Our Creative Playground met at Laura’s lovely home for an afternoon of mandala making. A mandala (which means means circle or completion in Sanskrit) symbolizes wholeness. Laura explained that in Sanskrit, bindu means particle or dot and is the center point of the mandala. It’s a place of infinite capacity. We are always moving toward this point. It is a journey.

We circled around a table on Laura’s front porch while she led us through a visualization to our creative center. Then, to warm us up, she invited us to pick up oil pastels and chalks and quickly create our first mandala in 10 minutes. I loved the freedom to just intuitively let the colors flow. During the visualization I was reminded of some powerful insights I had while listening to someone from the Strozzi Institute speak about body-based coaching at SF Coaches earlier this week. The presenter led us through a centering practice to get us really grounded in our bodies. We aligned from top to bottom, lengthening while grounding. We became aware of our width, meaning how we show up in the social dimension. And then we noticed our front and back, where we’ve come from and where we are going. Throughout Laura’s visualization I imagined that energy surrounding me like a globe and that’s what I depicted in my first mandala below. This piece felt very airy and dreamy.

Once we were done with our warm-up mandala, we moved on to a more focused project. I decided to play with brighter oil pastels against a black background. I explored feeling more in my body and more grounded and bold by using the vibrant, warm colors of the lower chakras. The mandala of the yellow, red and orange blossom emerged.

Mandalas come in all types. Some are very symmetrical and others, like mine today, are very organic. What’s amazing is that mandalas show up in nature all around us. Think of the rings of a tree trunk, the spirals of a sea shell or even planets circling the sun in our solar system.

What connects you to your center or bindu? How can a mandala help you journey inward and expand out? For more ideas on creating mandalas, check out Mandala: Journey to the Center.

Just when I thought I was done with my travels, I found out last week that my dad was in the hospital with pneumonia. So last weekend, I took a quick trip down to L.A. to visit the family. It was unsettling to see him weak and out of breath. What a relief to watch him perk up when my nephews popped by. Fortunately, he’s doing much better now and is finally back at home resting and recovering.

Being in my hometown brought back some fond memories of my Japanese/Chinese-American heritage. On Saturday night, my sister-in-law’s mom cooked a Chinese New Year dinner at my brother’s house. I delighted in eating one of my favorite childhood treats, almond jello, for dessert. I do miss the days when I would receive those little red envelopes from my grandmother on my dad’s side. We didn’t really celebrate a traditional Chinese New Year, but as a kid, you bet I was willing to say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” in exchange for a bit of pocket money ;).

The next day, after visiting my dad in the hospital, my mom took me to Little Tokyo for lunch. I had a delicious warm bowl of udon. I remember going to J-Town do shows in a performing arts group called Inochi and taking part in the Cherry Blossom Festival. Next time I’m down there, I want to see the Japanese American National Museum since I haven’t been to its newer, larger space.

Being home and spending time with family reconnected me to my roots. For someone who’s typically thinking about the future, it was refreshing to be reminded of where I’ve been and where I came from. How do you reconnect with your history and heritage? What traditions do you honor in your life?