Art-journaling is a wonderful and easy way to ignite your creativity! It helps you relax, find your center, reflect on what you've learned, recharge your energy, and wipe away stress. Give it a try because you might just love it!
My goal is for you to use art-journaling to take daily play breaks. Why?
Because the world is only getting crazier. And all the unreal things are piling up on each other, making life too overwhelming to deal with. And that is EXACTLY WHY you need to boost your life energy. It's a matter of your vitality to self-regulate and reduce stress. Nothing’s gonna get better if our gas tanks are on empty. Play refills that tank faster than anything else.
Play is an energy source, not a luxury. So why not use play as a strategy to reset yourself?
Let me show you how to use art-journaling as a creative self-care practice. Let’s go!
Part 1. Why doodling in circles will change the direction of your life.
Did you know that the mandala is one of the most ancient and universal symbols known to man? Mandalas are magical. They represent the universe, unity, wholeness, and connection. They’re sacred circles.
Drawing mandalas is an intuitive process.
When you make mandalas, you usually start at the center and work your way outward in concentric circles. But there’s also a lot of back-and-forth movement. There’s a lot of zooming in and out.
You’re zooming in when you add details and colors. And you’re zooming out to get an overall feel. It’s like zooming in to get specific, and zooming out to get perspective.
Okay, so if I tell you to think of a mandala, you’ll most likely imagine an intricate design made of concentric circles with lots of embellishments.
But at the core, a mandala is simply a bunch of repeating shapes along circular lines.
These repeating shapes can be used to add lots of details to the spaces between the lines. Think of zigzags, waves, dots, circles, loops, scallops, etc.
Playing with colors not only unleashes your creativity but also allows you to intuitively select, combine, and create stunning contrasts and patterns.
For example, you can play with using a different color for every space you fill in. Or you can go the opposite route and use only ONE color with a fat marker, making all your mandala doodles seamlessly blend - like in the prompts of Part 3!
Making mandalas centers you. And we’re gonna add writing WISH NOTES to the mix. Yay!
Most of us can’t actually put into words what we want. So it’s good to get clarity on all the things you desire. The key here is writing down your wishes. By externalizing your worries onto paper, you’re literally creating distance from them. This is how you become aware of your thoughts so you can get curious about them.
By combining mandalas with writing wishes, you’ve got yourself a powerful way of getting unstuck and changing the direction of your life.
Writing WISH NOTES is a fun way of letting your desires move you forward to what truly matters. They automagically get you thinking about what’s possible. So it’s a good idea to write your wishes as strong positive affirmations.
Part 2. Tips for writing wishes as affirmations.
An affirmation is simply a thought you repeat over and over to yourself. You’ll end up saying it a lot. And you’ll end up putting all your belief into it. But it doesn’t have to be positive. Nope. Chances are, it’s negative.
All self-talk is nothing more than a stream of affirmations.
And did you know you’re already an expert at doing affirmations?
Yep, like when you’re repeatedly saying or telling yourself this:
• I’m always behind on everything
• People are so rude
• Nobody cares anymore
• I’ll never figure this out
• I’ll never get my act together
But also this:
• Everything works out in the end
• I have such lovely people as friends
• Everyone’s doing the best they can
• I like learning stuff
• Tomorrow is a new day
All this to say that you don’t need to learn how to do affirmations. What you need to do is practice being more intentional about how you want to feel.
Here are a few simple tips that help you create strong positive affirmations:
• Use “I statements” that start with the words I am, I have, I know, I can, etc.
• Use the present tense
• Keep it short
• Use your favorite words to describe how you want to feel
And here are a few examples of wishes:
• I am getting good sleep and waking up full of energy
• I am calm and clear about my projects
• I am open to having more fun with everything I do
• It is safe to be me
• I trust in my talents and gifts
• I love being alive and sharing my enthusiasm
Part 3. Your prompts for art-journaling with mandalas:
Most of your resistance lives at the beginning of a task. And there are two ways to get past that resistance:
1. You shrink the task.
You’ll feel a lot less resistance to spending a short amount of time.
2. You simplify the task.
You use prompts as on-ramps to get started. Prompts keep you from overthinking.
Prompts set you up for an easy-peasy play break:
• No big prep
• Easy to start
• Easy to find a stopping point
• No big clean-up
Does that sound good? Alrighty then. Let’s do this already!
Here are your prompts for art-journaling with mandalas. You’re going to play with an accordion book format that you can put together in just minutes by using envelopes. For making the accordion book check out the fun video link below.
Okay, so you’re gonna be doodling on the FRONT and BACK of your accordion book. And then you’re gonna write yourself some WISH NOTES to put in the secret pockets. This is why using envelopes to make your accordion book is such a fun idea! Because you get built-in secret pockets on the backside. Yay!
SET-UP:
Fold and glue 3-5 envelopes together to make an accordion book. I’ve got a video that shows you how here: https://youtu.be/ysv9AyxeM78
STARTING RITUAL:
STEP 1. Center yourself:
Put your hand on your heart and take a few nice, long, deep, relaxing breaths.
STEP 2. Gather your supplies:
• A folded accordion book
• A pen or pencil
• Your favorite doodling tools - markers, highlighters, color pencils, crayons, etc.
• Extra sheets of paper
• Scissors
15 MINUTES TO CREATE:
STEP 3. Tune in:
Look at your doodling tools and choose TWO colors that feel most aligned with how you feel.
STEP 4. Doodle your mandalas:
Turn your accordion book to the FRONT side. Start doodling mandalas with your favorite color. Keep going for as long as your time allows.
Use my SHAPES INDEX to get you started:
Optional: Instead of only doodling circular mandalas, you can switch things up and play with paisley-shaped mandalas on the BACK side.
Optional: Sometimes it’s easier to jump in and create if there’s already something on the page. So you could use a small lid or jar to trace ONE random circle on each page of your accordion book. Try placing your circles at the folds and also going off the edges!
CLOSING RITUAL:
STEP 5. Write your wishes:
Now comes the big moment to write your wishes. So grab your scissors and cut your paper down into 4 strips. Then cut the strips in half to end up with 8 paper slips. These are your WISH NOTES.
By writing your wishes, you’re getting clarity on your desires. But you’re also activating them in the best possible way - by releasing the details of exactly HOW you think things will work out.
Instead of trying to control, stay open to being surprised! And lean into the feeling of your wish being fulfilled. You can practice feeling grateful now as if your wish is guaranteed to come true. Yay!
• Write one big wish down for each slip of paper - use the tips and examples for writing wishes in Part 2
• Write as many WISH NOTES as you want
• Fold your notes to make them smaller.
STEP 6. Prep for next time:
Make it super easy to come back for more mandala doodling. Remember, you can always expand your accordion book by adding more envelopes.
You can revisit your WISH NOTES every few weeks and replace old ones with new ones.
Optional: Instead of expanding your accordion book with a new set of mandala doodles, you could keep adding more colors to your existing doodles. For example, you could start with a second color and work your way across the FRONT and BACK. And then simply keep adding more WISH NOTES to the pockets.
Keep your accordion book and your supplies in a big folder or shoe box. And schedule your next play break into your planner or calendar.
More for you:
If you love the idea of mandala doodling, I’ve got a great course for you. Here's the link to learn more: https://twinkiwinki.com/products/freehand-mandala-play-time-online-workshop
Want me to show you how to art-journal with a simple accordion book format and easy-peasy prompts? If yes, I’ve got a series of videos made just for you:
• Art-Journaling With Collage (Envelopes-Accordion-Fold, #1)
CLICK HERE to check out my video: https://youtu.be/p3eNpEdI0I8
• Art-Journaling With Collage (Envelopes-Accordion-Fold, #2)
CLICK HERE to check out my video: https://youtu.be/PH2NX6qJIJQ
• Vision Board With Collage (Envelopes-Accordion-Fold, #3)
CLICK HERE to check out my video: https://youtu.be/K3BPyrNyqow
• Art-Journaling With Mandalas (Envelopes-Accordion-Fold, #1)
CLICK HERE to check out my video: https://youtu.be/DDrPiblfiRc
• Art-Journaling With Mandalas (Envelopes-Accordion-Fold, #2)
CLICK HERE to check out my video: https://youtu.be/uPdL-U1fvUA