Mandala

My thought of the week has arisen through contemplating the different cycles we experience and how humans have sat in circles for millennia. I'm enamored with the cycles of the moon as it offers a nightly display of change. We also cycle through our day from the moment of awakening, through our morning rituals, daily commitments and nightly wind downs.  Our moods cycle as do the seasons, our biorhythms, the hands of a clock ticking off the journey of time, as well as our fluctuating energy levels.

Mandalas have served humanity throughout time and are well recognized in Buddhism, Hinduism, Aboriginal and Hopi native cultures. The psychiatrist, Dr. Carl Jung, used them in treating patients to help them see the totality of the Self when looking at mandalas in contemplation. Each mandala has its own meaning and can be unique pieces of artwork. What each of these has in common is they all begin with a center point with varying shapes, such as triangles, circles and squares moving concentrically from the middle, representing harmony and unity. This is what makes them such an inviting point on which to focus for contemplative practices. It's as though we are able to step back to the time when we stared into kaleidoscopes as kids, marveling at the changing mandalas with the simple turn of the tubing. 

I love how the mandala connects to the concept of our yoga practice begins within. If we can visualize the sacred space behind the physical heart, the place often described as the seat of our soul, and imagine it as the center point to our own journey, we can see how we are weaving the mandala of our lives. 

As Pema Chodron said, " Each person's life is like a mandala - a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life."

One way to experience this is through sensing the midpoint of the heart and drawing concentric spirals outward. These expanding circles are influenced by the sights, sounds, actions, and relationships we experience. We add to our own personal mandala by sensing our intention of how we wish to be in our lives. If you were given a blank piece of paper and were asked to sketch your own life mandala, what symbols would you want to represent you? What colors would reflect your nature? What objects and shapes would resonate and honor your essence? It's not dissimilar to the practice of what you would like to hear at your own funeral...what are you creating and is it in accordance with your highest self?

I am often heard to say that "our practice begins within". When we connect to our own hearts with loving kindness and compassion, when we truly get to know the essence of how we wish to be in the world, the energy we are generating ripples away from us. And we just don't know how far those ripples will go. We energetically put it out to the Universal melting pot and hopefully the ingredients we are adding are coming from the purity, harmony and influence of our most loving selves. So if you would  like to create a mandala that reflects your true self, begin within and reflect as to what that means. And then paint the canvas of your own life and share it with the world!