All posts filed under: Mandala Stories

Mandala Meditation: Ganesh Yantra

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“Where do you get all of your ideas?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this question. I’ve been known to say, “Inspiration is everywhere.” I think I’ll add to that statement, “Inspiration is everywhere. Look around you.” Thinking more about this, it’s more than looking around you. It’s about getting curious. It’s one thing to see something, it’s another to ask, “Why?” or “What if?” I have a long list of topics that I’m currently exploring. I can never study just one thing. My mind loves devouring several topics at once and making connections between them. One of my long time interests has been in exploring the meaning of our mandalas. The colors, shapes, symbols, and how they are arranged can tell us a lot about where we are in the moment. There are long standing traditions where mandalas are created with specific symbols and colors. One such tradition that I’ve been curious to learn more about is the Hindu yantras. The earliest yantras date back 1,000 BCE in northern India. Throughout the ages, sacred …

Do you have a muse?

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All my life, friends, family and acquaintances have said, “You are so creative!” I feel like I can’t take credit for my creativity. The creative process may look like a solitary act on the outside, but it isn’t. I often feel like a creative conduit where the ideas flow through me. The best way to explain it is to share a story. Each month, I host an interactive online journal class. Participants get an envelope in the mail with a few items tucked inside to use during our time together. A new theme is explored where I work in one of the four elements, air, water, fire, or earth and I invite an animal ally to join us. The design of the envelope picks up on elements from the theme. Invariably these envelopes design themselves. Sounds a bit crazy, right? Read on as the story behind the latest workshop envelope may be evidence that the creative process is a co-creative act between the artist and something divine. For my next journal workshop, it was time …

Mandala Story: Catz’s Transformation

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We often hear about how relaxing and healing it is to create and color mandalas. I met up with Catz, a member of the 100 Mandalas Sharing Circle, to talk about how she went from quietly watching other members share their mandala art to winning a t-shirt at Mandalafest and getting the encouragement to post her first mandala. Since her first mandala, Catz’s mandala journey led her to discovering more than how to draw mandalas, she grew in confidence to say, “Yes!” to her dream of traveling and say, “No!” to unhealthy relationships. I’m so proud to know Catz. She is a joy and bright light in our mandala community. Watch this interview. I hope it inspires your mandala practice. Join us! The 100 Mandalas Sharing Circle is free. Watch these videos to start drawing your mandalas. Get Kathryn’s book: The Mandala Guidebook: How to Draw, Paint, and Color Expressive Mandala Art Curious about the Great Round Course? More Classes: Mandala Drawing I Color I Do you have a mandala story to tell? How has …

Opening My Heart in Hawaii

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If you asked me seven weeks ago that I would be traveling to Hawaii, I would’ve scoffed in disbelief.  I had been working really hard these last three years juggling a day job and building my dream job. My vacations were dedicated to writing and promoting my book, trainings on mandalas and marketing, and connecting with my online mandala family. I can’t even remember the last time I even took a “real vacation.” Seven weeks ago I dumped the day job of 13 years. The following week, my sister-in-law and I were talking on the phone and she said, “You should come with me to Hawaii for a retreat.” In less than 24 hours the arrangements were made and I was heading to the “Open Your Heart in Paradise with Ram Dass Retreat.” What makes this story even more incredible was how the retreat sold out within hours of opening. Since June there had been a very long wait list and here I was going. It was a miracle. My Hawaii Wound When I told …

Spreading My Wings

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“You’re fired.” These were the words that were in my head as I was writing my letter of resignation. It’s a dream that so many have and here I was doing it – firing my employer! Nine years ago, I started blogging about my creative life. Collage, art journaling, mixed media, photography, Ikebana (Japanese flowering arranging) were some of the mediums that appeared over the years. More than the creative projects, it was connecting with people from all over the world that changed my life. Readers loved my art but loved even more my words and reflections on life. I found that when I was most vulnerable, others resonated and found comfort in my words. To my amazement, deep, meaningful connections were happening. I was a 40 year old single mother when I started blogging while working at a day job that barely paid the bills. It’s what I needed at the time. Being a single mom was scary and exhausting and this day job was easy. I needed easy. Those first blog posts were …

Life as a Mandala: Discovering that you’ve come full circle

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Do you see signs and patterns in your life? I do. Last week I discovered that I’ve come full circle. Over Columbus Day weekend, I traveled over 400 miles down to Pennsylvania to facilitate a mandala workshop. It was just a few days before heading down that I realized that three years ago on the very same weekend, I was in Pennsylvania. My husband and I were driving when I thought up the idea for the 100 Mandalas Challenge and a how-to book for drawing mandalas. When I think of the anniversary of this occasion, I’ve always focused on when I launched the 100 Mandalas Challenge, not when I thought it up. I mark the occasion with an online celebration called Mandalafest. It hadn’t dawned on me the significance of the previous weekend until now. Keep in mind that in my adult life, I’ve only been to Pennsylvania three times and this was the third visit. So you can imagine my surprise when I noticed a pattern that I was heading back to Pennsylvania to …