Zentagle: Concentrate To Create

An American art form invented by a monk and an artist

In an age where stress has become synonymous with life, art is an awesome way to release tension. A form of soothing meditation, creating art teaches the brain to focus on the environment as it concentrates on details. Zentangle is another form of art for concentration and creativity, more needed now than ever. An American method for drawing, this form of art was invented by a monk called Rick Roberts and an artist named Maria Thomas. For Sanyukta Saxena, an accounting technician, life changed after Zentangle. Currently living in Pune, she worked in the corporate world for more than nine years and found her peace in doodling, creative art and music.

A certified Zentangle teacher Sanyukta says, “My creations used to be mostly floral and abstract. Zentangle provided an ideal space for my creativity to breathe and evolve. This has inspired me to live my life to the fullest, deal with depression and anxiety at various junctures of my life. I attended the basic workshop organized by certified Zentangle teacher Dilip Patel in the month of April 2018, and since then there has been no looking back. Its tile after tile, complete bliss. I have gradually moved on from mindless doodling to mindful drawing.”

Zentangle, according to Sanyukta is a meditative art form that has therapeutic and healing value. As the name suggests, Zen + tangles (patterns) take you to the meditative state, she says.