Last week while I was at a bookstore I counted something like twenty-five different adult coloring books on just one wall of book shelves. Mandalas, Mehndis, Botanicals, Mindfulness patterns, Geometric designs, Calming Art, Color Therapy, Nordic Designs, Labyrinths, Celtic designs, Tesselations, Whimsical Gardens, even Ancient Alchemy Coloring, as just a few examples, can all be found at the Barnes & Noble bookstore or at Amazon.com. This trend has exploded in just a few years to become a mainstream hobby or meditative practice.
Coloring by these ‘mystical patterns’ are claimed to reduce stress, calm the nerves, and unblock one’s creative resources.
I can attest to the veracity of these claims. For several years I have at intervals colored Celtic designs, labyrinths, and Mandalas. For six months as I was healing from a broken relationship and preparing for a big move, I colored an entire book of Mandalas and taped them onto my bedroom wall, filling the entire wall. I found that in the PROCESS of coloring a Mandala, which colors to use came to me intuitively, and invariably I infused the drawing with a meaning that pertained directly to some aspect of my life experience or current feelings.
I felt that these colored images I immersed in “said it all,” expressing a secret language of the Soul that did bring understanding and healing. They allowed me a mode of holistic communication that felt integrative of my various feelings and archetypal energies and they helped me “make sense” of what was happening in my life.
I invite you simply print this blog post, magnify the images below on a copy machine, and try your own hand and Heart at one or all of the images below. You can use colored pens or crayons to color at your leisure. (These are all free images from pixabay.com). I invite you to share here your insights about your experience!
Better Endings 