On Fridays this July, the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture invites the community to join the museum for “A Month of Mindfulness.” Each hour-long session will allow participants to step out of the heat and hustle of summer and into the museum for an hour of guided meditation, lecture, and yoga practice.
According to the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, mindfulness “can be defined as paying attention to present moment experiences with openness, curiosity, and a willingness to be with what is. It is an excellent antidote to the stresses of modern times. It invites us to stop, breathe, observe, and connect with one’s inner experience.” Coordinator of Academic Programs Lindsey Waugh said museums offer a similar opportunity to connect.
“By slowing down and taking time to look closely and observe the visual information in front of us, we can learn to really see before interpreting or passing judgment and approach our surroundings while being open and present,” she said.
The museum’s “Month of Mindfulness” sessions will offer a diverse array of classes: guided mantra meditation from the Mindfulness and Meditation Club at UT, a lecture on mindfulness in the museum space from Waugh, and two yoga classes—Yoga Nidra or “yogic sleep” with yoga instructor Jamie Blessinger and “Meditation in Motion,” a gentle yoga session with Andrea Cartwright, who has taught yoga in Knoxville for forty years. The sessions will run from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each Friday, July 10–31 in the museum’s “The Decorative Experience” gallery.
The McClung Museum is located at 1327 Circle Park Drive. Museum admission is free, and the museum’s hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Free two-hour museum parking passes are available from the parking information building at the entrance to Circle Park Drive on the weekdays. Free public transportation to the museum is also available via the Knoxville Trolley Vol Line.
Additional parking information is available at the museum website.
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C O N T A C T :
Christine Dano Johnson (865-974-2144, cjohn156@vols.utk.edu)
Stacy Palado (865-974-2143, spalado@utk.edu)
Lindsey Waugh (865-974-2144, ljwaugh@utk.edu)