Mandala drawing
Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast limitless circle. We stand in the centre of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life… everything that shows up in your mandala is a vehicle for your awakening. ―Pema Chödrön
👥 Serves: 1 person, 11-25 people, 2-10 people, 26-40 people, 41+ people
🎚 Difficulty: Medium
⏳ Total time: 61-120 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: 1 sheet of paper, 1 compass (if you don’t have it, you can use different sized plates/bowls), 1 pencil, 1 sharpener, 1 eraser, 1 ruler, micron pens or permanent black markers (smallest tip size possible), music (we recommend using contemplative music or natural sounds to take the experience to a deeper level), a group of friends (but you can also do it alone)
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Awareness, Discomfortability, Liberatory Learning, Ritualising
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Creativity, Flexibility, Hosting yourself, Letting go, Non-attachment, Relief, Stress management, Transcendence
Mandala drawing
📝 Description
A creative activity to heal your spirit.
Mandala is a Sanskrit word, meaning circle, totality, or completion. It derives from manda, meaning “essence” and la, meaning “container” – a container of essence. It is a place for you to capture the essence of your life.
Mandalas are sacred symbols that are used for meditation, prayer, healing, and art therapy both for adults and children. They have been shown in clinical studies to boost the immune system, reduce stress and pain, lower blood pressure, promote sleep, and ease depression. Drawing a mandala is a process of creating round, symmetrical images that are beneficial from a healing perspective and it is helpful to promote mindfulness and focus your attention.
This recipe has kindly been donated by our friend Pukhraj Ranjan and it can be used as an opportunity to rejuvenate physically, mentally, and socially!
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Setting up (15’)
Gather all your material. If you are doing this practice in a group, we encourage you to play some soothing music to help participants look inwardly. If this is part of your meditative practice, take a few minutes to focus on your breath before starting the activity.
Step 2 – Basic structure (5’)
There are a few basic rules to draw a Mandala when you start off, but feel free to follow your creativity. Take your compass and start making concentric circles (as many as you like). Usually, the centre circle is left empty as it is filled at the end with a representation of your true thoughts.
Step 3 – Draw (35’)
Start filling the Mandala with the same design in each ring. If you are lacking inspiration to come up with your own designs at the beginning, check out the images below to help you.
Step 4 – Fill the centre (10’)
When you have filled all the rings, go back to the circle right in the centre and fill it up with whatever you like – a quote, a self-portrait, a drawing of someone you love. We are intentionally not sharing a picture of what to put in the centre so you can do it your way.
Step 5 – Appreciate and share (25’)
We guarantee that you would not have expected the Mandala to turn out this beautiful. Just like life, layer after layer, it is up to us to colour it up and once in a while, take a pause to enjoy and share the beauty! If you are doing this in a group, give everyone the chance to show their mandala to everyone and briefly share their experience (if they would like to, of course).
Step 6 – What to do with the art?
Here are a few ideas: (1) Frame it and put it up on your art wall; (2) Gift it to a friend or a family member; or (3) Sell it and donate the money to your favourite charity.