“Each person’s life is like a mandala- a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle and everything we see, hear and think form the mandala of our life.”

- Pema Chödrön

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning both circle and center. They are used cross culturally for a multitude of reasons — meditation, accessing higher consciousness, establishing a sacred space, and reflecting on the universe. 

For many people, simply looking at a circular symphony of shapes and patterns evoke a feeling of calm and contentment. In many spiritual traditions, the mandala is considered a symbol of wholeness and connection. The micro and macro, the universe and the single soul coexisting in harmony. The mystical patterns of a mandala manifest in abundance in nature:in a flower, a snowflake, a spiderweb.

Some believe the mandala is imprinted into the deepest part of the human psyche.

Carl G. Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, introduced Eastern ideas of the mandala, a representation of the wholeness of the person creating them to the western world.

He would ask his patients to draw mandalas as a form of therapy. He believed that this practice allowed them to symbolically work through the outer chaos of their lives and get in touch with their center or soul.

For this practice, we’ll use them as an invitation to play with new shapes and mediums, get into the creative flow, listen to our intuition, and explore art making as a relaxing and meditative process.