Story – Aware Thinker – Youth exchange in United Kingdom

An Aware Thinker is a person who speaks from the heart, is not afraid to risk, and is emotionally present for others by connecting with their inner voice.

In this Youth Exchange, becoming an Aware Thinker is experienced through Community Building, we practiced the power of listening and expressing deeply, co-creating a safe space to learn to be and stay authentic and to express joy, pain, and everything in between.

This being over doing approach helps participants to learn a way of being mindful in the presence of others and to consciously remove the barriers of misunderstanding that separate them from each other.

What we learn by building a Community is both how to be more authentic when we are busy with our lives and how to create meaningful relationships intentionally.

“There is a yearning in the heart for peace. Because of the wounds and rejections we have received in past relationships, we are frightened by the risks. In our fear, we discount the dream of authentic community as merely visionary. But there are rules by which people can come back together, by which the old wounds can be healed. The purpose of Community Building is to teach these rules—to make hope real again—and to make the vision actually manifest in a world which has almost forgotten the glory of what it means to be human.” —M. Scott Peck, MD

Day 0: Getting to know each other and team building

Today 28 participants and 7 leaders from UK, Greece, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria gathered in Aware Thinker youth exchange in Kennington, United Kingdom.

Introduction

Lets kick off the “Aware Thinker”! 😌💭

Young people from seven countries across Europe came together to discuss the meaning and significance of what makes up a community. The discussion and activities were energetic, thought-provoking, and nourished new friendships and relations.

Participants are excited to see how the community will continue to develop!

Authenticity

This course is living up to and even beyond expectations.

Today at Aware Thinker has been filled with evolving relationships and authenticity.

The progression into the safe space we need to connect has arrived fast through learning active listening and how to be present.

Participants have approached this experience with sensitivity and honest emotion, we know we are onto creating a strong community.

Communicating without violence

Every day is a learning day here.

Today was about communicating without violence.

We’ve acquired knowledge on how to observe without judging, express our feelings and needs with clarity.

We were discussing the importance of listening to others’ feelings and needs with compassion and empathy.

Artistic Way

We searched for inspiration. We got to express ourselves in our artistic way.

The feelings were intense.

We really enjoyed the activities and the organisation. There was progress. We learned a lot about ourselves and we interacted with each other.

Community building

Today we dedicated our time to prepare for the final event.

We had to solve many issues and went through the 4 stages of community building. It helped us to strengthen the bond between us and understand the community-building principles.

Meet the Locals

Took some time to meet the locals

Together

It’s all coming together.

Reflection

Today was the reflection of the whole project. It was pretty emotional because we sincerely became a community and got connected with each other.

In these envelopes, we expressed our feelings, emotions, and thoughts.

Going home, we are taking the memories in these envelopes.

See you next time

“I learned a lot about how to really listen to other people. I was shocked at how bad I was this before I learned how to do it”

“This program provided a self space and some theory to become a real community.”

“We as a group were challenged to go out of our comfort zone with the circle exercise. It motivated us to build connections in order to gain balance and relief the emotional tension. ”

“I’ve managed to get inspiration and motivation to continue self-improve and fix the obstacles that hold me back from achieving my goals.”

“Aware thinker made me recognize personal differences within people and made me more understanding of said divergences.”

“Being a part of community taught me to be more aware of my type of communication with others.”