Adventures off the Mat: LACMA

Destination LA: Adventures off the Mat, LACMA

Photo by Nir Livni

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is one of the miracles on Wilshire Boulevard’s famed Miracle Mile. The largest museum in the west, LACMA is home to over 120,000 works of art and more than a million annual visitors.

The integrated practice of yoga includes appreciating the brilliance and divinity of this life. A stroll through LACMA’s chambers is like a journey through the hearts and minds of humankind through the centuries. Experiencing humanity’s artistic contributions can inspire our own talents and capabilities.

Outside the museum, and free to the public, is one of the city’s most recognizable large-scale assemblage sculptures. Urban Light by Chris Burden, was installed in 2008. If you’ve ever scrolled through a dating profile in LA, you’ve seen selfies with the stunning array of restored street lamps from the 20s and 30s as a backdrop.

Burden’s creation is a yogic metaphor. These lamps of different styles and origins, when brought together, create a unified structure of strength, beauty, and illumination. In the same way, all of us with our different perspectives, experiences and gifts, can come together with the common intention of elevating ourselves and each other to our best and brightest contributions. Like these solar-powered lamps, we can illuminate the lives of others by burning brightly with our own passions and sharing our light.

“Just as one candle lights another, and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts.”—Leo Tolstoy

For more information on LACMA, visit: lacma.org

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Elise Joan teaches yoga at Equinox and Exhale (among other locations). She created an online yoga/fitness site that lets you build and save your own yoga and workout playlists from 10 minutes to two hours: elisejoanfitness.com