Scripting · “You Assign the Meaning”
Mandala Drawing & Integration
To express and integrate the material of a non-ordinary-state session by drawing a mandala and sharing it in a non-interpretive group, bridging the experience back into ordinary consciousness.
Mandala drawing & integration (Grof): After a non-ordinary-state session, draw a free-form circular image (any style, no “good art” required) expressing what you went through, then share it in a facilitated group where experiences are witnessed but never interpreted by others. Use it to bridge the experience back into ordinary life, and keep integrating — through journaling, rest and reflection — over the following days and weeks. (Part of a facilitated process, not a solo substitute for it.)
What it is
In Stanislav Grof’s approach to non-ordinary states, the experience is not finished when the breathing stops. The session ends with a deliberate integration phase: the breather is given art materials and asked to draw a mandala — a circular, free-form drawing expressing whatever they went through — and then to share it in a facilitated group where experiences are spoken but not interpreted by others.
Grof considered this step essential, not optional: it provides a non-verbal container for material that may be hard to put into words, bridges the non-ordinary state back into ordinary waking consciousness, and creates a visual record that can be revisited as integration continues over the following days and weeks.
It is a structured form of expressive processing — closer in spirit to journaling and morning pages than to interpretation or analysis. It draws on All Is One (the deeper Self), Only Love Is Real (meaning is assigned) and The Inner Creates the Outer (feeling).
The Method
As described in the Grofs’ Holotropic Breathwork (2010):
- Transition out of the session. After the breathing and any focused bodywork, the breather rests and gradually returns to an ordinary state.
- Make a mandala. Using pastels, crayons or coloured pencils on a large sheet (often with a pre-drawn circle), the breather draws whatever wants to come — abstract or representational — to express the session’s emotional tone, imagery, and movement. There is no requirement that it be “good art” or even legible; it is a personal expression, not a performance.
- No prescribed meaning. The breather is not told what the mandala “should” contain or mean; the drawing simply gives form to the experience.
- Group sharing (non-interpretive). In a carefully facilitated sharing circle, breathers describe their experience and show their mandala if they wish. The firm rule is that experiences are shared but not interpreted or analysed by others — no diagnosing, no “what that really means” from the group or facilitator.
- Bridge, don’t conclude. The point is to honour and witness the material and begin weaving it into ordinary life, not to reach a tidy conclusion.
- Ongoing integration. Grof stresses that integration continues for days or weeks afterward through journaling, rest, reflection, and (where needed) therapy. The mandala becomes a touchstone to return to. (Sourcing note: a faithful description of the Grofs’ published integration protocol — mandala drawing plus non-interpretive group sharing — which is intrinsic to the method.)
Source & Lineage
Stanislav Grof (b. 1931), co-founder of transpersonal psychology, built the mandala-and-sharing close into Holotropic Breathwork, developed with Christina Grof at Esalen from the late 1970s.
The mandala draws directly on C. G. Jung, who used spontaneous mandala drawing as a window onto the psyche’s movement toward wholeness; the non-interpretive sharing reflects Grof’s broader non-directive principle (see companion node).
The Traditions' versions
Jung’s spontaneous mandalas — drawing circular images as a record of inner process and individuation.
- Morning Pages / expressive journaling — putting raw inner material onto the page without editing or judgement.,
- Intensive Journal (Progoff) — structured writing to integrate life material.
- Expressive arts therapy — using image-making to process what words cannot reach.
- Ceremonial integration circles — sharing after psychedelic or shamanic work without cross-talk or interpretation.
Common refinements
Treating it as optional. Grof’s strongest practical point: skipping integration is itself risky — material surfaced and left unprocessed can be destabilising.
- Trying to make “good art.” The mandala is expression, not performance; aesthetic judgement defeats the purpose.
- Interpreting others’ experiences. The non-interpretive rule is central; analysing someone else’s mandala or session breaks it.
- Confusing catharsis with completion. A vivid drawing and a moving share are not the same as a resolved issue; ongoing reflection or therapy may be needed.
- Refinement: keep the mandala accessible afterward and return to it as integration continues — it is a touchstone, not a one-off.