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Announcer: This is a Getty
podcast.

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Lilit Sadoyan: Today we’re
exploring the senses and

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how to flow with water in
Robert Irwin’s 1997 Central

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Garden at the Getty Center.

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[Theme music begins]

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Welcome to Our Museum
Mindfulness Meditation

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podcast, or OMMM.

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Part art history and part
meditation, we use works of

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art from the Getty collection
as inspiration for mindfulness

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and deep reflection.

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Hi—I’m Lilit Sadoyan.

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I’m a long-time meditation
practitioner and museum

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educator at Getty.

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Thanks for joining me
as we bring mindfulness

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out of the gallery and
into our daily lives.

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[Theme music ends]

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Today we’re exploring the
role that water can play—both

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in the Getty’s largest work
of art, Robert Irwin’s 1997

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Central Garden, and as a
tool for engaging our senses.

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This episode begins with a
breathing exercise to help

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relax your body and mind.

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We’ll then give a bit of history
and context for Irwin’s work.

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And then we’ll close with
a flowing water meditation

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inspired by the garden.

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This series is also available
as an audio podcast.

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If you’d like to step away
from a screen for a few

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minutes, listen on your
favorite podcast app.

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Now, if you’re
ready, let’s jump in.

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[gong chimes]

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[Slow, meditative music begins]

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If you feel comfortable, I
invite you to close your eyes.

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And let’s cultivate a sense
of presence by taking a

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few deep breaths together.

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In through the nose. [inhales]

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out through the mouth. [exhales]

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Deep breath in.

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Deep breath out.

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One more deep inhale.

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And a deep exhale.

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If your eyes are closed, I
invite you to gently open them.

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[bells chime]

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[Music continues]

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Across cultures and ages, water
has symbolized purification,

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change, and rebirth.

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Water moves both quietly and
powerfully through the world.

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It shapes the land.

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It reflects the sky.

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It nourishes and carries the
rhythms of everyday life.

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Today, we draw inspiration from
the Getty’s Central Garden and

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water’s movement—observing,
listening, and allowing

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it to guide our attention.

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[Music ends]

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Getty’s Central Garden is
officially the largest work of

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art in the Museum’s collection.

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It covers 134,000 square
feet and encompasses

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thousands of plants, rocks,
and human-made features.

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When Robert Irwin took on one
of his largest commissions—to

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design the Central Garden
at the Getty Center—he

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didn’t have any experience
working with plant materials.

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A native Californian,
Irwin began his career as

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an abstract expressionist
painter in the 1950s.

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By the following decade, he
became a leading figure of

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the Light and Space movement
in Southern California,

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which investigated perception
and ways of seeing.

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Irwin then moved away from
making traditional kinds of

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art and turned his focus to
creating immersive installations

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and altered environments
in the 1960s and 70s.

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These works heighten the
viewers’ awareness of

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their own perception and
physical experiences.

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He used unorthodox mediums
like fluorescent light,

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aluminum and acrylic discs,
and ephemeral materials too.

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By the time Irwin was
commissioned to create the

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Central Garden in the 1990s, he
had stopped making permanent,

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unchanging artworks altogether.

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The Central Garden serves
as a kind of pinnacle of

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Irwin’s artistic endeavors.

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It is a living work of art
that changes every day because

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nature is always changing—with
the changing of the seasons,

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the movement of the light from
morning to night, and with the

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cycles of growth and death.

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Visiting the garden invites
you to connect deeply to

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your own body and perception.

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[Meditative music with
light water-sounds begins]

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Irwin introduced a layer of
complexity into the garden

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by incorporating water—an
element that is constantly

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moving and changing.

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Early on, Irwin decided that
he would aim to recreate the

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original contours of the canyon
where the garden now sits.

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Streams often run through
mountain canyons, so Irwin was

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attempting to recreate what
had once been there long ago.

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Irwin’s stream runs the
entire length of the garden,

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surrounded on both banks
by trees and plant beds.

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Rather than replicate a natural
stream, however, Irwin’s version

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is deliberately designed and
meticulously managed, unlocking

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as a sequence of sensory
experiences in which the

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water is both seen and heard.

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A zig-zag path brings visitors
through the garden and crosses

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the stream at four locations.

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At each bridge, where the
path crosses the stream,

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Irwin carefully placed
differently shaped and sized

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rocks to produce carefully
tuned sounds as the water

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flowed over and through them.

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Let’s now imagine walking
through Irwin’s garden.

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[Water sounds begin]

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At the top of the garden, we hear
the sound of rushing water,

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but we don’t actually see it.

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The boulders are large
and complex; they also

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sit close to the bridge.

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The deep and intense sounds
of the water here whoosh and

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rush, finding a way through.

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[Sounds of rushing water]

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Progressing through the
stream garden, the character

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of the water changes.

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As we move down the zig zag
path, crossing over teak

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bridges, Irwin intended for
the volume of the water to

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fluctuate, corresponding
with a landscape that becomes

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increasingly lush and vibrant.

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We hear the water playfully
tumbling, pouring, splashing,

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gurgling, swishing, pooling
and bubbling, trickling,

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to near shimmering silence.

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[Sounds of bubbling water]

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The stream ends with a
wide and shallow channel

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of rocks, water flowing
through with fewer obstacles.

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At the end of the stream
garden, we see a poetic

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inscription by Irwin carved
into a pair of landing stones

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at our feet: “Ever Present,
Never Twice the Same. Ever

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Changing, Never Less than
Whole.” These words force us to

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pause for a moment, to remember
that the Central Garden–any

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garden–is always in flux.

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Everything always
changes and evolves.

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And with that in mind, we
enter the bougainvillea

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plaza, a threshold or
transition from the stream

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garden into the bowl garden.

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In this plaza, at the very
bottom of the stream, water

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appears to pass under a bridge
then over a sloped stone wall.

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This creates a sheet of
water, a kind of “veil,”

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known as a chadar.

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This waterfall is
approximately seventeen feet

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[or five meters] in height.

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Here, water produces a
dynamic roaring, gushing,

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spraying effect as it
cascades down the wall and

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spills into the pond below.

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[Sounds of rushing water]

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[Water sounds end]

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The Central Garden is
felt in the body of

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those experiencing it.

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Tuning to the diverse
sounds of water and the

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natural environment creates
a revelatory experience.

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Today, I invite you to allow
water to guide your awareness.

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Water is powerful.

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Research has shown that
being close to water reduces

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cortisol and boosts serotonin,
dopamine, and oxytocin.

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Spending time in or
around water also benefits

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emotional well-being.

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Blue Mind Theory suggests
that being in proximity to

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water can ease your mind
into a meditative state.

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Practicing a water
meditation, like today’s

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exercise, encourages us to
recognize the ever-changing

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quality of our emotions.

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We can cultivate mindful
attention, openness,

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and gentle release where
tension once lingered.

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We become more sensitive
to the shifting currents of

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feeling and flow in places that
once felt rigid or blocked.

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This practice helps us
align with the natural

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ebb and flow of life.

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And with that, let’s move into
our flowing water meditation.

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[Low, meditative music begins]

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If you feel comfortable, I
invite you to close your eyes.

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If you would prefer to keep
them open, that’s okay too.

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Just lower your gaze and
lower your lids to minimize

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visual distraction.

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And adopt a posture in
your body that feels

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both relaxed and alert.

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Whatever feels
comfortable for you today.

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And let’s begin again by taking
a few deep breaths together.

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In through the nose.

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[inhales]

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Out through the mouth.

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[exhales]

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Deep breath in.

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Deep breath out.

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One more deep inhale.

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Deep exhale.

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[Music ends]

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And just let your breathing
resume its natural rhythm.

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Nothing to force or extend here.

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Let your body breathe itself.

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Notice the way that the breath
moves in and out of your body.

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What’s the temperature
like every time you

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breathe in and breathe out?

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What’s the texture like today?

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Notice the rise and
fall of your chest.

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And with a soft belly here,

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notice your ribs
expand and collapse.

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Just this moment.

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Just this breath.

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[Silence]

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[Smooth, water sounds begin]

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Bring your awareness to
the sound of flowing water.

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Take a breath in, and let
your exhale go with the flow.

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Imagine a stream of water
flowing along a channel that

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curves through a garden.

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Notice how it moves.

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How it sparkles in the light.

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And changes sound as it
flows over the rocks.

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Imagine yourself flowing
effortlessly with the current.

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Notice how the water adapts
and finds a way forward.

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Water always finds a way.

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You can even visualize that
with each thought or worry

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that arises, you place it on
a leaf or a flower petal, drop

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it in the stream, and watch
it effortlessly float away.

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Feel the tranquility that
comes from being in harmony

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with the natural flow.

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Be the water.

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Like a stream of awareness that
flows easily throughout the day.

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Notice how you feel right now.

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Notice what, if anything,
has shifted in you since

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we began the meditation.

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And if your eyes are
closed, gently open them.

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Return to the environment
that you’re in.

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Slowly bring your awareness
to the space that you’re in.

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[Slow, rising music]

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When we simply listen, we pay
attention to the subtleties

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of experience: the sounds, the
feelings, the movements that

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might otherwise go unnoticed.

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We pay attention to what is
present without trying to

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change, judge, or control it.

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And now I invite you to carry
the following reflection

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with you into your day.

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As we return to the world,
let’s carry this sense of

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presence and connection with us.

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And I want to see if we can
find different opportunities to

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notice when we come into contact
with water throughout our day.

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Consider the sound of water
to be a reminder of the

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impermanence of experience.

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Pay attention to the
sensations of touching water,

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its temperature, its flow
rate, and the sounds—however

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subtle or obvious.

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Take these opportunities
as reminders to be in

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the present moment.

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Notice how they make you feel.

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Let’s close our practice
by taking a full,

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deep breath together.

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Inhale.

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[inhales]

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Let it go.

251
00:15:47,789 --> 00:15:47,799
[exhales]

252
00:15:50,849 --> 00:15:52,799
Thank you so much
for joining me.

253
00:15:53,709 --> 00:16:23,909
[Music slowly fades out]