.