Mandala Art Projects
According to Wikipedia, a mandala is "commonly used by tantric Buddhists as an aid in meditation. More specifically, a Buddhist mandala is envisaged as a "sacred space," and is usually filled with dieties or god-like beings. Although I don't meditate, I do use mandalas to help me visualize things that I want in my life. The one hanging on my bedroom door has words in the spokes for calling more creativity and artistic success into my life. I made that mandala about 4 years ago when I was still afraid of focusing on my art professionally, believing that I wasn't good enough to be considered a "professional" artist. And it has helped me overcome my fears and doubts. I think looking at anything everyday for years (or even months) will change your beliefs. Its just up to you to decide what you are going to believe, and then find the tools to help you change and solidify those beliefs. The mandala wheel below is one that I made. Its very basic and can be used for different kinds of visioning and healing. All you have to do is print it out, write in words, color it in, and hang it somewhere you will see it daily. For example, if you've been in abusive relationships and are working on having healthy relationships, you can put affirmative words in it that will aid you in changing that part of your life. You can write the word "Relationship" at the top, and some words you might want to write in the spokes could be: Healthy, Respectful, Loving, Kind, ect. And around the outer circle area, you could write some write something like "I am a strong healthy person who only has healthy positive relationships."
Below are some mandelas that I have created for you to download and color. Mandala art projects are more of a coloring exercise in that they don't require you to create them from scratch. To color in a mandala, choose from the list below, print out, and color in with your choice of medium. I prefer slender tip markers for mine but crayons also work well. Some of the benefits of coloring manadals is stress-relief, creative exercise, and suspending inner-dialogue, which is very similar to meditation. I really love coming up with new mandala designs and will be adding more mandalas in the future, so check back often.
• Mandela Swirl 1 and Swirl 2 |
