Can You Meditate Through Art? Part 2

Dearest Wonderful, Creative You lot:

A few months ago I did a post called Can You lot Meditate Through Art?  where I shared a tutorial on mandalas using art as a way to meditate.

Then many of you told me how inspiring it was, I'd like to talk more than in depth almost  mindfulness and meditation, every bit well as sharing two more tutorials on using art equally a mindful, meditative practice.

What's the difference between mindfulness and meditation?

Ira Israel, a licensed psychotherapist and mindfulness adept recently did a piece for the Huffington Post about the differences between mindfulness and meditation. He explains how the purpose of "basic meditation" is to attain "MindLESSness" in an effort to clear the listen and realize your divinity, whereas in mindfulness meditation, you focus intentionally and not-judgmentally on ane thought or sensation rather than allowing your mind to flutter frantically here and there.

I like how Isreal clarifies information technology this style: "If yous're focusing on the jiff to transcend your ego and realize your inner divinity, then that is Bones Meditation, more than in line with the Hindu lineage of meditation; if you're focusing on your jiff to try to harness and train the listen and observe any thoughts that arise not-judgmentally, then that is Mindfulness Meditation, more than in line with the Buddhist lineage."

Mindfulness Is a Way of Life

Y'all can be mindful in anything you do. It's a way of living. You can walk mindfully, talk mindfully, cook mindfully, even shower mindfully, equally Jon Kabat Zinn explains in this interview with Oprah Winfrey. It'south about actually experiencing the moment you are IN.

How Does Mindful Fine art Work?

Laury Rappaport, an artist and expressive therapist based in California, is the writer of Focusing-oriented art therapy, and author/editor of Mindfulness and the arts therapies: Theory and exercise.  I was lucky enough to  talk with her this week about how she uses art a meditative exercise.  She put it like this:

"Art provides a focus – like a mantra or awareness of the breath moving in and out of the body. Creating art helps me to access a meditative state – where the small mind and body chatter recede – and I admission a bang-up expansiveness that fills me with a deep sense of peace and stillness.

Listening to the art through contemplation and expressive arts methods helps me to access deeper states of awareness and insight. Through art making, an abracadabra occurs in which states of inner disharmonize and defoliation are transformed from suffering into greater compassion."

I love how Laury points out the importance of sitting with our art products. Frequently when I end making a piece of art, I am mystified about its meaning. Perhaps I am staring at a bird or gorilla, and I have no idea what it has to say to me.

When I take the time and effort to contemplate the piece through writing, dialogue, or movement, it volition reveal itself, and help transform my feelings or understanding about a item issue. Using art this way – attending to it, respecting it, and engaging in the process mindfully, often creates a spiritual experience that transcends my every day experience. Encounter this video tutorial on creating "spiritual art."

(To larn more than about Laury and her work, click hither.)

Meditative Art vs. Mindful Fine art

I call back it's important to know the deviation between mindfulness, mindfulness meditation, and [bones] meditation. When you make meditative art, you may be doing information technology mindfully, meditatively, or vacillating between the ii. At that place are times I go lost in the art and feel catamenia, which we talked about in part 1 of this serial. I believe flow is alike to what State of israel calls "mindLESSness," or basic meditation.

At that place are other times I tune into the sensory experience of making art – noticing the sound of the chalk, the smell of my paints, and the feel of my hand as it moves across the folio. I would call this mindful fine art meditation.

There are many different means to approach fine art mindfully or meditatively, and sometimes your art won't be either. In that location are days I am careless or playful in my art, and cease up in a state of menses, and other days I'm very mindful and intentional, and end upward with a muddied looking painting and a feeling of frustration.

Much like with a yoga exercise, your job as an artist is not to accomplish perfection, whether in the process or the product. Our job is to practice. To evidence up. To be nowadays. Like whatever addiction, one time you practice enough, yous'll start to reap the rewards, and it volition be harder to stop making art than to first.

Mindful Art Exercises

I take e'er been a fan of mindful photography, though I didn't always know what I was doing. My photography teacher in college gave u.s.a. an consignment to photograph and object from 360 degrees.

The intent was to assist us stretch artistically, and expose our "heart" to new angles that we would not have considered. I often remember this assignment, and approach subjects I am photographing this fashion.

Besides helping me come with more interesting shots, I find that it increases my focus, creativity, and  curiosity towards a subject. I run across beauty in places I would have missed.

I dearest immersing myself in a subject, capturing those frozen moments, and seeing which ones please me most. To actually accept advantage of this method, I suggest approaching it in an intentional fashion. You might experiment with some of the following:

Mindful Fine art Do #1: Mindful Photography

1. Brainstorm by choosing your subject.

2. Sit with the subject yous are going to photo and take a few minutes to actually study it and feel it in as many ways as you can. Touch it. Olfactory property it. Listen to it. This should inform your photographs as well as creating a more mindful approach.

Expect at the photo below. Doesn't the wilted iris in the right side of the frame expect like a little bird? If I hadn't studied this flower from all angles, I would have missed that, and it seems sort of magical to me. I also love seeing all the veins in the bloom petals from below. The variation in color is so intense.

3. Take photographs from every angle – above, below, to the left, to the right, and everything in between. Notice your breath, feelings, trunk sensations, and any thoughts that arise. Attending to these experiences is the mindfulness function, the being in the NOW. You could besides decide to let all this go, and only see what happens. Play with your approach.

Any your experience, be present with information technology.  If you feel frustrated with the projection, notice your frustration. If you lot get lost in flow, notice how gratuitous you feel. What yous experience may non exist as of import equally your ability to stay present in the moment.

Mindful Fine art Exercise #2: Mindful Drawing

Susan Dahl is an artist and art therapist in Greater Boston who teaches a technique called mindful drawing.  She has kindly allowed me to share her arroyo with y'all.

She suggests using a large newspaper (9 x12 or larger) and chalk pastel, but notes that this technique can also easily exist done with pen or pencil on 8.v 10 11 newspaper. I would add that this technique would translate beautifully with watercolor painting equally well.  Experiment with materials, and see what works best for you.

Drawing the Breath, from Susan Dahl:

1. As you breathe in, begin "following" the breath with your pastel.

2. When y'all exhale, keep your pastel moving, simply in a different direction. You will change direction each fourth dimension y'all  inhale and exhale.

3. Notice what thoughts arise, just permit them bladder by, keeping the focus on the breath.

4.Kickoff with 10 breaths and work upwardly to 20, or set a timer for 3 minutes.

five. One time you lot reach the goal time or number of breaths, you can continue to describe, adding whatsoever inspires you, or only put it aside.

I enjoyed not picking up my pastel and allowing my jiff to dictate the length of each line and its direction. I added some actress color at the end, as Susan suggested. Yous can learn more than about Susan Dahl and her  Mindful Drawing classes here.

Yous can also endeavor another mindful drawing practice that focuses on attention to a subject field very carefully in this post.

Comments:

Please share your wisdom, questions, and your experience. What do you think near these approaches? Would you lot try the photography with your cell telephone even as a brusque break from work? Drop into the comments and let usa know.

References:

Israel, Ira, May 21, 2015. Huffington Post Online: "What's the Difference Between Mindfulness, Meditation, and Mindfulness Meditation, and Basic Meditation?" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ira-state of israel/types-of-mindfulness_b_3347428.html

Rappaport, Laury. (2013).Mindfulness and the arts therapies: Theory and practice.Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.

Rappaport, Laury. (2008). Focusing – oriented art therapy. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.

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Source: https://mindfulartstudio.com/can-you-meditate-through-art/

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