MONTHLY MANDALA SUGGESTION

In November, I moved into a new place. It has trees, brown creepers, deer, and gentle sounds - among other things. The house has lots of windows. When I moved in, I gathered some nature objects I found on the property (oak leaves, acorns, dogwood fruit, teaberry) and created a mandala in the bay window. I left it there for about a month.

In December, I made another one out of delicate, colorful, and gentle nature objects (red lentils, straw flowers, dried grape hyacinth). I put it together nearly in the dark, late, on the night before I went to the hospital for some unexpected tests that had potentially serious results. I wanted to create something to meditate on while in the MRI machine. I will leave this one up for awhile, too, until I feel it is time to create a new one sometime in January.

So, here is another meditation practice suggestion for the new year. (See Gratitude Out Loud for my first idea.) Create a nature mandala in your space between the inside and outside. Put it in a place you will see often so you can live with it, learn from it, and look forward to another monthly mandala just as beautiful and meaningful as the month before.

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