Slow down and focus on artwork from a perspective of mindfulness. Through various techniques, meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Kate Johnson will guide you as you engage with artwork in a new way, with an active awareness of yourself and your own thoughts.
Introduction with Meditation Teacher Kate Johnson
Meditation teacher Kate Johnson explains how a mindfulness practice can help us shift our visual experience with artwork.
Seeing Perspective
Notice the perspective of the painting and see if you can connect it to your own presence within a space.
Outlining Shapes
Focus your attention on singular shapes to see the unique details of a sculpture.
Beholding our Experience with Sharon Salzberg
Meditation teacher and best-selling author Sharon Salzberg highlights how mindfulness can assist in looking at a work of art.
Opening Up Symbolism
Find strength and stability within yourself as you look at this stupa.
Accessing Details
Try mirroring a posture and see if it helps you build empathy and connection to an object.
Traversing Spaces
Find connections between your body and its surroundings when looking at positive and negative space in this object.
Focusing on Composition
Embrace breathing and your own presence as you take in the overall structure of this mandala.
Meditation programs are presented with the support of the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.
General operating support of the Rubin Museum of Art is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, as well as by generous donations from the Museum’s Board of Trustees, individual donors, and members.
