10-Minute Meditation Art with my Siblings

Meditation art is a more dynamic alternative to traditional meditation because it involves a concrete project to build towards at the end. For those who enjoy quiet art time, this activity is a great way to mix different interests together. With this post, I'm going to share two meditation/breathing art activities that my siblings and I enjoy doing to wind down 20-minute yoga sessions.

Mindfulness in a Picture

You will need:

- Yoga mat/ soft surface

- calming music

- paper

- art supplies (pencils/ pens/ markers/ crayons/ paint....)

1. Set your music for 5 minutes and lie down on your mat

2. Keep your head facing the ceiling, separate the legs and arms apart like a starfish

3. Close your eyes. With each inhale and exhale, loosen tension in the feet, then the calves, then the hips, and so on until you reach the crown of your head.

4. Once completely relaxed, focus on the music and the images that come to mind. Perhaps it reminds you of a rainy day, sandy beach, cool breeze, or freshly-washed linen. Or perhaps more abstract visuals come to mind. Let your thoughts and imagination guide you.

5. After the 5 minutes of meditation, spend another 5 minutes drawing your thoughts while meditating on the piece of paper. My siblings tend to draw either images of themselves in beaches with palm trees and hammocks or solitary portraits of themselves with different abstract decorations in the background.

6. You can collect these drawings to document how your drawings are influenced by your mood or the type of background music.

Left: Parisa's artwork depicts her imagery of purple trees and a sunny day.

Right: Panav's artwork reflects his love for animals and nature. He said the music reminded him of an Our Planet episode and his favorite Netflix show (Grizzy and the Lemmings) which inspired his artwork.

Breathing Waves

This activity is a great way to relax and to visualize your breathing pattern, comparing how long your inhales and exhales are.

You will need:

- paper

- art supplies (pencils/ pens/ markers/ crayons/ paint....)

1. Take a blank piece of paper and position whatever you're drawing with on an origin. My siblings like using colored pencil, and they usually start from the left.

2. Inhale slowly for a count of 5 and, at the same time, lift your drawing tool up to illustrate the build-up of an ocean wave. Hold for 2 seconds and then exhale out for 5 seconds, moving your tool down like the wave is crashing down. Continue inhaling and exhaling, creating waves on your paper.

3. Using a different color, repeat the process and compare how the waves appear.

With these 2 activities, any art-lover can find their own space within the vast variations of meditation.