Mindful Mandalas
Star of David Mandalas
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David, is a generally recognised symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles.
The star of David is one of many symbols associated with World War 2. Jews throughout Nazi-occupied Europe were forced to wear a badge in the form of a Yellow Star as a means of identification.
Choose one of these Star of David mandalas to draw and colour as a meditative exercise today!
Flower Mandalas
February is the first month of Spring in Ireland. Flower Mandalas are a lovely way to celebrate the flowers that are starting to grow again!
See if you can draw one of these flower mandalas and colour it with bright colours for Spring!
Send a picture of your mandalas to amorris@scoiltreasanaofa.ie or lspillane@scoiltreasanaofa.ie
Celtic Mandalas
Now that you know how to draw a mandala you can put your new skills to the test and try some of these Celtic mandalas for Wellness Wednesday!
Try to copy your favourite Celtic mandala or you can follow the steps below to make your mandala and add details that you like from these examples. :)
Make sure you send a picture to me or Ms. Spillane if you do one! amorris@scoiltreasanaofa.ie
If you are feeling overwhelmed it's important to take a break and do something mindful! Mandalas are a great way to restore calmness and mindfulness.
You can start your mandala whenever you like, doing as much or as little as you want and coming back to it whenever you feel like you need some mindfulness.
The meaning of the word mandala in Sanskrit is circle. Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. The circular designs symbolises the idea that life is never ending and everything is connected. The mandala also represents spiritual journey within the individual viewer. Mandalas have many uses apart from meditation as the designs are meant to remove irritating thoughts and allow the creative mind to run free as well as relaxation. But ultimately people create and look at mandalas to centre the body and mind.
You can listen to some mindful music while you make your art.
What you will need
A compass or different sized round objects to trace around.
White card or paper
Pencil and eraser
Colours (oil pastels, markers, colouring pencils etc.)
Black marker
HOW TO DRAW A MANDALA INSTRUCTIONS
Using a drawing compass, center the tool in the middle of white paper using the pencil part on the outside and draw a large central circle. Move compass 3/4 of an inch, draw another circle. Repeat two more times. If you don't have a compass you can use different sized circular objects to trace around (e.g a cup, a bowl etc.)
2. Draw a line vertically in the center of the circle. Draw a line horizontally. Draw 2 lines diagonally.
3. Connect semi-circles within the inner circle as shown here.
4. Draw the following shapes:
A small circle in the center. Draw a circle on the last inner circle every other section.
In the remaining sections, draw a rounded rectangle as shown in the picture.
Within the 2nd circle area, connect each section using a triangle. In the center of each section, draw a trapezoid (rectangle with slanted sides).
In the 3rd circle area, draw a small circle centered in every other section opposite to the 1st circle section. Draw a rounded rectangle in the remaining areas.
5. Using a sharpie or black marker, trace all shapes until complete.
6. Using Oil Pastels or other colours, colour all mandala shapes step by step. These colours may include light blue, orange, purple, light green, dark green, and pink. However, you can choose your own colors if you prefer.
The Mandala is complete.
You could try making your own designs the next time using flowers, geometric shapes, spirals, smaller circles, triangles, birds and so on and add more detail as you get more practise drawing mandalas!
Look at the amazing job some of you did!!
Here are some more designs that you could try!
If you have a printer at home you could print out some mandalas to colour here.