Even though my books are not designed as coloring books, it's always a possibilty to make your copy your own with hand-written notes and splashes of color here and there!

In this post you'll find some tips to get the most out of your book.

Lay down comfortably, take out pens and highlighters and begin!

I invite you to color, journal, and make notes on the sides of the pages of your favorite books, it helps to grasp the ideas and connect with your inner wisdom.

Use a highlighter to help the messages you needed to hear, pop up from the page. Color Mira with your favorite colors, so she feels like YOUR inner child.

Add hearts, stars and exclamation marks where needed too!

Please, always test out your pens and markers on the last page of your book to see if they bleed through or otherwise feel unsuitable!

Tips for Making Notes

Colors

When I want to grasp a new idea and take it to my heart, I use different colors of highlighters.

PINK captures the most important words that I want to cherish.
GREEN I use for something that I see as ego behavior (green is the color of the ego lizard...).
YELLOW and ORANGE are for something in between...

Eventually, the most inspirational books I read bathe in colors and have notes all over the margins. For the books I read multiple times, I typically assign a highlighter or pen in different color for each time so that I can compare my notes. It's fun how different things resonate and pop up from books in different rounds.

Symbols to use

Sometimes words and underlining isn't enough, then I'll use symbols like these:

Stars for messages that feel miraculously right.
Exclamation marks when something is really important.
Hearts for loving messages.

And of course, Mira likes to pop up in the margins often too! She was just a stick-figure at first, so that'll work. See if your own doodle characters want to join your reading experience!

Get Comfortable

My favorite spot for studying as a child was laying on the floor, but it has changed since.

Where do you enjoy reading and studying the most?

Try out different places for getting comfortable!

Is it at your desk or in your favorite cafeteria?
In the woods or at the beach?
On a couch or in bed?
Does your home have different energies in different spots?
Where does creativity flow the best for you in your home?

Coloring is like speaking with my heart directly

It connects.  It relaxes.

When I color, my mind quiets down. I love to add a question or two to meditate on while I color. And when my hands keep doing that somewhat boring movement, repetition—hundreds of red dresses colored for Mira—answers start to surface. Loving, peaceful answers. And that’s how I know I’ve reached my heart by coloring.

Doodling Mira(cle)Doodles is a process where first I get an idea that I want to dive in. An image appears in my mind’s eye and I start to sketch it out. The ego may jump in and start making fun of the idea.

But I keep drawing.

And then, when I start coloring magic happens!

There's power in the repetitive hand movements. It’s my meditation. The ego sighs and soon gives up, it sees that there's no room for it anymore. I don’t pay attention to it anymore. I just keep coloring and having fun. The world around me disappears and I enter the flow.

That’s when the right words for the image start to pop in my mind too.

The repetitive hand movements relaxes the mind.

When the mind relaxes, a connection with your heart opens up, and it gets easier to hear your own inner truths. The answers you are looking for surface while coloring.

Which Pen to Use?

Test it out

When you get your hands on a book that you can't wait to read through—you want to dive deep, make notes and really understand its message, reflect on it and implement it in your own life—hold your horses for a minute or two and test your pens on the pages first.

Take out your favorite coloring pens & pencils, markers and highlighters and give them a go on a page somewhere in the book where it doesn't bother if it bleeds through or makes a mess—for example at the end of the book.

Does the Pen Bleed Through?

There's a chance it will. For example alcohol-based markers (like Sharpies and Copics) bleed through the page strongly.

Does the Pen Make a Mess?

Bleeding through the pages will certainly make the next page harder to read, but also for example coloring pencils might make a mess by smudging the opposite page. It depends on how soft the pencil is.

Always test your pens and pencils before using them.

I tested out different coloring pencils, pens and highlighters to see how they feel on the paper and if they bleed through the page. You can find the test results below.

The Test Results

Highlighters - Stabilo Boss Original
Great! Doesn't bleed through nor see through.

Felt Tip Pens - Faber-Castell
Okay, but starts to bleed through if you color the same spot for a while.

Fineliners - Stabilo Point 88
Okay. Sees a little bit through.
May start bleeding through eventually, if you keep coloring the same spot.

Coloring pencil - Faber-Castell Polychromos
I don't recommend using coloring pencils with an oil-based core, because they don't blend nor stick well on the paper. They can also make a mess on the opposite page. Some other kind of coloring pencils could work - Test them out first!
NOTE: If you use coloring pencils you may need to add blank papers between pages while you color to avoid colors making due to the pressure on the page while coloring.

Graphic Markers - Copic
I don't recommended alcohol based markers like Copics. Bleeds through strongly.

Permanent Markers - Sharpie
I don't recommended permanent markers like Sharpies. Bleeds through strongly.