In this mindful spiral exercise, we’ll forget about our day-to-day worries for a while and have some creative me-time.
Spirals are everywhere; in nature, in mythology, in art. They represent the circle of life, evolution, and growth. I thought it would be interesting to use a spiral in an exercise.
This exercise is all about focus and being in the present moment. Especially when you draw your lines you need to concentrate and focus on the task at hand. You draw a line turn your page a little and draw another one, etc. This kind of repetitive action can get you in a nice flow. This is a state in which you are completely immersed in what you are doing. You feel relaxed, are focused, and enjoy the process. You forget about everything for a while.
I hope you have fun with this exercise and you have some well-deserved me-time.
Please let me know if this mindful spiral exercise helped you relax and be in the moment, I’d love to know.
If you have any questions about this exercise, please leave a comment below and I’ll be glad to help you.
You can find a small video of this exercise on my Instagram @thecreativecooldown
Supplies used:
Bristol paper (Hahnemuhle), alcohol markers (ohuhu), fineliner 1.0 (Copic), fineliner 0.05 (Winsor & Newton), 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, slowly breathe in and out a few times to get more relaxed and focused. Grab a pen or fineliner and determine the center of your paper. It doesn’t have to be exact, just place your pen somewhere in the middle of your page. Draw a small circle and slowly spiral outward. Keep spiraling until there is no more space on your paper.
Step 2
Now it’s time to add some color. Choose a color that makes you feel good or calms you. We’ll start with a light base color. I used a yellowish beige to start. Fill your entire spiral with this color. Go slow and just enjoy coloring. Focus on your marker or crayon or whatever material you use and pay attention to how it feels in your hand and on your paper. This will help you to stay in the moment and enjoy the process of creating.
Step 3
To create more depth, we’ll add some darker colors along the edges of our spiral.
Step 4
In this next step, we’ll fill our spiral with lines. Start in the center of your spiral and draw vertical lines between each circle of your spiral. Go slow and focus on your lines. It helps to slowly rotate your paper along with the direction of your spiral when you draw your lines. The repetitive motion of this step can get you in a nice flow, where you feel relaxed, focused, and completely in the moment.
Step 5
Lastly, we’ll add an extra vertical line between the ones you’ve drawn in step 4. This will require focus and concentration because you need to pay attention to where you place your lines. Again, it will help to rotate your paper along with the direction of your spiral.
Now you have finished the mindful spiral exercise. Well done!
If you liked this exercise, you might like my Mindful draw your breath exercise as well.