Art as yoga and meditation for artists, contemplative practitioners, art educators, and art therapists. Drawing upon his personal experience as a practitioner-researcher, visual artist, and cancer survivor, Michael A. Franklin offers a rich and thought-provoking guide to art as contemplative practice. His firsthand experience and original artwork complement this extensive discussion by consulting various practice traditions including yoga, rasa and darshan experiences, imaginal intelligence, and the contemplative instincts of select early twentieth-century artists. From this synthesis, Franklin suggests that we treat art as a form of yoga and meditation with the potential to awaken deeper insight into the fundamental nature of the Self. Exercises and rubrics are included that offer accessible instruction for any artist, meditation or yoga practitioner, art educator, or art therapist. “This is a thoroughly groundbreaking work that demonstrates how art can be a contemplative way of being and pathway to the Self. It reveals the creative, imaginal side of our humanity to be a sacred ground from which grows the wholeness of both the individual practitioner and the larger community.” — Fran Grace, University of Redlands “One of the book’s notable features is the author’s honesty, candor, and openness in discussing the healing benefits of contemplative creativity in his own experience.” — William K. Mahony, Davidson College “The book’s breadth of experiments and useful images in art therapy and meditative traditions is its greatest strength.” — Cliff Edwards, Virginia Commonwealth University Contents: List of Figures, Tables, and Rubrics Foreword Author’s Note Acknowledgments Introduction Simplified Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide Abbreviated Glossary of Sanskrit Terms Part I. Foundations, History, and Imaginal Awareness 1. Art as Contemplative Practice: Beginnings 2. Art as Contemplative Practice: Foundations 3. Snapshots of Western History and Lineage in Art as Contemplative Practice 4. Tasting and Seeing the Divine: Rasa, Darsan, and Art as Worship 5. Imaginal Intelligence and Contemplative Practice Part II. Concerning the Contemplative in Art as Yoga and Meditation 6. Art as Yoga 7. Art as Meditation 8. Karma Yoga, Ahimsa, and the Socially Engaged Artist 9. Expressive Pathways to the Self Part III. Exercises and Appendices Appendix A: Imaginal Mindfulness Techniques, Exercises, and Materials Appendix B: Core Principles of Art as Contemplative Practice and Accompanying Exercises Appendix C: Rubrics Notes References Illustration Permissions Index About the Author: Michael A. Franklin is Professor and Chair of the Graduate Transpersonal Art Therapy Program at Naropa University.
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