Musings on mindfulness and refugees

Each step of the way with iACT has been a full body yes for me. This little powerhouse of an organization has been on my distant radar for a few years now, but just recently we managed to finally cross paths and link missions.

I was invited to travel to eastern Chad to share mindfulness practices with preschool teachers, cooks, and soccer coaches. A long-time dream was about to come true.

The 28 teachers and cooks we spent three days with came together from two of the northern camps to do their third and final Little Ripples training together.

They had been exposed to mindfulness practices in their previous trainings, and have been regularly incorporating it into their preschool curriculum daily.

On the second day of training, we spent about an hour and a half practicing together, discussing, and sharing. We would do a short sit (or stand, or walk) and then debrief. Some I led, and some the teachers led. I was unsure what to expect. I didn’t know how well it would translate and what would be meaningful and useful to folks in a refugee camp. To say this time together was one of the highlights of my life is an understatement. With each practice we shared, layers fell away and we found ourselves relating more and more deeply and easily. Our experiences of practice were so similar. Our collective willingness to be together with open hearts and minds showed as our eyes became brighter, smiles and laughter came more easily, and there was so much snapping in the circle, signifying agreement and a desire to share from the experience.