Turning away from Facebook

The Well offers serenity in a chaotic world

By David Lyman

“WE’RE LEAVING FACEBOOK,” screamed the photo on The Well’s Facebook page.

Perhaps “scream” is too extreme a word, especially considering that The Well is an organization dedicated to helping people find a quieter and more peaceful approach to life.

The Well isn’t alone in abandoning Facebook. News sources regularly report that millions of subscribers leave Facebook every month. Of course, millions more join, meaning that Facebook remains one of the world’s most-used social media platforms.

But that begs the question: Why would The Well want to abandon a mammoth – and mostly free – source of promotion and information-sharing? The more you know about The Well, the less surprising the decision is.

The Well is the brainchild of author and mind-body educator Stacy Sims.

Stacy Sims

Photo by Tina Gutierrez

“In the late ’90s, I got sober and started Pilates within the same week of one another,” Sims said. The discipline of the 12-step program brought a much-needed element of control to her life. But it wasn’t enough. “The Pilates work helped me recover not just my mind, but my body, too.”

It began a journey that would become far broader and far more probing than she ever imagined.

“I became interested in what are the sorts of things one can do to start to feel more fully engaged in the world.”

So what does all this have to do with Facebook?

In some ways, Facebook exemplifies the sort of influence that Sims has battled against for the past two decades. With the growth of the Internet, especially as powered by smart phones and other gizmos to ensure that we are never far from our music, films and “friends,” it has gotten increasingly difficult for many of us to focus on finding any semblance of balance in our lives.

But Sims was determined to help. She began the True Body Project in 2005. Initially, it was focused on teen girls, helping them be more aware of issues around body, body image, gender and media. Later, she would launch two other meditation-oriented programs, City Silence and Mindful Music Moments.

Mindful Music Moments (MMM) has proven especially successful, recently winning an award for “Best Use of Music in Towns & Cities Under 500,000 Population” from a group called Music Cities Events.

A year ago, Sims brought all three of her groups together under an umbrella organization – The Well. The idea was that each of the three disciplines could enhance the work of the others.

Now you might imagine The Well to be a virtual sanctuary, a place for people to hide from the modern world.

Not so. The Well has many of the same values as its founder. Sims is not a recluse. On the contrary, she is actively linked to the world outside her door. How else to share the messaging of her brands? But she also understands that there are many people “who want to feel better and do well in the world,” in the words of The Well website.

Sims and her collaborators are savvy strategists. In the case of Mindful Music Moments, which is in 170 schools around the country, they wanted to grow the program to include adults. Sims didn’t want to alter the basics of the program. She realized that widening its reach was just a matter of presenting the idea differently.

“Many adults still feel like they couldn’t possibly sit still for three minutes – they have too much to do,” she says. “But when we tell them all they need to do is listen to beautiful music for three minutes, they can do that.”

That is part of what sold Sian Cotton on the idea of bringing MMM into UC Health, where she runs the Integrative Medicine program. She is also director of Integrative Health and Wellness for the University of Cincinnati.

Children in a Mindful Music Moment

In her dual positions, she oversees a variety of programs, including acupuncture, yoga and music therapy, among others.

“But when the pandemic began, we realized how limited we were in our ability to bring these services to patients who were very isolated,” says Cotton. She’d already introduced Mindful Music Moments into

UC Health’s Multiple Sclerosis Suite a year and a half ago. Since MMM isn’t dependent on face-to-face encounters, she wondered if there might be a way to introduce it to the rest of the medical community.

Three months ago, MMM became available online to all employees at UC Health.

“Employees at every level have been pushed to the brink during this past six months,” says Cotton. “The level of burnout was critical. So this was something we could bring to them to help them slow down, even if only for a few minutes.”

Beginning in October, a four-hour video loop of MMM will become an option for all in-patients at the UC Medical Center, piped in through patients’ televisions.

Sims quickly realized that if they could have an MMM channel at UC Health, why not at other places? Senior centers, perhaps. Or senior residences? Perhaps it could even reach into workplaces.

“I think we’re all hungry for conversations that are richer and fuller than the polarizing ones we’re having in social media,” says Sims. “But I think it is beginning to shift. The reason is this toxicity. And it’s not just about Facebook. It’s on Netflix, too. And so many other platforms that are built around the attention-stealing nature of technology. Here’s what I know. When I explain this, there is no one who says ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ ”

And as for missing The Well on Facebook, no need to fret. It will still be on Instagram, Twitter and at its website, www.thewell.world.

Virtual art camp for kids 6-12

The Well, ArtWorks and Wave Pool are partnering with more than 40 Greater Cincinnati artists and organizations to offer after-school and Saturday programming for kids ages 6-12 through Camp cARTwheel, a virtual arts and cultural camp.

Camp cARTwheel runs Nov. 2 through Dec. 19.

Campers join camp counselors and visiting artists for a facilitated camp experience or explore their creativity on their own with the self-guided experience. Register by Oct. 17.

www.artworkscincinnati.org