Life Moving Too Fast? Try This Creativity Practice for Instant Peace
If you’ve been searching for daily creativity prompts that don’t feel like another task on your to-do list, you’re in the right place. This post offers a practice you can begin today — one that helps you slow down, reconnect with yourself, and feel more grounded in the middle of everything.
Start a daily mandala practice for instant peace.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Mandala drawing promotes emotional regulation and mental health.
This daily creativity practice requires no artistic skill—just pen and paper.
A few minutes of mandala drawing can reduce stress and overwhelm.
The Gift of a Daily Creativity Prompt
We know how fast-paced and overstimulating family life can feel—especially when you're caring for a child with big feelings or supporting a neurodivergent nervous system. You want a tool that helps you regulate without needing a silent room, a perfect morning routine, or even a full hour to yourself.
This is where the mandala drawing practice comes in. It’s simple. It’s flexible. And it’s surprisingly powerful.
This post is especially for you if you’ve:
Lost touch with your creative side
Felt overwhelmed by all the advice out there about self-care
Wondered how to regulate your own emotions while also co-regulating with your child
You’re not alone in this. We’ve been there, and we’ve walked with hundreds of families who’ve been there too. We hope this small daily practice can feel like a gentle hand on your back.
What’s a Mandala Drawing (and Why Does It Help)?
A mandala is a circular design that begins at a central point and radiates outward. The term "mandala" originates from Sanskrit, meaning "circle." Traditionally, mandalas have been used across various cultures for grounding, healing, and contemplation.
Engaging in mandala drawing doesn't require any spiritual background or artistic skill. It's a simple practice that can serve as a container for your thoughts and feelings, allowing you to express and release them onto the page.
Research supports the mental health benefits of mandala drawing:
Anxiety and Stress Reduction: Studies have shown that mandala coloring can significantly reduce anxiety levels. For instance, a randomized controlled trial found that mandala coloring effectively reduced state anxiety in participants (Curry & Kasser, 2005; Mantzios & Giannou, 2018).
Emotional Well-Being: Mandala art therapy has been associated with improvements in comfort and resilience, particularly among mothers of children with special needs (Kim & Kim, 2022).
Mindfulness and Positive Emotions: Engaging in mandala drawing has been linked to increased mindfulness and positive emotional states, providing a meditative and soothing experience (Henderson et al., 2007).
Even a few minutes of mandala drawing can:
Offer a moment of quiet in a busy day
Help regulate your nervous system through rhythm and repetition
Reconnect you with your creative self
Allow emotions to surface in a nonverbal, safe way
All you need is a pen and paper to begin this practice.
Why Circles?
Circles are naturally regulating.
They hold us.
They don’t have sharp edges. There’s no beginning and no end. When we draw in circles, especially when we do it slowly and intentionally, we’re telling our nervous system: you are safe.
Children often discover this instinctively—spinning, walking in circles, doodling spirals. We can learn from them. When we make space for this kind of movement on the page, we’re not just drawing—we’re practicing containment, self-soothing, and slow presence.
How to Start a Mandala Drawing Practice
Here’s how to begin your own daily creativity prompt using mandalas. Keep it simple and doable.
Step 1: Gather Your Materials
Any kind of paper (scrap, sketchbook, recycled mail)
Something to draw with (pen, marker, pencil, crayon)
Optional: a cup, lid, or bowl to trace a circle
Step 2: Draw Your Circle
Use your tracing object or draw a freehand circle. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
This is your container.
Step 3: Begin in the Center
Add a dot, line, or small shape in the middle. Let yourself slowly expand outward, adding shapes or marks one layer at a time.
Focus on rhythm, not result.
Let each layer be a quiet breath.
Step 4: Stop When You Feel Done
There’s no ideal number of rings or lines. Some days, your mandala may be just a few marks. Other days, you may fill the whole space.
The point is showing up, not finishing something perfect.
Here are a few helpful prompts to get you going:
What feeling am I carrying right now?
What would feel grounding to draw?
Can I make a circle using only straight lines?
What if I close my eyes and draw with my non-dominant hand?
Try it for five minutes. See what happens.
What Makes This a “Daily Creativity Prompt”
Daily creativity doesn’t have to mean producing something new or impressive every day. Instead, it’s about:
Returning to a small, familiar process
Repeating an action until it becomes ritual
Recognizing the inner shift it brings
We’ve found that doing the same small thing each day — a mandala, a doodle, a few lines of color—can help contain and regulate the intensity of caregiving. It creates a soft edge around the hard parts.
This isn’t about adding something to your to-do list. It’s about creating a tiny space where your needs get to exist, too.
If you want to read more about my 100 Days of menstrual Mandalas, check out this article.Tips to Make This a Sustainable Daily Practice
This doesn’t need to be another thing you “should” do. Think of it as an invitation.
Here’s what makes it work:
Keep materials visible — stash your pen and paper in the kitchen drawer or bedside table.
Anchor it to another habit — try drawing right after you make coffee, while your kid finishes breakfast, or as part of your bedtime wind-down.
Let it be imperfect — there’s no right way. The value is in the doing.
Include your child, if you want — but don’t make that the goal. This is your space, too.
Some parents keep a daily mandala log—nothing fancy, just a small spiral notebook with one circle per page. Others use a wall calendar and doodle inside each square. You get to choose what works for you.
Your Creativity Can Hold the Chaos
Parenting is messy. Schedules fall apart. Emotions run high. But even inside all that, you can create space that’s yours. Not a separate “self-care” routine you have to hustle to make room for—but something small, doable, and deeply nourishing.
Daily creativity prompts like this one aren’t about being more productive. They’re about being more present.
More grounded.
More aware.
More whole.
Even just a few minutes with your pen and paper can become a steadying practice—one you carry with you into the rest of your day.
One Final Thought (and a Free Guide to Get Started)
The practice of drawing a mandala won’t fix everything. But it can offer you one small, dependable pause in your day. A moment of breath. A gentle check-in. A quiet yes to yourself.
If that sounds like something you’d like to try, we’ve created a simple guide to help you begin.
Download your free “Getting Started with Mandalas” guide now and see how just five minutes a day can shift everything.
References
Curry, N. A., & Kasser, T. (2005). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Art Therapy, 22(2), 81–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441
Henderson, P., Rosen, D., & Mascaro, N. (2007). Empirical study on the healing nature of mandalas. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 47(2), 196–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167806293003
Kim, J., & Kim, H. (2022). The effects of mandala art therapy on resilience and comfort of mothers of children with disabilities. Child: Care, Health and Development, 48(6), 960–968. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.13110
Mantzios, M., & Giannou, K. (2018). A Real-World Application of Short Mindfulness-Based Practices: A Review and Reflection. Mindfulness, 9(2), 512–518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0793-2