Colouring mandalas has gained traction in the last years.
Why?
Because it has many physical and mental benefits:
-Relieves stress
-Promotes mindfulness
-Helps you sleep better.
How, you may ask?
Well, research says that you can’t stress about things in your life and focus on colouring in the lines at the same time. Those two activities require the activation of different parts in your brain and it can’t be done simultaneously.
Thus, it creates a meditative state. So you can get the well-known benefits of meditation. Being in the present relaxes us, releases feel good hormones, that in turn helps regulate our nervous system etc.
What I’d like to add to the conversation:
The need we, humans, have to create and to use our hands. In a world that is so technological and where you can find everything ready made, we often forget to “do things”, to create. And this lack of creation brings us sadness and a feeling of uselessness. So, colouring a mandala (a real one, on paper) is relaxing but it also gives us the satisfaction of seeing the mandala coming, of seeing the end result. To know that we’ve done it. 🙂
There is also the sensorial pleasure of touching the paper and the pencils, of choosing our colour combination and of knowing that we are in control of what we are doing.
We tend to forget that we are not only a mind and soul but a body too (or we remember it when it hurts or is unwell). And colouring a mandala can make this bodily experience present and this, in turn, helps our mind and soul. We need the three parts of who we are connected and healthy.
If you want to see if colouring a mandala is something you would enjoy, here is a colouring mandala to download, so you can start your colouring journey right away. 🙂