MANDALA COLORING BOOKS

My friends at Creating Mandalas have their favorite times and places for using our mandala coloring books. Marilyn likes to color mandalas when waiting for doctors, trains, planes, and even jury duty. Paige likes to offer mandalas to color when working with cancer patients and families during treatments as a creative process for relaxation, release, and connection. Susan likes to color with homeless men, in response to scripture, and as a break during the day. I like to color in a group at her local senior center. It is so easy to take a coloring book and a few pencils anywhere.
 
I hear often from family members that their loved ones with memory problems enjoy coloring mandalas. And coloring mandalas is good for elders, too. The structured nature of the activity is both soothing and stimulating. Choosing a design to color gives expression to personal agency. Having a design provided eliminates the anxiety provoking challenge of creating a design from scratch. Creativity is expressed in the choice of color combinations to complete the mandala design and make each mandala unique. As colors are added to the design a colorist has the pleasure of seeing different aspects of the design highlighted so that the mandala appears to change and evolve. The satisfaction of completion and accomplishment comes when there are no more empty spaces to color. And coloring is exercise for the hand that supports good hand/eye coordination. 
 
A number of studies by Art Therapists and Counselors have shown that coloring mandalas reduces anxiety, one of the chronic problems of our age. The designs in my coloring books have open spaces that invite personal expression using techniques such as shading or Zentangle. Coloring the designs in my Mandala Coloring Books gives people the opportunity to choose and connect with the pre-existing symbolism of the designs in a way that fosters self-awareness, promotes wholeness, and supports verbal sharing with others. 
 
Creating Mandala coloring books are available at local bookstores and through Amazon.com. 
 
Enjoy!