Nourishing yourself

It is said that we are what we eat. Whereas in the past year I've taken some solid steps to applying this bit of wisdom to the actual food I eat, I mostly think about its meaning in terms of what I choose to 'nourish' my mental, emotional and spiritual life.

This is a short posting. I'm leaving in a couple hours to head back up the hill again to Prescott where I will be meeting for the next two days to complete part three of the curriculum for the summer camp. So, this will also be the last posting until Wednesday of next week.

I wanted though to tack onto what I wrote about yesterday and give you some information on where to find mandalas if you'd like to add coloring them either as a part of your meditation time or simply as a means to relaxation.

Online there is an excellent source: free-mandala.com. When you get to the site, choose the American Flag {English} and on the next screen choose 'download.' What you will have to choose from is a number of quadrants, each one containing a choice of four mandalas. The site has changed from the last time I went onto it and there is now the option of saving the mandala in your documents, which I find a wonderful new option. When you open the design you've chosen it now uses photo printing - it will also give you the option of the number/size you desire, generally I choose 800/600 and it's perfect.

If you have never been to this site before you might consider browsing the options by just clicking each quadrant and getting an idea of what is available as there are a myriad of different types of design.

In terms of design, I discovered that designs with larger spaced elements that flow easily into each other work best for meditation purposes. Designs with a lot of smaller detail are fine for simply relaxing because you will find yourself just thinking about your choice of colors and how to apply them and so worries and concerns recede - in this way, the mandala work is similar to doing a crossword or suduko puzzle in terms of the effect on your brain.

However, when I try to meditate using the designs with a lot of detail I find that I lose the element of meditation where keeping my hands and eyes busy allows my interior self to flow to a new place which I'm attentive to a simple thought or idea.

To be attentive to a simple thought I often begin by considering my first choice of color and its 'meaning' when referencing either the Universe, Creation or spirituality. The choice of blue might bring to mind the sky: it's overarching presence and then I may simply dwell in this idea of 'overarching presence.' I might choose red and find myself pondering fire or passion, power and might or perhaps a rose and I then let my thoughts circle around this idea. Sometimes I have done some 'nourishing' reading beforehand such as a daily meditation and might choose to think on what I have just read. Sometimes I will choose a thought such as: I am God's love walking on earth or one of my favorites which is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "I am the organ through which Spirit executes it's will and creative power."

When doing a mandala for meditation I like to make sure I have at least 30 or 40 quiet, hopefully uninterupted, minutes available so I have the opportunity for enough time to truly experience the meditative effect. It's handy to know that you may not finish the mandala in that amount of time so there 's no point in hurrying and I've also discovered that not finishing the one I've begun simply makes me eager to schedule some more time in order to finish.

The materials for a mandala coloring are whatever appeals to you personally. A close friend of mine almost always does hers with markers, crayons offer a wide range of colors - is there much in life more wondrous than a box of 96 crayons! and as I mentioned yesterday, my personal favorite is colored pencils. In terms of quality, my experience is that Crayola make the best in terms of a product that has is easily found - even their colored pencils are good and to be honest I was surprised because inexpensive pencils are normally too 'hard' or do not have good pigment. Crayola however makes excellent colored pencils.

Another website for consideration is coloringcastle.com which offers either 6 or 8 mandalas to print.

Dover Publications puts out a wonderful coloring book called Mystical Mandala Coloring Book which can be found at the larger bookstores. If you discover you really enjoy this activity and want to expand your options, Amazon.com has much to offer.

Blessings to you as you consider exploring new ways of feeding yourself. See you next Wednesday.