On Thursday 26th May, the children and youth workers from across the synod gathered for a day of reflecting, resting and retreating together. Ben Harper, from Space to Breathe UK joined us for the majority of our time together and led us in considering how to best look after our wellbeing in the everyday.
The sky was blue and the early sun was shining as we all travelled to West Melton URC to be together. The tea and coffee was prepared and good biscuits were out and soon the room was filled with chat, smiles and laughter as we gathered, re-introduced ourselves and began to settle into our day of retreat. To begin, we read psalm 147 and then we were invited to share and to pray for the things that we were thankful to God for (we were thankful for cows and cheese that morning!)
It was then over to Ben who introduced us to the mental health continuum and asked us to reflect on our own wellbeing. He then led us to consider what was named as the ‘soul’ and we spent the rest of the time with Ben exploring how our ‘soul’ connected with ourselves, with other people, and with God, and all the time thinking about how our experiences impacted on our wellbeing. There were some activities to help us think more clearly and deeply along the way; including identifying our key values (and needs) and our support networks.
Lunch arriv
ed and we took one hour to eat and to have fellowship together. A couple of the group had to eave to get back for their church groups and other commitments but those of us who remained shared a story together and had some time to discuss, share and respond playfully to what we had heard.
Overall it was special to be together. It was great to hear from Ben, and we would have loved to have heard more. We will meet together again in the Autumn.
Space to Breathe UK, are an organisation that seek to offer wellbeing support and practical tools to enable all people to flourish in their everyday life. To find out more, please click the link.