This mindful art practice can unlock surprising benefits for your mental health and creativity. Here's how and why to get sketching.
If you’ve ever found yourself doodling away during another endless Zoom meeting, you know that filling a page with a mashup of squiggles, hatches, and balloons can be surprisingly calming. But to elevate your doodling, you may want to give Zentangle a whirl. You may have come across Zentangling examples online, like on Instagram, where there are millions of #zentangle examples and inspiration from enthusiasts all over the world.
Developed by a professional calligrapher, the Zentangle Method offers a step-by-step way of drawing structured, repetitive patterns to create unique art.
“It’s an easy-to-learn method of drawing that promotes concentration and creativity and increases personal well-being,” says Ann-Marie Kilpatrick, a Board Certified Art Therapist, Certified Zentangle Teacher, and owner of Western North Carolina Art Therapy and Counseling.
You don’t have to be a natural Picasso, Kilpatrick tells DailyOM: “It is nice for people who have gotten away from any type of creative practice or who think they are not artistic. This is a simple method that acts as a really gentle invitation to return to a practice of creativity.”
Read on about how — and why — to try this meditative art form yourself.
What Is Zentangle?
The Zentangle Method was created after a stroke of inspiration by professional illustrator and calligrapher Maria Thomas. One afternoon, she was drawing simple strokes over and over to create a background for a large calligraphy project. Thomas was so absorbed in the repetitive process of drawing line after line that she found herself in a flow state, fully present in the moment.
When she described her experience to her husband, Rick Roberts, a longtime student of meditation, he said, “You’re describing meditation!“
To make this transporting experience easily accessible, the couple developed the Zentangle Method. In a nutshell: All that’s required is a black pen and a 3.5x3.5-inch piece of white paper, known in Zentangle parlance as a “tile.”
To begin, you divide the tile into a few sections by drawing a couple of simple lines. Then you fill each section by drawing different repetitive patterns known as “tangles.” (Thomas and Roberts have created a series of tangle patterns for beginners to follow with names such as “Punzel,” which looks like a braid, or “Quandary” which looks like interlocking petals.) “All the patterns are based off of four simple movements — dots, lines, “s” shapes, and “c” shapes. If you can write your name, you can tangle,” Kilpatrick tells DailyOm.
The repetition creates the magic. “You can let go of your thoughts and focus on the present moment. [All you’re thinking is] ‘I’m putting my pen to the paper right now. I’m drawing this line.’ Let go of everything else,” says Paige Scheinberg, a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist, Certified Zentangle Teacher, and founder of Shine ON Consulting, whom DailyOM spoke with for this story.
Because you are working in a small space, you can complete a piece of abstract art in a satisfyingly short amount of time. “Even though you are using the same basic patterns, your end results will be unique,” says Scheinberg. “You bring your own personal expression. Students who have gotten the message over the years that they are not artistic are always surprised. They say, ‘Wow, I did this!’”
“View mistakes as opportunities. Integrate them into your art and keep going.”
Erasers are discouraged. “There are no mistakes in Zentangle,” Adele Stuckey, a Board Certified Art Therapist, Certified Zentangle Teacher, and the clinical director of Alexandria Art Therapy tells DailyOM. “We view mistakes as opportunities. Integrate them into your art and keep going.”
The style is abstract. It’s not like a typical art class where you might feel pressure to make your bowl of fruit look just like that bowl of fruit on the table. And because you’re drawing with just a black pen, you’re not agonizing over the perfect color choice. “The idea is to simplify the process so you can get fully absorbed in the experience,” Stuckey says.
Interested in learning more? Check out Meditative Painting to Heal Your Life
What Are the Benefits of Zentangling?
Research has found that creating art can be used therapeutically for a host of mental health benefits, from reducing anxiety to helping people recover from trauma.
The Zentangle Method itself has been the subject of several small studies. A 2022 study in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy of 38 adults found that subjects who practiced Zentangle for 80 minutes or more a week showed a reduction in anxiety symptoms and an increase in self-compassion. A 2021 pilot study in the journal Public Health found that Zentangle art activities reduced the feelings of work stress and psychological distress in rural healthcare workers in Taiwan.
Some professional art therapists are now using the Zentangle Method to teach a range of clients this self-soothing and centering skill. “I frequently offer Zentangle during art therapy to patients with cancer,” says Scheinberg. “Doing these patterns over and over can help bring you into the present moment. It gives many of my adult patients permission to play.”
How to Get Started Tangling
Trying your hand at tangling can be as simple as grabbing a pen and paper and following a YouTube tutorial or book for instructions. (For my own first attempt, I found this book easy to follow and inspiring.) If you have a spare 15 minutes, go for it! There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to enjoy this mindfulness practice.
Taking a class may offer an even richer experience. “A class can offer a sense of community and support,” says Scheinberg. “We start a class by expressing gratitude and close with an appreciation and sharing. I may invite students to sync their breathing to their pen strokes to encourage a sense of relaxation,” says Scheinberg. (You can find a list of Certified Zentangle Teachers on the Zentangle website.)
Can Zentangle Patterns Be Anything?
The basic Zentangle patterns created by Thomas and Roberts are based on repeating simple strokes over and over to create abstract patterns, like strings of beads, leaves, or interwoven lines. Such repetition and simplicity are designed to help you get into a state of mindfulness more quickly. Experienced tanglers often go on to create their own patterns, and add colors or draw on bigger spaces or use different materials to create Zentangle-inspired artworks. “It is your art. You can make it whatever you want,” says Scheinberg.
Are Zentangle and Mindful Coloring Books the Same?
Adult “mindfulness” coloring books that feature intricate patterns such as mandalas can provide some of the same benefits, says Scheinberg. “Coloring pre-made designs can provide an accessible structure that makes people feel relaxed and comfortable. There is less anxiety than a blank page.” The difference, she says, is that tangling results in your own unique creation. “There’s an element of joy and excitement and pride when [people] see what they have made. It gives confidence to try other forms of art.”
What’s the Difference Between Doodling and Tangling?
Zentangling is unique in the way it begins with certain suggested basic patterns that are designed to get you into a state of mindfulness and focus, while doodling is pretty much putting a pen or pencil to paper and doing, well, whatever you want and not thinking all that much about it. That doesn’t mean that freeform doodling doesn’t have plenty of benefits, including as a memory aid and even potentially to alleviate stress, but Zentangling’s special structure is what differentiates it from other forms of doodling.
The Bottom Line
The practice of tangling can help you see the world differently after you look up from your paper. “You may start to become more observant of the beautiful patterns all around you,” says Scheinberg. Maybe it’s the overlapping crescents on a bird’s wing or the curlicues on an iron fence. Such observations can bring you out of your head and back to the present moment.
After all, that’s the essence of mindfulness.
