Reporting Day 6

​The day started with the usual community service and self-care, followed by the reconnection circle, and we were invited to talk about the impression that the previous, very emotional day left on us, as well as the things each of us would like to experience in the following days. Marcus joined us with the guitar for the singing of "Imagine", as well as the encore of "Study War No More", based on popular demand.

The sessions of the day were facilitated by the participants, who contributed their professional and personal expertise on the broad subject of active listening, giving further opportunities to exchange experiences and strengthen the bonds within the group.

After a short break, Eva presented to us one of the projects she had created. It was a photo publication that dealt with the subject of different aspects of life supplementing each other and, following the presentation, every person expressed a certain feeling on a piece of paper, each of them in different art forms.

Later on, the group played a game following Dylan's guidelines, that ended up being a metaphor for real life, where we tend to strive for the acceptance of the community, many times at the expense of other people's immediate exclusion and unjustified disapproval.

Lunch included the Austrian variation of the Goulash, worthy of the master chef, as always accompanied by alternatives for the vegetarian and vegan participants. For those with a sweet tooth, a large selection of desserts prepared for the cultural evening the night before was also available. 

After the lunch break, Annija organized a group activity regarding group supervising, where people were divided into two same-centered circles. Someone in the inner circle expressed a troubling experience that results in them feeling lost. The rest of the people in the inner circle tried to empathically listen, and give their perspectives on the issue, while the people in the outer circle focused on emotions, needs, resources, and strong points. 

After that, Defne joined in with a couple energizers. The first one was called "Please smile for me", a fun game where the participants mustn't smile. For the second one, participants were divided into pairs and were supposed to mirror their partner's moves, in turns.

After a short break, Eleni organized a workshop about the "7 levels of tension" dealing with acting and emotions in which, after a short presentation, volunteers conducted improv theatre based on Eleni's instructions. Apart from laughter, the session left the participants with a better understanding of emotions and a broader scope of expressions.

Lastly, Marcel did a presentation about "Active Listening", where he explained different tools we can use to become active listeners in a conversation, such as the use of paraphrasing, confrontation, and summarising. This workshop further expanded on the topics presented by the trainers on the previous days.

Following dinner, the group continued to strengthen the bonds established through the emotional sessions of all the days, also sensing that the training course is slowly nearing the end and willing to use the time as intensely as possible.