Mandalas are being praised more and more lately for their meditative and healing qualities and increasing popularity as a form of art therapy. But what exactly are mandalas used for in therapy?
The benefits of using mandalas as therapy tools are virtually endless. Let’s take a more in-depth look into how exactly they’re used in the therapy process.
The Use of Mandalas in Therapy
Mandalas have been around for thousands of years and used by cultures as varied as:
- Buddhist
- Hindus
- Native Americans
- Christians
Although mandalas’ original use was for spiritual reasons, therapists in Western psychology have used them as psychological tools as far back as the early 1900s. Carl Jung, a noted psychiatrist, first theorized that mandalas are perfect tools for physically expressing what’s going on in someone’s psyche.
The use of mandalas caught on slowly but surely, and in recent times has gained popularity due to the current adult coloring craze.
There are three main ways of approaching mandalas as therapy tools:
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- Focus on the process of making the mandala
- Focus on the content of the mandala created
- Use an existing mandala.
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Some therapists choose one of these approaches, and others use a combination of two or three. The use of mandalas in therapy will differ depending on the therapist’s and client’s preference and the problem being treated in therapy.
Ways to Use Mandalas in Therapy
Here are a few examples of exactly how to use mandalas in therapy. Use these as a starting point, and make modifications as you get to know the tool and get inspired to use it differently. The possibilities are endless.
Mandalas as Points of Focus for Meditation
When most people think of meditation, they picture people sitting with their eyes closed. While it’s true that many people do closed-eye meditation, this isn’t always appropriate for clients who are dealing with issues of past traumas and so forth, who might not be comfortable closing their eyes in meditation.
These clients can use open-eye meditation techniques, which have just as much benefit. Common meditation techniques that keep the eyes open are:
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- Sitting a few feet from a wall and using the wall as a point of focus.
- Softly gazing at the ground at a 45° angle.
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While these techniques are useful, clients new to meditation may struggle to keep their minds focused.
That’s where mandalas come in. To use mandalas as a point of focus in meditation:
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- place the mandala a few feet in front of the client, in a position where it will be easy to maintain a gaze
- Instruct the client to gaze softly at the mandala through the meditation session and to keep their mind on it, observing the shapes and colors and tracing the patterns
- Instruct the client to redirect their mind back to the mandala if it wanders
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Many find mandala meditation easier since their mind has something tangible outside the body to focus on. This is especially helpful for clients who don’t have much body awareness or concentrate on the breath that might be too unpleasant.
Mandala Coloring
The act of coloring mandalas, either printed off from the computer or in a coloring book, is soothing.
In therapy, this can be an excellent tool for clients who:
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- Suffer from high levels of stress and anxiety generally.
- Struggle with emotions during sessions and could use a physical distraction to help them be able to open up
- Have difficulty expressing their feelings in words
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You can offer mandala coloring books in the office during sessions or suggest that the patient buy a mandala coloring book and take up a regular mandala coloring practice.
Looking for mandala coloring books? Check out our article on Mandala Coloring Books to find the perfect one for you!
In addition to the act itself being soothing, observing how the client colors can be informative as well:
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- Is the client coloring carefully or sloppily?
- Is there a lot of pressure being used, or very little?
- What colors is the client using?
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If you don’t want to prescribe sitting meditation to your client for whatever reason, coloring mandalas as a form of active meditation is a great potential substitute.
Creation of Mandalas
The last and most intensive use of mandalas in therapy is to have the client create their own.
Like the use of coloring mandalas, having the client make their own can be beneficial in two main ways:
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- The healing qualities of the creation process itself
- Observing the finished product to gain insight into the client’s inner landscape
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Many people are intimidated by the prospect of creating their mandala, but the process is quite simple:
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- Tracing plates or similar objects, make several circles on a piece of paper, each inside the other.
- Dissect the circles into eight sections, so it looks like a spider web.
- Beginning with the inside and working your way out, choose a pattern or series of shapes, and begin to fill in each section.
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Traditionally, mandalas are symmetrical but encourage your client to let their intuition drive the creation.
You can invite the client to draw a mandala as a way of relaxing and focusing or expressing their emotional state. Jung theorized that the shapes that clients chose to use in their mandalas’ creations were symbols to express their subconscious.
Whether you want to focus on interpreting the mandala or just using the creative process itself as a therapeutic activity is up to you and the client’s particular situation.
If your client is open to the idea of mandalas and thinks they would benefit from a regular mandala practice, you might want to suggest that they start keeping a mandala journal.
This way, if there are obvious signs of mental states coming through in their creations, they’ll be able to track the changes in mandala style over time and have a physical representation of the progress they’re making in therapy.
Benefits of Using Mandalas in Therapy
It’s easy to write mandalas off as a fad due to their recent surge in popularity, but they can have quite some exciting benefits as add-ons to an existing therapy program.
Stress and Anxiety Relief
The soothing, repetitive nature of coloring or creating mandalas has been shown to slow the heart rate and bring the body to a state of calm, reducing physical symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Some people theorize that mandalas’ symmetry adds to the relaxing qualities, making it even better at reducing stress and anxiety than regular coloring. They see mandalas’ orderliness as an antidote to the chaos going on inside clients’ minds.
Mandalas are simple, useful tools to add to a client’s stress management plan, and even as a self-soothing tool in a chronic pain treatment plan.
Creative Expression
If your client is having trouble expressing emotions, mandalas can provide a means of safe self-expression. Because much of the term is symbolic due to the medium’s nature, some clients find it easier to express what’s going on inside their heads.
This is especially helpful in the case of clients who struggle to feel or identify specific emotions.
Mindfulness Meditation
The advantages of a regular mindfulness meditation practice are well documented, and adult coloring, including coloring mandalas, is an effective way to practice active mindfulness meditation.
In case you’re not familiar with mindfulness meditation, some of the proven benefits include:
– Reduced stress
– Less reactivity
– Better sleep
– Increased ability to focus
– Improved attention span
Low-key activities like mandala coloring are perfect for active meditation for clients who don’t want to sit in formal meditation or who want additional tools and sitting practice.
Increase Focus and Brain Function
Activities like creating and coloring mandalas require a great deal of focus. Focus is an ability that can be worked like a muscle so that it increases over time, so regular mandala coloring will improve the brain’s capacity to focus on everyday tasks.
Coloring also strengthens the connections between both sides of the brain, resulting in:
– Greater clarity of mind
– Increased problem-solving skills
– Enhanced learning ability
– Improved memory and recall
As you can see, using mandalas in therapy will benefit the client in multiple ways, even after they’ve left the therapy session.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to believe that such a seemingly simple tool can profoundly affect peoples’ psyches, but people have been using them as healing tools for centuries. What’s more, science is finally beginning to catch up with what many have known for thousands of years, proving mandalas’ benefit when used as part of a therapy program.
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