Tag Archives: mandalas

Inner Worlds

A Balanced Life, Mandala, possibilty, psychotherapy, visualization, , ,

creative flowWith the world around us in a state of flux and change, many people are now seeking to enrich their inner worlds.  There are many ways to do this – meditation or other spiritual practices, journaling or being in nature.

Art therapy allows us to be in a non judgemental and supported space where we are free to explore the deeper meanings behind our thoughts and emotions.

Through meditation or other meditative practices such as prayer and reflection, or dream journaling, you can begin to access your own inner world. This in turn can lead to an expression of your spirituality and these can include the creation of paintings, Mandalas and sculptures which reflect your innermost thoughts and dreams.

Carl Jung is associated with using the Mandala as a means to access his patients inner worlds. He felt that the therapeutic act of reflection upon an image could lead to further insights and reveal deeper, subconscious thoughts, which when brought to the surface resolve a long forgotten issue

Art and Spirituality

A Balanced Life, creativity, Spirituality, , , ,

There has been a long relationship between art and spirituality. Early civilizations used art to make sense of events around them. It was also a way to record the culture of the time. Over time, the various civilizations and their spiritual life evolved.  Art became the means of expressing  their spiritual, philosophical and cultural concepts.

A Balanced LifeThe action of creating the artwork was and still is a deeply rewarding endeavour. When an artist connects with their inner self they  are able to bring forward insights and themes in the images for others to appreciate and to reflect upon.

Furthermore, the action of creating the artwork is a meditative and often spiritual experience can lead to an inner understanding of self.

Meditation

By using meditation as a precursor to an art therapy session, the conscious mind is stilled and in this stillness, there is the opportunity to access the subconscious mind with less resistance.

A short, relaxation meditation provides a safe and supported place for you to enter into a quiet space.  Whilst in this space, you can create or produce images that come from your subconscious mind. So too, the process can lead to creative problem solving.

A Blank Mandala to download and enjoy.

Lockdown

A Balanced Life, , ,

Another day, another lockdown. We can choose how we respond to these times and I won’t go  into the politics of whether it is right or wrong or who may be at fault. What I will do is to choose to use this time as a reset, a chance to create and as we move into winter…… perhaps a little hibernation.

I’m taking my own advice and doing a little art therapy to relax my mind and take myself away from listening to or watching the news. Having created some mandalas for an online program, I’d like to share one with you so that you can relax a  little during this lockdown or circuit breaker.

Download it HERE.

If you don’t have a supply of colour pens or pencils – not to worry, I did one using just a black pen and lines and I think it turned out OK!

A Balanced Life

Mindful May

Meditation, , , , ,

With the new month just days away and it being promoted as Mindful May,  I was very mindful myself (pardon the pun) to finally complete my online meditation course.

It was started sometime ago, but somehow most of the audio that I recorded for it disappeared into the ether when updating some software.

The next hurdle to overcome was Mercury in Retrograde, noted for issues with electronics and the like……  I couldn’t get rid of the noise of the computer fan that ran in the background. Eventually I found an app that I could use with an iPad and completed the last of the recordings just in time to get the course up and running for May.

If you have never meditated before and are not sure how to or what sort of meditation suits you, then this introduction to meditation will help you work that out.

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