Art as Meditation: A Mindful Inquiry into Educator Well-Being

Being prepared for the intensity and complexities that educators face in their work means building strategies for managing well-being. This qualitative study explored educators’ conceptualizations about their well-being using an arts-based, community-based participatory research (AB-CBPR) methodology. After a brief mindfulness meditation and contemplation of prompting questions, educators were invited to participate in drawing and writing reflections. The artifacts were coded to determine themes. Themes suggested the importance of human connectedness and interconnection, self care and nurturance, the healing qualities of the natural word, and the recognition that institutions need to provide space and resources to support educator well-being. The mindfulness-based art-as-meditation process was itself a salutogenic process and provided a means for developing a deeper understanding of educator well-being through a community-based participatory research approach.

Jungian psychology in a demanding modern world

This article discusses Jungian psychology as a debated, and exclusionary field of psychology using Carl Jung’s influential work to provide light on analytical or environmental psychology, and to present the theoretical rapprochement between Jungian and Freudian theories[4]. A succinct look at the realm of analytical psychology is still pertinent looking at the role of environmental psychology considering several demands from the modern world. To position Jung in minority spheres, where most of his critics have seen expressions of discrimination, and anti-Semitism, the key principles of Jungian theories will be highlighted considering various researchers to ascertain whether there is limited knowledge for this mindful inquiry[2]. In terms of environmental psychology, Jung’s relevance is important to assess. The many perspectives espoused by Jungian advocates warrant further analysis and research, but are necessary to reflect on today’s societal needs for positive, environmental, humanistic psychology, and potential creation of the psyche as a social transformational tool in psychoanalysis.