Working in collaboration with Get2gether, we arranged this month’s Mindfulness Walking therapy at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.

There are two buildings,  named Modern One and Modern Two. Both buildings are impressive examples of neo-classical architecture, with Modern One designed by William Burn in 1825, housing the independent school John Watson’s. Modern Two was designed by Thomas Hamilton in 1831 and was known as the Dean Orphanage in 1833, then became an educational college until 1999

We gathered in mid-afternoon under a warm sun and walked around the grounds with guidance on how to be mindful of our presence in these grand grounds.

To get to Modern One, we crossed a small but busy road via a zebra crossing, no big deal, until we spotted this:

An unusual sight of a concrete torso of a man embedded in the concrete paving.

A sculpture by Antony Gormley, with another 5 full body sculptures dotted around the city, – positioned between the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the sea. Four of the figures are sited in the Water of Leith itself, acting as gauges for the height of the river as it swells and recedes. One of these rare snippets of history unknown to the majority of Edinburgh folk.

As a group who are out for some gentle walking therapy, the opportunity is there to learn a little bit about the history of the places we visit, for those that choose to. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the peaceful surroundings with plenty of seating is a welcome break away from the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh city centre, which is about 1 mile away.

As we wandered and practiced some meditation, there were occasions where we sat on one of the many benches just to admire the scenery. One such view as seen below, is of the design: Landform, by the architectural historian Charles Jencks, which is based on ‘chaos theory’. Jencks’s inspiration was La Grande Jatte, Seurat’s painting of a Paris park – “everything going on at once amidst sun, water and city life. You could eat lunch, chase kites”, he said.

All in all, after nearly 2 hours of relaxation and walking, we finished the session and headed our separate ways. It was a very successful experience for the group.

The Galleries inside Modern One and Two have many different works of Art, including paintings by Picasso and Leonardo Da vinci, amongst many other famous artists. That is a story for next time.

Thank you for taking the time to share this experience with me.

Take care

Steve

Photos by AJ (member of Get2gether)