Take a few minutes from your summer and make a mandala from natural materials. Mandalas are an excellent exercise to help you focus on the moment at hand. You may create something beautiful in the process but don’t worry about perfection.
Depending on your intention while creating your mandala, you may construct a sacred space in which to bring your thoughts and prayers.
Summer offers a variety of materials: leaves, flowers, twigs and grasses. Your palette of living colors will depend on what’s in bloom in your corner of the world right now. Found feathers, seashells and stones may also be used. The possibilities are endless.
You can create one by yourself, with a friend or with a child.
Create a circular shape with your materials. You can plan to have a set number of sections in your design or just see what happens.
You can make your mandalas outdoors or inside. It doesn’t matter if you keep your arrangement forever, for a day, or just a few minutes. Mandalas are about here and now.
For more information about mandalas, see my previous post on Autumn Mandalas.
Flandrum Hill 
Beautiful and inspirational. Thanks for another lovely post.
I’m glad you were inspired cala4lily, and that you’ll make one yourself.
These are sweet and a wonderful idea for creating a contempletive moment. I hope you don’t mind if I mention a warning about picking wildflowers, picking the flowers of some (like orchids and the prairie lily) will destroy the entire plant and they are dependant on their bloom for regrowth. As well, of course it is illegal to pick flowers in most Provincial and National Parks. Getting fined just might negatively affect that meditative mood. 🙂
Ha ha missusk76, yes it might indeed ruin that meditative mood 🙂 Thanks for adding the warning.
Thanks for for this beautiful reminder to celebrate a few moments of mindfulness!
Dawn, it’s amazing how much mindfulness we can fit into just a few moments.
When I saw the title today, I knew we were in for a treat as I distinctly remember last fall’s beautiful mandalas. You have once again outdone yourself, Miss Amy!
I love them all, but really really like the stone ones…..the one with the ‘heart’ rock in the upper left is my favorite!
Cindy Lou, I seem to recall that you do have a special liking for heart shaped stones. I hadn’t even thought of looking for them on the seashore until you mentioned them in one of your comments.
wow. these are beautiful
Thank you Artswebshow 🙂
Your mandalas are all beautiful, each in its own style and inspiration. This is a great idea, I will do my own mandala too. Thank you Amy.
Isa, I’d love to see your mandala.
Oh yes, Amy: Nature is full of beautiful gifts, we only have to open our eyes and see them. Another miracle is that each of these creations is unique.
I tried one with one of my clients. She chose different herbs and berries … you can imagine what happened… they tasted really good. ; )
beratungimwienerwald, I’ve never considered making an edible mandala before! What a great idea 🙂
Yes, I remember when you posted your autumn mandalas before. Do you put them in your house? Or do you leave them outside? I see that you say we can do either…but what do you chose to do?
Kathy, whether indoors or out, I usually make them with the intention of disassembling them soon afterwards. I like the idea of ephemeral art.
What a totally kewl idea dude !
I wanna do some, I wanna do some.
Not sure if my brain can be made to calm down though …
Great excuse to bring even more stuff home from the beach !
Sybil, I’m sure that as you are making one, your brain will begin to calm down.
No need to bring all kinds of stuff home from the beach. You can make one there. Then just leave it for the tides to take away.
Ah, another fine effort from the Goldsworthy of Flandrum Hill. I think Miss Sadie, the Cowboy and I must make some mandalas with the intention of “just being.” The Cowboy has contributed quite a lot of curly fur to the project. Waste not want not.
Thank you Gerry. Getting good at ‘just being’ involves a lot of practice. Making mandalas is a helpful exercise for this.
Doing the Goldsworthy thing has also helped me learn how to be creative without getting attached to the creation, something that is often difficult for artistic types to do. I hope the Cowboy isn’t too attached to his fur once it’s no longer attached to him.
I opened your blog and voila’ there was a mandala like an angel’s blessing, a prayer or the birth of a new life. Part of me leapt for joy while another part sighed and relaxed into the circle. What a lovely gift to give – a mandala.
Thank you!
Thank you for your comment Cindy. You see them as I do. 🙂
Ever since you wrote about this last summer I leave mandalas everywhere. Yours are beautiful as always 🙂
Thanks Jessica. Have you photographed any of yours yet?
love these. i think you should do larger scale versions of these, a la goldsworthy.
Wind, I’ve thought of that too and I do have the space for it. Now I just need to find the time 🙂
Your summer mandalas are so beautiful, I can imagine how peaceful it must have been to make them. I have never known that moments like this had a name and a background in meditation, I am very pleased to find out, because I have been searching for an explanation of the mood one gets in,other than just feeling like being a child again, or in modern words being in a flow mode.
I looked at wikipedia, and read that a mandela is round, wich also feels most natural to make, but as you can see at my latest blogpost, I recently made a square, and that was absolutely peaceful to do. Now I have a name for what I was doing. Thank you, I´m going to make lots of Mandelas now. 🙂
Giid, I only discovered mandalas a short while ago too. There is a close link between art, nature and the spirit that everyone can explore to wonderful effect.
I will be over shortly to check out your square.
Wonderful examples of ephemeral art!
[…] Light, Pacific Northwest, Plants, animal, mindfulness, photography With appropriate nod to Flandrumhill * « […]