Utilizing the Concept of Mandalas in Art Therapy

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some Mandala art

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Mandala Art

The very nature of creating a mandala is therapeutic and symbolic. The shapes and colors you create in your mandala art therapy will reflect your inner self at the time of creation. Your instinct and feeling should inspire and guide you through the process of creation. Ultimately, you will be creating a portrait of yourself as you are when creating the mandala. So, whatever you are feeling at that time, whatever emotions are coming through, will be represented in your mandala art therapy.

As with most art therapy, it’s not about the final product…it’s about the journey. When you reach your destination, you will have a representation of something meaningful and personal…a snapshot of you for a brief moment in time expressed through your mandala.

Words from the Artist - I love to make holistic art in tune with the Earth. This helps to create a home environment of warmth and harmony. I create stunning window mandalas and simple inspirational signs to influence mood and motivation.

Create Your Own Art - Buy some watercolor pencils and watercolor paper, trace a circle and use your intuition and emotions to fill in the circle. Then use a paintbrush and water and go over your drawing to bring it to life! Use this as a meditative process for wholistic healing especially during times of stress or life transition.

See how your circles change with your mood and feel the centering effect of working with the inner circle of your soul.

Creating a mandala from scratch

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Make a MandalaBefore starting this activity:

Read about Rotational Symmetry. Have a play with Symmetry Artist (use "Rotation Symmetry")

Mandala

A Mandala is a geometric design used in Hinduism and Buddhism to help meditation. It is like a religious pattern of the universe.

And you can make your own!

You will need:

• Paper or card
• Pens or pencils in many colors.

The Activity

Cut out a circle from paper or card. Mark the center.

Starting at the center, make your own wonderful and colorful Mandala!

Start at the center. Draw patterns using any symmetry of your choice, and fill them in.
Continue adding patterns as you move further from the center.
The finished result! (Made by Alexis)

History & Meaning of the Mandala

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Many people and cultures have vouched for the mandala’s intrinsic meaning. Buddhists, Tibetans, and Hindus have all derived meaning from the mandala and its captivating beauty. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung has called it “a representation of the unconscious self.” The mandala is widely recognized as a meaningful reflection of its creator. Mandala art therapy & healing can be a great source of reflection on one’s soul.

Mandalas can be seen all around us, but are not just people-centric. They are larger than life. Mandalas represent life as we know it, but they also represent a larger ecosystem and universe that exceeds our consciousness.
The “circle with a center” pattern is the basic structure of creation that is reflected from the micro to the macro in the world as we know it. It is a pattern found in nature and is seen in biology, geology, chemistry, physics and astronomy.
On our planet, living things On our planet, living things are made of cells and each cell has a nucleus — all display circles with centers. The crystals that form ice, rocks, and mountains are made of atoms. Each atom is a mandala.

Within the Milky Way galaxy is our solar system and within our solar system, is Earth. Each is a mandala that is part of a larger mandala.
Flowers, the rings found in tree trunks and the spiraling outward and inward of a snail’s shell all reflect the primal mandala pattern. Wherever a center is found radiating outward and inward, there is wholeness–a mandala.
Source: http://www.mandalaproject.org/Index.html
This couldn’t have been explained more beautifully.

Mandalas are everywhere. They are the structures of our cells, our world, and our universe.

Mandala Art

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some Mandala art

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be