What do you do when meditation doesn’t seem to be working for you?
There is plenty of advice out there encouraging us to meditate and be mindful, but sometimes meditating becomes a chore and you struggle to maintain any semblance of mindfulness.
Sometimes you just need a break or an alternative activity to help you find that calmness of mind you’re after.
One way of refreshing the mind is to take it outside for a walk in nature, leaving your devices behind so your mind gets a chance to process all those thoughts that have been bothering you.
Another way is to play with art materials, to splash some colours around on paper or to get out your colouring pencils and take yourself back to a space you probably enjoyed in childhood.
We often tell ourselves we’re not good at art and let that stop us playing with it. Don’t listen to that voice.
You don’t need any special training to use art as a kind of personal therapy. We all know how to splash watercolours across a page or colour between the lines – and these days you can buy watercolour pencils you can use like ordinary colouring pencils and then activate with a water filled brush.
You don’t even have to take a course. There is a multitude of inspiration available at the end of an internet search. And, you can start with a pencil or pen and a sheet of paper.
Of course, it’s a lot more fun playing with colours, but you can make it abstract so there’s no pressure to make it look like anything.
One art activity that works as a good meditation is creating and colouring a mandala. If you decide to create one, you’ll need a compass, a protractor, a ruler, and an eraser in addition to your pencil.
Creating a mandala is time consuming but very satisfying and involves the use of repeated shapes within concentric circle to form a symmetrical pattern.
There are plenty of resources online to help you get started, including mandala groups on Facebook.
Another easy method for playing with art is using a colouring book – and there are plenty designed for adults including one designed by me.
Enjoy!