While interning with Art and Spirituality, Common Art, and Café Emmanuel I frequently find myself explaining who I am and that I am studying to become an art therapist and mental-health counselor. Recently while at prison, one of the women asked me if I could prescribe her pain medication. I said that while I could not prescribe her any medication, I could prescribe her some meditation. This received a round of laughs from the table and others who had heard the exchange. We live in a fast-paced world where I, for one, can say choosing the option that takes the least amount of work to fix a problem seems extremely appealing. Have a headache? Take a pill with a large glass of water and presto, headache no more. In addition, I can take a moment to think about the cause of the headache in the first place, most likely for me being dehydrated, to avoid it in the future.

I think meditation as medicine, however, is something you and I could benefit from seriously considering. Interacting with individuals at Arts and Spirituality, Common Art, and Café Emmanuel has on many occasions shown me that when they take the time to look within and find inner strength, they can achieve greater wellness and a sense of agency or inner strength. Those people have shown me how they battle addiction, get out of bed in the morning, and stay connected, in part, because of the inner strength they are able to draw upon. Each week we are given the opportunity to witness how art making, movement, and breath work allow individuals to connect with themselves on a deeper level to improve their ability to connect with others, thereby improving their quality of life. Just to name a few, sometimes it’s through the calming and meditative nature of coloring in the lines of a coloring sheet, sometimes it’s participating in chair yoga via mindfully reflecting on what it feels like to be in one’s own body, and sometimes it’s creating a memorial via found objects to honor a love one who has passed.

Shaun McNiff, a Lesley professor who focuses on open-studio art therapy says in his book Art Heals, said, “Whenever illness is associated with loss of soul, the arts emerge spontaneously as remedies, as soul medicine.”  I retrieved this quote from Common Art’s website; it is used to inform their practice.

So Emmanualites, when is the last time you took (or increased) your soul medicine? Busy lives often don’t allow time for self-care, but it truly is our own first line of defense to support wellness and protect again dis-ease. If I had a prescription pad, I’d write everyone a script for an additional 5 minutes of mindfulness/meditation to be taken by the heart once a day, to start.

All the best and two deep breaths,

— Rebekah Woolf< March 15, 2015