The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is taking the initiative to integrate art into creating better mental and physical habits.
Through the Art + Wellness initiative, each week is provided with wellness care surrounded by the art displays at the museum. During this time of stress as the semester unravels and the days grow colder, take a break and indulge in what the UMFA offers.
Relax Your Worries Away
Take your mind off that midterm and join YogaSix Sugarhouse at the UMFA for free guided yoga sessions. Offered on Wednesdays each week, this experience is unmatched. As you enter the space, you’re fully immersed in the giant, colorful murals on the walls. The perfect match to the art of yoga, this is a lovely connection to indulge in the human experience fully.
Each Thursday, the museum opens the art galleries to a guided meditation journey. It provides a perfect break in the day to take time for yourself in the presence of quiet and appealing artwork.
Led by Charlotte Bell, a certified Iyengar yoga instructor, this is a great way to create new habits of slowing your body down and appreciating your surroundings a little more. It can be hard to take time with the bustling energy the semester brings. But take a second and join the UMFA as your guide to ease.
These two opportunities are being offered for a limited time. Because of the nature of what’s provided through these resources, it could be something the museum could look into changing to be offered more frequently and for a lengthened period.
The Importance of Personal Wellness
While September rolls to a close, we’ve been observing Suicide Awareness Month countrywide. The state of Utah is known to have much higher rates of depression and suicides due to our lack of mental health resources. The UMFA is here to provide for and change that.
Here at the U, student organizations have held several events to give students an uplifting hand such as the color run and chalk art festival. Alongside this, having these resources provided for all by the museum is a great way to spread awareness and provide students the time to take care of themselves.
It’s always important to take care of your mental and physical well-being and the UMFA knows that, too. Because of this understanding, there are many other resources provided including visual thinking techniques with the medical school. These events allow medical students to study visual thinking strategies as a way to gain insights into how to examine patients through visual representations.
There will also be an addition of Tai Chi sessions beginning in October which will close out the Art + Wellness initiative for this semester.
As Pretty as a Picture
UMFA’s “Art + Wellness” is ongoing now throughout the remainder of the semester. Students, faculty and staff members can attend the UMFA free of charge when they provide their Ucard. Each session of Yoga, Mindfulness and Tai Chi is free of charge with admission.
Take this time and relax with the UMFA. You deserve it.
