Mindfulness with Art Continued
Good Morning. For the last two days, if you have been following along, we have been practicing mindfulness by observing a piece of art. Today, we will continue this practice, adding in switching from piece to piece. It does not matter if you enjoy weekends in museums looking at art or you don’t. No matter which type of person you are, viewing art can be an interesting mindfulness experience. If you have not yet done so yet, please read this super short article on mindfulness with art, https://rubinmuseum.org/blog/art-as-meditation-a-lesson-in-mindfulness. If leading a group just read the section headers aloud.
Next, cue up this timer. It is a ten minute timer that begins with three chimes and then chimes once each minute.
To begin your practice, settle in. Breathe and let go of any distractions. Click on this panel of artistic works.
https://artsandculture.google.com/color?col=BLUE
This will work best of you are at a computer and you click on the first piece. Then you can see large versions of each piece, when the chime happens, click to the next piece. If leading for a group, you may print two pictures for each person and have participants switch back and forth between their pictures on each chime.
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The task is to take in a piece of artwork observing the colors, your reactions, the emotions it evokes in you…until the timer chimes and then switch to the next. Try to throw yourself into observing each new piece with “beginners eyes.”
When you are finished, reflect. Notice if you had trouble switching. Were you attached to the last piece?…Did the timer chime too soon for you?
Today, try to move fluidly, effectively–accepting whatever you encounter moment by moment and seeing everything fresh with beginner’s eyes.
Enjoy the weekend!
Michele
