Each person’s life is like a mandala- a vast and limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything that we see, hear or think forms the mandala of our life. Your consciousness, your soul is the center of this mandala and the rest of the universe is the environment surrounding it. Mandalas are often described as cosmoplans in both external sense, as diagrams of the cosmos and in internal sense, as guides to psycho-physical practices of an adherent.
I found the mandala art through psychoanalyst Carl Jung. When I was studying about the psychoanalysis school of psychology and the contributions of Carl Jung in analytical psychology, I came across his work with the mandala art. According to him mandalas are the “psychological expression of the totality of life.” I learned that Jung used mandalas in his psychotherapy by getting patients who had no knowledge of it, to create individual mandalas and this enabled him to identify emotional disorders and work towards wholeness in personality. I was truly fascinated by Jung’s work and thus decided to try to make mandalas. I started with some simple ones at first but when I gradually drew more detailed ones, I found that the process of making detailed mandalas was very relaxing. The entire process of first drawing it with pencils and then pens and filling it with vibrant colors was very satisfying and relaxing. I then found out that mandalas are also used in art therapy. I found out that the very nature of creating mandalas was therapeutic and symbolic. I learned that mandala art therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which a trained therapist guides a client through a variety of artistic processes using geometric patterns in an effort to find or restore a sense of healthy mental balance. I discovered that I unknowingly was helping myself in maintaining a healthy mental state.
Creating mandalas helped in increasing my patience level and also in developing my concentration which helped me with my school and studies.