This informative and helpful book starts out with an overview and history of what a mandala is and how various cultures, both East and West, have utilized mandalas in various forms and ways through the centuries; it also includes a discussion of the psychological underpinnings of mandalas from a Jungian psychology point of view as well as exercises for creating various mandalas of your own.

The book itself is organized into various “stages,” each part of the “Great Round,” a cyclical pattern of growth in the reader’s life. While the book is intended to be followed in order of stages, the reader is also invited to start at whatever particular stage most appeals to them in that moment. Also included in the book is a series of yoga poses intended to correspond with each of the twelve stages, and there is a CD available for those who wish to add an auditory stimulation to their mandala experience as well as illustrations and photographs of a wide range of mandalas, some historical and others more current.

The Mandala Workbook is published by Shambhala Publications and available at your local, independent bookstore. (Shop local, shop independent, and tell ’em you saw it on Elephant Journal!)