El corazón contento (2017), Utopía #3, Ciudad de México MX

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

When I arrived at the gallery in Mexico City, I was surprised to notice next door a shop called El corazón contento (The happy heart). The performance I intended to present was indeed an experimentation with actions and a technique I came across in my positive psychology studies, called Quick Coherence® Technique developed by the HeartMath Institute.

After my actions - which meant to draw everyone's attention on conscious breathingI - I offered each participant a small plastic bag containing a white puzzle piece.

I invited participants to recall a memory associated with a profound feeling of happiness, then to breathe into the bag while mentally visualising the memory’s scene with their eyes closed, imprinting the memory and the positive emotion onto the puzzle piece through their breath. Upon concluding the exercise, we carefully sealed the bags, holding the breath inside. What remains is a tangible reminder of the memory, one we can more easily access during difficult moments, creating a metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel.

This exercise fosters a state of heart coherence, which positively impacts both body and mind, helping us navigate life’s challenges with greater resilience.

Photo Beate Linne