Class 4 ~ Creativity and stress relief: don't forget to breathe

Sometimes it’s good to get “out of our heads” and do something creative with our hands to help relax us. Engaging in activities that calm our body’s movements also releases the stress of the day and our breathing slows down.I think there’s also a correlation between the movement of the hands and the calming of the brain. Think about how good it feels to stroke a cat, for example. There are lots of relaxing activities you can engage in for these same results: needlework, making pottery and gardening, for example. Today we’re going to look at three ways of engaging hand/brain relaxation in your journal: Zentangling, Mandalas and Colouring.

Here's a little fun little exercise that came to me out of nowhere. I was thinking about hands and mandalas at the same time and the word "handala" just popped into my head. These things happen sometimes ...

Later on (when I've finished colouring my "handala") I'll post it here for you to see as well. One of the shapes that just "naturally" appear are little hearts where your fingertips will cross each other as you trace your hand. And don't forget ~ your handala will be 100% unique and all yours since your hand is unique - as well as how far apart your held your fingers, etc. Cool, hm? Here's mine below:

Have fun tracing, tangling and colouring!

And (as usual) we'll finish off the class with sheet of interesting tidbits to make us think, laugh and feel, which are all good things to be doing in our lives. Cut them out, colour them, glue them in your journal (or not) ... if it speaks to you, use it. If it doesn't? That's okay - no need to stress!

See you next week when I'll be showing you how to make a journal so you can keep on keeping on, and we'll talk about quotes and how to make them "your own". See you then! ~ Penelope