Monday night youth yoga, held at Open Spirit, 39 Edwards Street, Framingham, MA has been going strong now for two years. I really enjoy the class because with this group anything goes. We are all really happy to be together on Mondays, whether it is sunny or cold and damp...we all just want to be there.
For the past two months, coloring has been a really big thing for us. There is just something so relaxing and focusing about coloring, and friendship building, that we have found a nice rhythm coming to our mats, practicing our yoga with poses, breath and meditation, and then hunker down for some group coloring time. It started with pictures of bare trees and we wrote affirmations in the roots and branches, to fill our trees up with positive statements and observations. That moved onto focus wheels, with the center circle stating "I AM" and then the external circles embracing our qualities of goodness, trustworthiness, warmth etc. I then came across a nice coloring book of Mandalas and off we went, coloring mandalas. Relaxing in their overall affect.
This
past Monday, I came in with a picture I had created that integrated
the Chakras, the Prana Vayus, and the Koshas. We started class with
an exercise that was inspired by Edna Reinhardt of Yoga Education
Resource's marble adventure (I had meant to bring my marbles but
forgot them, but luckily I had all my colored markers with me). We
started by all taking Baddha Konasana (butterfly pose), I dropped all
the markers in the center of our mandala shape and we went to it,
sorting the markers and adding them to open spaces that our feet had
created. Releasing this pose, we then divvied up the markers in color
families: green/grey/black, blue/purple, pink/brown and
yellow/orange/red. We each created shapes with our markers, whatever
inspired us. This led us to seeing that we each possessed certain
colors that lead to a creation of an earth, grass, flower, sun &
sky picture. Which then naturally led to the creation of a waterfall,
complete with all our socks, which somehow were all greeny/bluey
colored, as a water fall at the end of our rainbow.
Class flowed beautifully, Savasana at the end with lovely lilac filled eye pillows. Soft flamenco music played throughout the class.
¡Ole Namaste!
Eve
What is a Mandala?
The meaning of mandala comes from Sanskrit meaning "circle." Mandalas are geometric designs symbolic of the universe that are used as an aid to meditation.
How to use a Mandala?
1.Set your intention for your practice/life (An intention is a promise you make to yourself and a way of putting logic and beliefs into action. One way to set your intention is to focus on something you are grateful for. You can also set it based on a quality you want: spontaneity, flexibility, peace of mind, inspiration, concentration...)
The design of the mandala is meant to attract the viewer visually, so much so that the mind becomes absorbed by it. The design’s hypnotic effect relaxes the mind. With a relaxed mind, the individual is able to focus his attention inwards rather than focusing on life’s usual distractions. In this state, imagination flows which in turn increases creativity, sympathy, and self respect.
2.Focus on the mandala. Let your eyes take in the radiance of its designs. Release your mind. Recognize when your mind wanders back to your list of choirs or your concerns and simply bring your attention back to the beauty of the mandala. Let the mandala absorb your attention. In time, you will begin to feel luminous and fresh and spontaneous thoughts may arise. Relax and allow these thoughts in. If at any time you begin to feel lost, uncomfortable or distracted, re-focus your attention back on the mandala. Everyone’s experience will be different but meditating with the mandala can be relaxing and you can come away with a clarity concerning the intention that you set at the beginning of your practice.
