Mindful Museum Meanderings

As a community health organizer, I worked with SCMA over the J-term to develop and refine mindfulness projects in the museum space. Bridging wellness and art at Smith has been on my senior year bucket list! This opportunity refreshed and added on my perspectives, as a peer health educator, a museum visitor, and a museum staff member. As SCMA is working towards diverse ways to interact and engage the student community, I am excited to see how mindfulness experiences change visitors’ perspectives on wellness, artworks, museum spaces, and more!

     -   Yangyang Lyu ‘25
 

Have you ever visited the Museum with the hope of leaving more centered and present within your surroundings? Curious about practicing mindfulness in the Museum? This guide was developed by Sunny Windorski ‘20, a Health Educator at the Schacht Center, and Yangyang Lyu ‘25. Next time you visit the Museum, give this guide a try.

Mindful Museum Visit Guide

Mindfulness describes the awareness that arises through “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Practicing mindfulness is a way to remind us of the joy of centering ourselves and embracing curiosity and acceptance.

During this museum visit, we invite you to:

• Center yourself in the galleries by (re)connecting with your bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts.
• Stay curious as you explore the art, artifacts, and architectural spaces.
• Accept your reactions, questions, and sensations as you enter new perspectives and form connections.

The following prompts are suggestions for practicing mindfulness throughout your visit. At any point in this journey, feel free to let go of the instructions.  

As you embark on this mindfulness journey, take a second and reflect upon your state of mind and body today: How do you feel? What has been occupying your mind recently?

Take a deep breath. Grab a pencil if you would like to sketch or write anything down along the journey.

As you step into the museum, notice where natural light and views from the outside world come into view.

Notice the sound as you move into a gallery.

As you turn corners, notice the emergent view of artworks, and how their compositions shift depending on your perspective.

Try to slow down your pace, soften your gaze, relax your shoulders, your jaw, your neck. Notice what feelings arise as you look at these artworks. Be receptive to these feelings.

Prompts for Centering, Curiosity, and Acceptance

• Choose a three-dimensional object (sculpture, pottery, stoneware, metalware, glassware, etc): Trace the object’s form with your eyes. Imagine the weight of the object. What would it feel like?  What would it look like in a space outside of the museum? If you were to make it, how would you feel the materials in the process of making it? How does this experience allow you to “see” this object in a different way?

• Find a landscape and take some time to bask in it. Imagine that you could walk into the painting. What do you see when you look around you? What sounds do you hear? How does the air feel on your skin? Is there a breeze? Is the air hot and still? What can you smell? Fresh mountain air, the smell of the sea? What does the ground under you feel like? Are you barefoot in the grass? Do you feel sand or rocks or something else entirely? Does the earth feel soft? What can you touch around you?

• In the galleries on the 2nd and 3rd floors, there are cabinets with drawers. Hold the handles and slowly pull open a drawer. Notice the way your arms and wrists engage. How are you positioning your body? Notice the gradual sliding of drawers and the unfolding view of these artworks as you exert force through the handle. How are you responding to the drawings, prints, and photographs?    

• Sit on a bench or couch and chill. Set a timer for at least 10 minutes. Don’t look at your phone, don’t read. If you can, just try to be alone with yourself. It’s ok if you need to fidget. It’s ok if you have to get up and stretch. Notice the way it feels to sit and to be present in the space. How does the texture of the seating feel? Look around — What is in your line of sight? Where are the sources of light?

• Pick an object that represents cultures or concepts less familiar or abstract to you. Attend to the details of the artwork: What is made out of? What is the shape? What would the materials feel like? How does it relate to the artworks surrounding it? Where does it stand in the space of the museum? How does it interact with the light? How does it relate to you?