Do you like to paint? When did you do it last time? Maybe at school or kindergarden?

In order to boost your creativity level and decrease the level of stress you don't have to be a painter. You just need to let it go, trust your intuition and paint.

I think art-therapy gives a great opportunity to develop your creative abilities and overcome rigid protective mechanisms and resistance, activation of creative thinking and imagination as important conditions for participation in art therapy, stabilization of the emotional background.

Karl Jung wrote about how surprisingly, using a painted mandala, one can diagnose the patient's condition and balance his or her inner emotional state.

I enjoy various relaxation exercises and I was surprised that painting can relax you so much. If you have emotions that you want to express, connect with your subconsciousness or understand your state of being here and now, then this is an effective way for both men and women.

What materials do yo need?

You can draw both on white or black paper. You can paint with liners (special pens) or paints. Flamasters in my opinion are not suitable for this kind of painting.

• Normal plate, for a perfect circle
• Calm atmosphere
• Relaxing music and candels
• You can meditate and connect with yourself just before you start

You can also read the book of Joanne Kelogg, which gives detailed description what particular drawing means. Jung also gives the characteristic of images. However, it might be difficult to evaluate for you without psychological background.

For example, if you draw an eye – it may mean that you are interested in problems related to a woman or your female identity. The eye may be the archetypal symbol of the self and it can have a lot of other meanings which only be connected with your particular situation.

Flowers can mean the accomplishment of a goal or a task that required great diligence on your part. There is a huge number of interpretations and this is an effective way of connecting to yourself, better understand your fears and harmonize your inner state.

Just take a paper, draw a circle and inside the circle paint something just right from your heart and don't think if it looks ugly because that is not the point. Now you need to start drawing the first figures, starting strictly from the center, gradually expanding the figure. You should have freedom in your hands. If the circle is not enough, then you can easily go beyond it. Having finished drawing the contour, it's time to move on to coloring. Colors need to be selected intuitively or just close your eyes and choose at random.

You can find the main colors description below but remember that the choice of colors is subjective and has to be evaluated personally.

Red is the color of passion, strength and energy. People using this color have tremendous potential, have clear life goals and always strive forward. The lack of red color gives cause for alarm. This means passivity, depression, or the standard lack of vitamins that the human body needs.

Yellow – symbolises excessive optimism and courage.

Green is the color of life. A large amount of green in the picture speaks of mental equilibrium and the ability to combine two beginnings - male (which symbolizes yellow) and female (blue).

Blue – means calm and serious intentions. Color speaks of powerful intuition, wisdom and the ability to see and know more than others.

Brown is the pure color of the earth. The abundance of this tone means the lack of a sense of security, and also speaks of the desire to be grounded.

Orange – reflects the internal charge of energy. People who use this color in the mandala are often the big bosses or simply leaders, as it means a thirst for self-realization and self-assertion.

Black – is the opposite of color or its complete absence. Since ancient times, it means emptiness, non-existence. Too much black in the mandala speaks of internal burnout, emptiness of personality.

If you would like to do it together in the group, just join one of the events.