Welcome to LovingKindness Art, where we are devoted to promoting Loving-Kindness through art.
What is Loving Kindness?
In its most basic form, it is a philosophy in which one shows love towards another by practicing acts of kindness. Loving-Kindness is how we show love towards others; Love is the emotion, while kindness is the action.
At LovingKindness Art, the hope is to foster expressions of love in the world by promoting art lovingly made for others and presenting it either through gifting, or random acts of kindness.
In Buddhist teachings, Loving Kindness or metta meditation is practiced in a specific routine, as described in this article.
I find the Buddhist metta meditation technique particularly useful when dealing with people and relationships. Creating a piece of art during the session in which I am working hard to process a relationship situation never fails to bring me a sense of satisfaction and progress.
Here is an infographic created to be a simplified way to remember how to do the LovingKindness or Metta meditation. Feel free to download and/or use as you see fit!
Meditative Art
Although all art can be considered an act of self-expression, meditative art is done specifically while in a meditative state. This can be achieved by creating an environment that is conducive to meditation; quiet and comfortable surroundings, music designed to invoke feelings of love and peace, and focusing on different types of meditations for each session.
I often use Zentangle® inspired techniques in my work. It has been shown that drawing repetitive patterns (“tangles”) can create the same brain-wave frequencies as with traditional meditation.
Research on the health benefits of meditation shows that achieving this state for at least 20 minutes once daily can alleviate many chronic health conditions as well as improving mental and emotional health! This can be effective for people of any age and ability. If you can draw a straight-ish line, a curvy line, and make dots or small circles, you can create something beautiful from your meditation!
New Developments!
Studio ~ Classes ~ Shop
It has long been a dream of mine to have a physical location in which I could have an art studio, host meditative art classes, and sell products in a shop. Until that is a reality, my art studio is in a spare bedroom, I host meditative art classes at local venues (libraries & other similar locations), and the products I create are proudly displayed in my living room.
As we are currently self-publishing through Sacred Seed Press, our printed products are now available for purchase through several online outlets. Please click the button below to visit the Sacred Seed Press page for more information!
Karen Janowski MD 