Mandalas as art therapy

People who color mandalas may feel a deep sense of calm and well-being. It's a simple tool that doesn't require any expertise, but it can be remarkably soothing.

Mandalas not only focus your attention but also allow you to express your creative side, which many of us neglect in our daily lives.

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Are Adult Coloring Books Actually Helpful?

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Within the last decade adult coloring books have surged in popularity. The vast selection available today includes abstract images, mandalas, and your beloved characters ranging from Marvel to Disney, and anything in between (like famous Facebook kitty, Pusheen). If you prefer, you can shift the scenery as you explore a secret garden, lost ocean, or perhaps an enchanted forest.

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Adult coloring books

Nowadays more and more adults are taking a liking in coloring books. This can be explained, it seems, by the fact that these relax you and have positive effects on your overall mood.

The benefits of coloring books

Recent research has shown that coloring books for adults have, as the main benefit, the fact of reducing significantly anxiety.

Furthermore, adults taking part in the different experiments also displayed lower levels of depression.

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6 Relaxation Hacks For People Who Hate Meditating

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If you suffer from stress and anxiety, odds are someone in your life has mentioned meditation as a way to cope with it. Psychiatrists often recommend this therapy, and for good reason - research based on 19,000 meditation studies found mindful meditation can in fact ease psychological stress.

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Relaxation as an alternative

There are plenty of ways to achieve relaxation without sitting cross-legged on the floor. They’re all rooted in a technique called “the distraction method.”

The method consists of d...

Activities to calm your brain

Arts and crafts, including but not limited to coloring, pottery and knitting.
All varieties of yoga.
Go for a walk. Notice how your breath feels. Notice your feet walking.
Singing, humming and whistling.
Free-writing before bed.
Cooking is filled with basic tasks that let you focus on all sorts of sights, smells, tastes and textures.

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Why do we find circles so beautiful?

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The circle has been adopted in every conceivable domain of human experience, from money and art to architecture and religion. The interesting question is: why? The circle is omnipresent in nature, but can this fact alone explain its central role in the cities we build, the objects we design, the visual symbols we create, and the numerous layers of cultural meaning we construe?

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A preference for circles

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Over the years, research has shown that individuals tend not only to prefer contoured lines over straight ones but also to associate more joyful feelings with the first ones.

Furthermor...

Favoring the round-shaped items

According to research in the field, people have the tendency to associate happiness with circles and anger with triangles.

This seems to find its meaning in individuals' attraction to the roundness of a child's face, as, involuntarily, we associate innocence and honesty to round-shaped items.

The attraction of the circle

Taking into account that our own eyes function based on the existence of spheres, such as the iris or the pupil, there is no wonder that we all are, as individuals, prone to choose circular lines over straight ones.