Zentangle #2- How to meditate through art

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I am Maria hajj a meditative art teacher, a coloring book illustrator, a Youtuber and a blogger.

If you are a fan of Meditative mandala coloring books then please scroll down to find the links to my books.

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How does doodling help you meditate?

When you are doodling, you are in fact emptying your feelings on the paper, you concentrate on the activity which stops your mind from wandering and help you achieve mindfulness. At this state, your levels of anxiety and stress decrease, because your are immersed in the present moment, in the Here and Now, leaving your past aside, and your future plans on the shelf, and letting yourself submerge in a beautiful and effortless activity that enhances your creative side.

On another hand, not every person can meditate by staying still for long minutes, and tuning off their thoughts and worries. Therefor, this technique helps you train for a deeper meditation by familiarizing with mindfulness and living the current moment.

This art, meditative art, does not require any artistic skills. Every person has a small artist hidden within and he just needs the right key to unleash him and allow him to grow and shine.

Every person is creative.

Creativity is different than innate talent. Not every person has the talent but every person can be creative.

Meditative arts are an easy form of arts based mainly on doodling and repetitive forms. Whether you are creating a Mandala, a zentangle, or a zendala they all enter under the category of doodling. And everyone can doodle.

Now, look at yourself in the mirror and say:" I am creative enough" and hit the play button of this video to start meditating through art.

For a better result, please read the following recommendations:

1- Take a comfortable seating position
2- Cut off any distraction (T.V., mobile, etc.)
3- Put on a soothing music ( here is a suggestion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbkMSoKfIjU)
4- Breathe through your nose (Fill your stomach with air on every inhale, and empty it on every exhale)
5- Remember that the joy resides in the activity itself.
6- No mistake is a mistake in art, but it's an opportunity to create something new.

Materials needed:

Materials needed for the Meditative Doodling Exercise
For this Meditative doodling tutorial, you will need the following materials (Check the brands I recommend)
- Stabilo point pens
- Pencil
-12" ruler
-A4 white paper

Directions:

1-Putting your paper in a landscape layout, divide it into 5 equal sections.

2-Fill the first section with intersected diagonals, getting as creative as you want by diverting the orientation of the lines you trace.

3-Second step is to fill the second section with waves and circles.

4-Third step, doodle intersected curved lines. Always using a different color for every new pattern.

5-Fourth pattern is the basket weave. Divide the 4th section into four equal vertical sections, then trace a horizontal line every 1 cm.

Start by tracing vertical lines on the first small square, then horizontal, then vertical until the end of the first row. For the second row, reverse the lines ( vertical under the horizontal and vice versa).

6-Fifth and last pattern: spirals

Video Tutorial

Besides being a very relaxing exercise, doodling regularly helps discipline your sketching ability, and this will make a great introduction into Mandala drawing.
Drawing a mandala evolves around sketching a number of repetitive forms in a circular movement.
The basic shapes of Mandala are very simple, such as a petal, spiral, tear drop,etc.
You can check them in the link below:
https://youtu.be/ClDhOedokpw
Once you master sketching a simple Mandala, you can start creating advanced patterns.
Watch the video shared below and remember to subscribe and turn the notification bell on.

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My Meditative Coloring Books

As mentioned in the welcome message, if you are a fan of Mandala coloring books I invite you to add my books to your collection. Each book contains 40 original hand drawn designs and I am sure that coloring these Mandalas will make you happy and relaxed.