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Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Spain Opposes EU's Deregulation Drive
DETROIT, Michigan, June 17 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Mark Nayler, freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain:
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Cutting the Red Tape
Spain opposes the EU's deregulation drive.
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For the last couple of years, the EU has been on a mission to make European businesses more competitive through a process it calls "simplification." This means slashing red tape--especially in the form of reporting and compliance obligations--by 25% for all companies, and at least 35% for SMEs. Backed by Germany, Italy, and the Nordic countries, the
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DETROIT, Michigan, June 17 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Mark Nayler, freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain:
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Cutting the Red Tape
Spain opposes the EU's deregulation drive.
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For the last couple of years, the EU has been on a mission to make European businesses more competitive through a process it calls "simplification." This means slashing red tape--especially in the form of reporting and compliance obligations--by 25% for all companies, and at least 35% for SMEs. Backed by Germany, Italy, and the Nordic countries, theproject is said to have already saved EU companies Euros15 billion in administrative costs, almost halfway to the Euros37.5 billion savings goal set by Brussels for 2029.
Europe's deregulation revolution started with a 2024 report by former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi. Draghi recommended an overhaul of the EU's regulatory system, as well as increased investment, to enable the bloc to compete on a more equal basis with the US and China. The EU Commission responded last year by unveiling ten "omnibus" packages, each of which targets a specific industry. Coming from an institution that has been infatuated with bureaucracy for most of its history, some of these are surprisingly aggressive: removing 80% of European businesses from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, for example, and conducting just one on-the-spot check per year of each of the bloc's farms.
For Spain's Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, this is not a liberation for EU businesses, so long entangled by centralized compliance procedures, but a threat to the bloc's stability. Speaking via video link at the EU parliament on June 9, he said: "Some will say that to compete, you must deregulate. Those who say that are often the very same people who [led] the world into the financial crisis with that same regime." Sanchez claimed that the real question was not "about having more or fewer laws or rules," but "having good rules and laws"--and that, by implication, the deregulation initiative risks throwing out lots of "good" rules.
But what makes "good" laws in this context? For industry lobbyists and the EU right (which dominates the bloc's parliament), ones that enable companies to grow and innovate, so that they can compete better with China and the US. But for the European left, of which Sanchez has emerged as the unofficial leader, regulation must further Brussels's aim to be the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050. On the way to that milestone, the EU wants renewables to account for 42.5% of its energy mix by 2030 (currently, that figure is at 25%).
Inspired by the Draghi report, the EU leadership wants to do both. It is convinced that regulatory "simplification" will boost companies' competitiveness as well as their climate credentials, by freeing up more of their budgets to make the technological changes necessary for both. But this seems overly optimistic. To take just one example, there is widespread anger in Europe's agriculture industry at Brussels's environmental regulations, which farmers say severely hamper their competitiveness--especially given the proliferation of cheap imports from South America's Mercosur bloc.
These frustrations have triggered large-scale tractor protests over the last few years, most notably in France, Belgium, and Spain. Yet if the EU expects its climate agenda to be unaffected by a relaxation of compliance regulations within the agriculture sector (as detailed in the relevant omnibus, announced last May), it is surely deluded. This, of course, applies to every other industry too. If increased competitiveness is the priority, then climate goals will have to take second place, at least until 2029.
Sanchez is right to say that lack of effective regulation contributed to the financial crisis of 2008 (although it wasn't the sole cause). But adherence to unbending, blanket legislation can also cause fiscal stagnation. In 2010, the economies of the US and EU were roughly the same size--but since then, they have diverged significantly. One report identifies a comparative lack of trade dynamism in the EU as a factor, "suggesting regulatory and administrative barriers in the single market." Centrally-imposed fiscal rules can exacerbate problems, too: the eurozone debt crisis of 2009 was significantly worsened by countries' lack of fiscal autonomy--for example, by their inability to devalue their own currencies as a recovery mechanism. Sanchez knows this. In 2022, he successfully lobbied the EU for the so-called "Iberian Exception," which helped Spain and Portugal deal with the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. What was this if not an admission that EU regulations can be too restrictive?
German chancellor Friedrich Merz is the most enthusiastic advocate of EU deregulation. He has called for a "one in, two out" approach, according to which every new EU law should be accompanied by the junking of two old ones. And there are plenty to dispose of. Since its founding, the EU has passed over 100,000 acts of legislation, and continues to do so at a rate of around 2,000 per year. It stretches credulity to claim that every one of these laws performs a positive function. According to a report by the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), the EU added 562 new pages to its Data & Privacy rulebook between 2016 and 2024, by which point the number of restrictions in that sector--as measured by use of the word shall--was almost 2,500. ECIPE cited a study by the Bank of Spain, which found that each new piece of regulation correlated to a 0.7% decline in employment in the affected area.
Merz has the support of Italy's premier Georgia Meloni, who recently described the EU as a "bureaucratic behemoth that has too often sacrificed competitiveness, growth and strategic vision on the altar of ideological and technocratic approaches, thereby contributing to the continent's gradual economic and geopolitical decline." Merz and Meloni form what environmental hardliners see as a "Berlin-Rome axis" with the power to undermine the EU's climate goals. "[A] blind faith in deregulation," thundered The Guardian in February, "is not a remotely adequate strategy for the times." Nor is an obsession with environmental policies when most major European economies--including Spain's--are feeling more pressure than ever before from China and the US.
Industry leaders are taking full advantage of the deregulatory extravaganza. A recent report by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl found that Europe's biggest industrial lobbyists (defined as companies with influencing budgets of at least Euros1 million a year) are spending Euros382 million annually on lobbying the EU, an increase of 50% from 2025. "All in all," warn its authors, "we are witnessing corporate lobbyists with bold and increasing powers to influence policy, a public that is largely in the dark about what is happening, and the biggest deregulation wave ever seen in the EU."
Sanchez is right to warn against the dangers of excessive deregulation, and to say that the quality of rules, not just their quantity, is crucial to their effectiveness. But this point actually bolsters the argument for deregulation, by implying that one "good" law is worth more than two "bad" or pointless laws. There are plenty of the former sort within the EU--but there are also lots of the latter type, too. A judicious trim of the bloc's regulatory thicket is long overdue.
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Mark Nayler is a freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain. He writes regularly for The Spectator and Times Literary Supplement and is working on a biography of the philosopher Bryan Magee, due to be published by Bloomsbury (London) in 2028.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/cutting-the-red-tape/
Texas Legislators Urge PUC to Delay Vote on 765-kV Transmission Facilities
AUSTIN, Texas, June 16 -- The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following news release:
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Texas Legislators Urge PUC to Delay Vote on 765-kV Transmission Facilities
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AUSTIN - A group of 43 state lawmakers represented by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) have submitted an amicus brief supporting a motion by American Stewards for Liberty requesting the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to delay its vote on the first segment of the proposed Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan (STEP).
The brief cites research from TPPF's Life:Powered initiative which demonstrates
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AUSTIN, Texas, June 16 -- The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following news release:
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Texas Legislators Urge PUC to Delay Vote on 765-kV Transmission Facilities
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AUSTIN - A group of 43 state lawmakers represented by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) have submitted an amicus brief supporting a motion by American Stewards for Liberty requesting the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to delay its vote on the first segment of the proposed Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan (STEP).
The brief cites research from TPPF's Life:Powered initiative which demonstratesthat there are cost-effective alternatives to building these new transmission lines. TPPF notes that the 765-kV STEP would impose nearly $100 billion in lifetime costs on Texas ratepayers and result in irreversible property losses for thousands of landowners across the state.
"The PUC and ERCOT still have the opportunity to consider alternatives to these costly 765-kV projects," said Brent Bennett, Ph.D., Policy Director of TPPF's Life:Powered initiative. "Texas can ensure better grid reliability by expanding local gas generation and transmission, rather than increased reliance on transporting electricity across the state to manage the problems associated with overbuilding wind and solar."
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Original text here: https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/texas-legislators-urge-puc-to-delay-vote-on-765-kv-transmission-facilities
Southeastern Legal Foundation Files Amicus Brief Challenging CO Clauses That Criminalize Protected Speech
ROSWELL, Georgia, June 16 -- The Southeastern Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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Southeastern Legal Foundation files amicus brief challenging CO clauses that criminalize protected speech
Today, Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), a national nonprofit legal organization dedicated to defending constitutional rights, filed an amicus brief supporting businesses and organizations challenging two provisions of Colorado law that violate the First Amendment by allowing the government to punish speech based solely on whether someone claims it made them feel "unwelcome."
The underlying
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ROSWELL, Georgia, June 16 -- The Southeastern Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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Southeastern Legal Foundation files amicus brief challenging CO clauses that criminalize protected speech
Today, Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), a national nonprofit legal organization dedicated to defending constitutional rights, filed an amicus brief supporting businesses and organizations challenging two provisions of Colorado law that violate the First Amendment by allowing the government to punish speech based solely on whether someone claims it made them feel "unwelcome."
The underlyingcase challenges Colorado's "Unwelcome Clause" and "Unwelcome Advertisement Clause," provisions that prohibit speech if a listener subjectively believes it makes them feel unwelcome based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. SLF filed the brief because Colorado's continuous efforts to silence those who believe in biological sex and reject radical gender ideology has to stop. Colorado has repeatedly used its Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and similar laws to target constitutionally protected speech, particularly in cases involving religious liberty, free expression, and debates surrounding LGBTQ+ issues. Enough is enough.
SLF argues in their brief, "Colorado has a dubious history of trampling First Amendment rights in its pursuit to shield members of the LGBTQ+ community from dissent regarding their lifestyle choices...Colorado does not respect, and indeed tramples on, the free speech rights of those who disagree with its preferred message on LGBTQ+ matters."
SLF President Kim Hermann said, "Colorado has proven time and again that they are willing to enforce laws and acts that explicitly violate the First Amendment in the name of Woke. No one wants anyone to feel unwelcome, but the First Amendment does not disappear simply because someone takes offense. These provisions create an incredibly vague and subjective standard that allows government officials to punish speech based on feelings rather than facts. In America, the government does not get to decide which viewpoints are acceptable and which are not."
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Original text here: https://slfliberty.org/southeastern-legal-foundation-files-amicus-brief-challenging-co-clauses-that-criminalize-protected-speech/
Shareholders Reject Anti-DEI Resolutions by 99%, Again, as 2026 Proxy Season Confirms a Mandate for Diverse Workforces
OAKLAND, California, June 16 -- As You Sow Foundation posted the following news release:
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Shareholders Reject Anti-DEI Resolutions by 99%, Again, as 2026 Proxy Season Confirms a Mandate for Diverse Workforces
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With 43 anti-DEI resolutions filed this season and each that has gone to a vote soundly defeated with roughly 99% of shares opposed, investors have sent boards an unmistakable message: a diverse workforce is a financial asset, and directors need to prioritize the needs of the company over political threats.
EL CERRITO, CALIFORNIA -JUNE 16, 2026 - The verdict of the 2026 proxy season
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OAKLAND, California, June 16 -- As You Sow Foundation posted the following news release:
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Shareholders Reject Anti-DEI Resolutions by 99%, Again, as 2026 Proxy Season Confirms a Mandate for Diverse Workforces
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With 43 anti-DEI resolutions filed this season and each that has gone to a vote soundly defeated with roughly 99% of shares opposed, investors have sent boards an unmistakable message: a diverse workforce is a financial asset, and directors need to prioritize the needs of the company over political threats.
EL CERRITO, CALIFORNIA -JUNE 16, 2026 - The verdict of the 2026 proxy seasonon corporate DEI is in, and it is overwhelmingly supportive of driving growth through programs that promote diverse workforces. According to data summarized by the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 43 anti-DEI shareholder resolutions were submitted through May 31, 2026. Of the 22 resolutions that have been voted on this year, average support is approximately 1%, a continuation of results from 2025. Roughly 99% of shares voted over the two years have rejected demands to dismantle diverse hiring and promotion practices. The remaining resolutions head to annual meetings through June.
Right wing politically motivated proponents in 2026 reframed their proposals from last year with asks including "ROI audits" for inclusion programs and reports on "viewpoint discrimination." According to vote results disclosed in 2026 company filings, at Visa, an "inclusion ROI audit" proposal drew 0.9% support. At Intuit, a request for a report on the return on investment of diversity programs drew 0.8%. At Deere, Disney, Starbucks, Adobe, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and First Citizens BancShares, the results were the same: support between 0.4% and 0.9%. None of these resolutions meet the re-filing threshold and may not be submitted at these companies using these asks.
Results mirrored those from the 2025 proxy season, when shareholders at Disney, Costco, Visa, Apple, Deere, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Levi's, American Express, Coca-Cola, Berkshire Hathaway, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, McDonald's, Amazon, Southern Co., Merck, Netflix, Walmart, Alphabet, American Airlines, Caterpillar, Best Buy, and Mastercard all delivered approximately 99% votes against, effectively endorsing their companies' inclusive hiring and promotion policies.
Boards at every company that received an anti-DEI resolution this and last season, carry a clear mandate from their shareholders. Investors expect their corporate boards to make informed decisions based on objective data that shows hiring and promoting a diverse workforce drives financial outperformance.
"When 99% of your owners tell boards -two years running -that inclusive hiring and promotion practices serve the company's financial interests, their obligation is clear," said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. "In our view, a board that capitulates to outside political pressure and halts these hiring and promotion policies in defiance of 99% of its shareholders is breaching the duty it owes to those shareholders, and its directors should expect no-confidence votes at their next election. We will be watching each company where shareholders voted in support of DEI to ensure their boards follow through."
As You Sow's 2023 Capturing the Diversity Benefit report analyzed 1,641 companies over five years and found statistically significant correlations between greater workforce diversity and financial outperformance on eight key metrics: enterprise value growth rate, free cash flow per share, income after tax, long-term growth mean, 10-year price change, mean return on equity (ROE), return on invested capital (ROIC), and 10-year total revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Shareholders large and small have absorbed that evidence, and their votes reflect it.
And the evidence is about to get stronger. On July 23, 2026 [AB1], As You Sow will release its updated Diversity Benefit report, expanding the analysis to 1,676 companies over nine years (2016-2024). "The updated report which now looks at over 2 million data points shows and even greater correlation of diversity to financial outperformance," said report author Meredith Benton, Founder of Whistle Stop Capital and workplace culture program consultant to As You Sow. "The data has been consistent in showing a positive relationship between manager diversity and corporate growth, which makes the recent discussion by the EEOC about reducing disclosure requirements more worrisome; this data is a part of the mosaic that investors need to identify strong companies."
The message of the 2026 proxy season is clear: Diversity is not a liability to be managed, it is a dividend to be captured. The anti-DEI campaign has been tested in a democratic forum where every investor got a vote, and it was rejected almost unanimously, two years in a row, at almost a hundred companies.
As You Sow is the nation's leading shareholder representative, with a 30+ year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. As You Sow addresses a range of issues that affect shareholder value including climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, biodiversity, racial justice, and workplace diversity. See As You Sow's shareholder resolution tracker.
[AB1] Do we have a link to register for the webinar? If not let's get it set up
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Original text here: https://www.asyousow.org/press-releases/2026/6/16/shareholders-reject-anti-dei-resolutions-by-99-again-as-2026-proxy-season-confirms-a-mandate-for-diverse-workforces
Next-Generation Savings Readiness Report: Field Readiness, Implementation Pathways, and Strategic Priorities for Child Savings Opportunities
WASHINGTON, June 16 [Category: Economics] (TNSrpt) -- Prosperity Now (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development) posted the following news release:
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Next-Generation Savings Readiness Report: Field Readiness, Implementation Pathways, and Strategic Priorities for Child Savings Opportunities
A strong foundation for future child savings opportunities already exists. Now it's time to build on it.
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Supported by Citi Foundation, Prosperity Now's recent report,, examines how prepared organizations across the country are to support emerging child and birth-based savings opportunities,
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 16 [Category: Economics] (TNSrpt) -- Prosperity Now (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development) posted the following news release:
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Next-Generation Savings Readiness Report: Field Readiness, Implementation Pathways, and Strategic Priorities for Child Savings Opportunities
A strong foundation for future child savings opportunities already exists. Now it's time to build on it.
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Supported by Citi Foundation, Prosperity Now's recent report,, examines how prepared organizations across the country are to support emerging child and birth-based savings opportunities,including Section 530A accounts.
Drawing on insights from 332 organizations across 45 states, the report assesses field readiness and identifies the guidance, coordination, partnerships, and capacity-building needed to help families and children benefit from emerging savings opportunities and build pathways to long-term prosperity.
Key Findings
* Existing infrastructure provides a strong foundation. Many organizations already have experience in financial coaching, tax preparation, benefits access, family engagement, youth programming, and savings initiatives.
* Readiness is strong, but uneven. While many organizations feel prepared to adapt to new programs, operational capacity varies across the field.
* Community-based organizations are essential. Schools, financial coaches, tax preparation providers, healthcare providers, and other trusted local institutions play an important role in helping families understand and access new opportunities.
* Implementation support is needed. Organizations identified clear guidance, training, technical assistance, implementation tools, and peer learning as top priorities.
* Coordination will determine success. Strong collaboration across community organizations, financial institutions, employers, schools, public agencies, philanthropy, and other stakeholders will be essential.
Beyond assessing readiness, the report provides implementation pathways and action agenda for stakeholders across sectors. The agenda outlines five practical priorities to strengthen implementation capacity, improve coordination, and help emerging child savings opportunities reach the families who stand to benefit most.
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REPORT: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64f22f0478cf70a81b4dc7a9/6a316f526061b90bf6fedefe_Next-Gen%20Savings%20Readiness%20Report.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.prosperitynow.org/news-and-insights/next-gen-savings-readinness-initiative
National Assessment Finds Strong Foundation for Next-Generation Child Savings Opportunities, While Highlighting Need for Implementation Support
WASHINGTON, June 16 [Category: Economics] -- Prosperity Now (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development) posted the following news release:
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National Assessment Finds Strong Foundation for Next-Generation Child Savings Opportunities, While Highlighting Need for Implementation Support
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New report by Prosperity Now finds organizations across sectors are prepared to engage, while identifying the guidance, coordination, and capacity-building needed to help families benefit from emerging savings opportunities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Prosperity Now today released " Next-Generation Savings
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 16 [Category: Economics] -- Prosperity Now (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development) posted the following news release:
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National Assessment Finds Strong Foundation for Next-Generation Child Savings Opportunities, While Highlighting Need for Implementation Support
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New report by Prosperity Now finds organizations across sectors are prepared to engage, while identifying the guidance, coordination, and capacity-building needed to help families benefit from emerging savings opportunities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Prosperity Now today released " Next-Generation SavingsReadiness Report: Field Readiness, Implementation Pathways, and Strategic Priorities for Child Savings Opportunities," a national assessment examining how prepared community organizations, financial institutions, schools, public agencies, employers, and other stakeholders are to support emerging child and birth-based savings opportunities.
Supported by Citi Foundation, the report draws on a national survey of more than 300 organizations across 45 states, focus groups with practitioners, and a broader landscape analysis to assess field readiness and identify the systems, partnerships, and investments needed to support successful implementation.
"The organizations closest to families are already doing extraordinary work. They have built trusted relationships, developed deep expertise, and continue to serve their communities despite limited resources and a constantly changing landscape," said Marisa Calderon, President and CEO of Prosperity Now. "This assessment shows that the foundation is already in place. The opportunity now is for funders, intermediaries, and implementation partners to work together to remove barriers, strengthen capacity, and help community partners connect more families with child savings opportunities."
"As new pathways for early-wealth building emerge, it is critical that American households have the tools and resources necessary to access these opportunities," said Kristen Scheyder, Director of Programs, Citi Foundation. "This report offers clear, actionable insights that all of us working in the child savings landscape can draw from as we support low-income families in strengthening financial security and resilience for their children."
Key findings from the report include:
* Existing infrastructure provides a strong foundation for implementation. Organizations across sectors already possess relevant experience in financial coaching, tax preparation, benefits access, family engagement, youth programming, and savings initiatives.
* Organizations are ready to engage, but readiness is uneven. While many respondents expressed confidence in their ability to adapt to new programs, operational preparedness varies significantly across organizations.
* Community-based organizations play a critical role in connecting families to opportunities. Trusted local institutions such as schools, financial coaches, tax preparation providers, and healthcare providers remain essential for helping families understand, access, and navigate new programs.
* Practical implementation support is needed. Organizations consistently identified clear guidance, training, technical assistance, implementation tools, and peer learning opportunities as priorities.
* Coordination will determine success. Participants emphasized that successful implementation will require stronger collaboration among community organizations, financial institutions, employers, schools, public agencies, philanthropies, and other stakeholders.
Beyond assessing current readiness, the report provides an action agenda for stakeholders across sectors. The agenda translates the research findings into five practical priorities designed to strengthen implementation capacity, improve coordination, and help more families benefit from emerging child savings opportunities.
The full report is available here.
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Original text here: https://www.prosperitynow.org/news-and-insights/national-assessment-finds-strong-foundation-for-next-generation-child-savings-opportunities-while-highlighting-need-for-implementation-support
Getty Launches Meditation Podcast, "Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation"
LOS ANGELES, California, June 16 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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Getty Launches Meditation Podcast, "Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation"
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Getty announced today the launch of its first video podcast " OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation," a meditation podcast focused on creating mindful interactions with artwork from its collection.
Hosted by Getty gallery educator Lilit Sadoyan, OMMM is a space for listeners to recover and reflect in a busy world. Released twice weekly, episodes guide listeners in a breathing exercise and meditation, and provide insights
... Show Full Article
LOS ANGELES, California, June 16 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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Getty Launches Meditation Podcast, "Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation"
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Getty announced today the launch of its first video podcast " OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation," a meditation podcast focused on creating mindful interactions with artwork from its collection.
Hosted by Getty gallery educator Lilit Sadoyan, OMMM is a space for listeners to recover and reflect in a busy world. Released twice weekly, episodes guide listeners in a breathing exercise and meditation, and provide insightsabout featured artworks.
The first season includes 12 meditation episodes, each focused on a different artwork from Getty's museum collection. The first episode is available to stream now, focused on Getty's beloved painting "Irises" by Vincent van Gogh. Future episodes include "Waiting" by Edgar Degas, "Starry Night" by Edvard Munch and the Central Garden at the Getty Center, designed by Robert Irwin.
Twelve additional bonus episodes will dive deeper into themes from the artwork or meditation. These conversations feature diverse special guests, including astrologer Chani Nicholas, sleep historian Roger Ekirch, Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto, New York Times dance critic Gia Kourlas, JPL climate scientist Marek Slipski and mountain climber Katie Ives.
"We can all benefit from slowing down, being more present and fostering mindful moments with ourselves, those around us-and especially art," said Lilit Sadoyan, gallery educator at the J. Paul Getty Museum. "OMMM will be a space for audiences to heal, learn and be empowered to embrace mindfulness in their daily lives."
Sadoyan is a museum educator, independent curator and art historian. She has been a Getty gallery educator since 2008 and helps lead initiatives that investigate the impact of mindfulness in museums through programs and workshops, including a national convening on Mindfulness in the Museum. In recent years, she has worked with top scientists and mindfulness practitioners to study the impact of art on our bodies and minds.
"This is Getty's first venture into video podcasts, which we hope allows audiences to connect to our art collection on a deeper level," said Zoe Goldman, podcast producer at the J. Paul Getty Trust. "Whether engaging with OMMM from home or in our galleries, we are happy to create more avenues for experiencing art."
Episodes
Episode 1: Sensory Awareness Meditation with Vincent van Gogh's "Irises"
Take time to notice the subtle sounds, feelings and smells around you with a sensory awareness meditation inspired by one of the best-known works in the Getty collection.
Episode 2: Flowing Water Meditation in Robert Irwin's Central Garden
Visualize your thoughts, worries and stress floating away, like a leaf or petal on a garden stream, in this flowing water meditation inspired by the largest work in the Getty Museum's collection.
Episode 3: Blue Light Visualization with Edvard Munch's "Starry Night"
Bring awareness to the memories, thoughts, and emotions evoked during this blue light visualization inspired by the artist's many uses of the color blue.
Episode 4: Mountain Meditation Inspired by Italy
Feel still and majestic like a mountain in a meditation inspired by Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld's painting "View of the Bridge and Part of the Town of Cava, Kingdom of Naples," which captures a picturesque, verdant scene of the rolling mountains of Southern Italy.
Episode 5: Observe Your Thoughts Like Passing Clouds
Engage with a sense of wonder and bring awareness to your thoughts through this meditation practice inspired by Simon Denis's delicate painting "Study of Clouds with a Sunset near Rome."
Episode 6: Yogic Sleep Meditation with a Rococo Bed
Deeply relax your entire body with a yoga nidra meditation inspired by a heavily decorated and silk-draped 18th-century French bed called a "lit a la polonaise."
Episode 7: Grounding Tree Meditation Inspired by the Forest of Fontainebleau
Slow down time, feel grounded and reset with this nature-focused meditation inspired by Theodore Rousseau's mid-19th-century painting "Forest of Fontainebleau, Cluster of Tall Trees Overlooking the Plain of Clair-Bois at the Edge of Bas-Breau."
Episode 8: Mindful Housework Meditation with "The Laundress"
Pause and be fully present during even your most mundane chores with this mindful cleaning exercise inspired by a French genre painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze.
Episode 9: Your Space in the Universe through a Medieval Astrology Diagram
Feel one with the cosmos as you explore your place in time and space inspired by a 15th-century astrological diagram found in an unusual manuscript.
Episode 10: Calming Tea Meditation with a Still Life
Focus on fully experiencing the moment while you sip on a cup of tea in this relaxing meditation inspired by Jean-Etienne Liotard's "Still Life: Tea Set."
Episode 11: Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise with "The Vexed Man"
Explore how deeply you can relax-by tensing each muscle in your body. This unusual exercise builds on Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's sculpture of a man with an exaggerated facial expression.
Episode 12: Patience Meditation with a Degas Dancer
Slow down and explore your body's experience of patience (and impatience) inspired by "Waiting," Degas' enigmatic pastel drawing.
Learn more about Getty Podcasts and explore ongoing mindfulness gallery tours at the Getty Center, including Mindful Moment in the Museum, Moving Mindfully, The Breathe Tour and Memento Mori.
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Original text here: https://www.getty.edu/news/getty-launches-meditation-podcast-our-museum-mindfulness-meditation
