by Susan Alden

Leonard D. Orr is best known as the founder of Rebirthing Breathwork. He is one of the early pioneers of the use of the breath as a somatic therapy, perhaps the earliest…Leonard was a creative free thinker, and a pioneer in many areas of life. He not only discovered the healing power of conscious connected breathing, which he first called Rebirthing, and later Rebirthing Breathwork, he also questioned many aspects of life, especially those that cause human suffering and misery.

By Leonard Orr
I was born in Walton, NY, a dairy farming town of 5,000 people. I have always thought of it as the perfect small town. It is nestled in the mountains with a river and creeks running through it. Everyone is friendly and there are lots of large maple trees and churches. It was "dry" during my whole childhood; no alcohol was sold in town until I was 19. My childhood was externally idyllic. But I was already damaged so much internally that I couldn't enjoy it much until after I developed and did plenty of Rebirthing practice…