A mindful journey

Objectives

Living in a new country can lead to situations of uncertainty, frustration, stress or pressure. This exercise can help learning how to deal with these feelings.

Material

• Large sheets of paper
• Crayons and/or other drawing materials

Instructions

The participants are led on a mindful journey. The facilitator should make sure that the group is not disturbed (turn off mobile phones, put a “do not disturb” sign on the door). All participants sit in a circle on chairs. Participants should sit in a relaxed position. Those who like can close their eyes or lower their gaze.

Possible suggestions and questions:

• Take a moment and think about when and where you last felt good. What helps you to feel good, are there people or situations that make you feel good?
• What do you do to relax? What helps you to regain your strength?
• Are there situations that annoy you, that do not make you feel good?
• What might the place look like where you draw energy and strength from, what colour is it, how big is it? If you could smell it, what would it smell like?

Important: There should be small breaks between the impulses so that the participants can develop thoughts, ideas and feelings about the topic. It is better to go through this part a little too slowly than too quickly. Afterwards, participants are asked to open their eyes and take a few deep breaths.

Then the participants are asked to take a piece of paper and pens. The task is to put on paper the images that came to their mind during the exercise. They can do this in different ways: Painting, drawing, writing, etc. Those who do not want to draw can write down what they experienced during the exercise. Allow participants to take notes in their native language.