START YOUR JOURNEY TOWARDS A MORE MINDFUL LIFE WITH SIMON ALEXANDER ONG TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH YOUR FIRST STEPS AND BREATHS
Described by The New York Times as a “700-hour silent opera”, it was an exhibition that promoted silence as a medium of communication – a calming space for deep reflection, for curious observation and, more importantly, for being present and absolutely in the moment.
The performance artist, Marina Abramović, would sit motionless and silent for nearly eight hours a day, six days of the week, for three months. Opposite her was an empty > chair for anyone to come and join her for as long as they wanted. While there was some concern that the chair opposite her would remain empty for much of the exhibition; it never was.
There was always a queue – some waited for hours, some slept overnight outside the museum, and some returned to sit opposite Abramović multiple times. 78 people, in fact, returned to sit more than 20 times.
Writing for WNYC, Carolina Miranda shared that, “When I finally sat down before Abramović, the bright lights blocked out the crowd, the hall’s boisterous chatter seemed to recede into the background, and time became elastic (I have no idea how long I was there).”
She added, “And for the first time since standing in line for over two days, I had absolutely no trouble focusing.”
The idea of this exhibition called The Artist is Present was to bring the energy of the audience into the present moment; to be mindful and fully awake. Abramović created a space for her audience members to observe their thoughts, feelings and environment without judgment, only curiosity.
When was the last time that you intentionally disconnected from living each day on autopilot to just be and engage with your surroundings?
While mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation, it has grown in popularity across the western world through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (“MBSR”) program, which he launched at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. Studies have also demonstrated how practicing mindfulness has a range of benefits on our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
• It helps us to see possibilities that we were previously blind to.
• It helps us to understand how connected we are to everyone and everything around us.
• It helps us to appreciate that we are not our thoughts, merely the observer of them.
It doesn’t matter how old you are – everyone from young children to the elderly can experience these benefits. For example, a San Francisco-based school
