Playing with heart patterns and coloring them is excellent for you. It wakes up different areas of the brain and helps them to communicate. The brain may not be divided perfectly into a right and left side — experts are still researching this. However, in general, the left side likes patterns and logic, while the right side is active when you use your intuition and sense of aesthetic, like when you color designs based on what feels beautiful to you, not based on a coloring pattern. This simplification of the duality between the right and left sides works for my purposes here, because the main goal of my neuroart is to activate two opposite forces and help them communicate as you make decisions.
The Bite-Size Mandalas book deconstructs and simplifies designs to very clear basics. It’s the best way to learn. You can clearly see the patterns in these simple designs if your brain wishes to, and then you can see if your brain chooses to follow them or not, and where it feels most comfortable. Often, people are more dominant with one side than the other. They might not notice how many rules they prefer to follow where none are required, or how little they listen to their gut — if they are left-brain dominant. Others might truly prefer not to plan and color from the gut and improvise — if they are right-dominant. Up to what point do you feel comfortable following a pattern, and are you suppressing that side that wants to be creative? Or is it the reverse?
Sometimes I purposely challenge you to notice the patterns to wake up that left hemisphere, and other times I purposely encourage you to release your stream of consciousness to wake up your right hemisphere. Coloring the designs may wake up your right hemisphere — but it may remain under the dominance of the left! You could still choose colors while being very left-brain dominant if your choices are formulaic. You could find yourself feeling obligated to continue the same color scheme while your right hemisphere is begging to bring an element of surprise, calm, or pizazz. On the other hand, someone who doesn’t censor their right hemisphere might ignore the lines or add their own and they may not need to make them symmetrical. They might let the colors blend for special effects, or they might choose the hues just because they look pretty. This kind of attitude is what they call “thinking out of the box. After years of being taught to follow the rules in school, many people who excelled at that find it hard to let go (especially without resorting to external potions and poisons like alcohol.)
While coloring, people can notice if they feel more comfortable with a pattern than with following their gut, or vice versa. I encourage people to eavesdrop to any of the internal dialogue to notice if they might suppress a discomfort or an urge to do something, or if they make fun of their abilities — a sure sign of censoring the right hemisphere. That common statement “I’m no good at __(art)” is a telltale. So the simple designs are a great medium to listen in and notice tendencies. Other coloring books that have random images with no pattern might feel relaxing, but they do not actively work on the communication between your two brain hemispheres. When people reach a state in which they navigate decisions between the right and left hemisphere without censoring one side in favor of the other, I call it “Hemispheric Harmony.™”
The heart is my image of choice for illustrating the benefits of mandala patterns in order to achieve Hemispheric Harmony. I could have chosen cars, cartoons, flowers, combinations of images and organic, wavy right-brained lines. However, I have been working solely with the heart image for over 30 years and I do not tire from it. It grew from my super left-dominant brain and then found its creative freedom within the limitations. I used my background in psychology and fascination with graphology to analyze and understand
all the benefits of using hearts specifically. I also designed a very special heart that can allow me to orient it in all the ways that I need. So for now, I’m sticking with this trademark style because I think it will benefit others just as it benefitted me. I also love its positive symbolism. We can always use more positivity!
However, the key behind all my work is that for people to truly benefit from quality time out, they need to purposely activate both sides of their brains and then tune in to their thoughts and feelings. Coloring books are not the only tool that can achieve that. When I teach yoga, I purposely activate people’s right and left hemispheres through movement. The main take away is that we need a medium to point out patterns and to break the patterns, or act from the “gut” or stream of consciousness. People naturally navigate making decisions that involve an interaction between these two opposite forces. It happens in business, sports, the arts, and basically at all times. The better the communication between the two sides, the more satisfied people will feel with their decisions. Any activity that allows the dual sides to practice making decisions will be beneficial for the brain, leading to self-knowledge, acceptance, growth, and relaxation.
From a graphological point of view, the heart can represent the people in your life and how you relate to them. I love connecting with people, so my hearts connect, rather than just dispersed with gaps in between.
Through the use of this single, simple tool, the heart, you can take time to listen to your thoughts, and your heart, and focus on the things that matter, starting with yourself. Slow your pace down, and fully immerse yourself in bite-sized amounts that you can complete in one sitting.
Perhaps you bought these as restful moment away from technology, or to enjoy listening to your own thoughts. Make the time meaningful. It is your precious time.