Our usual social Ego is oriented horizontally. In the vertical, there has only been spirit or God from above and drive and affect from below. Just recent psychoanalytical studies have described the very early body-self-mirrorings, according to which the infant still remains largely in volved in itself. Even in adult life these experiences of morroring the inner vertical, or better espressed as a vertical Ego, still play an important role. The author shows this with many examples, but also describes a self-therapeutic procedure that is built up from seemingly such contradictory elements as psychoanalysis and meditation. According to the instructions, anyone can learn it themselves by means of two exercises.

Dr. von Hummel is a physician and psychoanalyst and has developed the method of Analytic Pschocatharsis thirty years ago from psychoanalytic and meditative experiences. It has been published in many books and lectures. Dr. von Hummel works in his own practice in Munich.