Nourish Your Mind & Body

Welcome to Nourish Your Mind & Body

In  this blog I will share my and my husband Ed’s (who also is a CZT) Zentangle® art, show new tangle patterns, share Zentangle® videos and post our Zentangle® class schedule and offerings. I will also share Juice Plus+® articles, videos and webinars, post Juice Plus+® events, discuss good eating habits and share healthy recipes. I’m writing this because I wanted to share with you the joys of doing Zentangle® and I want you to be in control of your health with the most scientifically researched nutraceutical product on the market — Juice Plus+®.

Today, I’m posting about Zentangle®. Next week, I’ll post about Juice Plus+® and Tower Garden®. The following week, my first email newsletter will be sent which will link back to these blog entries. Sign up for my newsletter (at the right) and you will be notified on a monthly basis about any entries that have been made here.

Zentangle® reduces mental stress and Juice Plus+® reduces stress at the cellular level. Together they Nourish Your Mind and Body. Sign up for my newsletter and learn “Healthy Habits One Step at a Time.”

Zentangle® for Mindfulness

Zentangle® is an easy-to-learn, mindful method of drawing, creating abstract art through the use of structured patterns. It provides relief from stress through relaxation while you create a piece of art. Zentangle® patterns are easy to draw with simple repetitive elemental and deliberate strokes. If you can write your name or draw a stick figure, you can do Zentangle®. It’s a fascinating art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. It provides artistic satisfaction and increases a sense of personal well being. Zentangle® is enjoyed by people of all ages. 

Zentangle® was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Rick, the Zen of the team, has been a cab driver, musician, photographer, printer, and flute maker. He also lived as a monk for 17 years. Maria, the Tangle of the team, is a renowned lettering artist and operates a stationery design and production company. To learn more about them go to: www.zentangle.com

Although Zentangle® can be done on any paper or surface, it is taught using a black pen on 3.5-inch square watercolor paper, called a tile. Tangles or patterns generally are created by 2 or 3 simple or elemental strokes done in a series of steps. Doing Zentangle® or tangling looks deceptively like doodling, but it’s not doodling. While doodling has its useful purposes, it is something one does with their hands when their mind is elsewhere. In contrast, doing Zentangle® is very focused; your attention is on the pen, the paper and on each pen stroke. Zentangle® is about being mindful. Often Zentangle® is referred to as “yoga for the brain”.

In Zentangle® the "relaxed and deliberate focus" aspect of meditation is emphasized. Today, everything is so instant, result oriented, competitive and fast. The stimulus people receive in the form of texts, Facebook, TV, emails, demands on our time and more are something that has never been experienced in the history of mankind. Never before have we experienced such constant stimuli from so many directions. Never have we had so much information at our fingertips. Never have we had so many choices to make. There is simply too much going on in our brains! 

Over the past decade meditation and mindfulness practices have gone mainstream. Yet, many are unable to sit still long enough to do these practices. I, for one, need be be doing something; sitting still is hard for me. Zentangle® calms the mind. It increases focus, creativity, and relaxation, provides artistic satisfaction and increases a sense of personal well-being. Zentangle reduces stress and enhances creativity in people of all ages. It is a gift to oneself; in the end, Zentangle art is the prize.

'Kindness Curriculum' Teaches Mindfulness to Pre-K

Since I became a CZT my radar is up for anything to do with mindfulness. Click on the 'Kindness Curriculum' link above to read about a 12- week research study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center involving prekindergarten students. Four- and five-year olds in the Madison Metropolitan School District, while learning their ABCs, were taught how to be more aware of themselves through mindfulness practices. Although they were not doing Zentangle art, the focus was much the same: attention, breath, compassion and gratitude.

Tips for families include:
• Create a quiet space.
• Pay attention with purpose and curiosity.
• Pause and notice your breath.
• Practice caring and compassion for ourselves and others.
• Practice gratitude.

Upcoming Zentangle® Course