The connections between civilizations distant in time and space, with their own evolution, without contact, cannot be the result of simple chance. This is how the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung explained what he called the collective unconscious, a mechanism of the human mind capable of developing universal archetypes that adopt various cultural traits. Among these, Jung highlighted what we now know as a mandala, taking its Sanskrit name from symbolic representations that find their counterpart in many oriental, pre-Columbian, African and European cultures. Not surprisingly, in this search for the deep self of the human being, he dedicated four studies to these figures.
As we well know, these are circular or organic shapes, which can imitate flowers, stars or any natural element. Concentric drawings, with geometric shapes that start from the center to the outside in all directions, trying to represent the absolute, what we could well call a representation of creation or the universe. Hence, we find them from the wheels of Mesoamerican calendars to the rose windows of Gothic cathedrals, in the sacred representations of Buddhism or Hinduism, in yin and yang or in African religious and tribal art.
Although mandalas have become popular today as a school task or a mere distraction, this deep connection with the depths of the self has made them a common element in psychotherapy, an important didactic resource or a fundamental complement in self-knowledge techniques. like mindfulness.
So painting mandalas is much more than child’s play and can help us, according to experts, to rediscover and deepen ourselves and to face life from a more personal and authentic perspective, overcoming social conventions, prejudices and automatisms. A kind of art therapy that will allow us to improve mental health and emotional well-being and express feelings that are difficult to verbalize.
Among the main benefits that mandalas can bring us, the most widespread is the relaxation produced by observing and contemplating these representations with a marked spiritual component. Completing the geometric patterns with the color combinations chosen by each one produces a kind of relaxing hypnotic sensation. Various studies have confirmed that the simple fact of coloring mandalas reduces the rate of breathing and heart rate. This affects the reduction of anxiety and discomfort and a consequent improvement at the physiological level.
By painting these drawings we make rest the rational part of the mind, installed in the left hemisphere of the brain. Receiving information, reacting, speaking, listening, writing, driving, thinking and interacting generally produce a hyperactivation of that rational part while the right, creative, spatial and emotional hemisphere remains lethargic. Coloring mandalas allows you to activate it at full capacity, with the satisfaction and rest that it entails.
Another of the characteristics of doing this activity is the enormous capacity for concentration that it provokes, which makes it a common therapy for children with attention deficit disorder and for adults with stress. The symmetry of these drawings and the feeling of fullness that is achieved by completing them in a harmonious way requires maximum attention that causes a healthy dependency. The full concentration that is achieved with the mandalas manages to divert the mind from other concerns or pending tasks to focus on oneself and achieve an inner harmony that very few practices provide.
Dedicating time to oneself when there is the –false– conviction that it is something impossible in our daily lives, is another of the gratifying sensations of coloring mandalas. The sensation of leisure that this practice produces in a really short time helps to release the tension experienced by anyone who has a saturated daily schedule.
Likewise, the observation of these drawings has also been considered as a good self-knowledge therapy. Oneself can evaluate their moods and their evolution simply by contemplating their own mandalas over time. Recognizing himself at all times in a kind of unique and revealing self-assessment.
A simple exercise is to analyze our latest mandalas to reflect on how we feel, what has brought us here and what we can do, if applicable, to change or address the problems that our creations reveal to us and thus favor a change that we can well consider therapeutic. Or, quite the contrary, to be able to recreate ourselves in the positive emotions that these creations transmit to us.
The choice of colors and designs also allows us to give free rein to the emotional expression that we need to express at all times and that the daily routine, the lack of a confidante or any other situation will not allow us. Manifesting it through a combination of colors or a choice of geometric shapes is an emotional exercise comparable to that of a sincere conversation or a psychotherapy session, although much simpler and with a unique introspective value.
In the same way, the reconnection with our most childish and lethargic part is another of the sensations of well-being associated with this practice. Who doesn’t connect with the boy or girl they were when they start coloring? And, even more, when he does it with geometric shapes so typical of our self. Going back for a moment to the past, reconnecting with that person we were, talking about yourself and solving old shortcomings is a highly enriching practice that can also be therapeutic.
Creativity is also a reward that we can obtain through mandalas, encouraging and developing it in a simple way. The feeling of a job well done when completing a mandala always produces great satisfaction, because it is still an artistic exercise of which we can feel proud. We are capable and, in addition, we want to learn and improve in the next drawing. It is no longer a question of disconnecting by watching a series or reading, but creating, carrying out an activity in which, to a certain extent, we must invest and offer the best of ourselves, however modest it may seem to us.
In this sense, coloring mandalas is a simple way to access the benefits of art therapy, which tries to promote the expression of feelings and difficulties through the symbolic language of art to recognize them and face the necessary changes. Analyzing, preferably through a therapist, the combination of shades and designs that we choose in our creations and transforming them to move forward is a simple and useful exercise.
