Kindfulness with English for Action
Last week we had the joy and honour of spending the evening with some beautiful souls, including both service users and staff, from English For Action (EFA). EFA is a charity which provides English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses for adult migrants in communities across London.
Their vision is to enable everyone to participate in and help create a just and equal society, regardless of where they are from. And their purpose is to ensure migrants have access to action-orientated, participatory ESOL classes and community organising opportunities that equip them to bring about fundamental change. For more information about their wonderful work, you can visit their website.
Pleasure, Purpose and Peace
It was a real privilege for us to gift our time and get to know the services users and staff and we came away from the session feeling like our hearts were going to burst! :) These people have experienced traumatic events and experiences and were now building a life for themselves here, with many now in employment.
It was a joy to share practical tools and techniques on how to be kinder to yourself, including how to come into the present moment (which can act as a welcome relief from the past and the future!), and ways to create our own happiness with no money and very little time.
For example;
Reflecting on ‘3 good things’ from the day
Asking yourself the question “What do I need to best take care of myself, even just a little?”
Consciously scheduling in the ‘3 P’s of sustainable happiness’ - Pleasure, Purpose and Peace
We explored how speaking to yourselves as a good friend activates the body’s ‘soothe system’, and how we can be both ‘the critic and the criticised’ OR ‘ the soother and the soothed’.
Did you know that the way we speak to ourselves will activate either our body's threat system or our soothing system? It can!
So speaking to ourselves as we would a good friend (as best we can) is an easy way to have our own back and be kind and gentle with ourselves.
Because when life is hard already, let's be extra mindful not to attack ourselves, too!
“I wasn't really into all of this ‘self-love stuff’ before…”
It was so heartwarming to hear one participant reveal that, “I wasn't really into all of this ‘self-love stuff’ before, but I feel inspired to be kinder to myself and learn more after this session.”
Other feedback included, “I am going to believe in myself more and talk to myself like I would somebody I care about.” and “My ‘internal weather’ has become less stormy and foggy after the meditation practices”.
It was beautiful to hear the benefits of the session had on the staff too; “I feel calmer and more relaxed and this has been such a helpful reminder to take care of myself and that my happiness is in my own hands”.
The work we do at the Museum always feels joyful and meaningful and we are so grateful that we get to do this with our lives - and this session felt particularly meaningful. It’s immensely hard to think of the suffering that many people all over the world go through, especially the struggle for basic human needs and rights.
It is easy to take for granted all of our blessings and it is so very easy to complain. Our brain's natural negativity bias adds to this, too! :)
So perhaps those of us in the UK can remind ourselves of how blessed we are to live in a country without a war going on. To have food, shelter and clean fresh water from a tap. To speak a language that most other countries have to learn. It’s very easy to take these things for granted!
Let's keep appreciating all we have (as best we can) and keep working towards a kinder and more equal world for all beings :)
Main reflections…
How amazing it is that there are so many amazing charities out there that are helping co-create a happier, kinder and peaceful world.
How meaningful it feels to give your time and volunteer - it’s hard to differentiate who is the giver and who is the receiver .. it all becomes one :)
How important it is to honour the blessings and opportunities we have just by simply being born in a country without war and with opportunities to grow and better ourselves.
That we must all keep doing whatever we can to make the world a happier, kinder, more equal place for all beings.
We are here to help
Giving back to the community is really important to us at the Museum of Happiness. Although we are a tiny not-for-profit social enterprise ourselves, we never want money to be a barrier to people accessing our services. Our events have donation-only ticket options, and we’re always happy to find ways to work with other small community organisations :)
With love and gratitude,
Vicky, Anya and the MOH team x
