The use of mandalas in the practical work of a kindergarten psychologist. Presentation on the topic: Presentation on the topic "Mandala and mandala therapy. Creating a mandala by date of birth"

Larisa Tkachenko

The children looked at them for a long time and admired them. One of my students said that when she looks at this pattern, she wants to dream. The kids became interested and wanted to draw some kind of ornament themselves. So the idea of ​​a collective work.

We needed a sheet of Whatman paper with a pre-drawn circle and an ornament applied in it. I'll do a little clarification: for middle-aged children, the ornament should be large and easy to paint with the finger of a child’s hand.

Children can clearly see how this or that ornament appears.

also in used for work individual trays with pre-filled gouache paints, brushes. It is also necessary to prepare napkins and wet cloths.

So, let's start coloring.

Children coloring mandala, starting from the center, with the pad of the index finger.

Gradually moving from fragment to fragment and using The children painted over the ornament in different colors.

Now the children apply patterns with a brush.

In today's lesson we got something like this mandala.

Publications on the topic:

The use of adapted musical instruments in correctional work with preschoolers with special needs disorders Municipal budgetary preschool educational institution Kindergarten No. 2 “Rossiyanochka” of the city of Smolensk Methodological development.

The Froebel Gifts playset includes fourteen types of educational materials developed by Froebel and his followers.

Raikova Kristina Sergeevna teacher of MAOU school No. 31 preschool department. Using interactive flooring in working with younger preschoolers.

Using the mandala method when working with anxiety in children USING THE MANDALA METHOD WHEN WORKING WITH ANXIETY IN CHILDREN Loginova Galina Anatolyevna, teacher (first qualification category).

Using sand and water when working with preschoolers Recently, due to increasing interest in the patterns of formation of a child’s personality, a complex use of various types has been observed.

Shchepikhina Svetlana Vladimirovna Municipal budgetary educational institution “Kamenskaya Secondary School of the Mezen District”, structural.

Ptushkina Galina Anatolevna
Job title: educational psychologist
Educational institution: MBDOU "Verkh-Suetsky kindergarten "Beehive"
Locality: Altai Territory Suetsky district, Verkh-Suetka village
Name of material: Article, synopsis of GCD.
Subject: Using the mandala method in the work of a kindergarten psychologist.
Publication date: 06.01.2016
Chapter: preschool education

Art therapeutic possibilities of using the mandala method in

psychocorrectional work of a psychologist.

Using the mandala method in the work of a kindergarten psychologist.
The modern preschool system allows the use of different programs and pedagogical technologies. In kindergarten, the child receives his first experience of interacting with other people, tries to find his place among them, learns to live in harmony with himself and others, and receives his first basic knowledge. Therefore, the task of teachers is to ensure that the child is in comfortable psychological conditions. In this regard, children often have difficulties communicating with peers, many of them are hyperactive or, on the contrary, inhibited. When working with children, it is necessary to create adequate conditions for upbringing and learning, taking into account the individual characteristics of the child. One of the acceptable forms of working with children is the mandala method. The discoverer of mandala therapy was Carl Gustav Jung. Mandalotherapy is a safe and natural way to change your emotional state, relieve tension, express feelings and develop self-regulation. Mandala - translated from Sanskrit as “circle” or “center”. Its design is symmetrical: it usually looks like a circle with a pronounced center. According to Eastern beliefs, a mandala is a drawing in a circle, which has healing properties and is used as a tool for meditation. However, we are not interested in the magical or religious meaning of the mandala, but in its psychological content. Mandalotherapy is one of the areas of art therapy (healing through art). In our opinion, this is a natural and joyful way to improve the emotional state, relieve stress, express feelings, which contributes to the development of creativity, artistic and spiritual self-expression of children. Mandalas are very useful for both adults and children. After all, the symbolic language of a drawing conveys the content of the inner world of a person more accurately than words, is natural and attractive, and understandable at any age. They help to completely relax and establish contact with the functions of the right hemisphere of the brain, with the unconscious. Undoubtedly, this type of work is very useful for preschoolers, since in children the right hemisphere plays a leading role; young children have not yet lost their predominant connection with the right hemisphere of the brain.
Drawing mandalas promotes the development of figurative memory, a holistic perception of the world, recognition of the nuances of various sounds, the development of intuition, the emotional and sensory world, and ultimately the formation of a creative personality. I use the mandala method both in individual and group lessons. Coloring mandalas helps to introduce a child to individual or group work and immerse them in the creative process.
The main goals of the work when decorating mandalas:
-development of creative abilities; -development of arbitrariness of behavior; -development of imagination; -removal of internal tension, relaxation; -development of fine motor skills of the hands. In the process of perceiving images, a child develops a feeling of empathy, to which he does not rise in his everyday life and cannot rise. After mandala therapy, the child returns to the zone of his emotions, but to some extent enriched. This feature of mandala therapy allows the child to spiritually replenish what he lacks in a life inevitably limited by space and time, to compensate through the imagination for the satisfaction of many needs. By creating a mandala, the child also creates his own personal symbols, reflecting what he is currently. For example, if a child draws a circle - this means balance and order, a triangle - if the apex is directed upward, this means masculinity, movement, the desire for improvement, if downward - destruction. A flower is a symbol of beauty and life. Simply looking at the mandala also brings certain benefits. The colors chosen in the mandala are a reflection of the child’s inner state. During individual and subgroup lessons, children paint mandalas, ranging from simple patterns to more complex ones. Thus, working with mandalas not only has a corrective effect on the child’s personality, but also contributes to the development of speech in preschool children.
At first, when the child is not yet familiar with the technique of relaxation and psychological attitude, it is necessary to introduce him to the topic. This can be done with the help of a beautiful, figurative story: “We are going with you on a magical journey. Sit comfortably on the floor (sofa), close your eyes and imagine that you are in an unusual, magical place. This place is only yours and only you decide what it will be like. You are the owner of this place and you are the most important here. Now take two deep breaths and exhales, relax even more and lie there for a while. Without opening your eyes, look around. Try to remember everything that you see in front of you. Look carefully at what colors or patterns come to your mind. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes, and we will try to draw everything that we saw in the circle that we prepared in advance.” Time to set up and form an image is individual, some need more, some less. Do not rush the child; when he feels that he is ready to start work, he will get up on his own. Creative work must have the author’s signature, so when the child finishes the work, in the lower right corner of the sheet I write the author’s last and first name, age and put the date. Together with your child, you can come up with a name for the mandala and sign the drawing. The next stage of work is an artistic description of the mandala. The child’s opinion is important here, so I ask him what he depicted. It will be interesting to compose a story, a fairy tale, a story about your mandala. Remember that this is not a simple description of what has been done, this is a large developmental work. With a verbal description, he learns to accurately convey his thoughts, translate visual and sensory images into verbal, descriptive ones, and this, in turn, contributes to the development of communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. While the child is talking, I write down his story on a separate sheet of paper and then attach it to the mandala. There is an opportunity to plan further psychocorrectional work. It doesn’t matter at all whether a child knows how to draw, sculpt, model, work with a pencil, paints, plasticine, or clay. After all, the goal will not be to create a masterpiece, but that inner work that will allow the soul to emerge from restrictions, criticism, prohibitions, scars, and see itself and the world anew.
Lesson notes for older preschoolers

“I am today” (using mandalas)

Goal: to develop in children the ability to express their feelings, using various expressive methods, to consolidate knowledge about basic emotions. Develop empathy. Equipment: pictograms of emotions, pictures depicting different emotional states of people; mandalas. Hod: Guys! I invite you to visit the clearing of emotions. (The teacher shows pictures depicting emotions, the children name them (joy, timidity, resentment, anger, fear, surprise, complacency, disgust). Exercise 1. “Smile” Psychologist: Let’s give each other joy and a smile, because a smile lifts everyone’s mood (Children stand in a circle, hold hands, smile at each other.) Exercise 2. “Guess the emotion” (you can use an emotion cube) Children take sets of pictograms depicting various emotional states and using expressive means (facial expressions, pantomimes, gestures) show any emotional state. Children take turns demonstrating their choice and, if desired, tell when they had to experience this feeling. Exercise 3. “Mandalas" Children are invited to familiarize themselves with images of mandalas of different types (animals, flowers, geometric ones). The psychologist explains the meaning of the word “mandala " "Listening to mandalas" Children sit down comfortably, close their eyes. Musical pieces of a different nature are turned on (sad, cheerful). After this, children are asked to draw a happy or sad mandala in pairs (optional), using natural materials (chestnuts, pebbles of different colors). Discussion (reflection) of the lesson
The teacher invites the children to sit in a semicircle, show their mandala to other children, and talks about what he depicted. Mandala with children Questions for children: 1. What did you like to do most during the lesson? 2. How did you feel when you depicted the mandala? 3.What sensations are you experiencing now? Conclusion: Guys, today you learned a lot of interesting things about the mandala and learned how to depict it. I hope you enjoyed this work. I wish you creative success and thank you for your attention.
Bibliography:
1. Diagnostics in art therapy. “Mandala” method./ Ed. A.I. Kopytina. - St. Petersburg: Rech, 2002.-144 p. 2. Preschool psychologist No. 2 (13) 3. Konovalova N.L., Matveeva N.Yu. article “Adaptation of hyperactive preschool children to group work using art therapy.” - In the book: “Scientific discussion: issues of pedagogy and psychology.” Part 3.-M.: Ed. "International Center for Science and Education", 2012.-198p. 4. Kiseleva M.V. Art therapy in working with children: A guide for child psychologists. 5. Lebedeva L.D. The practice of art therapy: approaches, diagnostics, system of classes. - St. Petersburg: Rech, 2008. -256 p. 6. Oaklander V. Windows into the child’s world: A guide to child psychotherapy. - M.: Terevinf, 1997.-341. 7. Osipchuk E. Psychodiagnostic and psychocorrectional work with children using mandala. Newspaper “School Psychologist” No. 4, 2007, pp. 18-19. 8. Ponyatovskaya-Zamyshlyaeva D. Meditative games with a mandala. Newspaper School Psychologist. No. 4, 2007, pp. 29-31. 9. Jung K. G. On the symbolism of the mandala./M.: Refl-book; K.: Wakler, 2002.-P.95-182.

EXAMPLES.
Solar mandala. Geometric mandalas.
With animals

Word "mandala" translated means “circle”, “disk”. In spiritual traditions, a mandala is not just a circle or a pattern. This is a whole model of the universe, which contains harmony and reconciliation with the world.

• in order to correct the emotional state, normalize behavior(coloring ready-made mandalas)

• for the purpose of diagnosing current mood(coloring a white circle)

• for the purpose of studying group relationships(creation of individual mandalas in a group followed by creation of a collective composition)

• for the purpose of diagnosing and correcting a specific problem(color a circle symbolizing school, family, self-image, friendship, love, anger, etc.)

• For self-esteem problems

• When you feel an internal imbalance

• Activation of resource states of the individual

• For fear of losing control of yourself

• For pessimism and depression

• For psychocorrection of accumulated irritation and aggression

• Psychocorrection of emotional hypersensitivity or, on the contrary, alexithymia (difficulty in responding to feelings and emotions).

• Feeling stuck in life

• Psychocorrection of fears and anxieties

• Overcoming a crisis in development (age-related, personal)

• Adaptation support

• Family situations

• Psychosomatic problems

• Uniting the group on the basis of spiritual rapprochement and collective creativity

• Increasing concentration and internal balance (for example, in hyperactive children)

• Correction of fine motor disorders and nervous tension

• Cultivating patience and accuracy

• Building self-confidence through calmness and stimulation of creativity

1. If you plan to work with coloring mandalas, then several are offered - let the client choose by shape, by ornament, whatever is closest to his mood
2. The client chooses the mandala and the plot of the work independently.
3. The client chooses the materials for work and the color scheme (pencils, felt-tip pens, paints, pastels, inks, etc.) independently.
4. The work process is limited only by the degree of saturation, satiety and satisfaction with work.
5. The psychologist records states of tension/relaxation associated with the work process.
6. The principle of non-interference in the work of a child, teenager, or adult without his consent is implemented.
7. The principle of avoiding evaluative comments about work.
8. The client, if desired, gives a name to his mandala, both painted and created.
9. After work, it is important to give the client the opportunity to talk about his feelings, experiences about working on the mandala and his attitude towards the result (correct leading questions are allowed)

Creative work with mandalas can help a person strengthen the connection between the conscious and unconscious “I”. The need to draw mandalas, especially during difficult periods, perhaps means that the unconscious self wants to be the protector of the conscious self. Evidence of this can be found in the scribbles that children and adults often draw in moments of crisis, when the “I” is full of unconscious, disturbing content. So, for example, mandalas are those abstract drawings or doodles that we unconsciously draw on a piece of paper while we are alone with ourselves, for example over a cup of coffee, at a meeting or conference that we are not interested in, or while talking on the phone . These drawings, one way or another, are an attempt to compensate for our mental distraction and streamline our existence at this moment. If we analyze the above-mentioned drawings, we will be convinced that most of them are based on simple geometric shapes (usually a square, circle or spiral).

Thanks to its unique concentric shape, the mandala is an ideal model for meditation, which helps to relax and is suitable both for those people who have not meditated before and for those who suffer from stress, tension and inability to concentrate.

One of the main advantages of working with mandalas is that each person reveals himself with the help of his Inner Child, with the help of contemplation, pencils, paints and a certain amount of free time.

Mandalas are good for both children and adults. Thus, in psychocorrectional and developmental work with children and adolescents, the psychological capabilities of mandalas can be used:

There are also other possibilities for using mandalas in current areas of psychocorrectional work of a psychologist with children, adolescents and adults, these are:

Important! The mandala is completed when, after looking at it, the client feels satisfaction from contemplation.

There are rules for a psychologist working with a client when using a mandala:

For mandala coloring pages, it is advisable to use only 4 colors: red, yellow, green and blue, although, of course, you can use other colors. By default, the picture is black and white and any parts of it can be left unpainted.

You only need to color with colored pencils. No paints, markers or anything else, because only with a pencil can you really concentrate.

Modern mothers collect entire albums of painted mandalas, watching with interest how the same mandala changes over time. More and more white unpainted parts remain, and at the moment when a child considers one of the mandalas self-sufficient and does not paint a single part of it, it is considered the last step of art, which means that a person has found himself.

The mandala contains a certain philosophical meaning, harmony, reconciliation with the world. By looking at and coloring a mandala, a person internally calms down, concentrates and is “charged” with positive energy. The same mandala can be colored many times. And it will almost never happen again. Everything depends on the momentary state of mind and body.

If you are sad, the color scheme will be one, and if you are happy, it will be completely different. Give a mandala to a child when he is anxious, bored, cannot concentrate... The result will not disappoint you.

Mandala is a symbol of the structure of the Universe, a model of the world in which the highest divine order exists. Order is a condition for harmony.

The circle is the deepest symbol of the mystery of life. Symbolizes infinity, perfection and completeness. This geometric figure serves to display the continuity of development of the universe, time, life, and their unity.

“Coloring” is a ritual, a dance around the center, performed with pencils that leave their colored traces.

Watch the very interesting program "Mandala. Art therapy with Irina Poprocka." This program is about what a mandala is, how to draw a mandala yourself, how to use itunderstand your conditionunderstand the current situation and find a way out of it.

1. Green Shea Practical meditation course for beginners: 60 mandalas for drawing and coloring. – M.: AST; Astrel, 2007.
2. Diagnostics in art therapy. Mandala method. / Ed. A.I. Kopytina. – St. Petersburg: Rech, 2002. – 144 p.
3. Osipuk E. Psychodiagnostic and psychocorrectional work with children using a mandala. Newspaper School Psychologist. No. 4, 2007, pp. 18-19.
4. Osipuk. E. Diagnostic mandalas used in advisory practice (individual and group options). Newspaper School Psychologist. No. 4, 2007, pp. 20-28.
5. Poniatovskaya-Zamyshlyaeva D. Meditative games with mandala. Newspaper School Psychologist. No. 4, 2007, pp. 29-31.
6. Tsayri A."Mandala" albums. 1st part for children, 2nd part from 8 years. – Germany, Ravensburg, 2004.
7. Steinhard Lenore. Jungian sand psychotherapy.- St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001.-320 pp.: ill. (Series “Workshop on Psychotherapy”).
8. Jung K.G. About the symbolism of the mandala (Concerning the symbolism of the mandala). // About the nature of the psyche. / M.: Refl-book; K.: Wakler, 2002. – P. 95-182.
9. Jung K.G. Study of the individuation process. // Tavistock lectures. / M.: Refl-book; K.: Wakler, 1998. – P. 211-283.

Mandala is a once mysterious word that beckons into the depths of age-old wisdom. Today, mandalas and their creation are a big trend, a philosophy, a hobby... There is something for everyone. One thing is certain - this is the place to be and mandala therapy, as one of the methods, works and helps, heals and inspires.

Today, mandalas are drawn, painted, embroidered, weaved, laid out, knitted, glued, sculpted...

I invited a specialist, psychologist and fairytale therapist, Anya Kutyavina, to talk about this interesting topic. She takes us into the unique world of creating mandalas for children and adults.

Mandalotherapy for children and adults

What is mandala therapy and how is it useful? What exercises can you do at home? What are the features of working with children and adults? This is discussed in our article.

According to sources, mandalas appeared in India, and this happened a very long time ago - several thousand years ago. They were actively used as a sacred instrument for meditation in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In psychotherapy, mandalas began to be used by Carl Gustav Jung as a method of studying the unconscious. Nowadays, mandalas also do not lose their relevance and are often used in working with adults and children. What is the secret of the mandala?

The secret meaning of the mandala

Translated from Sanskrit, the word “mandala” is translated as “disc, circle.” The circle is closed, it has neither beginning nor end. And this circle symbolizes the image of a single Universe.

There are many types of mandalas in the world. They can be created in various ways, for example, by coloring ready-made pictures, drawing with paints or pencils on paper, sculpting from plasticine, creating bulk mandalas from flowers, natural materials, colored sand, weaving mandalas from threads, etc.

In psychology, a mandala represents a symbolic image of a person’s inner world, thoughts, and feelings. It's all in the safe shape of a circle. K.G. Jung said that a mandala is a universal mental image that symbolizes the self - the deep essence of the human soul.

In essence, the mandala is a bridge between the inner and outer world of a person, between his consciousness and subconscious. When we create a mandala, we put deep meaning into it. We depict our soul and can look from the outside at the processes taking place in it. To see the most subtle experiences that are difficult, and in some cases impossible, to express in other ways. And this is the path to achieving integrity. It is not surprising that mandalas have gained popularity in the work of psychologists, psychotherapists, and art therapists all over the world.

Mandalotherapy is a large area of ​​art therapy. And she really works wonders. ?

What do colors mean in mandala therapy?

For informational purposes, I offer you general interpretations of colors in mandala therapy. But be careful with direct transcripts! We are all different, and the same color can mean positive for one person, and negative for another. And in general, recently art therapists have come to the conclusion that the universal characteristics of colors do not work very well. The most important are the client’s feelings and sensations associated with a particular color. But sometimes it’s useful to look deeper, passing through the general formula.

Mandala meaning. What different colors can mean:

- Red. It is generally accepted that this color symbolizes strength, energy, passion. Red is fire, the beating of the human heart. A lot of red in the image of a mandala can indicate a person’s high life potential, the presence of bright aspirations, goals and ways to realize them. The complete absence of red can tell us about a person’s physical or emotional fatigue, passivity, lack of “fire,” or even depression.

- Green. Color of life. In nature, living things are most often represented by the color green - grass, trees, bushes. When a person actively uses green tones in his creative work, it can be assumed that he is inclined to naturalness, spontaneity, and honesty. If there is a lot of green in a drawing, this often indicates the harmony of the feminine and masculine principles in a person, his mental balance.

- Yellow. This color tells us about optimism, joy of life, good spirits. We can often notice that active and unconventional, creative people with artistic talents like to paint with yellow.

- Blue. This color symbolizes calm and seriousness. The presence of blue in the mandala can indicate a person’s strong intuition, wisdom, and deep understanding of the situation.

- Orange. Pure flow of energy. If the color orange is present in the mandala, most likely a person is self-actualizing, self-affirming, and moving towards a goal.

- Brown. Traditionally we associate this color with the earth. The abundance of brown in the mandala may indicate a person’s lack of a sense of security, his desire to stand on reliable ground, to be grounded.

- Black. Essentially, it is the absence of color. Black indicates emptiness, oblivion. The abundance of black in the mandala can tell us about the emotional burnout of the person drawing, his emptiness or even a depressive state.

How does mandala therapy work?

There are several main uses of mandalas in psychotherapy. So, mandala therapy can be:

• active – the client is invited to create a mandala on his own;
• mixed type - the client chooses from the ready-made mandalas coloring pages offered to him;
• passive - a person is offered a ready-made mandala, and he works with it.

The process of creating a mandala in psychotherapy

When working with a psychologist, the client is not limited to rigid principles and rules. It is important that the creation of a mandala occurs easily, unplanned, spontaneously, in the process of releasing experiences.

What is so special about the mandala? It would seem that you are simply drawing a circle, there are some lines and images in it. But everything is much more interesting than it seems at first glance. A person is most often unable to feel and realize all the multidimensionality and depth of working with this symbol. And the mandala, like a kind of energy matrix, receives information directly from the subconscious, connecting it to an energy source. This reveals the uniqueness of mandala therapy, its uniqueness.

Materials for creating a mandala

Most often in modern psychotherapy, to create a mandala, the client will be offered the following materials: A4 or A3 paper, brushes, paints, pencils, crayons, felt-tip pens.

Where is mandala therapy applicable?

As for the scope of mandala therapy, it actively helps in:

• Working with depression;
• Working with impaired self-esteem;
• Correction of internal imbalance;
• Working through fears;
• Returning the colors of life, fighting pessimism;
• Correction of aggression, irritability.

Mandalotherapy works both in individual counseling and in child-parent relationships, in family therapy.

Very important points: the plot of the mandala must be chosen by the client. And he can draw as much as he wants, until he feels “enough.” At the same time, the specialist records his condition, observes non-verbal reactions - gestures, facial expressions, breathing. The psychologist never evaluates the client's work and does not interfere in the process. After all, the main task of this work is for a person to find contact with his inner “I”, get to know his real self, and see answers to questions. And all this is possible only in a situation where there is no strict control and directive approach on the part of a specialist.

Mandalotherapy in working with children

How can mandala therapy be useful for children? The answer is simple. Often children cannot adequately express their emotions, as well as correctly assess the emotions of others, including other children. All this prevents you from building warm, friendly relationships. Using a mandala can help impulsive, anxious children stabilize their emotional background, develop self-regulation skills, relieve tension, and express emotions and feelings. In addition, a “side effect” of using mandalas in working with children is the development of creativity, artistic and spiritual self-expression of children.

Mandalotherapy is often used in kindergartens, starting with younger groups. Children are encouraged to color ready-made mandalas, as well as create their own mandalas from pebbles, chestnuts, acorns, colored sand, and other natural materials.

The process of creating mandalas helps develop imagination, creativity, and fine motor skills. Creating sand mandalas has a good effect on hyperactive children, improves concentration, and reduces the overall level of anxiety.

The main conditions for using mandalas in working with children:

• Show the child the whole set of mandalas at the very beginning so that he can choose the one he likes;
• You can turn on background music;
• Do not overload the psyche - during one lesson, offer the child to work with only one mandala;
• The child must choose the tools for work, what to draw or lay out a mandala;
• After creating a mandala, you must carefully ask the child about his experiences and feelings.

To create a real mandala, it is important to tune in to work, find peace of mind, and “immerse” yourself in your inner experiences. The best way to do this is to use relaxation techniques. Tell your child a beautiful story, for example this:

“Now you and I will go on a fabulous journey. Sit or lie down comfortably, close your eyes, take a deep breath. Now imagine that you find yourself in a magical land. This is your favorite place, you are the most important here. Take a deep breath again, exhale, relax even more.

Keeping your eyes closed, “look around” around. Try to remember what you see. Carefully look at the pictures and colors that surround you.

When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. Let's try to draw everything you saw in this circle."

It is difficult to say how much time is needed for meditation and the creation of the mandala itself. Some need more, some need less. Don't rush your child. He himself will show that he is ready. Then it’s good to come up with a title for the drawing and sign it.

After finishing the creative work, you need to ask the child what he drew. You can ask him to come up with a story or tale about the mandala. This kind of work is very useful for developing interhemispheric connections, improving the skill of expressing one’s thoughts, and transforming sensory images into verbal ones.

You can invite your child to draw a family, kindergarten, school, mother, etc. in a circle.

Mandalotherapy in working with adults

You can practice mandalotherapy not only in a psychologist’s office, but also at home. The most affordable option is to buy ready-made mandala drawings in the store, or download pictures for coloring on the Internet. But it is best to draw a mandala from scratch.

We offer you a simple exercise that you can do at home. To do this, take a plate and trace it on an A4 sheet of paper. Complete the circle. When drawing, focus on your inner feelings. Let your hand guide you to the answers. Then fill the rest of the space with shapes, lines, images. When choosing colors, rely on your intuition.

Then come up with a name for the mandala and write it down. Consider the mandala. What associations do you have? Write an essay about your mandala.
After finishing your creative work, try to decipher the mandala.

How to decipher a mandala

You can use the following conditional guidelines:

• If there is a clearly defined center in the work, this may indicate the maturity of the person;
• An asymmetrical pattern may indicate internal tension;
• By zones of the drawing: from top to bottom – spiritual-social-physical; from left to right – past-present-future;
• If there is a lot of white space left in the drawing, this may indicate caution, fear of being active, as well as a lack of information;
• A lack of connections in an essay may indicate internal contradictions.

But do not rush to become attached to ready-made interpretations. Let your soul open up and tell you important moments. Receive them with love and gratitude. Think about what can be improved in the current situation. What actions need to be taken?

Awareness alone, without active action, unfortunately, will not change life. So after you see a picture of the future, live it in your mind, immediately begin to implement your plans. Plan specific steps and get started today. You will certainly succeed. After all, the one who walks can master the road, right? And creativity will always help along the way. He will advise, guide, relax and surprise.

Create! And let there be many bright colors and delicious images in your life!

Anna Kutyavina,

Indeed, mandalas have a special charm. And you can meet them everywhere... And in the curls of a rose, and in the waves of the sea, in snowflakes, and also in lace napkins and kaleidoscope patterns...

Mandala coloring book

At the end of the conversation about mandala therapy, we offer you several mandala templates for coloring. You can download, print and color them to your heart's content. Or you can simply take it as a basis and draw your own unique mandala.

I also suggest watching this video about mandala therapy:

At one time I tried to color ready-made mandala drawings. I like it. This process is truly relaxing and distracting, setting you up for a creative, peaceful wave...

Tell me, have you drawn or made mandalas from any materials yourself? Did you enjoy the process? What emotions did it evoke? Share in the comments!

With warmth,

Frolova Tatyana Vladimirovna
Job title: teacher - psychologist
Educational institution: MADOU "Kindergarten No. 6"
Locality: Nazarovo city, Krasnoyarsk region
Name of material: methodological development
Subject:"ART therapy as a means of preserving the psychological health of children."
Publication date: 05.02.2018
Chapter: preschool education

Master class for teachers of preschool educational institution “Art therapy as

a means of preserving the psychological health of children"

Target: improving the professional skills of participating teachers

master class through pedagogical communication with demonstration of the use of art

– therapeutic technologies.

Tasks:

1. Teach teachers to promote self-knowledge of the child, awareness of his

characteristics and preferences;

2. Teach to develop the child’s social and communication skills

behavior, mental and speech activity, fine motor skills;

3. Promote the manifestation of children's creativity with non-traditional

material;

4. Form adequate self-esteem.

Main part:

So what is educational art therapy? Literally translated this is

concept means art therapy.

The goal of art therapy is to harmonize personality development through the development

abilities of self-expression and self-knowledge.

Its essence is that through drawing, games, fairy tales, music, art therapy gives

an outlet for inner discomfort and strong emotions helps to understand

own feelings and experiences. As Edith Kramer (psychologist) said, this

a method associated with the disclosure of human creative potential and cognition

your inner world.

According to Eastern wisdom, “a picture can express what it cannot express.”

a thousand words." According to V.S. Mukhina and other researchers, a drawing for

children is not art, but speech.

Each line and each color has its own character, its own mood. With them

With help, the child conveys everything that is inside him. All this indicates that

pedagogical art therapy is closely related to the development of the emotional sphere

child, and is one of the varieties of its improvement.

By drawing, the child finds himself in a fairy tale filled with joy, mutual understanding,

Now let's talk about the types of art therapy:

Isotherapy– one of the areas of art therapy; psychotherapeutic work with

using fine art methods. Isotherapy is based on

psychology of creativity and applies the beneficial effects of drawing in

for psychotherapeutic purposes. The goal of isotherapy is to increase emotional

positive background, create favorable conditions for successful development

Fairy tale therapy- psychological counseling using fairy tales,

method of practical psychology. Fairytale therapy uses in a variety of ways

the potential of fairy tales to open up the imagination, allowing metaphorical

express certain life scenarios. Fairy tales for fairytale therapy

correctional and many others. Writing fairy tales by a child and for a child -

the basis of fairy tale therapy. Through a fairy tale you can learn about such experiences of children,

which they themselves are not really aware of, or are embarrassed to discuss them with

adults.

Music therapy– one of the areas of art therapy, implements psychotherapy

with the help of music. The use of music can be active and

passive. With active music therapy, the child gets the opportunity

play musical instruments. With passive - with the help

listening to specially selected music achieves the necessary

psychotherapeutic effect. Music therapy helps overcome internal

conflicts and achieve inner harmony.

Play therapy- a type of psychotherapy that uses therapeutic

the impact of the game to help the child overcome psychological and

social problems that impede personal and emotional development.

Pedagogical art therapy is a magical land. There the child will learn to be

yourself, will begin to understand the feelings of others, and use emotions as

means of communication. Magic, humor and

fair attitude towards good and evil, living in fairy tales, fascinating and

amazing sounds of music, as well as a wealth of images and colors of works

great artists and the kids themselves. It is important to find the soul of every child

special key. Filling the baby’s inner world with vivid impressions,

helping him master a variety of techniques and drawing techniques, I rejoice

every new success with him. All children love to draw. In their

in small masterpieces they convey their attitude to the world around them and

give the opportunity to splash out your “I”.

Practical part:

1. Exercise “Greeting” (play therapy)

Progress of the exercise: Do you know how foreigners greet? Foreigners

they say hello like this: Europeans shake hands when they meet each other,

Ethiopians touch their cheeks, Africans rub their noses. I suggest you

participants of the master class say hello to the neighbor on the left in European style, with

neighbor on the right like the Ethiopians, Well done!

2. Exercise “Lottery” (game therapy)

Goal: development of thinking, motor skills, imagination.

Instructions: A magic chest appears in front of the participants, in it

Each participant takes out a note with the task, reads it and completes it.

Solve the riddle

Tell a poem

Give a compliment to the neighbor on the right,

Say the tongue twister “Mom washed Mila with soap”

Sing a verse from any song,

Walk through the hall like a model.

3. Mandalas for coloring (isotherapy).

Mandalas are Buddhist symbols, perfect circles that do not require modifications.

They are drawn for different occasions. Only 4 colors are used: red,

yellow, green and blue. You only need to color with colored pencils.

The parts you want are painted in any order or disorder,

painting completely or partially.

4. Fairytale therapy.

a) “Let’s make up a fairy tale.”

A question that you must answer with the fairy tale “Why is the cactus prickly.”

b) Telling a story The Snow Maiden fairy tale must end well.

c) Drawing illustrations for the “Book of Fears.”

5. Music therapy.

Exercise "Drawings on the back."

Everyone stands in a circle, at the back of each other’s head, at a distance of slightly less

outstretched arm. “Now,” says the psychologist, “I’ll tell you a fairy tale that

we will “draw” on each other’s backs. Let’s prepare a “sheet of paper” and “smooth it out”

him (stroke the back of the player in front with their palms). So, he lived

there was a little bear (draw a figure with your finger). He loved to walk in the forest.

One day he went for a walk (they depict walking legs with their fingers).

At first he walked slowly. The path was smooth, and then curved, with sharp

turns (all this is depicted on the back). The bright sun was shining (finger

draw the sun on the partner’s back). The sun's rays gently caressed the back

teddy bear (palms stroke the player’s back). Suddenly clouds appeared (drawing

clouds). It started to rain (they show raindrops falling). Then it started hailing

(players knock on the back with their fists). The rain has calmed down. Big ones appeared

puddles (puddles are drawn). The bear cub's favorite pastime was looking into puddles and

smile at your reflection (draw funny faces with your finger).

6. Reflection “Suitcase, meat grinder, basket.”

Teachers are asked to write on the speaker a one-word assessment of the master -

class and place it on the drawings of a suitcase, basket and meat grinder.

Suitcase– the master class was useful and important to them, they take the material into their own

pedagogical baggage.

Meat grinder– the master class is useful and important, but you need to comprehend it,

"digest"

Basket– master class is not interesting for teachers, does not represent for them

importance and will not be useful in their practice.