The Zentangle Method as a Coping Strategy During Covid

May 24, 2022

Greetings!

In March of this year, Bronagh Donnelly, a student at York University in Toronto, Canada contacted us. She asked to interview Rick and Maria about the Zentangle Method as part of an ethnographic study she was conducting.

Ms. Donnelly was researching a group of people that were using the Zentangle Method as a coping strategy during Covid lock downs and the subsequent social, emotional, and economic impact. The group was Zentangle Club Ireland, a Facebook group led by Certified Zentangle Teacher, Angelina Arcari.

Ms. Donnelly is in the process of submitting her results to an Anthropology journal but has shared with us some of her findings and is allowing us to share them with the Zentangle community.

Ms. Donnelly asked members of Zentangle Club Ireland Member'c Hub (ZCIre) to self assess their mental health prior to joining the group in March 2020 and again when surveyed in early 2022 on a scale of 1 to 10.

"Overall, there was an obvious connection between frequency of practice and an improvement in mental health," Donnelly says. "Those that had high assessments of 8-10 before starting were already [Certified Zentangle Teachers] or regular practitioners of the method and those who showed little or no improvement in their mental health also fell out of consistent practice of the method."

Below are the results from the self assessment.

Ms. Donnelly also asked participants if belonging to ZCIre contributed in any way to improving, maintaining or affecting their mental health.

Some of the responses included:

"Yes, both. I [belong] to a caring and encouraging group and being inspired to continue to tangle even when I don't feel like I can. Knowing there is a regular session, either live or later on video, means I have the ability to work when i can and not miss sessions, which [in] turn means I always have the love of the group and the encouragement and inspiration to keep moving forward"

"Yes. I had something to look forward to each day. It was a reason to get out of bed and get going."

"It has provided some way to close off family pressures, though unfortunately, the pressures are increasing."

"Yes absolutely. Zentangle gives me the opportunity to explore myself, my inner thoughts, and it is a 'me' moment."

"It gave me a nice purpose during Covid-19, drawing, buying mediums, and enjoying company."

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We were delighted to take part in Bronagh's research and we look forward to reading the full results of her study. We are thankful for her work and willingness to share with the community. Any updates will be posted in the Stories & Studies page on our website.

Zentangle Club Ireland is an online group led by CZT, Angelina Arcari. This group offers a place to learn how to create Zentangle art through the guidance of an instructor. It is also a place to learn from each other and share art with each other.

Angelina offers a live free Zentangle class on the first Tuesday of every month from 10:30am - 12:00pm EST on the Zentangle Ireland Facebook page.

In January of 2021, we featured Angelina in our CZT Family Tree series. You can get to know her here.

Have you been following along with our #WELLbeing series? Visit our YouTube channel to tangle along.

Zentangle YouTube Channel

Our friends at the Chinese Zentangle Association are once again hosting their event, Tangle for Health. Visit the following CZA channels for more information.

CZA Website

CZA-Facebook

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