Gratitude Mandala
Gratitude Mandala is a journaling game for one player, with the goal of tuning into loving-kindness and expressing gratitude to your most important people.
Gratitude Mandala is a part of my yearly review process since 2019, however you can engage in it at any point. Simply adjust the timeframe and the guiding questions.
Of course, you don’t really need a mandala. You can make a simple list instead. With that in mind, drawing a mandala is a wonderful meditative drawing practice and it always brings me into a more connected state.
If you never drew a mandala before, Silvia wrote this instructions that you might find handy.
Prep:
- Journal or piece of paper
- compass (for drawing circles) - helpful for drawing the mandala, but not necessary
Note: if you’re conducting this game as a part of your yearly review, it’s quite likely that there are a lot of people you will be grateful for. It might be useful to first make a list.
Instructions:
- Draw a mandala in your journal. Make sure to leave a lot of empty space.
- (Optional, but recommended) Meditate for a few minutes. Think of the people / beings (eg. animals) that you’re the most grateful for in the timeframe you picked (eg. your year, or simply “right now”).
- Write down the names of people / beings inside your mandala.
You can either end here, or proceed to the next step. It’s the most exciting one, but also demands more time and energy.
- Write a letter / message to people inside your Gratitude Mandala. Of course, you don’t need to write to every single person individually. Pick the most important people and / or group people into relevant “categories” and write to multiple people at once.
Enjoy the heartfelt connections!
Note: I’m now reconnecting with my letter-writing practice, and I’ve decided to publish some of my gratitude letters from 2021 mandala. I’ll be adding them here.