Mindfulness booklet A toolkit for youth workers
Project “Mind Full Ness” November-December, 2018
Contents About this booklet ...... 3 allaZOYME ...... 3 The project “Mind Full Nest” ...... 4 The situation of youth with migrant background ...... 5 Mindfulness and its benefits...... 7 List of tools that cultivate mindfulness ...... 8 The painting of the dance ...... 8 Creative cleaning ...... 10 Guess who I am ...... 11 Positive feelings sharing ...... 13 Ten special minutes - Our soul connection ...... 14 Cyprus Got Talent (Psychoeducation Through Movement) ...... 15 Mindful Nose ...... 17 The sea ...... 20 Connect with the souls – Soul’s connections – Inner souls ...... 22 Poetry ...... 23 Storm ...... 23 Bird ...... 24
About this booklet
The present booklet aims at enhancing the youth workers’ work with young people, especially the ones who are vulnerable, coming from a migrant/refugee background. The booklet is a result of the project “Mind Full Nest” which was organized by the informal group “allaZOYME”.
After discussing the situation of the young people with migrant/refugee background in Europe and conceptualizing mindfulness, the booklet offers a number of tools that can be done with young people. The tools represent mostly workshops with activities which the participants of the training course developed with a lot of love. In the end of the booklet, you can read 2 poems created also during the training course.
We want to express our deep gratitude to Elena Vasiliadou for editing this booklet.
Enjoy it!
Informal group “allaZOYME” “allaZOYME” is the name we chose to give to our informal group of young people. Grammatically, “allaZOYME” derives from three Greek words, the one embracing the other. In reality it means “we change” but at the same time it encompasses in the change the idea of innovation and the idea of progressing. It illustrates that by experiencing new concepts, we change towards a sustainable, coherent and evolving living. “allaZOYME” is about moving forward, learning and choosing to pursue positive changes in our lives that will facilitate our development, improvement and progress. Every change is enriching. Yet “allaZOYME” does not imply progress of me and you only. It is about the whole society we live in. It is about envisioning a better world and striving to achieve it collectively.
Our group is inspired by the idea of enriching changes in society and is here to help achieve it. Our focus is young people because we believe in their potential and capacities of being the drivers of social change. At the moment the group involves 30 young people with diverse age range. Our team is composed of experience youth workers but also very young people with dreams and vision for the future.
Find more about us on our facebook page1.
The project “Mind Full Nest”
The project “Mind Full Nest” was a 7-days training course that took place in Pissouri, Cyprus, between 25/11/2018 and 03/12/2018. The project was hosted by the informal group of young people “allaZOYME” and brought together 27 youth workers from Cyprus, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Czech Republic.
The aim of the project was to inspire youth workers and to equip them with competences and methods needed to work in a meaningful and impactful way with hard to reach youth (especially migrants/refugees/asylum seekers) by using mindfulness interventions.
The project’s objectives were:
- To gain knowledge on how to use a diverse range and innovative non-formal methods when working with youth, especially the ones hard to reach.
- To develop skills in using holistic education in order to achieve more impactful transformations in the lives of youth for reaching their full potential.
- To be inspired and motivated to improve their work with youth.
- To create sustainable follow-up action plans that will enhance the impact on hard to reach youth’s lives both on local and European level.
The project envisioned to create a “nest” for the young refugees/migrants in Europe, by empowering their development and social inclusion. It infused into youth work the innovative element of mindfulness which can significantly maximize the impact of youth work on youth with fewer opportunities. By the end of the project, youth workers were
1 https://www.facebook.com/Allazoyme-221426908268771/ professionally more developed and equipped with competences and methods needed for empowering to the hard to reach youth.
You can see the video of the project here2
The project was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.
The situation of youth with migrant background
Each year, millions of people are forced to leave their homes and look for refuge. Globally in 2017, there were 22.5 million refugees and 2.8 million asylum-seekers as stated in the UNHCR 2016 Global Trends Report. More than one million refugees and migrants have made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean into Europe in 2016, a situation that stayed similar in 2017. This movement establishes one of the largest movements of displaced people through European borders since the Second World War.
Nevertheless, the migration process confronts them with challenges and confers to them certain vulnerabilities upon their arrival in a new country. These vulnerabilities include discrimination poor working conditions, lack of access to basic social services such as health, lack of social protection, etc. Therefore, the migration experience can end up representing either an opportunity or a risk for youth and can either lead to their development or the very opposite.
EU cares a lot for the inclusion and empowerment of refugees/migrants. In 2016, EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid gave more than 87% of its annual budget, to projects helping the forcibly displaced and their host communities in order to meet the most pressing needs of these extremely vulnerable populations, protect and support them.
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOjD0s0Mios Worldwide, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum as mentioned in the publication “Integrating refugees through youth work activities”
People and especially youth migrate for a plethora of reasons. The decision to migrate is frequently related to important life transitions, such as obtaining higher education, finding and starting work, or getting married. Even worse, numerous youth are forced to migrate to escape poverty, violence, conflict, or are displaced due the effects of war or climate change. As such, youth are heavily represented in migration for humanitarian reasons, including as refugees, asylum-seekers and as unaccompanied minors. Nevertheless, as mentioned in several reports, for some youth, especially young women and those in irregular situations, the migration process confronts them with specific challenges and confers to them certain vulnerabilities upon their arrival in a new country. These vulnerabilities include discrimination based on gender, migration status, ethnicity or religion; poor working conditions, lack of access to basic social services such as health, risks associated with sexual and reproductive health, and lack of social protection. Therefore, the migration experience can end up representing either an opportunity or a risk for youth and can either lead to their development or the very opposite.
According to the UN’s newly adopted development framework, Agenda 2030, Member States have agreed to “ensure safe, orderly and regular migration involving full respect for human rights and the humane treatment of migrants regardless of migration status, of refugees and of displaced persons”. EU cares a lot too about the inclusion and empowerment of refugees/migrants. In 2016, EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid gave more than 87% of its annual budget, to projects helping the forcibly displaced and their host communities in order to meet the most pressing needs of these extremely vulnerable populations, protect and support them.
The EU Council acknowledges that youth work plays an important role in preventing social exclusion and enhancing social inclusion. Youth work offers developmental spaces and opportunities for all youth. Effective youth work and youth initiatives seek to empower youth and encourage their active participation in society. It equips them with skills, competences and experiences for life, thereby maximising the protective factors which enhance the development, well-being, autonomy and social inclusion of all youth, including those with fewer opportunities.
Youth work can play a significant role in changing the status quo in the field of social inclusion of youth with refugee/migrant background. The Youth Work Report 2014 states that “youth work embeds broader, more societal aims, such as participation in democratic societies, prevention and social inclusion and cohesion”. Moreover, it identifies that youth work can result in a range of positive effects for youth which enable them to enhance competences, reinforce their network and social capital, improve particular behaviors and develop positive relationships, elements fundamental for the social inclusion and development of youth with migrant/refugee background.
In this context, the project “Mind Full Nest” was born aiming to equip youth workers with competences and methods needed to work in a meaningful and impactful way with hard to reach youth (especially migrants/refugees/asylum seekers) by using mindfulness interventions.
Mindfulness and its benefits Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.3
3 https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/mindfulness/definition As stated in the research report “Evidence for the impact of mindfulness on children and young people”, mindfulness interventions improve the mental, emotional, social and physical health and wellbeing of youth. It reduces stress, anxiety, reactivity and bad behaviour. It improves self-esteem, self-awareness, empathy and brings out the ability to manage behaviour and emotions. Mindfulness can contribute directly to the development of cognitive and performance skills too. It can help youth to pay greater attention, be more focused, think in more creative ways, improve their academic skills and have more friends. All these constitute the reasons we want to carry out this project, believing that its outcomes will result in positive changes for the empowerment and inclusion of vulnerable youth.
List of tools that cultivate mindfulness
During the training course, participants had the opportunity to create tools that stimulate mindfulness. These tools cover different dimensions of the topic and can be applied with young people. They are considered though, that they have a bigger impact on disadvantaged youth.
The painting of the dance By Katarzyna Krzysik, Katarzyna Burak-Pearce and Anna Sinko
The objectives:
1. Τo raise awareness of the human body and its connection to space and the surroundings. 2. To realize that one can simultaneously be the art and the artist. He/she can create his/her own art and also interfere and create one and united common painting.
Duration (time): 30 minutes. Space arrangements: Outdoors: on a hard surface (concrete or asphalt).
Materials required: Colourful chalk (at least 1 piece per person, music device: computer/ phone to play music from, speaker.
Other important information: The following songs will be played during the workshop: Song 1: “I thought I was an alien” by Soko, song 2: “Run boy run” by Woodkid, song 3: “Safe and sound” by Capitan Cities, song 4: “Malo” by Bebe, song 5: “My baby boy” by the Angelcy.
Flow of the workshop:
1. Distribute the chalk among the participants. 2. Ask the participants to find a spot on the ground and sit. They need to stay more or less at the same place without interfering with others. According to the flow of the song, they can draw with the chalk on the ground. Let them draw for the duration (time) of the two songs. (Song 1: “I thought I was an alien” by Soko, song 2: “Run boy run” by Woodkid) 3. Once the first 2 songs are finished, tell the participants to stand up and start moving a little bit more, but again without leaving their spot. 4. As they listen to the music, they can draw not only on the ground but also in the space in different dimensions and ways. They have two more songs to do so. (Song 3: “Safe and sound” by Capital Cities, song 4: “Malo” by Bebe) 5. Moving on. While listening to the next song, invite the participants to widen their space of movement as they start entering the space of others. Ask them to to move freely within the provided space. 6. Now, they can enrich the others’ drawings. Ask the participants to draw on each other’s drawings and on their own. For the whole duration they need to stay in the area of the drawings. Tell them that they are both the art and the expression. (song 5: “My baby boy” by the Angelcy) 7. Turn off the music. 8. Tell the participants to find their own melody. For example, it can be their favourite song. Invite them to find another spot, outside the drawing’s area and stay there. They can sing their melody out loud or hum it. They can act freely. 9. Thank the participants for this work and invite them to come back in a circle. Open a discussion circle in which the participants are invided to share their experience based on the following questions:
- How do you feel? How was this experience for you?
- How was your process?
- What have you discovered/found out/learned?
- What surprised you?
- What are you taking from this activity?
Creative cleaning By Nuno Vinhas, Karolina Matochová, Sevdalina Kovarova Kostadinova
The objectives:
1. To clean the nature. 2. To clear the mind.
Duration (time): 40 minutes.
Space arrangements: Outdoors in a natural space with a big area (to build a piece of art in it).
Materials required: Garbage and natural objects, both found and gathered in nature.
Other important information: The workshop will be in silence.
Flow of the workshop: 1. Tell the participants that this activity is about cleaning the nature along with the mind. Give them the following key-words in order to immerse deeper into the activity: transformation, purity, clear mind, creativity. 2. Inform the participants to remain silent during the activity. 3. Invite the participants to take a walk in nature and collect natural objects and garbage. Once they collect these objects, they should bring them to the empty space provided in the nature. This empty space will function as the canvas and the task is to make an artistic creation with the natural objects and the garbage based on the above mentioned key-words. 4. Invide the participants to create a land art alone or in cooperation with others. They are allowed to move the objects of other people in order to create or improve their art, however this should be done with gentleness and kindness. 5. After the completion of the art piece, invite the participants to visit the land art and see what the other people have done. Give them some time to reflect on that. 6. Allow some time for discussion and sharing impressions and thoughts. 7. In the end of the activity encourage the participants to return the natural objects back to nature and throw the garbage to the dustbin.
Guess who I am By Mirta Kučić
The objectives:
1. To become aware of other living creatures and discover new words and concepts from the animal world. 2. To familiarize the participants with animals, sea animals and other beings. 3. To solve both the easy and the difficult riddles. 4. To have fun and laugh.
Duration (time): 30 minutes.
Space arrangements: Indoors or outdoors.
Materials required: Post-it papers and pencils (one per person).
Other important information: The game is suitable for 2 or more players. The game is played in pairs or in bigger groups.
Flow of the workshop:
1. Ask the participants to sit on the floor, in a circle. 2. Ask the participants to find their pair. 3. Invite each participant to pose the riddle for the other player, by writing an animal's name or attempting to draw it on the paper. (With young children it is recommended to prepare the drawings before the game. It is good to write the animals name under the drawing so that the children can easily remember the term and form.) 4. Each participant sticks the paper on the forehead of the other player. 5. The player with the paper on his/her forehead starts asking YES/NO questions like: "Do I have legs?”, "Am I a land animal?”, “Do I have horns?” The goal is to guess which animal is drawn or writtern on the paper. The rules do not have to be strict. We are here to have fun.
Positive feelings sharing By Alberto Cervera Fenollosa
The objectives:
1. To share appreciation and positive feedback. Positive Psychology has shown how positive emotions are linked with numerous benefits including improved
health, wellbeing, longevity, and a greater quality of life. 2. To increase the self-esteem of every participant. By doing this exercise written and anonymous, the effect will persist longer, since they can keep the papers and read them at home when they feel sad.
Duration (time): 10 minutes
Space arrangements: Indoors: in a room. Outdoors: in the nature.
Materials required: Before the session starts, every participant should have a little box or space in front of him and 25 small papers.
Other important information: It should be mentioned before starting that the activity is anonymous but if wanted, the name can be added in the upper part of the note. However, this is optional.
Flow of the workshop:
1. Distribute the papers among the participants. 2. Tell the participants to find their space in the room. They should either have their own/personal space in the room or gather in a circle. 3. Ask the participants to write a positive feedback to the others. It can be a word, a sentence, a drawing. It could be an expression of: a feeling, an emotion, a nice conversation from the previous day that inspired them, a good advise that they received from this person, a moment in which this person made them feel good, something that they admire from this person, something that they like from his/her outfit (for example: nice glasses, nice shoes…), some physical attribute (nice eyes, beautiful voice, sweet smile) or just some motivation sentence, if for example you know that this person is dreaming about reaching a goal (“I know you will get this job, pass this exam!, …find a place in which you will be happy!”). 4. Eight minutes later, invite half of the group to stand up and leave the papers in the others boxes. Then, ask the same from the rest of the group.
Ten special minutes - Our soul connection By Gheorghe-Bogdan Ploscaru
The objectives:
1. To build a strong connection amongst the participants of the group.
Duration (time): 10-15 minutes.
Space arrangements: Indoors: in a dark place/room or in a room with not much light.
Materials required: Speakers and love.
Other important information: This is a particular activity which involves physical touch. Make sure that your participants are ready to do this activity or adapt it the way you want.
The following songs will be played during the workshop: Rising Appalachia “You and I Are Falling, You and I Are Free”
Flow of the workshop:
1. Ask the participants to form 2 rows. Each participant should be face to face with the other person in front of him/her, and on his/her knees. The participants should be close to each other, touching their sidebodies. They also need to keep their eyes closed for the whole duration. As they approach the people in front of them, they can join their hands. 2. The purpose is to get in physical contact with the participants using hugs. 3. Pass behind each participant and use the above movements in order to make them feel good vibes of energy and love. 4. Get them to move with a rhythm and try to form a whirled shape using their bodies so they can get even closer to each other. 5. In the end, the whole group should be embraced and feel loved. 6. In the end, invite them to open their eyes and share few words about this experience.
Cyprus Got Talent (Psychoeducation Through Movement) By Styliani Eleni (Stellalena) Nalmpanti
The objectives:
1. To develop an attitude, concrete skills and awareness. 2. To provide stimuli through movement to the participants, to help them realize how the main “mindtraps” work and the impact they have in our daily life. 3. To gain psychosomatic connection. 4. To enhance intuition. 5. To increase self-awareness using feelings that come up from the movement (not by thoughts as usually happens). 6. To promote Mindfulness.
Duration (time): 1 hour
Space arrangements: Indoors: in a room. Materials required: Speakers.
Other important information: No
Flow of the workshop:
1. We are in “CYPRUS’s got talent”! First auditions… 2. Split the participants into in 2 groups. 3. Ask the first group to choose a place in the room and then ask the second group to choose their place on the other side of the room. 4. Invite the participants to close their eyes. 5. Ask the first group to show “nothing” with a body movement. 6. Ask the second group to show “All” with a body movement. 7. Then, ask the two groups to exchange places. 8. Ask the participants of both groups to come in the middle of the room. 9. Invite the participants to start moving their bodies according to how they free. Ask them to move in a response to the words “ALL” and “NOTHING” (instrumental music playing in the background). 10. Invite the participants to find their place in the room and ask them to close their eyes, once again. 11. With his/her eyes closed, ask each participant to reflect to the words “Small disaster” by moving his/her body in any way hi/she wants. Then, we ask each participant to reflect on the words “Huge disaster”, once again by moving his/her body. 12. Invide the participants to observe the difference between the way their body responds to “Small disaster” and “Huge disaster” as they act out this feeling by dancing. (instrumental music playing in the background). 13. Ask a participant to demonstrate a split. Then, ask the participants to do a split. “How do you feel about your own split? Please show us how you feel about it with a dance of your choice”. 14. Continue by saying in a strict tone: “You should have done the split perfectly, but most of you didn’t! How do you feel about yourselves? Show your feelings by using body expressions” (dramatic music playing in the background). 15. Ask the participants to do a happy dance (sad music playing in the background). 16. Again, ask the participants to dance happily (happy music playing in the background). 17. Invite the participants to to feel the difference between the two situations. 18. Invite the participants to dance according to the choreography they learned during the previous days, for the performance. Then, ask them to do it again. And again. And again. And again… 19. Ask the participants to dance (classical ballet-like, Russian Squat Dance folklore, Hip-Hop and death metal music playing in the background). 20. Ask the participants to gather in a circle, holding each other’s hands as they dance together. 21. We take out one after the other and we finish by telling them that they all got through to the next phase. They‘re going to be on the live shows! 22. Thank the participants for this work and invite them gather in a circle. Open a discussion circle in which the participants are invided to share their experience based on the following questions:
- How do you feel right now?
- Any ideas about the meaning of the activity?
- How could this activity be related to your daily life?
- What are the connection between the activity and the “mindtraps”?
Mindful Nose By Nuno Felipe Neves
The objectives:
1. To raise awareness about the sense of scent 2. To become more mindful of the physical body 3. To feel relaxed 4. To experience self-compassion and feel empowered
Duration (time): 1 hour
Space arrangements: Indoors: in a room with natural light (play some mantra music) or outdoors: in the nature (sounds of nature).
Materials required: Biologic Essential oils such as vetiver, lavender, rosemary, peppermint, incense, palmarosa, bergamot, patchouli, sandalwood, ylang-ylang, basil, lemon, orange, grapefruit, eucalyptus, cinnamon, tea tree, ciprest, niaouli, verbena. Mats, blankets and warm socks.
Other important information: No.
Flow of the workshop:
1. Use soft sage to cleanse the room, if indoors. 2. Ask the participants to take off their shoes and gather in a circle. 3. Invite the participants to start a conscientious breathing. Inhale trough nose and exhale trough mouth for three times. 4. Ask the participants to slightly bend their knees. 5. Invite the participants to start breathing. Ask them to breath in and breath out as they start shaking the body while creating a soft sound as air coming out of the mouth. (During shaking, the feet should remain on the ground). 6. Ask them to repeat three more times and really to let the entire body relax. 7. Once the shaking exercise is finished, invite the participants to use both hands to give some claps on the entire body, starting from the feet to the shoulders. 8. Place the oils in the center of the circle (oils should be protected from sun light), and invite the participants to let themselves to be attracted to one essential oil without checking at the name (your energy will choose the oil). 9. Invite the participants to close their eyes and inhale the chosen oil twelve times. Inhale from the nose, sustain, and exhale from the mouth. Explain that the molecule of the oils will act on the limbic system, which is the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses. During the inhalation, ask the participants to observe where the oil travels through the body and what memories trigger. 10. Ask the participants to open their eyes and share some of their experiences on this aromatic regression. 11. Ask if anyone got free of body pain, if someone had a more painful memory and wants to share with the group. (Most of the experiences will go back to teenage or childhood.) 12. Invite people to go deeper into something they didn’t quite forgive about themselves and change the chosen oil with the person on their right side. 13. Invite the participants to close their eyes and inhale the new oil for twelve times. Inhale from nose, sustain, and exhale from the mouth. During the inhalation, ask the participants to observe where the oil travels through the body and what memories trigger. 14. Once the participants recognize which memory triggers and needs forgiveness, ask them to repeat in silence: “I (my name) love myself and forgive myself for (this action) I acted the only way I knew by that time and conscience.” Repeat for two more times. 15. Invite the participants, still with their eyes closed, to repeat with an open voice: “I am what I am, And God is with me (here god can be any god, or nature, or spirituality), I am light, I am love, I am abundance.” 16. Invite the participants to open their eyes and share their experiences with the rest of the group.
The sea By Imola Antal
The objectives:
1. To build a strong connection amongst the participants of the group. 2. To explore the senses through touch and movement on external impulses. 3. To experience giving and receiving. 4. To embody the nature elements and bond with nature.
Duration (time): 1 hour
Space arrangements: Indoors: in a room (only first part) or outdoors: by the sea. (First part can be done in any location, indoors as well, using the sound of the sea on recording. For the second part, nature exploration outdoors is needed.)
Materials required: A bell with a gentle sound to indicate the ending of the activity. Music device: player and speaker for sea sound.
Other important information: No.
Flow of the workshop:
1. Split the participants into groups of three people according to their choice (recommended to choose people they know better). In each group, one person should stand in the middle (the receiver) and the other two should stand on each side (the givers). The activity is best done outdoors, in nature by the sea. Otherwise, music of sea/waves can be played in the background. It is a non- verbal exercise. 2. In each group, ask the receiver to close his/her eyes and the two givers to start giving gentle touch/impulses with the palms on the receiver’s body, according to what they think the receiver would enjoy to experience. The touch is a moment of local gentle pressure without sliding/moving the hand on the body. After each touch, hands should be moved away from the receiver’s body. The givers collaborate and provide the impulses, in parallel, on different places of the body. 3. Invite the receiver to allow the touches/impulses and to let the external sounds of nature and the waves of the sea move his/her body. Ask him/her to explore how these sensations travel through their body. 4. After three minutes of giving these impulses, the givers should stop moving. With eyes closed, the receiver should continue to move for a minute, being influenced by the remaining sensation in the body following the touch he/she received. The givers should stay in close proximity containing the space and making sure the receiver stays safe. 5. Ask the receiver to open his/her eyes. 6. All three participants in each group should experience the receiver’s role. For this to happen, participants should change roles. 7. Invite the participants to go outside, individually, to explore the surrounding natural environment. Still relying on the awakened senses from the first exercise, ask the participant to connect with different elements of nature and allow these elements to influence and shape his/her body into movement. 8. Ask the participants to approach nature with curiosity: plants, stones, earth, feel the wind, hear the sounds. Ask them to move their body/dance as if they were that element. (Give the participants time to explore: 10-15 minutes.) 9. Ask the participants to gather in a circle. 10. Invite the participants to choose either one element or a special moment they had experienced throughout their exploration and share it with the rest of the group through movement and maybe some words. 11. Open a discussion circle in which the participants are invited to verbally share their experience on both exercises (the touches and nature exploration) based on the following questions:
- How did you feel?
- What was significant?
- What did you enjoy more, giving or receiving?
- How does it apply in your everyday life? - Does this experience inspire you to do/act anything differently in the future? (Give the participants time to reflect and share: 5-10 minutes.)
Connect with the souls – Soul’s connections – Inner souls By Eva Christodoulou
The objectives:
1. To connect with yourself. 2. To express yourself. 3. To connect with others, without verbal commuinication.
Duration (time): 45 minutes.
Space arrangements: Indoors, in a big room suitable for moving
Materials required: Speakers, candles, mats.
Other important information: Create a cozy environment.
Flow of the workshop:
1. Invite the participants to start walking within the space and start connecting with their inner self. 2. Ask the participants to close their eyes and walk softly. 3. Ask the participants to try to sense the others walking around, still with their eyes closed. 4. Ask the participants to stop moving for a few minutes. Breathe in from the nose and breathe out from the mouth. 5. Invite the participants to start dancing alone or to interact with others, as they follow the rhythm. (Four songs with ecstatic music playing in the background.) 6. Ask the participants to slow down. 7. Invite the participants to start walking. As they walk, ask them to make eye contact with the others until they find their partner. (slow music playing in the background) 8. Once the participants are in pairs, ask them to find their place within the circle and sit down. They should be facing each other. 9. Invite the pairs to start making eye contact. Let them spend 5 minutes to look in each other’s eyes, in silence. 10. Invite the pairs to hug, heart to heart. 11. Demonstrate the “right” way to hug with the help of a volunteer. 12. Invite the participants to start giving hugs to everybody as they follow the “right” way to do it. 13. Facilitate a reflection discussion in the whole group.
Poetry
Storm By Imola Antal Bartalis
Ribbons of silence stretch tight around me, Heavy wings hanging, They point towards the Earth: That's where your answers will be.
Ribbons of silence stretch to a breaking point, Confining the beast in a cage. The storm has arrived now, To tare down the walls that I won't.
Bird By Imola Antal Bartalis
There's a bird in my chest, She's frightened. Blinded by our light, Her fragile body crashed too many times Against the mirror you hold.
Tiny bird, Carries the weight of a leaden heart. Yet, on a touch she surrenders, Turning into floating feather, graceful dancer Sustained by a breath.
Gently, She sews back her wings On a branch of illusion, Ready to fly out over and over again. It's her only way to be.