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Student Mandalas
The word mandala originates from Sanskrit and translates as sacred circle.
C.J. Jung believed that working with mandalas helps nudge us to fulfill our possibilities and offers us timeless wisdom and spiritual understanding. Each time we color a mandala, we invite more harmony into our lives. In both my classes and workshops there is time to explore the personal meaning of the mandala designs you color and receive helpful feedback from the group. You will also learn about color symbolism and how to use it for growth and self-healing. There are a variety of mandala designs to choose from. You can see a current schedule of classes and workshops on my Mandala Classes page.
Janet London is available to facilitate additional classes in the Rogue Valley for private groups of five to eight students. Janet is now offering individual mandala coaching sessions using the materials she uses in her classes and workshops. She charges on a sliding scale, from $40-$60 per hour. Contact her at: 541-608-9238 or
Displayed to your right are examples of student work from my mandala classes and workshops. These works show the amazing creativity the mandala form generates...In addition, the poem below, kindly contributed by one of my students, illustrates how the practice of coloring mandalas can release creativity and expression in other areas of life.
Mandala Class
by Jill CobbThe meaning of a circle,
a womb, a place for growth,
a room with no corners or edges,
a place where people come together
and are equal and free,
a place where jewel tones are apparent and shine;
pattern, design and order.
A labyrinth where you travel
but never get lost,
always a road home.
Tibetan Mandala Workshop, March 2010
These mandalas were colored at the Tibetan Mandala Workshop, March 13, 2010 by Jill, Susan, Diane, Jannie and Ginger. Ginger Gough contemplated her colored mandala and wrote this:
Joy comes from the experience of each moment.
The experience can’t be captured: that is, it can have no borders.
As humans, we try to create joy by setting up experiences in which we think joy might happen. That experience, however, may turn out differently than we expect, which may lead to disappointment, so we try harder. We strive to rectify that disappointment by struggling even harder to recreate that thing or event in which this moment of true happiness will happen. Unfortunately, all this striving leads to more striving and more anxiety yet, we keep repeating this pattern. This brings to mind the adage: “Doing the same thing hoping to create a different outcome is the definition of insanity.”
If those things we try to build, the building blocks we put in front of us and rearrange over and over hoping to create a different scenario, are taken away or are lost, we panic. It is “all our worst fears” come true. Ironically, however, as those things drop away, we are forced to reconsider who we are and accidentally may stumble upon an unplanned, pure moment of joy. The money, the things, the pyramids we build, are merely distractions.
The mandalas below were colored in the Fall 2009 Circles of the Sacred Feminine Mandala Class by Diane, Susan, Barbara, Barb and Janet and the designs were from Susanne Fincher's Coloring Mandalas Book 3.
The mandala design colored by participants in the Coloring Mandalas for Balance, Harmony and Well-Being
class (shown above) is from Susan F. Fincher's book, Coloring Mandalas 2.
Kagyu Sukha Chöling Buddhist Center Benefit Workshop
On Saturday, March 21, I teamed up with Adrienne Fansler, LCSW, to facilitate the second of two special editions of my workshop, Using Mandalas for Self-Awareness and Transformation,
in Ashland, Oregon. The workshop included lunch, snacks and art supplies, and class fees after expenses were donated to the building fund at Kagyu Sukha Chöling, a Buddhist Center in Ashland. Lunch was prepared by Ms. Fansler who is a fabulous cook! The mandala designs for the workshop were created by mandala artist Betsy Lewis. Below are images and testimonials of the wonderful time we shared coloring mandalas on these two occasions...
Testimonials
"I have taken several of Janet's classes. Due to Janet's leadership, care, and guidance, I found myself encouraged to follow my own artistic dreams. It was truly an enriching experience."–Ann H.
Mandala Workshop and Artist's Way Participant, 2009
"At the beginning of the workshop, I decided to focus on
wholeness, balance and harmony.Throughout the day, as I took part in the various activities, a change happened. I experienced the idea of
surrenderingand my first mandala took the shape of a person (it became a tree), reaching upward. It occurred to me that I had been trying to solve all the obstacles in my path mentally. I realized that if I just let go, many of those situations would resolve themselves. By the end of the workshop, I felt light and happy."
–Ginger Gough
KSC Benefit Mandala Workshop II Participant, March 21, 2009
"In order to grow spiritually it is essential to practice meditation. Using the mandala as a focus for meditation can enrich and deepen one's practice and foster introspection, mindfulness, creativity and healing. For me working with the mandala provides an experience of well-being, balance and wholeness."
–Helena Sohl
KSC Benefit Mandala Workshop Participant, Feb. 28, 2009
Mandala art can help us connect to, accept, love and learn from the very center of ourselves, the Higher Self so to speak, which struggles to live ever more freely and creatively in the world. One of the greatest challenges in life is to discover and nourish the deep springs of inner wisdom that flow within us, and spending time with mandala art encourages our inner genius to awaken, communicate, and express itself directly.
- Michael H. Brown, Ed.S.