Mindfulness Through Modernist Art

Modernism is, by its very nature an abstract set of art styles. It does not try to recreate a realistic view of visual reality. This makes it very useful for Mindfulness.

Throwing yourself into creating a piece of Modernist art can focus your mind on the changing detail that you see as you create. You are forced into concentration on both the big picture and the tiny details. They are not simply visual recreations of what you see around you - they are abstract shapes and relationships that appear on the page. You become immersed in in colour and shape and placement of these shapes.

This does not restrict Mindfulness to those who create Modernist art. You can study a piece of this art to allow your mind to set aside thoughts of the past and worries of the future. Make the artwork the "here and now" to get your mind into thinking about the present. Many sources suggest watching a brightly coloured butterfly to achieve the same thing. Modernist art has the additional advantage that it is not a moving creature in its own environment. It does not allow your mind to start to think things such as " Does this mean more caterpillars on my plants ? "; "Why are there less butterflies this year than last ?"  and so on.

Instead of a colourful butterfly, try concentrating on this Modernist image. 

( A larger version of this image can be found here. This can be downloaded for free.)

• Start by breathing a little slower than you normally would. Feel the breath come into your body. Breath through your nose and feel the breath come in through the nostrils and leave the body on the out breath through the nose too.

• As you are doing this start to really look hard at the image above. Look carefully at the centre and then let your mind slowly move the attention to the next shapes moving out from the centre. All the time keep trying to feel the slow breathing inside your nostrils. 

• As you are studying the image try to think of the colours. How many different ones can you see ? Do the colours feel calming or exciting ? Then concentrate more on the lines. First of all try to identify all of the patterns based on straight lines. Do the colours clash with the lines or do they compliment them ? Are the curved lines more attractive to you than the straight lines ? Which colour is your favourite ? 

 

• Ask your self other questions that come into the mind as you study it. 

• When you feel that you can't get any more out of it just carry on breathing slowly through the nose, but slowly let your eyes closed so that you can only sense the breath coming in and out of your body through the nose. 

• Count the breaths in and out - 1 for in 2 for out, 3 for in 4 for out, and so on until you get to 10. Then count breaths down from 10 to 0. Open your eyes and get on with the rest of your day - feeling calmer and more relaxed.