Now you are ready to begin gathering words from your mandalas. Before you begin this practice, we think you’ll enjoy taking a peek this Healing Icons blog post: Calming Practice: Creating Mandalas. It will give you a different look into Black and White Mandala Practice as well as the Word Harvest Practice.

Materials needed:

• The mandalas you’ve created
• Pen or pencil
• Sketchbook Journal

Review of the Word Harvest Practice

1. As you create your mandala, have your journal and a pencil or pen beside you
2. Make a list of words that come into your mind as you are drawing your mandala
3. You can write those around the outside border of the mandala if you like
4. List all your words in a vertical column in your journal
5. If you are using color, add those color words to your list
6. This is your Word Harvest
7. Once you have finished, make 3 associations with each of the words
8. Trust the first thing that comes into your mind
9. Don’t judge your words
10. These words can be emotions, names of people, memories, places
11. There is no right or wrong way of doing this
12. Do not edit or second guess yourself
13. Once your list in complete, circle around 5 – 8 words including ones that seem strange, mysterious or funny to you
14. Then complete the phrase - Just for today she (he) feels… or he (she) is the one who - filling in with one of your words from your list
15. Cross of the words from you list as you go
16. You will need to add other words to complete your thoughts - adjectives, adverbs, verbs...
17. It is not necessary to use all the words from your word harvest
18. Don’t worry about punctuation or spelling
19. Try to keep your pen moving and trust the process. This should only take a few minutes.
20. Now give your mandala a title - just a word or two that sums up the gist of your mandala
21. When finished, write the title of your mandala and the thoughts that came to you on the back of your mandala. Don’t forget to add the date.
22. As your mandala practice grows, you can play around with adding words around the outside of your mandala, creating a "word border."   You can also consider adding some of your words within your mandalas.
23. Remember there is no right or wrong way to do this.  Just dive in and do what feels right to you.

Beginning

To begin this practice, start with one of the mandalas that you have already created and remember how you felt when you were making it. Look back at the journal entries you made for that week’s practice. As a warm up, simply make a list of the emotions and feelings you had while you created that mandala. Do this in your journal and see where it leads you. Copy what you came up with on the back of your mandala. Give it a title and date it.

Practicing

Continue this week with the practices you have learned thus far.  Maybe by now you have a favorite one. As you draw your mandala, add the Word Harvest Practice as you create.  Use your sketchbook journal to write in. Don't forget to title your creation and record your words on the back of your mandala.  Don't forget the date.

Parting Thoughts

Remember this process can be awkward at first, but it will become easier the more you practice it. Trust the first words that come into your mind.  Once you become more comfortable with the process of drawing mandalas and harvesting your words, you will find that the words mirror things that are happening in your life.  Whether you are living through a life-disrupting event or struggling to find time to connect with yourself, this practice reveals insightful surprises - hidden frustrations, unexpected emotions, and forgotten joys.

The next lesson discusses our resistance to this process.

Responding

How did it feel to add words to your practice?

What were the connections between the mandalas you created and things happening in your everyday life?

What were some of your biggest surprises or insights?

Did any of your insights feel universal?

Sharing

Share your thoughts and experiences in the Gathering Place at the bottom of the pages as well as on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! Mention us @CreatingBrave in your status, tweet and/or caption and include the hashtags #CreatingBrave and #MandalasWithWords