ARTS 1202 Art and Yoga
Event Description
This interdisciplinary course is taught in the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota. It is the first of its kind on campus to combine the creativity of visual art and writing with the somatic, contemplative and spiritual practices of yoga, and is inspired by my study with Hari Kirin Kaur Khalsa, author of Art & Yoga: Kundalini Awakening in Everyday Life. Each class opens with a full Kundalini yoga set: a specific sequence of pranayam, kriya, and meditation, which leads into guided creative exercises using various art materials and modalities, and ends with structured time to share. Calming the mind/body and centering into self-presence at the beginning, students experience a more expansive sense of mind/body/spirit and it’s from this place that we engage our creative, intuitive, infinite selves. The flow helps cultivate our natural creative resilience and internal resourcefulness. Through this powerful combination of Kundalini yoga and artistic creativity, greater awareness and connection to self and others are the goals. Art and Yoga was taught in Fall 2017 and Fall 2018 as a Freshman Seminar and became a regular part of the IASP (Interdisciplinary Art and Social Practice) curriculum of the department in Fall 2019. This is the fourth year it’s been taught on campus.