Today, I gave a “Mini-class” to 8 co-workers. I work in a Community Mental Health Center, and I titled the class “The use of repetitive drawing for mindfulness practice (Zentangle).” We use the practice of mindfulness frequently in our therapy work with our mental health consumers.  I talked about the feedback that Rick and Maria (Zentangle originators) have gotten of how the Zentangle process has helped some people with various forms of anxiety, insomnia, fear of flying, and attention difficulties. I noted how the practice of repetitive drawing of patterns might be helpful for developing relaxation and focus, especially for people who might have trouble with just sitting (in a meditative practice) or just focusing on their breathing.

Everyone really enjoyed the process of learning several tangles and they alternated between quiet focus and cheerful chatting and laughing. Since we only had an hour, we couldn’t spend as much time drawing as I would have liked, but I love how everyone’s turned out. I think they were impressed with their tiles as well.

I used the tangles of Crescent Moon, Msst, Tipple, and Cadent. Cadent was a little bit more difficult, but they all good naturedly developed some tangelations from it.

Everyone had a good time. And several people expressed interest in getting more information and purchasing some materials.

I am very happy and excited about my first teaching experience, and I want to thank my colleagues for being such great students!

My next scheduled classes start at the Community Art Center in January. See  the Zentangle Class Information page for how to register.

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