What Are The Advantages Of Coloring In Mandalas

Coloring mandalas gives us the opportunity to work on our mindfulness and to achieve a more relaxed state, regardless of how old we are. Nowadays we can find a wide variety of adult coloring books in libraries; a trend that is becoming more and more popular, which has become a veritable phenomenon in the world of books.

In our childhood we engage in a lot of recreational activities just for fun or enjoyment. But the older we get, the more obligations we have and the more often we use the phrase that we don’t have time for anything. This leads to the fact that we stay away from such activities in our everyday life. And it also means that we are even more stressed because we can never switch off this way.

As children, we loved to spend hours with our crayons, bringing our favorite characters, landscapes, or even our own drawings to life. We colored pictures without judging the result. We have only focused on enjoying the coloring.

Because of the benefits that this leisure activity has, art therapists design mandala books for adults. They know about the extraordinary benefits of this leisure activity. Filling these geometric templates with color helps us relieve stress, come down, focus on the here and now, and most importantly, connect with ourselves.

“Every mandala is unique and unique. It is the expression of the mood in this moment, in this now. “

Celina Emorg

When we color in mandalas, we travel to our own being and illuminate parts of ourselves that were hidden until then. In this way we enable our subconscious to awaken.

The history of the mandalas

Mandalas are geometric diagrams that come in many variations and that can be found in practically every culture. They have their origin in India. Literally translated mandala means “sacred circle”. Mandalas are a symbol of wholeness, union and integration.

In many cultures drawing and coloring mandalas is a spiritual ritual that can lead to “inner enlightenment”. For Carl Gustav Jung, one of the most important Swiss psychiatrists in history, circular figures even had a healing effect that brought peace and tranquility.

“Only with time did I understand what a mandala really is: creation and change. An endless pastime of endless consciousness. “

Carl Gustav Jung

Mandalas can vary in color and shape, but basically they are formed by a center and different figures that are arranged in the four cardinal directions. It is therefore assumed that they can represent the totality of our being on a psychological level. According to some proponents of this practice, everyone reacts instinctively to it, regardless of age, gender, race, culture, etc.

The magic of mandalas, and at the same time their therapeutic use, consists in letting yourself be carried away by the subconscious without worrying about the end result of the drawing. That is, without judging whether it looks good or bad, is beautiful or ugly. We just have to be in the here and now and focused and give ourselves the freedom to paint the mandala the way we want it.

Coloring in mandalas is not only for children

Coloring is an activity that we usually associate with childhood. The older we get, the less we pick up colored pencils and sharpeners, except perhaps to highlight passages of text. However, as we saw earlier, this pastime can be very beneficial for us. Not only because this creates a feeling of well-being and calm, but also because certain areas in the brain are stimulated that are related to our motor skills, sensory skills and creativity.

Painting makes adults feel like a child again and is transported back to the happiest and most carefree time of their lives. Remembering some of these moments helps us relax and be more optimistic about the future.

Despite everything we’ve learned about art and colors in our lives, there is no right or wrong color scheme. One of the positive aspects of painting is that anyone can easily put something on the sheet, even if they are not trained in this field and have no experience in the field of art.

“Coloring can be a complex activity full of subtleties, or, on the contrary, something as simple as wanting to add color to a picture.”

Lacy Mucklow

Coloring can therefore also be viewed as a meditation exercise, because we concentrate on our thoughts and let our creativity run free during the activity we are currently doing. For a moment everything else fades and there is only us, the colors and the mandala.

Many studies have shown the positive effects that coloring mandalas have on the human psyche. Psychologists and art therapists recommend this leisure activity and even do it themselves, which means that they can experience the benefits first-hand. That is why coloring books for adults are currently an absolute bestseller.

If you want to discover the benefits of painting for yourself, you should know that coloring mandalas also helps us to connect with our inner child. So, if you feel that you could use some extra help to cope better with stress or anxiety, this activity should definitely be tried out.

“Coloring is the new yoga. Like many other trends, this one reaches us from outside our borders, from countries like France, England or India, where it is already an absolute hype. A trend that relaxes and helps us to switch off. “

Esther Bazan