The word mandala comes from Sanskrit and means magic circle. The circle is traditionally a symbol of healing and wholeness. Mandalas are beautiful circular figures containing various elements, symbols and patterns. According to ancient Eastern wisdom, they serve as inspiration and as an aid to meditation. They make you aware of infinity and the connection with everything and everyone around you. Both in nature and in all cultures you can find the mandala back in art, dance, ceremonies, nature insights and creative design.

Nowadays you can buy beautiful coloring books with mandalas that you can color. A nice process is drawing a mandala yourself. Drawing within a circle is not only relaxing and soothing, but can also provide insight into yourself or a situation. It is a creative process in which the subconscious is addressed and has a healing and balancing effect.

You can draw intuitively, but also very consciously, geometrically and symmetrically. Both techniques stimulate the connection between reason and feeling. Mandala drawing has an infinite diversity in themes and techniques.

If you want to know more about mandalas and learn how to draw beautiful mandalas yourself, come to the HeartWave Circle.

I also incorporate the mandala into my art.

A labyrinth is a crossing-free, winding path that takes the runner inwards to the center and back out again through a series of twists and turns. Unlike a maze in which you have to make choices between different paths, a labyrinth has a single path. In a maze you lose your way, in a labyrinth you find your way.

There are a number of different models of the labyrinth such as the classic labyrinth, Chartres labyrinth, heart labyrinth.

The labyrinth occurs in almost all cultures and is an ancient archetype, which is connected to transformation and (re)birth. The labyrinth offers the possibility of following an 'inner path', a path to your Self and is helpful in the search for your core values. You can use the labyrinth as a means of meditation, to still yourself and you can find answers to questions you have by walking and get to know your true self better.

In the present time, the way through the labyrinth is for countless people a metaphor for their life path. After all, in real life our path also has the necessary - expected and unexpected - turns. By walking a labyrinth, we imitate that, as it were. You walk the labyrinth with your feet or with your finger on a finger labyrinth board.

I was trained as a labyrinth worker at the Jungian Institute in Nijmegen. At HeartWave coaching and Melchizedek Labyrinth Healing I work with the finger labyrinth board and Labyrinth Wisdom Cards.

In the garden of Atelier de Vlinderpoort I made a spiral labyrinth that can be visited by appointment. On site you will receive information about the (spiral) labyrinth, a meditative exercise and artistic inspiration.

If you want to know more about the labyrinth or visit one, take a look atwww.labyrintwerk.nl

I also incorporate the labyrinth into my art and poems.