One of the fun ways to use mandalas is to color them. By becoming absorbed [...]]]> Mandalas are usually round and are filled with color and shape. The world Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle and there are a lot of pictures of mandalas that are circular. Mandalas are used for contemplation and meditation.

One of the fun ways to use mandalas is to color them. By becoming absorbed in the design and the color, you begin to change your consciousness. Even coloring the simple shapes like triangles and squares, also called platonic solids, and decorating them in different ways can create a nice meditative experience.

A lot of scientific evidence in the form of clinical trials are showing that meditation, boosts the immune system, slows the aging process, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, reduces depression, reduces pain and stimulates the release of melatonin for restful sleep. All of these benefits can be had just by coloring simple designs.

Coloring a mandala like the Flower of Life Mandala, shown here, can create an experience of a deep sense of contentment, calm and well-being. In the state of coloring, everything is just fine. It really doesn’t matter if you are artistic or not, you are just focused on which colors to put where and to be more creative than you usually are in your daily lives. There is something soothing about coloring. It nourishes something deep inside of us in a way that we can’t explain, but it brings us back to our innocence where everything  is right and you are just sitting there with you and the color. You can’t make a mistake, you can’t do it wrong.

All you need to do is find a nice quiet place and get comfortable. You don’t have to worry about which colors to choose or which design to pick. Let your imagination guide you with which colors to use. Once you have picked the first color, there seems to be an instinctive natural progression of color that follows. You will be amazed at how you lose track of time when you are coloring and how amazing you feel when you are finished your mandala. You will find you can’t wait to start the next one and start meditating without even realizing it.

Open-eyed meditation is a form of stillness you practice with your eyes open. [...]]]> Mandalas have been around for centuries. Around the 8^th century AD, mandalas began to be used for meditation and contemplation. Aside from their beauty and their decorative qualities, mandalas can alter your consciousness when you use them in a particular way.

Open-eyed meditation is a form of stillness you practice with your eyes open. Some people keep their eyes wide open and some keep their eyes half open. Sitting and observing the intricacies of line and color goes back centuries. Eastern cultures have practiced Mandala meditations as a way of calming the mind and the body of the debris to collects day by day.

You don’t have to have any experience in meditation to do a mandala meditation and there are no strict rules that apply. You don’t have to be a double jointed acrobat to be able to transform your life with mandalas. All you need to do is have a little bit of wall space on which to place your mandala and a comfortable place to sit. That’s it.

By sitting and looking at something beautiful, marveling at the skill it took to produce it and letting thoughts drift by without hanging on to them, sitting becomes easier and less squirmy. The mind has something to occupy itself and the body becomes quiet. You soon realize that as you gaze outward at the mandala, something extraordinary is happening inside you.

The cares of the day just seem to slip away, your body feels still, you can feel the steady quiet beat of your heart and cares seem to vanish. If you are ready to try this type of meditation, let’s show you how to do it.

Look for a piece of empty wall to hang your mandala. You will need to sit about two feet in front of it and the mandala needs to be at eye level when you are sitting. If you would prefer not to hang it on the wall you can use a small easel on a table top. In some traditions, people set up a sacred space where they become quiet within themselves. They find that it helps to set the mood for inner transformation and be in the right frame of mind. You need a space that is quiet where you will not be interrupted or where the TV or radio is not blaring.

Sit comfortably with your spine straight. It is important to maintain the straight spine during the time you are observing your mandala. Rest your hands comfortably in your lap. You don’t have to hold them an a particular way. Close your eyes and breathe in deeply through your nose, imagining the breathe is filling your whole head and body before you release it though your mouth. Take deep even breaths, breathing out the cares of the day through your mouth. Feel all the tension leave your body, all the stress, just you and your breathe sitting quietly.

As you become aware of thoughts just observe them coming and going, simply watch them drift off with each passing breath. Any distractions that come into your awareness just get breathed out in the next breath. Bring your attention onto your mandala, visualizing it in your head as you breathe. Now focus your breath between you and your mandala. Breathe the mandala in and breathe out. When you are ready open your eyes and gaze at your mandala with slightly unfocused eyes as you continue breathing deeply and rhythmically. Concentrate on the center of the mandala, blinking as little as possible. Observe the center of the mandala as a whole, not looking at specific details. As your body quiets further, continue to breathe deeply while you start to take in details. Let your eyes wander where they will, taking in the whole image, letting thoughts come and go and not forcing anything. Just surrender to the mandala. Observe the colors and the patterns. Notice the shapes and the other elements.

Now focus your eyes and start looking at the outer reaches of the mandala in infinite detail. Look at everything as you start focusing further and further towards the center. Take your time, just breathe, observe and feel. Take in as much detail as you can before moving closer and closer to the center. Mandalas seem to stimulate healing, unity, wholeness and balance. The more you are with it, the more transformed you will feel.

Now focus on the center of the mandala. Let yourself be drawn in by it. Let yourself experience whatever comes up. Explore the flow of energy between you and the mandala. Observe where you feel tingling or buzzing in your energy. Observe other feelings that may arise. Close your eyes and sit in the energy of transformation and light. Feel the quiet, the harmony, the balance. Whatever you are feeling with the mandala, just be with it. When you are ready open your eyes.

You can experience this again and again any time you wish. Over time, you will notice that you are different. You may not be able to put your finger on how, you just know you are different and it’s kind of nice.

The phoenix, lion, tiger, snake and scorpion were combined [...]]]> Around 5000 years ago, many of the Chinese tribes were warring and fighting one another. The Yellow Emperor won the battle and being sick of all the fighting, brought all the warring tribes together and combined their totems together to form the unified dragon totem.

The phoenix, lion, tiger, snake and scorpion were combined to form the dragon we see today. When you look at the dragon you see that the body is long and flexible like a snake, the tail is much like a scorpion, the claws are from the lions and tigers and the head is like the lion’s. The dragon also flies like the fiery phoenix.

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