I discovered yet another new word this week…
Skychology!
Yes, it really is a ‘thing’.
It’s the practice of intentionally looking up at the sky for a few minutes each day, to improve mental health.
The phrase was first coined by phsychologist and wellbeing coach, Paul Conway, in his 2019 study: Skychology – an interpretative phenomenological analysis of looking up at the sky.
Or: Scientific endeavours to understand and operationalise interactions with the sky to enhance wellbeing – Paul Conway, 2019.
Or even more simply, he examined the impact the sky has on our wellbeing.
It began as a study into what people experience when they look up at the sky…
But Conway soon found that there were instant calming effects…
His research found that even in short bursts, purposefully staring at the sky can have an instantly positive effect on our mental state.
When we look at the sky – which is so vast and limitless – we have a sense of awe…
And this has significant potential to benefit our mental health, through its calming and meditative effects.
Today is a particularly good day for looking at the sky…
It’s constantly changing.
Blue one minute…
Cloudy and grey the next.
Just noticing how fast the clouds are moving is fascinating in itself.
But it doesn’t have to just be in the daytime either.
I’ve previously written about the benefits of stargazing.
And I’ve only just discovered there is a meditation practice within Tibetan Buddhism called Sky Gazing, it comes from the Meditation tradition of Dzogchen (a very advanced system of meditation on the deepest, subtlest, foundational levels of mind).
Sky gazing (day or night) is available 24/7.
Even in the middle of a busy city you can look up…
You can visit a park…
Or just go for a walk…
Find a bench or sit on the grass for a few minutes… and just take the time to look at the sky.
If there are clouds see if you can make out faces, or animal shapes…
Take notice of the different colours in the sky or clouds…
Notice if there are birds flying…
Even if you are inside, find a window and look at the sky while you have a tea or coffee…
Sunrise and sunset are another great excuse (if you need one) to look up and notice.
Tate has an article about slow looking (yep, that’s a ‘thing’ too) at art…
Studies have found that visitors to art galleries spend an average of eight seconds looking at each work on display. But what happens when we spend five minutes, fifteen minutes, an hour or an afternoon really looking in detail at an artwork? This is ‘slow looking’. It is an approach based on the idea that, if we really want to get to know a work of art, we need to spend time with it. – Tate.
So why not try slow looking at the sky?
Maybe create your own art by taking photos…
Or painting the sky.
The sky really is the limit…
Ann 🙏