Art session with Chakra meditation

Art is the gift that keeps on giving. It is everywhere around you, both within and without. I experimented with mindfulness last Friday with my students, testing a concept called The Mindful Artist which I will be offering during the winter session. I encouraged my students to slow the mind down and experience the now by distancing themselves from their inner chatter. There will be mental noise to be sure but With an intention not to interact with it, one can easily get into the zone, more focussed on the task at hand.

We started with an active meditation which included some stretches and a slow walk down the hall of our beautiful Roundhouse community centre, taking the experience in with all our senses. It was fitting that we could awaken our sense of touch by caressing the wool weaving which are currently exhibited. Without any sign not to touch, I am sure we were invited to interact with the art in this manner.

We worked on two light under-paintings and while they were drying, I proceeded to inducing a hypnotic guided meditation. I just listed to the recording. I brought my mic and forgot my wire so it is going to be one less video to keep but it was instructive to analyze my work. I brought in a lot of imagery full of powerful symbols to emulate so astral projection guided meditations that I listened to in the past. I went through the colours of the rainbow, thinking about the different chakras typically associated with them. Some of the students were slightly put off by the process, it may not have been what they signed up for but they were happy to assist me in my research. I really hope people register to this program as it would allow me to grow as an art therapist. It is a rare opportunity to explore a field that is hard to approach without proper credentials. Furthermore I hope that I can bring a spiritual approach without getting overly religious.

So much of art is about letting go and abstraction has the power to build a technical foundation without getting caught up in the object. I merely asked that they think of their washes in abstract terms. After the meditation when dry to the touch, they were allowed to add figurative elements at their leisure but it had to be from memory.

My own piece is the one at the upper left corner. It reminds me a lot of my time in Waldorf school learning about Norse mythology. It reminds me of the different realms of existence layered around each other. The plants are growing out of the crystalline underworld, home to the metal bending dwarves.

Overall the class proved to be very relaxing and I suspect that taking steps towards greater mindfulness helped my artists express their deeper selves.