How A Museum Visit Can Uplift Your Mood?
Surprising effects of a museum on people
In these days of self-isolation, if it’s possible, it's nice to visit a museum. A couple of months back, I visited the Design Museum in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. I remember having a very engaging time in the Museum. I could sense an artistic aura and passion at the same time. After the visit, I was feeling very inspired to make some paintings.
As days passed by, I came to know that a visit to a museum has loads of positive effects on one’s mental health. These range from mindfulness to community feelings. After my personal experience in the museum, I think people can benefit from it in certain aspects too. Therefore, I have mentioned each of these aspects in my article.
1# Mindfulness
The entire visual and aura of a museum differs from our mundane lives. This makes it highly attention capturing. This forces us to give attention to the present moment. As a result, people notice the visuals, sounds, and smells of the museum. Their minds get awakened and connect with the details of artwork in the museum.
Because of this connection, they witness a different range of emotions and ideas stimulated from the paintings in the museum. It has been shown by research that mindfulness has been successful in preventing the occurrence of depression in people. Just by looking at a painting, one’s mind gets distracted from existing thoughts. New visual memories are created in the mind that stimulate new thoughts. It expands the existing dimensions of ideas and makes life interesting.
2# Social interactions
While visiting a museum, one can have conversations with the other visitors and the employees of the museum. But these days, in the era of social media, it can be an interesting activity to take pictures in the museum and post it on Instagram or Facebook.
This will make all of your followers, friends, and dear ones aware of your museum visit. Additionally, they can also see the awe-inspiring artworks of the museum. So, they will also have a virtual museum tour!
As a result, there might be comments or likes, or other reactions, fostering social interaction. It will be really great for everyone to see the aesthetically appealing visual arts, decorative items, or relics. And each of these artworks may be intricate in nature which will invite a lot of attention from the viewers.
3# Greater lifespan
It has been found in research that a visit to the museum leads to an increase in the longevity of a person. According to this study, the people who were involved with art activities had a lower risk of dying in the period after the museum visit.
It was mentioned in the study that a museum visit improves people’s outreach to knowledge and resource which could be helpful in coping with aging. Also, it gives them a better sense of purpose in life. It does so by regulating emotions and fostering a better mechanism to deal with stress. Furthermore, it develops creativity and ability in people for easy adaption to different conditions.
4# Brain activity
Looking at visual arts in the museum stimulates the brain. It has been mentioned in detail in my article titled ‘How Visual Arts Aids Your Brain?’
Upon exposure to aesthetic pictures, the visual arts trigger certain regions of the brain. It generates a feeling of pleasure in the brain.
Now, I think that is why I was feeling very happy while visiting Meret Oppenheim’s work in the Design Museum in Hertogenbosch. I still remember the inspirational life of Meret Oppenheim. She didn't pursue the art in which she got undesired fame rather she pursued the artwork for which she always had passion.
5# Community mindfulness/Yoga in museums
Some museums are offering mindfulness programs that inculcate learning activities in people. As an example, the Manchester Art Gallery has developed a mindfulness program for a range of audiences. This has helped people in developing intimacy with their art collections. Also, it has improved their mental health too.
Some museums in the US, like Wexarts in Ohio, operate a program called ‘On Pause’ that gives sessions on meditation to the visitors. It is a guided meditative session with Replenish: the spa co-op.
Also, yoga is practiced in group sessions in few museums like Rubin Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. In some of these museums, yoga classes are held in a week by trained instructors for a large group of people. For instance, in Rubin Museum of Art, a piece of art is selected, and they discuss the way it inspires a connection to yoga.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, all these benefits are pretty good motivations to visit a museum. One needs to just have a leisure afternoon which could be a weekend to visit the museum.
Remember that a visit may be once, but the positive effects will be for a longer time.
I have already filled my schedule for the upcoming weeks with a tour of few museums. So, I am eagerly waiting to get lost in the world of artistic experience.
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