“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”

– Kahlil Gibran

1)  Find a space preferably outside where you have access to some stones, sticks, leafs, flowers … anything will do (even dead bugs or trash). If you are inside – you can create this as an altar. Find a space where it will be undisturbed. You can use the end of a table, the corner of your closet floor. Whatever works!

2)  Create sacred space. Call in guides and helpers.

3)  Start by making a circle with twigs or whatever material you feel called to use. For the indoor version – find a necklace or use string. Then allow yourself to be inspired to create a “picture” in the circle with any of the objects you have available. Each of the objects embodies a person, event, issue, etc. that make up the story of what is going on for you.

4)  As you engage with your sand painting you will have support of the unseen world. Take time to notice – see if you gain more insights and understanding; you may find there is more of the story that you can shift.

5)  Sit with your mandala and contemplate as long as you want each day for three days (or longer – listen to your intuition). You can visit it multiple times. You can ask questions from it, get answers, and shift it around physically if you like. If anything comes up during those three days that would normally bother you, instead of trying to deal with it, engage, or resolve it, just blow it into another object. Give it to your mandala and Mother Earth can take care of it for you; these are part of the old story that is still draining and belongs to the earth. If nature disturbs your mandala, that’s part of the process. Work with the changes that come.

“Anything you place on the altar is then altered.” ~ Marianne Williamson

6)  When the mandala feels finished, dismantle it. Acknowledge with gratitude the role the objects played in your sand painting and disperse the objects back to nature. If you did this inside -find a way to clear the energy so that the object will no longer represent the person or energy. Pass it through a candle, running water … whatever works for you.

7)  Close your sacred space and thank the earth and the unseen beings for their support. Continue to be an observer of your life and pay attention as your new story unfolds before you!