Month: December 2022

Mindfulness in the Museum: Art for Mental Wellbeing

Getty Art + Ideas
Getty Art + Ideas
Mindfulness in the Museum: Art for Mental Wellbeing
/

“I know we call them art museums, but I think they’re really wellbeing centers, because people are coming in—maybe they don’t know that’s what’s about to happen—but you are helping them expand who they are, and give them these three feelings of awe, gratitude, and compassion, that are the keys to living a healthy and meaningful life.”

What exactly is the human mind? This question has occupied Dr. Dan Siegel since he entered the field of psychiatry in the 1980s. Drawing from his experiences on a suicide prevention hotline, his time pursuing dance, and his wide-ranging studies on subjects from complex systems to indigenous traditions, Siegel has worked to define and better understand the human mind. His approach is both neurobiological and takes into account relationships among people and between people and nature. Among other tools that support mental health, Siegel emphasizes the role of art in promoting mental and emotional wellbeing.

In this episode, Siegel speaks with Getty Museum educator Lilit Sadoyan about his definition of the mind, the importance of art, and how we might think about our relationships to each other and our environment. Siegel is a best-selling author, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA.

For images, transcripts, and more, visit https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/mindfulness-in-the-museum-art-for-mental-wellbeing/ or http://www.getty.edu/podcasts

To learn more about Dan Siegel, visit https://drdansiegel.com/

To learn more about the Mindful Awareness Research Center, visit https://www.uclahealth.org/programs/marc

Mindfulness in the Museum: Healing through Mindfulness

Getty Art + Ideas
Getty Art + Ideas
Mindfulness in the Museum: Healing through Mindfulness
/

“The museums give us these just incredible opportunities to have some kind of an encounter with different ways of seeing the world, shining a light on some aspect of our history or aspect of our humanity that opens up a new doorway for me to see things differently.”

While mindfulness is often thought of as a solitary practice, law professor and meditation teacher Rhonda Magee believes in its power to support collective healing. It can bridge the divide between subjects like law or physics, which are often thought of as cold and dispassionate, and our personal experiences, stories, and feelings by allowing us to become more in touch with and aware of the human element of academic disciplines. Approaching museum spaces and artworks with a similar mindset, Magee sees opportunities for mindfulness to increase empathy, understanding, and healing.

In this episode, hosted by Getty Museum educator Lilit Sadoyan, Magee shares her own path to mindfulness and how mindfulness can be a critical tool in the classroom, the museum, and everyday encounters and experiences. Magee is professor of law at the University of San Francisco and author of the book The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness.

For images, transcripts, and more, visit https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/mindfulness-in-the-museum-healing-through-mindfulness/ or http://www.getty.edu/podcasts

To learn more about Rhonda Magee, visit https://www.rhondavmagee.com/