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Vitamin Z

Vitamin Z

United States has been observing Mental Health Awareness during the month of May since 1949. Each year, businesses, organizations, schools and individuals dedicate this month to acknowledge those effected by mental illness and present innovative ideas, events and programs that support the treatment and prevention of Mental Illness.

Many individuals that suffer from mental health symptoms have found that creating art can be used as a therapy and have very positive effects on their condition. Even those not suffering from mental illness have found that a regular practice of creating art can be nurturing for relieving stress, increasing confidence and supporting general mental health wellness. The Zentangle Method is a simple and powerful way to access creativity. The Zentangle Method creates doorways to access our creative abilities and the artist within all of us. Using simple steps and basic strokes, anyone can create beautiful images using the Zentangle Method.
 
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A special Zentangle friend wrote me a thoughtful letter recently. She detailed so many lovely thoughts that warmed my soul, but there was one part that made me smile and then made my mind go into a tailspin of curiously wonderful thoughts.

 
Her words were, “Zentangle has been a vitamin for my Soul! A lot better than regular vitamins!”
 
It really made me think about our “regular” vitamins and some of the other routines we prioritize to stay healthy. Many of us put a lot of energy toward keeping our bodies healthy by making sure we eat healthy, to make sure we get all the vitamins. Some of us also exercise regularly to keep our bodies strong. And, don’t get me wrong, those things are very important. However, what about the health of our minds and even more importantly our hearts and our souls? How many of us make sure that each day we do something to keep our hearts and souls healthy? Are there vitamins for the soul?
 
If you think about it, if our hearts and souls are in a good place, it makes the task of keeping the rest of our body healthy a little easier. If our hearts and souls are under nourished, no matter how much effort we put into our physical bodies there will still be an imbalance and perhaps, an emptiness.
 
Each one of us is unique in what nutrients and vitamins our specific body needs. For instance, some of us might need a little extra vitamin C or D while another person might need extra zinc. We also might consider the time of year or time in our life as to what our bodies need.
 
What if we brought that same intention to keeping our hearts healthy by nourishing our souls? What if there were specific things that we thought of as vitamins for our souls. Perhaps these things don’t come in pill form or things that we eat but rather these are things we experience.
 
For instance, perhaps you enjoy fishing. You might enjoy the preparation, the calm, the time with nature, the quiet, the whole experience. It warms your heart and nourishes the soul. It makes you full and more equipped to do all the other things you need to do.
 
There are so many things in life that may seem like extras or things that we get to do only if you have the time, but they are important and vital components to keeping our “whole” bodies healthy. They are things that deserve priority. They are not extras.
 
Think about taking your daily or weekly doses of smiles, laughter, slow walks, coffee with a friend, phone calls with family, gardening, playing cards, candlelight dinners, reading, singing, painting and for us tanglers out there … Zentangle. What if we recognized the effects these things have on us and prioritized them as integral parts of a healthy lifestyle. What about taking a regular doses of “Vitamin Z” right along with all your other healthy habits.
 
Like anything it is easy to slip from taking care of ourselves. But, there is always today to make little change. So, the next time you make a choice to eat better, get more exercise or remember to take your regular vitamins, remember to also acknowledge the other things that bring you joy.
 
I know that creativity is important to me. I need it in so many ways. I have learned in my life I can get it various ways. Sometimes I draw, sometimes I build, I sculpt, I cook, I garden, almost anything I can get my hands on. But a lot of times, when life gets too busy, it is hard for me to access those things. My Zentangle practice seems always to be there. It is my go-to. It’s small, simple, portable, and accessible. I don’t need a ton of time, but I can get lost with it for hours if I do have the time. My tangling time fulfills my creative need. It calms me. It inspires me. It allows me let go of the day. So, for me taking a regular dose of Vitamin Z does warm my heart and nurture my soul.
 
I encourage you all to take a moment to acknowledge what warms you heart and nurtures your soul. Perhaps today you will take in a little vitamin Z and whatever else it is that you need to honor your whole body.
 

Thank you, Annie Rocha CZT, for inspiring this

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Thanks for joining us on this Zentangle Journey. We are ever so grateful for everything that Zentangle brings to each individual artist, and we know that is unique for everyone. We open up the comments for anyone that wants to share how Zentangle and creativity is part of your mental health wellness practice.

 

Molly Hollibaugh

88 comments

  • Dear Molly! Thank you so much for your kind words! When I wrote to you from my heart I had no idea my Vitamin for the Soul would meet your heart and become such a profound Vitamin Z blog! I wrote here last night from my cell but I don’t think it work, so here I am again! Thank you for mentioning me on your blog, it means so much to me! I am so grateful to have met Zentangle® and the Zentangle® Family! It is helping me live through this pandemic, thanks to you all I am surviving! May you all have forever health and wealth and keep up the Vitamin Z! Zentangle has been a Vitamin to my Soul, Life, and Heart. With love and gratitude, Annie Rocha <3

    Annie Rocha on

  • I feel like Zentangle is a practice like meditation, my spirituality, exercise and general upkeep of my mental health. Carving out time to tangle-even if it’s just 10 minutes a day-helps provide that “dosage” I need. Thanks for a great essay!

    Laura Marks,CZT on

  • I stumbled upon Zentangle about 2 years ago, initially only observing as I never thought I could create or even replicate anything as beautiful as I was seeing others post on Instagram. Then I slowly tried a few, followed some YouTube videos and bought the Zentangle primer. At first I didn’t have time so i only drew sparodically. But I came to realize how important this is fit my mental health, especially during the pandemic. Thank you to your family for creating and sharing this medicine with the world!

    Candace on

  • Thank you, Molly, for your touching comment and for giving my “drog” a name: Vitamin Z. Zentangle has helped me through tough times for the last seven years (various health issues of my husband, my paralyzed feed two years ago, pandemic etc.) It helped me to calm my mind, to keep my spirits up, to give me strength and comfort and to reward myself with lovely pieces of art. I thank you and your Zentangle family from the bottom of my heart for this lovely Vitamin Z (which can never be overdosed!)
    Lisette Hofer

    Lisette Hofer on

  • Thank you so much for this thoughtful and inspiring post. I have found that practicing Zentangle makes me focus so completely that everything else just falls away. I am not ruminating on any problems I may be facing at that minute, I am just thinking about where the next line must go. I feel such a sense of calm and satisfaction when I look at the tile I have created, whether I show it to anyone else or not. Thanks again for all you do.

    Gill Green on

  • Vitamin Z! What a beautiful concept Molly! I try to take at least one dose per day, along with what another writer called Vitamin C (for creativity). Both are essential to my mental, emotional, and spiritual well being. Thank you.

    Jessica Dykes on

  • What a lovely analogy! Vitamin Z sounds so cool 😍. I would like to say that there is no overdose of this vitamin! You can have it once or several times a day!! Happy tangling 😊

    Suchitra Komandur on

  • Zentangle has been one of the best things for my mental health, especially during covid when all other art seems like too much. Thank you for bringing attention to this!

    Siren on

  • A daily dose of Vitamin Z Creative way to stay ahead!!

    Sumita Roy on

  • Molly, thank you for your thoughtful words on mental health awareness month and Zentangle! My entire nuclear family has been touched with mental illness. This creative outlet has specifically helped both my daughter and myself. I draw Zentangle just about every day in my calendar a day book. It helps me focus and keeps my creative juices flowing. I taught my daughter Zentangle about a year ago, and she has blossomed is quite the artist. She finds it very relaxing and rewarding. She has hung a clothesline across her long hallway wall and uses close pins to hang all her tiles which she has completed. Thank your whole family for recognizing this connection between mental health and Zentangle!

    Mary Illana Perrin CZT On May 4, 2021 on

  • For me, Zentangle enables me to spend time with myself, to unwind and forget about things for a while. It gives me a means to escape mentally and be lost in a tile, totally focused on the process and nothing else. And then be able to enjoy what I created when it’s done. It makes me smile and warms my heart.

    Michele Werner on

  • Thank you for the gifts: in this blog and in the responses!

    MichelePB on

  • Wow!!!! That is beautiful! Thank you for all you wrote Molly! I feel honored, that the words from my heart bloomed into these profound words! May we all be full of vitamin Z. May you be happy and healthy! Thank you so much. With love, Gratitude and Appreciation Annie Rocha

    Annie Rocha on

  • When I can’t get the sunshine I choose vitamin Z to brighten my day and share with others !

    LoriJeanne Bach on

  • Vitamin Z definitely helped heal my heart and kept my soul alive after open heart surgery several years ago. It soon lead me to become a CZT to share the “Z” vitamin with anyone who needs or wants it. And I do it gladly and freely anywhere and anytime.

    Sue Leslie on

  • Congratulations 🎉

    Donna Rusher on

  • I am doing 100 days of Zentangle and am presently on day 94. I think when it is finished, I will do another 100 days so I don’t stop. Very satisfying and I have done only one tangle on each day so I have learned many. I might try to put them together and make groups now. Very fun and restful.

    Sue Bellefeuille on

  • I adore this post and the concept of Vitamin Z! I cannot express how much Zentangle has improved my life!

    Brenda Campbell, CZT on

  • I had not thought about this term vitamin ‘Z’ but love it! My new term and requirement for doing more Zentangle/puzzles/watercolour etc. to ‘float my fancy’!

    Heather Toswell on

  • I stumbled across Zentangle during an emotionally very difficult time of my life—my mother died, and I had many other stressors. It seemed like I couldn’t catch a break, but I started a daily Zentangle practice, and putting pen to paper became my sanctuary. We all need a sanctuary—a sacred place of safety in which to retreat from life’s daily stressors, and from those more intermittent and extreme stressors—a place where we can catch a breath, restore, and recharge our selves.

    Valerie Hayes, CZT on

  • Vitamin Z can be “taken” anytime and not just in the form of a tangible piece of the physical like a tile. Just in being aware of the myriad patterns that surround us everywhere…hubcaps in parking lots or the cut ends of celery in the kitchen, the “sacred geometry” of life is omnipresent and that is very comforting to me.

    Wee on

  • Thank you Molly for the very best vitamin! Vitamin Z!! No purchase needed at the drugstore. I share the love of Zentangle with my dear sister, Zipporah Rosenblatt. We are fortunate to spend time sharing our tangle experiences with each other. That in itself, is a true blessing and truly helps the mind and soul. Love your take on vitamins. Vitamin Z should be the vitamin of choice for the health of everyone. Excellent time to acknowledge mental health month. We all can use our Zentangle to clear our minds, thanks again and continue your fine work!

    malka shavrick on

  • I am a relatively new tangler and have always believed that I was one of those people that “couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler”, so when I found Zentangle and discovered that drawing straight lines was not only not necessary, but not even encouraged (except in aura’s). I was hooked! Zentangle has become my friend, my hobby, my dessert, and my way of life. Thank you for all that you do to encourage others to take a chance on art! Jen Rea

    Jenny Rea on

  • Zentangle helps me quiet and nurture my mind. It allows me to step away from whirling thoughts – sometimes they fall entirely silent, but sometimes I still hear them but with greater calm and clarity. It anchors me in the moment, allowing me to let go of thoughts of past or future. It offers me a sense of attainable adventure and safe surprise.

    Jem Miller on

  • I am loving all ZIAs and specifically Vitamin Z! Yes, we need to focus on the positive with our creative energy to have moments that will take our breathe away – this post is a great reminder! Thank you Molly!

    Alice Roche on

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