{"id":4119,"date":"2020-02-19T12:15:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T17:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=4119"},"modified":"2020-02-19T12:18:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T17:18:44","slug":"ums-lowe-focuses-on-mindfulness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=4119","title":{"rendered":"UM’s Lowe focuses on mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted February 19, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By ALEXIS WIENER<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samantha Shapiro forgets to eat in between classes, studies in the library for hours on end, and completes her many internship obligations.  Not to mention trying to balance her social life on top of it all, the pressure can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0The University of Miami\u2019s Lowe Art Museum is trying to bring mindfulness to the everyday stressed-out lives of students, staff and outside community but bringing peace and serenity through art and relaxation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice of mindfulness is a movement that was first brought to the United States by John Kabat-Zinn. On Miami\u2019s campus, you can find different mindfulness programs, like in the Wellness Center or Richter library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a year ago, the Lowe Art Museum began offering mindfulness programs. One is a more traditional mindfulness practice and the other is being mindful looking. Students and staff are encouraged to go to learn about and practice being present in the moment and slowing down their busy minds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindful looking is held in any of the different galleries, like the African or Glass exhibitions. A group of about 15 people will visit and everyone sits in front of a work of art and will do a short mindfulness practice with their eyes closed. After keeping their eyes closed, they open them and practice focusing all their attention on the work of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A discussion then happens after each aft work until time is up. This is led by two of the four pioneers of the program, Jodi Sypher and Hope Torrents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sypher, who is also the education curator at the Lowe, found this program to be extremely beneficial to herself as well as the people she is leading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for this mindfulness every Tuesday, I\u2019m not sure if be so diligent in my practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more traditional mindfulness practice is held in the front of the museum in the room with glass walls. The group is then taken on a mindfulness journey of meditation and inner reflection without the use of any artwork.  This is then led by the other two founders, Scott Rodgers and Alice Lash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lash not only leads this program, but she also runs \u201cMindfultime\u201d a mindfulness meditation studio in South Miami. She dedicates her time to teaching these important tools to others and believes strongly in this practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMindfulness is important because, when practiced regularly, it gives us the ability to cultivate emotional balance. Instead of being unnecessarily reviewing things that have already happened, or fast forwarding into the future and thinking about things that haven\u2019t yet happened, or may never happen, we are better able to live in the present and feel a greater sense of calm,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sypher and the other leaders are really into health and wellness and found that being in a museum can be very relaxing and good for a person\u2019s health. With such a hyperactive world, everyone is stressed out, especially on campus. Being able to bring some peace and relaxation for 45 minutes is something they really seek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole idea is to practice being in the present moment. It\u2019s not about controlling your thoughts, it\u2019s about noticing your thoughts and paying more attention to yourself, your mind and your body. You can practice mindfulness anywhere,\u201d Sypher said walking through the different galleries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Dalia Paskin is a frequent visitor to the museum and attends the mindful looking program when she feels like she is overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI first heard about this program because it was required we go to something at the Lowe for class assignment. I decided to attend the mindful looking program and actually got a lot out of it. From then on, whenever I felt like school and work was becoming too much, I went to the program and was able to calm down and focus on myself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people enjoy practicing mindfulness because it gives them a sense of peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMindfulness impacts those who practice it by reducing stress and anxiety and helping us to be present for moments of joy, which we might otherwise miss, and helping us to realize we have the capacity to be with difficult moments,\u201d Lash stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This educational program is free of charge. A great thing for the attendees but it puts a much heavier burden on the leaders. Funding has always been the top issue and continues to create problems for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is up to me to try and look for a grant. It shouldn\u2019t be that much, but it would be nice to give Alice and Scott some money as well as if we had funding we could pay for promotion,\u201d Sypher said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promotion is key when trying to attract more people, but without funding their promotional methods are very limited and not just with this specific program but for the other many things done at the Lowe.  Their social media presence is also limited due to the number of followers they have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cIt\u2019s tough you know; you can\u2019t leave fliers and the video screens are expensive. It\u2019s a free program, we don\u2019t have sponsorships. We put it on our websites and Facebook, and we are emailing it out to our email list, but if you\u2019re not on it you\u2019re not getting it so,\u201d Sypher said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness is just one of the many free programs at the Lowe. Others include Lowe After Hours, which is free music, food, drinks and art Thursday, Feb. 6 and March 8, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Along with Collage Making: The Art of Playing with Images, which is Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020 from noon to 3 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without funding, it could be possible that the museum will have to cut back on some of these programs, which would be upsetting to the many people who love all that the Lowe has to offer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted February 19, 2020 By ALEXIS WIENER Samantha Shapiro forgets to eat in between classes, studies in the library for hours on end, and completes her many internship obligations.  Not to mention trying to balance her social life on top of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":19,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4119","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4121,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4119\/revisions\/4121"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}