Holotropic Breathwork has been developed by Christina and Stanislav Grov in 1976. It emanates from the large field called transpersonal Psychology, which delivers access to the subconscious and to memories and traumas stored in the body. It is primarily about events lying outside the capsuled entity we usually experience as »I«. This includes one's own birth, prenatal issues, experiences of death and reincarnation as well as elements of the collective-mythological, socialised or family-systemic subconscious. But it is also about experiencing bright and vast moments of unity with all things.
The setting of this intensive self-experience is a group-process, in which the breathing one puts himself into trance by hyperventilating purposefully, supported by a sitter and well-chosen music. Through this deepening of our breath, our body gets loaded with a lot of energy, which gives us access to the deeper dimensions of our soul. Inner blockages become visible and sensible through body reactions, allowing us to give shape and expression to the ascending subjects and healthily integrate them into our conscious life.
This is also provided by the concluding "mandala-paining" where we express what we just experienced by painting freely, to create a space of conscious but still intuitive back-sensing. This way of processing beyond intellect and language is more appropriate for this often archaic experiences and sets up a safe bridge to the actual comprehension.