Atop a double lotus in the center of Ball State University Museum of Art's special exhibitions gallery sits a life-sized meditating Amida Buddha statue, hands upright in its lap.
Julia Corbett-Hemeyer, professor emerita of religious studies, sat cross-legged on the floor facing the statue in the room one Wednesday in late January, mimicking the statue's position. Her eyes closed, she envisioned herself in a different place entirely - one of four places of personal serenity she returns to frequently during guided visualization sessions.
"There was a fallen tree trunk that I liked to go sit on where the river bubbles over rocks where I used to live," she said.
Corbett-Hemeyer serves as the presenter for Meditation in the Museum, a series of three one-hour meditation classes focusing on the expression of body-mind harmony suitable for all fitness levels, just the first in an anticipated series of programs melding spiritual health and physical wellness at the Museum of Art, curator Tania Said said.
One of Museum of Art's goals this semester is to expand its role to meet the needs of as many people as it can without eclipsing its central purpose of collecting, preserving and interpreting art, Said said.
"Art museums around the country are exploring the value of establishing themselves not only as educational but valuable gathering spots for related programming and socializing - in other words, becoming a center of community activity," she said.
The second series of workshops begins Feb. 13 and meets at 4:45 p.m. every Wednesday until Feb. 27 in the Museum of Art. The workshops are open to students, faculty, staff and Muncie residents. The fee for Ball State-affiliated and museum members is $25 and $40 for non-members.
A primary step in developing the program - and in selecting additional programs - was selecting something culturally appropriate, museum-friendly and of interest to visitors, Said said.
Because the Museum of Art had previously planned to have the Amida Buddha in a gallery all by itself as part of the "Japanese Art from the Floating World" exhibition, incorporating meditation with Japanese sculpture seemed to be a natural outgrowth, she said.
"It seemed like a prime opportunity to offer a different kind of program where a visitor could experience the Buddha's presence for an extended period of time," she said.
The Museum of Art had not offered fitness or wellness programs in the galleries before, Said said. It was therefore important to partner with two university offices that have - Recreation Services and Working Well - to learn about marketing and pricing a wellness course and integrating participant health concerns into the university's overall wellness focus.
"It has worked really well since our expertise is in the art collection, exhibitions and not health programs," she said.
The meditation workshop was a result of a survey completed at the "Start Where You Are" walking initiative in September, Working Well program director Patricia Hollingsworth said.
A study in early 2007 conducted by the university health insurance administrator also found that 37 percent of employees or family members covered by Ball State's health plans have been diagnosed with chronic medical conditions.
"Employees considered the museum as an integral part of their mental and spiritual health," Hollingsworth said. "We selected meditation as a starting point."
According to healthjourneys.com, a Web site Corbett-Hemeyer recommended at her final session focusing on guided visualization, even 10 minutes of imagery can reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol and glucose levels in the blood and heighten short-term immune cell activity.
"We tend to live from the head up," Corbett-Hemeyer said. "Guided imagery gets us to the other 90 percent of the body."
Guided imagery has also been shown to accelerate weight loss, reduce anxiety and alleviate some of the aversive effects of chemotherapy, a fact to which Corbett-Hemeyer can relate.
While she began meditating in the early 1990s as an outgrowth of her long-standing interest in Eastern culture and alternative health practices as a way to relieve stress, a turn for the worse in her late husband's health introduced her to its other benefits.
"I was looking for something that wasn't so conflict-oriented to help ease his pain when he was undergoing chemo treatments," she said. "At first he called it 'new-age BS,' but it soon became standard practice around our house."
Hollingsworth said Working Well also supports and promotes all dimensions of wellness, including the stress management skills learned through meditation workshops like Corbet-Hemeyer's, and takes into consideration the Delaware County Health Assessment when initiating wellness programs.
"We will continue to support and promote programs employees find helpful to enrich their quality of life," she said.
Recreation Services is also partnering with other local health professionals to highlight areas of exercise, wellness and relaxation in a free "Choose Your Move" seminar on March 1 inside the Muncie Mall. All wellness professionals on campus are invited to attend, assistant director of Recreation Services Amanda Salyer-Funk said.
"Although we enjoy offering these types of things on campus, having this event at the mall is unique in that we can educate and expose people to these experiences who may not be as comfortable coming into a gym setting," she said.
The art museum won't have the space to continue Meditation in the Museum after the Floating World exhibition ends on March 16, but Said said she would like to explore additional wellness programs in the museum in the future, such as the healing power of laughter and a walking art tour.
MeditateThe Center for Peace and Conflict Studies offers a meditation room. The room is located in the Peace Center, 310 McKinley Ave. Contact Professor George Wolfe at 285-5418.
Benefits of meditation
- Heart rate decreases.
- Respiration decreases.
- Metabolic rate and oxygen consumption decrease.
- Alpha waves increase in intensity and frequency. These brain waves are associated with the restful awake state.
- Meditation reduces activity in the nervous system. The parasympathetic branch of the autonomic or involuntary nervous system predominates. This is the branch responsible for calming us.
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