This course is built upon various mindfulness practices, and physical and mental well-being informed by visual arts pedagogy, art therapy and literary works by mindfulness practitioners, such as Thich Nhat Hanh. The course aims at promoting a better awareness of how arts play an important role for healthy lifestyle in contemporary and university life. This course employs a boarder definition of ‘arts’ that goes beyond ‘art as medium’ or ‘art as mediation’; and through that, to awaken one’s sensibility in appreciation, self-expression, self-realization, empowerment and catharsis to one’s self, and gradually expand to interpersonal, professional and community situations.

Each class will commence with meditative practice, in which a physical activity itself, followed by thematic lecture (of knowledge), and teaching and learning activity (of physical activity and art practices) to address sensory experience, bodily well-being and healthy lifestyle. Meditation in classroom has been scientifically proven to enhance students’ physical, mental, and emotional awareness and foster concentration, positivity and creativity. Thematic teaching and learning activity is drawn from an overarching approach of art practices that include seeing, sound, motion and movement, gestural art-making, other sensory experiences and appreciation of arts that bridges knowledge and skill in visual art practice to support healthy behaviours and lifestyle. Formative assessment will be employed in this course to highlight the importance of experiential learning, and the process-over-outcome approach.