For the newsletter this week, I recorded the message. I can convey so much more in the video format. Don’t you think?
Listen in to:
- Hear about the upcoming course and about creating personal retreats and see a few of the pages from the Retreat Planner that participants will get.
- See fan mail from India and Australia filled with inspiration for your mandala practice.
- Two projects ideas that will lift up your spirit.
Show Notes
Let’s Retreat Together!
Pictured above are a few of the many pages in the Retreat Planner that’s part of the January Mandala Online Retreat. One of several downloads participants will get as part of the course. READ MORE & SIGN UP HERE
Fan Mail from India
This gorgeous card comes from Shruti Gautam Dev from India.
The back of the card really captures the spirit of what we experience when we create and color mandalas. It is also the intention for creating retreat moments, a practice we will be exploring in the January Mandala Retreat.
Visit Shruti’s website: www.artyzenworld.com
Fan Mail from Australia
In Gay’s lovely letter she shares how coloring mandalas (the free downloads that you can get here) helps her to relax. Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Gay finds meditation a challenge and coloring mandalas has really helped her.
Take a closer look at her card. I love how the bird is pointing at the word, “inclusive.” This ties in with the values that are so important to me: hospitality and welcoming. Many people have been shy to post the mandalas that they colored but didn’t draw in the 100 Mandalas Sharing Circle. Please know that there are many ways that we can work with and enjoy mandalas and they are all welcome.
Tucked in with Gay’s note were these beautiful notecards from the Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV). The designs come from a painting titled, “Honey Ants” by Rowena Lynch. Rowena uses shape and design common to ancient rock art and petroglyph designs found throughout the traditional country of Eastern Arrernte near Alice Springs.
See a photo of the artist with her original painting and learn more about the Indigenous Community Volunteers at www.icv.com.au
How might this traditional painting motif inspire your mandala practice?
Inside My Journal
Here’s an idea for what you can do with your mandalas: cut them up and work them into a journal. Here I cut up the mandala that I colored in Episode 3: How to Use Colored Pencils.
I painted the background, drew some lines, and filled the page with words of encouragement that I received from members of the 100 Mandalas Community. Collect compliments, accolades, words of thanks in your journal. Your journal will serve as a good place to retreat at those times when you need a little pep talk.
Blessing Jar
The last idea that I shared in the video is an idea that my friend Susi Richardson posted on Facebook in December. Alter a jar and then tuck in notes throughout the year of the blessings and accomplishments. At the end of the year Susi’s tradition is to read through the blessings from the year on New Years Eve.
I love this idea! I designed my label to include mandalas and this affirmation: I am open to the blessings and surprises in life.
I hope you’ve found an idea or two to inspire your mandala practice!
Have a lovely and creative week.
How to Draw Mandalas and the 100 Mandalas Challenge with Kathryn Costa 
I was just able to listen to your podcast at 11pm tonight. It was absolutely delightful! I am excited about the retreat and seeing some of the pages. The cards that you shared are wonderful. And showing us your journal and blessing jar were nice features. The work that you did in 2015 is definitely paying off for those of us lucky enough to have found 100Mandalas. Thank you for everything you do, Kathryn, you make a difference to my life in such a positive way.
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Thank you for this cheerful video! SO pleased you are regaining wellness for the year ahead, and will balance giving out with restoring within!
Looking forward to the training beginning next weekend!
Blessings!!!!
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How do I sign up for the newsletter?
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Here is the link: https://ub283.infusionsoft.com/app/form/newsletter-100mandalas
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Oh wow! I’ve just seen my comment in your journal! This really is more than creating mandalas; it really is a circle of life and growth where we all inspire each other to move on in never ending circles! I am absolutely loving the mandala challenge, but having been motivated by another member of the group to produce mandalas for an exhibition, I’m late arriving at the retreat. I’ve been trying to wait for a space where I can dedicate my time to this fully and discover more about the meaning behind the mandalas I seem to be creating with such earnest. It’s almost as though I’m on a roller coaster and just can’t stop, not wanting to get off or take time out! I cannot stop thinking about mandalas and just want to be creating them all the time, feeling an enormous sense of disappointment if I have to wait until the evening to start producing them. It’s almost a balance of selfishness and guilt at wanting to do nothing else but create mandalas. When I’m making them, everything else seems to stop and I find myself totally engrossed. I can now converse at the same time, but many cups of tea have gone to waste! Basically, they seem to have taken over my life, changing it beyond all recognition and giving me a totally different outlook on life. I do feel much more centred and in control of achieving something great but now feel challenged to consider the outlet and what to do with my creations. Every one I produce, my husband says “I don’t want you to part with that one”, because he sees the effort and dedication I have put into each and every mandala. His support has been incredible, as I have slowly taken over our dining table…almost in its entirety!
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I think it is wonderful that your mandala journey has brought you so much joy and opportunity. One idea to “keep” your mandalas is to scan them at a high resolution or take a high quality photo. Then you can make a book of them using a service like Shutterfly. You can sell the originals but have a gorgeous book of your own. I hope you’ll have time to share the mandalas that you are creating with the community. We miss you!
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Aww thanks. I’m producing mandalas at such a rate, I have them coming out of my ears!! ;-). I need to come up with a plan soon otherwise we will have such a backlog to deal with that I’ll get overwhelmed! Thanks for your suggestions. I must look in to Shutterfly.
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