In this mindful frustration circles exercise, we will release some stress and frustration by drawing circles and decorating them.
When you’re stressed, frustrated, or angry and you would grab a pen and paper and draw something, you would probably draw lines with sharp edges and corners and spiky shapes in a fast and uncontrolled way.
Our brain likes circles because these shapes make us feel comfortable and calm. They represent unity and security.
In this excise, I want to combine the calmness of circles with the fast and uncontrolled way we draw when we are stressed or frustrated. To be able to release some frustration, but also channel it in a way to make the transition towards a calming coloring exercise easier.
So we’ll start by drawing some circles, but you can draw them as fast and uncontrolled as you like. Press your pen or pencil as hard as you want. Get that frustration out. Trace over your circle many times, if that relieves some stress. You’ll let your feelings out, but because you draw circles it will also have a calming effect in the end.
Then, we’ll continue to the more focussed and mindful part of the exercise and slowly color and decorate our circles.
Please let me know if this mindful frustration circles exercise helped you release some frustration or stress, I’d love to know.
If you have any questions about this exercise, please leave a comment below and I’ll be glad help you.
You can find a small video of this exercise on my Instagram @thecreativecooldown
Supplies used:
Marker paper (Handletteringdoenwezo), alcohol markers (ohuhu), fineliner 0.3 (Copic), washi tape.
Alternative supply suggestions:
There is no specific material needed for this exercise. Just use what you have. A pen or pencil is good enough for your circles.
You can use colored pencils, watercolors, crayons, or whatever supplies you have to add color.
Instructions
Step 1
Before you start, tape your paper down. If you’re going to press hard in frustration, your paper will not move. Grab a pen and pencil and draw some circles. You can go over your circle multiple times. You can go as fast as you like and press as hard as you like. Release that stress or frustration. Draw as many circles as you like. They don’t have to be pretty. The purpose is to release some feelings.
Step 2
Slowly breathe in and out a couple of times before you continue. Check-in with yourself. How are you feeling? Are you up for the calming part of this exercise? If the answer is no, continue drawing circles until you are. When you’re ready, we’ll decorate and color our circles from step 1. The purpose here is to go slow and focus. This will help you really be in the present moment and forget about your worries for a while.
You can decorate them any way you like. The next few steps are just some examples of what is possible. Choose whatever colors calm you or make you feel good. I choose different shades of three colors.
I decorated the first three circles by adding dots in different shades to the outlines of my circles.
Step 3
For the next three circles, I blended the different shades of 1 color together from light to dark. I started with the lightest color and colored the entire circle. Then I grab a slightly darker shade and colored only the right side of my circle with it. After that, I blended my second color with the first one. Then I add an even darker shade at the right end of my circle and blended it with my second color.
Go slow when you color your circles and enjoy the moment.
Step 4
The next three circles, I filled with wavy lines in different shades.
Step 5
Lastly, I filled the last three circles with dots in the middle of my circle.
Now you have finished the mindful frustration circles exercise. Well done! Did it help you release some stress and frustration?
If you liked this exercise, you might like my Mindful draw your breath exercise as well.