Getty Launches Meditation Podcast, “Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation”

Getty announced today the launch of its first video podcast “OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation,” a meditation podcast focused on creating mindful interactions with artwork from its collection.

Hosted by Getty gallery educator Lilit Sadoyan, OMMM is a space for listeners to recover and reflect in a busy world. Released twice weekly, episodes guide listeners in a breathing exercise and meditation, and provide insights about featured artworks.

The first season includes 12 meditation episodes, each focused on a different artwork from Getty’s museum collection. The first episode is available to stream now, focused on Getty’s beloved painting “Irises” by Vincent van Gogh. Future episodes include “Waiting” by Edgar Degas, “Starry Night” by Edvard Munch and the Central Garden at the Getty Center, designed by Robert Irwin.

Twelve additional bonus episodes will dive deeper into themes from the artwork or meditation. These conversations feature diverse special guests, including astrologer Chani Nicholas, sleep historian Roger Ekirch, Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto, New York Times dance critic Gia Kourlas, JPL climate scientist Marek Slipski and mountain climber Katie Ives.

“We can all benefit from slowing down, being more present and fostering mindful moments with ourselves, those around us—and especially art,” said Lilit Sadoyan, gallery educator at the J. Paul Getty Museum. “OMMM will be a space for audiences to heal, learn and be empowered to embrace mindfulness in their daily lives.”

Sadoyan is a museum educator, independent curator and art historian. She has been a Getty gallery educator since 2008 and helps lead initiatives that investigate the impact of mindfulness in museums through programs and workshops, including a national convening on Mindfulness in the Museum. In recent years, she has worked with top scientists and mindfulness practitioners to study the impact of art on our bodies and minds.

“This is Getty’s first venture into video podcasts, which we hope allows audiences to connect to our art collection on a deeper level,” said Zoe Goldman, podcast producer at the J. Paul Getty Trust. "Whether engaging with OMMM from home or in our galleries, we are happy to create more avenues for experiencing art."

Episodes

Episode 1: Sensory Awareness Meditation with Vincent van Gogh’s “Irises”

Take time to notice the subtle sounds, feelings and smells around you with a sensory awareness meditation inspired by one of the best-known works in the Getty collection.

Episode 2: Flowing Water Meditation in Robert Irwin’s Central Garden

Visualize your thoughts, worries and stress floating away, like a leaf or petal on a garden stream, in this flowing water meditation inspired by the largest work in the Getty Museum’s collection.

Episode 3: Blue Light Visualization with Edvard Munch’s “Starry Night”

Bring awareness to the memories, thoughts, and emotions evoked during this blue light visualization inspired by the artist’s many uses of the color blue.

Episode 4: Mountain Meditation Inspired by Italy

Feel still and majestic like a mountain in a meditation inspired by Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld’s painting “View of the Bridge and Part of the Town of Cava, Kingdom of Naples,” which captures a picturesque, verdant scene of the rolling mountains of Southern Italy.

Episode 5: Observe Your Thoughts Like Passing Clouds

Engage with a sense of wonder and bring awareness to your thoughts through this meditation practice inspired by Simon Denis’s delicate painting “Study of Clouds with a Sunset near Rome.”

Episode 6: Yogic Sleep Meditation with a Rococo Bed

Deeply relax your entire body with a yoga nidra meditation inspired by a heavily decorated and silk-draped 18th-century French bed called a “lit à la polonaise.”

Episode 7: Grounding Tree Meditation Inspired by the Forest of Fontainebleau

Slow down time, feel grounded and reset with this nature-focused meditation inspired by Théodore Rousseau’s mid-19th-century painting “Forest of Fontainebleau, Cluster of Tall Trees Overlooking the Plain of Clair-Bois at the Edge of Bas-Bréau.”

Episode 8: Mindful Housework Meditation with “The Laundress”

Pause and be fully present during even your most mundane chores with this mindful cleaning exercise inspired by a French genre painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze.

Episode 9: Your Space in the Universe through a Medieval Astrology Diagram

Feel one with the cosmos as you explore your place in time and space inspired by a 15th-century astrological diagram found in an unusual manuscript.

Episode 10: Calming Tea Meditation with a Still Life

Focus on fully experiencing the moment while you sip on a cup of tea in this relaxing meditation inspired by Jean-Étienne Liotard’s “Still Life: Tea Set.”

Episode 11: Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise with “The Vexed Man”

Explore how deeply you can relax—by tensing each muscle in your body. This unusual exercise builds on Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s sculpture of a man with an exaggerated facial expression.

Episode 12: Patience Meditation with a Degas Dancer

Slow down and explore your body’s experience of patience (and impatience) inspired by “Waiting,” Degas’ enigmatic pastel drawing.

Learn more about Getty Podcasts and explore ongoing mindfulness gallery tours at the Getty Center, including Mindful Moment in the Museum, Moving Mindfully, The Breathe Tour and Memento Mori.