The ART OF THE MANDALA
with Lily Mazurek By Lori Coon, Director of The Mandala Center, Des Moines, New Mexico Widening the Circle Blog, February 2010 Lily Mazuzrek

LORI: Your workshop is a creative arts type of retreat. Tell us about your experience of art in your life and why do you teach workshops using art as a tool for personal wellness?

LILY: I grew up in a European family with mainly Hungarian cultural influences and for generations my family members have been involved in the arts, music, and languages, so I was surrounded by the arts and culture from day one. It’s in my blood! But aside from that, I have always found the arts to be my natural language and means of expression. The arts feel good to me and they work for me. I am focused, centered, and calm when making art, writing, or performing. This is the nature of the arts, I believe; they unify and heal and bring joy in the process. It is creation, after all! It was just a natural tool for me to turn to visual art and writing when I was diagnosed with breast cancer 14 years ago. I didn’t think of sharing it, however, until friends kept urging me to. Then when they told me the effect the workshop experience had on them, I knew it was something I was supposed to do. It’s not something that I’ve created by myself, although sometimes it feels like it; it’s something that has come through me. I am a vehicle and a teacher.

LORI: How long have you been doing this and who can benefit from your work the most?

LILY: I’ve been doing mandala workshops since 1996, when I discovered I had breast cancer. They were, and still are, an incredible source of transformation and healing. The funny thing is, I found some drawings I did as a child a couple of years ago, and they were filled with mandalas! Really, everyone can benefit from mandala work. I’ve conducted successful workshops with children, adults, students, the terminally ill as well as the healthy. People have used the workshops to handle such issues as relationships, health, incest, financial challenges, weight problems, and to help them make decisions.

LORI: Do people who take your workshop need to be artists?

LILY: No, not at all. No art experience is necessary to taking the workshops. We do explore our personal language of color, shape, and symbolism in the class, which especially helps beginners, but you don’t need any experience to start with.

LORI: You specifically use Mandalas as a visual art form. How do you define “mandala” and why do you use that symbol?

LILY: Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning “container of sacred essence”. Basically, mandalas are circular designs used for healing and transformation around the world by many cultures. Buddha used them, too, for enlightenment. I stumbled across mandalas while studying art therapy and Carl Jung’s work under pioneer Margaret Naumberg in New York City many years ago. I didn’t do much with them at the time and didn’t realized their power until they reappeared in my life and I created them to help heal myself, especially emotionally, after my illness. I believe they appear in our lives or we are drawn to them when we most need them. I use them because they work, they are a symbol for wholeness, and because people keep telling me about how making them has affected their life and helped them.

LORI: What can students expect when they attend your workshop? How much time is spent doing lecture, discussion or art?

LILY: We start the workshop off getting to know one another briefly. Then we do a short open-eyed meditational process involving coloring for about 20-30 minutes, followed by brief discussion. I liken it to walking a labyrinth. After that I take students around the world via my (15-20 minute) PowerPoint presentation which shows how cultures around the world have used them, and how and where to find mandalas in their daily life. It’s wonderful to see people’s notion of the world get tweaked after they see it and realize how much bigger the world of mandalas is than they thought. It is always followed by discussion. Next, we can take a short field trip to collect natural materials, for another 30 minutes or so. These will be used on the last day. When we come back we explore our own personal language of art including color, shape, and symbolism with hands-on exercises. We introduce terms such as organic and geometric, curvilinear, symmetry, and so on. I also discuss other structures within the mandala and their application. This all take another 30-45 minutes or so. As we prepare to create our personal mandalas, we do cleansing exercises, controlled breathing, meditation, and a deep, guided creative visualization. This can take another 30-45 minutes or so. Then comes the creation of our personal mandalas based on what is extracted from the visualization. We use a body-based process that I developed over the years that is a form of energy medicine. This can take 1-2 hours or more, depending on how large the class is. It is always followed by cross-talk and discussion in a safe, supportive environment. There is also music throughout the various processes as music opens us up. Will finish the last day by walking the labyrinth and doing a group mandala experience with our natural materials, which will be a lot of fun! I would say its about 1/3 teaching and lecture and 2/3 hands-on work.

LORI: What do you hope students learn or experience in your workshops?

LILY: Everyone comes away with something different, depending on where they are in life and what issue they are dealing with in making their mandala. But my hope is that they see the world differently after the workshop, and see the connectedness of all things. For some people, it is quite dramatic.

LORI: Anything else you would like to add?

LILY: Understanding mandalas better at this point in our human development is really important as they hold the key to enlightenment, healing, and transformation. I believe we are in the Age of the Mandala. The great change that is occurring in our world will be facilitated by our understanding and use of mandalas.