Up: [[Image]] Related: [[Expressive Art Ideas - Larger Processes]] Created: 2024-07-27 Updated: 2026-04-13 ![[Jung mandala quote.webp]] ## 1. Centre Yourself From Julie Gibbons, founder of Mandala Magic School Suggested for whenever you feel a need to centre yourself. Draw a circle. Inside, write a word or draw something that represents you as you are right now. Trust your first thought. Notice the associations — words, phrases, images, memories, questions — that come to mind as you look at the circle. Make note of them beside or below the mandala. Don’t forget to include how your body feels when you look at your piece. ## 2. Feeling Whole From art therapist [Rachel Rose](https://www.workshopmuse.com/) This process works with the opposites of light and shadow. Rachel suggests grounding yourself by taking a few breaths and noticing the light and shadows in the vicinity. Then choose an emotion from your day. Find the other side to it. So the light for the shadow or the shadow for the light. Draw a circle. Give your ‘shadow’ side a colour outside the circle, and your ‘light’ a colour inside the circle. Collect some words, images, colours from collage materials and add a few that will enhance what you are expressing. To close, write a line of poetic voice that speaks to your mandala. I often began not from a feeling, but from a quote that had grabbed my attention that day. As in the following examples: ![[Mandala - boundaries.webp|300]] Boundaries are helpful. *Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.* [[2021-12-13]] ![[Mandala - don't look in old places.webp|300]] *Don't look in old places for new things.* - Elizabeth Berg [[2019-12-12]]