Drawing Meditation: rectangles, lines and diagonals

Meditation doesn’t always have to be about sitting. In fact, another types of meditation you can do is a drawing meditation.

Awhile back, I did another type of drawing meditation with circles, teardrops and lines. It was before I became a meditation teacher; you’ll notice the structure of that meditation is a bit different.

Preparation

It is fairly easy to prepare for a drawing meditation. 

You’ll want to find a quiet space. Drawing in a busy spot with lots of noise can make it harder to concentrate. If you can, try to eliminate distractions.

You’ll need some drawing utensils: paper, pens, pencils and a ruler if you would like to use one. 

Make sure you have adequate lighting. You can add some soft music (preferably wordless) if you’d like. 

You can light a candle to set the mood, as well.

Other considerations

For the meditation, you can do a couple things. 

You can watch the video and treat it as a meditation itself. Just as it’s meditative to watch someone create art, paint, build something, or carve a sculpture, you can use the video as a meditative point in your day and just observe, while also focusing on the breath.

The other thing you can do is watch the video to know how YOU would like to do your own drawing meditation.

For this particular meditation, I chose rectangles, lines and diagonals. You can choose your own shapes, just do so beforehand.

After you have done that, adopt a “be kind to yourself” attitude. Your drawing becomes a meditation. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. Only you have to see it, anyways. It doesn’t matter if a line isn’t perfectly straight, or if it’s a masterful rendition of geometry or not. 

The other thing you can do is not to try too hard – either at breathing, or at drawing. If you find yourself getting frustrated – at all – for not doing something perfectly, take a step back and ask yourself why. 

The point is to focus on breathing and drawing. As thoughts come, you can observe them, just as you observe yourself drawing. Then let the thoughts go and continue. 

If you make a mistake (though I sped up the drawing portion of the video, you might be able to see where I made mistakes), just work with it. As Bob Ross used to say, “we don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

Let the messed up lines, the accidental overshots of lines enhance your meditation. Let them become part of it as if they’re meant to be there, because they are.

The meditation

Take a few deep breaths before you begin. 

Let go of any expectations of what you think your drawing should look like or become. It will become what it will.

As you draw, focus on the act of drawing itself. Bring your awareness to the breath and try to stay aware of your breathing as much as possible. 

Enjoy.