Meditation is an inner work practice, in which a person sits or lies peacefully and calmly attempts to clear their mind. Meditators will sometimes chant a phrase aloud or in their minds, or focus on a particular breathing style. By focusing the mind on breathing or chanting, meditators can clear their minds of distracting thoughts which allows them to reach a beautiful and calm state of being that is highly enjoyable. Some people enjoy meditating so much that they have decided to express their love of the mindfulness practice through tattoo art.
This esoteric tattoo features a beautiful woman in a seated meditation pose surrounded by sacred geometry and mandalas. The Philippines based tattoo artist, Macky, has used a shading method that uses dots to create light and dark areas, giving the tattoo a visual depth to match its deeper meaning. [source]
Nature, Meditation and Tattooed Human Animals
When human beings surround themselves with the beauty of nature, they often find themselves slipping naturally into a state of mindfulness, awareness and waking meditation. For city dwellers; meditating to music that includes nature sounds can help them to achieve a similar state of calm and and a sense of unity with the world around them, especially if they keep many living plants in their meditation area. Human beings evolved out in the wilderness and so contemporary humans have a bunch of animalistic instincts that are left over from this wild past. Connecting with this inner wildman helps to remind us that life, our beautiful planet, and our modern society with all its comforts and conveniences, is pretty amazing.
This fantastic back tattoo from German tattoo parlor Loccomotive uses vein-like tree branches to reveal the form of a woman sitting and meditating. The tattoo client had a small mole over her spine which the tattooer has skilfully worked around (to not damage the mole and risk it becoming cancerous), and included in the design as the belly button of the meditating figure. [source]
Lotus Flowers and the Lotus Position
Flowers, plants and trees are often included in meditation tattoo designs, especially the lotus flower. When a meditator sits cross-legged, with their hands either resting in their lap, on their knees or pressed together before them in a prayer position, the pose is called Lotus Position. It is often used by meditators when they are sitting on natural ground, even if it’s a grassy patch in a city park, while imagining the loving energy of mother Earth travelling up the body from the base of the spine to the top of the head. It is a pose that can help beginner meditators feel grounded.
Buddha sits in the Lotus Position upon a lotus flower in this black ink meditation tattoo. On the Buddha’s chest we see an Ohm Sign. Chanting “ohm” slowly and peacefully can help to clear the mind of intrusive thoughts. Tattoo by Cyr Othello.
In this meditation tattoo by Darren Wright; a slender woman sits in Lotus Position between a lotus flower and an ohm sign. The tattoo artist has chosen to include white ink highlights to create more contrast and depth in the design.
The Macky MSP Tattoo shop in The Phillipines produced this clean linework and dotwork tattoo of a person meditating in one of the variations of Lotus Position.
From the heart of our tattooed Budhha by Filippo Bello emerges a tree of life and sacred geometry patterns. The Buddha’s hand poses are called “mudras”. Each different Mudra has its own meaning that helps the meditator to set their intention while meditating. Mudras are sometimes also used in the practice of yoga, which can be thought of as a form of moving meditation.
Tattoos that celebrate the art of meditation often show a figure seated in the Lotus Position because this is the favourite pose of many meditators and therefore the most easily recognisable. For the most part; the tattoo art styles used in these lotus tattoos are esoteric or artistic in nature and the figures themselves radiate a sense of calmness and well being. There are other Lotus Position tattoos that have a less elegant and more humorous appeal to them…
If the Simpsons took up Meditating
If the Simpsons took up meditating, The Simpsons TV show would tell a very different story of family life in the Simpson’s household! The following two tattoos, of Homer and Lisa, father and daughter give the funny cartoon characters a whole new level of depth to their character. What if behind the scenes of the Simpson’s show; the cartoon “actors” actually do practice meditation?
Homer Simpson sits in the Lotus Position meditation pose in this funny tattoo dedicated to the spiritual practice of meditating. He’s wearing a necklace of prayer beads and robe that allows him modesty but not luxury. His eyes are half closed in this tattoo, meaning that he is calm and centered in himself. [source]
This linework tattoo of Lisa Simpson shows the character taking a time out from thinking too much and sitting in a meditative state. Lisa is a good example of someone who overthinks things and gets caught up in her own thoughts a lot. If you’re like that too – why not practice meditating? After a while you may find that you can enter the state of calmness, without thoughts, quite easily. [source]
