The Mindful Mandala Colouring Book by Lisa Tenzin-Dolma + Giveaway!

If you like mandalas I've got the holy grail for you today! Lisa Tenzin-Dolma is a novelist and author of both fiction and non-fiction books, and as principal of the International School for Canine Behaviour and Psychology, an authority in her field. It is perhaps this knowledge and understanding of how the brain works- be it canine or otherwise- which allows her to create such stunning artwork to keep the mind relaxed, healthy and focused.

Not only does this book feature 78 beautiful original mandalas, but it also has 30 outline templates for you to create your own! The mandalas aren't 'boring mandalas' as I sometimes refer to them; each has a theme and is actually interesting instead of being repetitive geometrical patterns. On the opposite page to each mandala, Lisa has added some guided meditiations for you to think about as you colour, as well as colour suggestions for each section of the illustration. This means each mandala is elaborately explanined in terms of its meaning and intended effect on the colourist. 

The book is split into 3 sections: 'Buddhist Mandalas', 'Celtic Mandalas' and 'Healing Mandalas'. Fans of Lisa will know that she previously released 3 books with those names back in 2013. Those books feature the same images as this one, so if you already have copies of those I wouldn't recommend buying this one as you're getting the exact same illustrations. I can see why Lisa has decided to amalgamate the 3 books into 1 though; it's a lot handier to have them all as one book, for space saving reasons and to have all her works collated into a single edition. It does feel like a bible for mandala lovers, so this book is a must if that's what you most enjoy colouring.

Paper-wise, it's smooth and white with minimal-to-none bleed through from water based markers such as Triplus and Stabilo. Any bleeding that does occur is not really a problem anyway, because all you'll be ruining is the explanation of the next mandala, so you could use any kind of medium to colour this book. It is square in shape and chunky, so it feels very substantial and a worthwhile purchase. The cover is plain white with shiny gold accents, giving it a simple yet quality feel.


One thing I would say is some of the colouring spaces are very small, I'm talking smaller than 0.4mm fineliners can handle without going over the lines. There is a great range of different types across this book though, many with larger white areas for people without perfect vision or a magnifying glass! 

Here's my finished mandala. I challenged myself to hold back from my usual rainbow palette and use only 2 colours. I think it's worked quite well! I love the mosaic effect :)

I have a spare copy of both Celtic Mandalas and Buddhist Mandalas to giveaway to two lucky followers, so if you'd like the chance to win and get a taster of Lisa's work before buying The Mindful Mandala Colouring Book, enter below! UK ONLY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. It is due for release on 17th September 2015, and you can pre-order it here:

Mindful Mandala Colouring Book