Art in our Clinic
Art is a gift that can elevate the human spirit. Art takes us out of our heads and forces us to pay attention to the present moment. It encourages us to look up and expand our view as it presents snapshots of life, color, form, sound and feeling which may otherwise go unnoticed. Art allows us to bask in the beauty (and also sometimes in the ugliness) of our world, its people, shapes, sounds and forms. It allows us to get out of heads and do more than just survive—it extends a hand to us and invites us to thrive in the gift of this life. In this way, art is mindful and encourages mindfulness.
Art also allows the artist to do what we are all capable of doing on some level—create or influence the life we want to see and live. The artist knows first hand the malleability of this life and is able to challenge what most consider solid and fixed. This offers us the inspiration, hope and imagination to create our own versions of the life we want to live.
In Chinese Medicine the Liver is associated with the eyes and it is through the eyes that we see art. The Liver is nourished by color, calm, beauty, supple movement, fulfillment of desire and creativity. When your Liver is healthy you embody these qualities. When your Liver is imbalanced due to stress, illness, lack of exercise or emotional constraint, then further illness results in the form of pain, depression, feeling “stuck” in life, procrastination, digestive problems, headaches, heart disease, menstrual and menopausal problems, hormonal imbalances and premature aging.
In our fast paced lives, nearly all of us could benefit from the stress reducing and healing power that art offers through its mindfulness, inspiration, calm, beauty and creativity. Since acupuncture is one of the most powerful ways to reduce stress and improve your health, reducing stress and improving health is at the core of what we do for our patients. To complement our efforts, we have paired the healing power of acupuncture with art by featuring rotating art exhibits in our clinic. Each show has been chosen to help uplift, inspire and create a more healing environment for our selves and our patients.
Whether we are creating art or observing art, it has the power to heal us on many levels. Art requires us to take the time to expand our focus and experience and contemplate a moment, a feeling or a story. Art has the natural ability to lift us up and out of our heads and asks us to drink in the color, beauty and story that it creates for us in the present moment and in turn this reduces stress and improves our health. Surrounding our selves by art encourages us to look up and breathe. It reminds us that there is an amazing world out there—we just need to take some time to see it, appreciate it and hopefully even take an active role in creating it.
We are very grateful for the work of artists and especially for those that have been willing to share a piece of themselves and their works within our clinic. All pieces in our clinic are for sale. Please consider supporting the work of these artists. Current and past artists featured in our clinic include:
Nancy Heselton (present)
If you are an artist and are interested in showing your work at our clinic please email us with a link to your online portfolio. Although we appreciate all art we are specifically looking for two-dimensional art (either framed or canvas) that would help create a peaceful, inspiring and healing environment for our patients and visitors.