When we are not organizing our own events or workshops, we occasionally visit events of other organizations and projects that contribute to mental health awareness. We spent one Sunday afternoon in November at a meeting of the Anhelo project, where, among others, the co-founder of Nevyhasni Barča spoke.
With the desire to realize all their dreams, to change the world for the better, to get involved and spread goodness around them, the female lawyers founded Michaela Skřivánková a Kateřina Nováková project Anhelo. The project consists of podcast POVwhere they chat with experts and inspiring guests who can inspire you on your journey to self-discovery and a more stable life by sharing their life story and activities. In one of the episodes have accepted the invitation and David Fiedler a Barca Hailand.
Stops and inspiration
On Sunday, November 10, the girls held their first mental health event. It was held at the business hub Opera a short walk from Old Town Square. Upon arrival, the participants were able to start informal introductions, prompted by bingo, during which they asked others about their wishes, what they had been praised for recently, etc. Before the inspirational talks, we calmed down and turned our attention inward with a guided meditation Alena Rubesova.
Afterwards, the coach and owner of the marketing agency Tereza Čierníkováwho talked about the importance of personal adjustment. She reminded us how we can take something good out of an objectively negative situation and how to maintain a positive mindset. Just because you step in shit on the way to work or school in the morning doesn't have to ruin your whole day. "We long for big quantum leaps, but we don't realize that our days are made up of small steps. Let's be kinder to ourselves and not set the bar too high, which we tend to raise even higher. What if we had more smaller bars? Every step, every day counts."
Work-life balance, the buzzword of our time
She talked about the role that work plays in our lives Bára Hailandová. Not only do we spend time at work dedicated to it, but we often deal with it (at least in our heads) in our free time. "How we feel at work has a big impact on how we feel outside of work," she said, undermining the sense of the oft-mentioned work-life balance. We don't have work on one side and life on the other. Work, which is a natural part of it, we can enjoy. We need to seek an overall life balance.
Feelings, support and prevention
Psychologist and therapist Karolína Spilkováwho works at the How to Soul Institute and also collaborates with Nevyhasni, focused on relationships, why they are important and how to approach them. She talked about sensitivity Alena Wehle, experiential educator, therapist, creator of blog and instagram profile @jsem_citlivka and author of the book Citlivka. She shared why it is important to experience and be aware of what we are feeling and how listening to our feelings is crucial for our lives.
A psychology student shares her personal experience with anxiety and panic attacks Kristína Tomanková, who has dedicated herself to mental health and the destigmatization of this topic on her instagram profile @byt.takeaway. "Therapy and support from my parents and friends helped me a lot. It's important to seek help and not be alone with your problem. It also helped me to allow myself time and educate myself. Two years ago, I told myself that my anxieties were no longer making my life miserable. I had to actively work on myself for eleven years."
How can we look after our mental health? That's the question she was trying to answer Nikol Fojtu, psychology student, coach and author of the instagram profile @psychokoutek. "Don't look for complexity in prevention." Everyday little things and smaller steps are also important in prevention.
Freedom and responsibility
A refreshment break was followed by a debate on freedom and responsibility in which all the speakers took their seats. Freedom gives us choices, and responsibility comes into play when we make decisions. Think about it - how much do you decide for yourself, based on what is good for you? "Every day we live some of our roles, often making decisions based on external accountability, based on what should be. Under the pressure of social responsibility, we stop asking ourselves what we would like. Freedom and responsibility are intertwined vessels. To make free choices, we must also take responsibility for our choices. Let's not forget that it's up to us too. There's a big difference between want, have and should." said Tereza Čierníková.
It was also said that we often only realise responsibility when we face the consequences, and that is problematic. We are free to do what we want, but sometimes we can get so caught up in it that we neglect our health and our mental well-being. We've met a lot of burned-out people who said they enjoyed their work... "I also find that in companies, employees demand more freedom, but they don't realise that this goes hand in hand with more responsibility," Bára remarked. The degree of feeling of freedom, a certain overwhelm and pressure of responsibility and norms is of course individual. Boundary setting and energy management are related to this. "Do a cleanse. Think about where you can at least take a little breather, and how you can instead find something to get energy from that will help you manage the overwhelm," Theresa added.
The beauty and power of connecting
The next part of the programme was dedicated to networking. In order to get better and easier acquainted, the attendees first received various communication tips from Alena Rubesova a Tomáš Řezníčekthat teaches how to network effectively and hosts Networ-King events. This was followed by the networking itself, firstly guided, with everyone in each group presenting in limited time. Many got tired and wanted to get to know the other participants a little longer, so the discussions continued after the official program was over.
Thank you to Miša and Kátá from the Anhelo project for the invitation and we look forward to the next event.
