Monday, April 13, 2015

On Well Being in the Art Museum



Welcome to the place for pause, The Crow Collection of Asian Art. You can be quiet here. Just step inside off of the street and soak in a placid moment far from the stress of work and life. Here you can just be. You can be with a work of art, gazing absent of time into the intricacies of a miniature mountain made of jade in the Qing Dynasty. You can sit with a Japanese Screen of the Edo Period and contemplate your place in the world and your relationship with nature. There are no walls in this museum. Horizons take us to new landscapes. You can feel the change after just a few minutes. You are calmer. More relaxed. The rooms are dark, pensive with lights illuminating your path and revealing your next turn. This is an oasis far from the tug of technology.
You are welcomed here, welcomed to be calm, quiet and curious. 

You are welcomed to belong. We believe you can belong to wellbeing. In Asia, nature and art cannot be separated. By being in these spaces with works of art depicting the natural world, you are taking care of your being. You can find new practices like centering your breath, meditation and yoga. You can soak in not twenty objects but maybe only three. Works of art from Asia are meant to be contemplative. Art for the mind.


We know that spending slow time with art has wonderful benefits to the body: decreased blood pressure, reduced cortisol, lower heart rate. These moments with works of art, practiced with intention and pattern can reduce, even reverse the damaging effects of prolonged stress. Museums offer this kinder, gentler medicine.


Along with churches, we may be one of the few quiet (and free) spaces left in the world for personal wellbeing retreats. We offer access to tranquility and a place to think, to imagine a future where you know how to take care of yourself, others and the environment. We offer growth moments and the freedom to be curious and learn about time-tested traditions of wellness throughout Asia. And looking at art is the portal to them. Be well with us.

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