CZT Family Tree: Ana Izquierdo Gil

We always say that the Zentangle Method attracts really awesome people. We have had the pleasure of working with wonderful Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT) all over the world and we are excited to share these wonderful people with the entire Zentangle Community. Through our series, CZT Family Tree, we will introduce individual CZTs.

Today, we are excited to introduce Ana Izquierdo Gil!

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Name: Ana Izquierdo Gil

CZT#: CZTEU5

Hometown: In between The Hague (The Netherlands) and Madrid (Spain)

Favorite tangle: Crazy ‘Nzeppel

Favorite place to tangle: Two favorite places are my quiet living room surrounded by incense and classical music and at work during the Zentangle®-Break sessions guided to my colleagues.

How I use the Zentangle Method in my life: I started practicing the Zentangle® method during the CoVid-19-pandemia (2020) by joining Alicia Gutierrez Rey’s (CZT18) free sessions in Instagram. By then, I was living in The Hague, the world was becoming an unsafe place due to the pandemic.. airports closing down, alone in my apartment, terrified…..My sister Susana encouraged me to join Alicia’s sessions during which I felt connected and relaxed while also having fun by forgetting for a while about the pandemic. I felt immediately in love with the power of this method: in one of Alicia’s sessions I noticed I was getting emotional and connecting with my inner child: “how abandoned you have been for so many years!”, I said to my “mini-Ana”. In November 2021, I decided to deepen my practice by becoming a CZT®. In 2022, I joined the CZT days organized by Conzentric in Germany. It was the first time I was tangling presential with so many people and it felt so empowering and safe. I also had the chance to meet up other CZTs in person and experience some of the most well-known CZTs’ teaching styles.

In June 2022, I started developing my own Zentangle® workshop to provide it at work: The Zentangle-Break workshop was then born. My own design and creation to bring to my colleagues. I introduced one session to one of my colleagues, she appreciated the power of it as well being tool in the workplace and I got budget to buy the materials.

In February 2023, I provided the first formal session from which my colleagues were so impressed and thankful. Our work field, science, is quite demanding so providing us some room for fun during the working time is like a gift for all. Since February 2023 my Zentangle-Break workshops are part of the well being offer at work plus couple of colleagues from different departments invited me to host a Zentangle-Break workshop during both a team day and a 30-year anniversary at work. It is so rewarding to see my colleagues having fun, relaxing, networking with peers and practicing this method at home as a self-care tool. These sessions also help me to connect with my inner child, get grounded, feel playful and lighten my perfectionist side.

My favorite story or memory about teaching the Zentangle Method is: How the student’s facial expression and body posture changes overtime during my sessions. There is a turning point during which they surrender to the obvious: their inner artist and then, they relax and surrender to the method. I love how they react when the mosaic is built: “wow!”, “really? So beautiful, I don’t see my 'errors' anymore” are the most common expressions they use. The surrendering of my students to: the method, the no error and their inner artist is what I love the most out of the sessions I guide at work.

Through my experiences as a CZT, I have learned: Bringing to the attendees my trust in the Zentangle method during the sessions I guide is key for me. Students might look skeptical at first but then the magic happens, they ended up surrendering. I have also learnt to keep being loyal to myself and to my teaching style. During the sessions I make it fun and playful for myself first which will be automatically contagious to my students.

If I’m not tangling, you will find me…: walking bare feet in nature (whenever the weather allows it), practicing “niksen” (a dutch term to express “doing nothing”), practicing yoga, reading and cooking (I love baking).

Mosaic Name: CZTEU5_AnitaIzqGil

Website/Blog: @borntotangle