FireSprite

A few months ago someone here mentioned coloring mandalas in one of our self-care threads...... (sparklekitty? I'm thinking it was you??) ......

I was intrigued so I downloaded some that were free to print & now I am hooked! I am having SO MUCH FUN with these & they are definitely therapeutic to me. It is a wonderful way to zone in on something & block your stressors out for a short time. It's also interesting to me to step back & look at the completed pictures to see the overall colors, etc. It can be very telling about my mindset & emotional grid.

THANK YOU to SK or whoever it was that brought it up. I now have a "giant box of Crayola colored pencils" on my wish list for Mother's Day, lol!!

SparkleKitty

Coloring and jigsaw puzzles are my all-time favorite meditative/relaxation activities. Whatever part of the brain those activities occupy -- getting that out of my own way really helps me access and process much deeper stuff. I am SO glad you're finding something in it too!!!!

ladyscribbler

We did that at our last Alanon "Be Good to Yourself" weekend. One of our members is a stained glass artist and led a creativity exercise. You could color a mandala, write a haiku or design an angel doll. It was really therapeutic and fun.

FireSprite

I really am getting a lot out of it, it's moving some stuff deep under the surface for sure.

When I googled it I found that it's used a LOT in therapy. I also stumbled across some a website that hosts mandalas that you can use visually to bring attunement to different areas.

Mandalas Page - Spiritual Awakening Network

As well as some pretty cool meditations that include mandala visuals on youtube. (here's one example)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-5kttiDPnw

honeypig

FireSprite, I just glanced at those sites and am intrigued! I saved them and will return to them when I have some time to sit and take them in.

Thanks!

And I may have to look into this mandala coloring thing, too...thanks for the ideas, folks.

ETA: Holy cow, a Google search on "mandala coloring pages" turns up a LOAD of free designs--I'm buying some crayons or pencils soon!

Aellyce

I love those mandalas, too In addition to coloring, I like to use computer programs to make similar things as a sort of graphic art.

I experimented a bit with biofeedback in the past and there was a program which used similar things to those audiovisual meditations, it was very interesting. This thread now just made me think that I should perhaps go back and do it again.

jerri11

This brought up an odd childhood memory for me. There was a period of several months when I was in middle school, when my parents were going through a lot of dental problems (with a lot of pain). They bought several of these grown-up coloring books, intricate flower pictures, geometric designs and mandalas. We had big boxes of really nice markers and we just sat around in the evening coloring. I'm wondering now what else was going on in their lives at the time? If it was more than the dental stuff that I knew about.

Rosiepetal

Funny you mentioned this because my daughter has started art so I've been looking at more arty things & I've come across several books for de-stressing.
Glad it's working for you.

Stung

My therapist had suggested this to me a few months ago and I was so skeptical. She was asking me if I colored with my daughters when they colored (um, no, I had no idea that other moms colored with their kids - certainly wasn't something I experienced as a kid) and since I've bought a few mommy coloring books I really enjoy coloring with them too. Of course, now my 3 year old is way more interested in coloring in my books than her own.

LexieCat

My mom used to say it was one of the primary REASONS she had kids--to give her an excuse to color! She did a pretty good job of staying inside the lines, as I recall....

TerpGal

Mandalas are very therapeutic. We always have Mandala coloring pages out on the psych unit where I work. Sometimes the patients are like, "why is the only thing to do is coloring. This is stupid". But you take someone who is anxious or having perseverative thoughts and get them coloring those things, you would be AMAZED.

dandylion

Does anyone know if coloring is helpful for ocd?

dandylion

HealingWillCome

Stung, I loved coloring and doing puzzles with my girls when they were little! And watch out when the Play-Doh came out. I was the biggest kid in the room. Still am.

Dandylion, good question! My first terrifying nightmares were of coloring outside the lines in my favorite coloring book (Family Affair and Mrs. Beasley pages). I was 5 or 6. Later in high school, I remember one where I was handing out too many pieces of candy per trick-or-treater during Halloween and realized it after it was too late and couldn't get the candy back. My worst nightmares as a kid were completely related to my inability to control or undo mistakes I had made.

I didn't make the connection with the childhood control issues until l was well into adulthood learning about my co-dependency and addressing my AF's alcoholism and abandonment of us (which was happening around the time of the coloring book nightmares). I'd love to hear peoples' take on your question, Dandylion. I have a creative flair and love art, music, and decorating but I always feel like I'm limited or stifled by my perfectionism/control tendencies/OCD...whatever you want to call it. Makes me wonder if I'm that way by nature (I have a math/problem-solving/numbers type of brain) or if my creativity was squelched by what was going on around me in my FOO at a developmental age.

Stung

Funny you mention this as my therapist specifically recommended that I show my daughters that I color outside of the lines too. And after reading what Healing wrote, now I better understand why. I don't try to make my coloring pages perfect, which would be near impossible anyway…my daughters really love coloring on the pages that I'm coloring on. It's always a group effort. lol

HealingWillCome

Good call by your therapist. I remember my mom trying to comfort me and reassure me that it was okay to color outside of the lines. But I also could sense that she couldn't figure out why that was so terrifying to me. Little kids are supposed to be scared of monsters at night, not coloring books, right?

This also makes me think of my girls' elementary art teacher who taught me to say to them, "Tell me about your picture," rather than ask "What did you draw?" I learned a lot about what they were thinking or trying to express.

Mango blast

Please note why it says careful on the kundalini Mandela:

How to Safely Awaken the Kundalini

When I was a child I was open to the possibilities of life beyond what I understood or was taught. Somewhere along the line of becoming "grown up" I became rigid in my thinking of what was or wasn't real... and yet the principles of the universe are always there, whether I understand them or not.

In Being of Power, Baron Baptiste talks of finding what we need to let go of, to make room for new things. A common viewpoint - letting go of the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual blocks in order to open up to healing and growth.

Mango blast

More links, including reiki awakening, and preparing for awakening, especially important if there is turbulence or dysfunction during childhood.

Instant and Safe Kundalini Awakening | Padmacahaya
Biology of Kundalini - Preparation
10 Things You Can Do to Help Your Kundalini Process, by Bonnie Greenwell, Ph.D.

FireSprite, thanks for posting the Mandalas! Getting back on the subject of Mandalas, I'd like to learn how to draw them. Not sure if I should start by coloring Mandalas first, or take a class, or if it is simpler than that ... at least for beginning?
http://www.arttherapyblog.com/art-th.../#.VP1VoBl6iBY

Butterfly

Ok I'm a bit confused, how is colouring therapeutic and healing? Is it that it takes your focus off anxiety, obsessive thoughts etc and enables you to focus on something else??

Also is there specific mandalas for specific purposes or do you pick a picture that appeals to you??

I'm willing to try anything!!!!

Mango blast

Butterfly,

Here's an article that describes how coloring therapy works.
Coloring Isn't Just For Kids. It Can Actually Help Adults Combat Stress.

Explanation of mandala coloring therapy.
Healing Powers of Mandala Coloring

Some mandalas have specific intents, but its always okay to trust your instincts if certain ones appeal to you.

Meditating using mandalas effect the brain, nervous system, chakras, and more.

honeypig

Ordered some lovely pencils, got them yesterday. Printed out a mandala featuring the sun and moon (seemed appropriate since it was the equinox yesterday) and colored for a good hour before bed last night instead of reading. I liked it! Thanks for the idea; I look forward to more of this.