I have always been attracted to mandalas. I also have one of the mandala coloring books by Susanne Fincher, (#2) like Debra mentioned. I love them, but must admit, I tend never to finish coloring or even get that far. This thread is encouraging me to get started again.
The books by S. Fincher are easily scanned and copied, if you don't want to color in the book--which is what I do. I also share my copies with a neighbor friend who loves to color.
Greatdane, I teach meditation (a wide variety) to folks, and one of the types is a Zen drawing one. But I've learned over the years that people get so caught up in how good or bad their drawing looks, that they completely lose their focus. So I've started letting them "color" instead, and most find they love it (often to their great surprise!). I'm attaching a few that I give as print outs.
oh lovely! and thank you for the beautiful prints you offered. I may copy these as well to color.
I've been seeing a lot lately about using mandalas as a relaxation tool. I'm thinking of using it with clients who are stressed. The link that Debra left said they can be used for healing as well? Does anyone else know about the benefits of coloring mandalas? Or know more? I'm interested.
Yes, I always see that coloring mandalas can be very relaxing and meditative. My problem is I get side tracked by phone calls and people dropping in, that I get distracted. I need to find a quiet place away from the phone and people (should hide in the library perhaps with my papers and crayons/colored pencils.
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I have been reading both about coloring mandalas (from my psych major viewpoint I see it as being two fold, coloring, in and of itself, tends to be relaxing for many and there is the spiritual, not necessarily religious, component of the mandalas themselves) and about tracing the outlines of a labyrinth with one's finger. Perhaps both are a type of meditation? A relaxation. Stress relief. Nothing works for everyone, I guess one would have to try it or offer it to someone to get their feedback. If you do use it with others, I would be really interested in how it works out!
GD, knowing you, I think you'd love these! As a child, I was always drawing, painting and coloring. It was my favorite activity and something I could do and was good at as well. I hadn't heard of mandalas back then as a child, but now instead of kiddie coloring books--I can buy the mandala books and no one can laugh at me. My granddaughter and I love to color together too. But, unfortunately, I don't see her as much as I'd like to- or we'd be coloring together a lot more!!! Go order a mandala book. There are also some out there with cds in them, so you can download them on your computer and print them out. I keep thinking about investing in one of them as well--but have not done so as of yet. There are thousands out there--in fact, I bet you could google to find some free ones on the net too.
