8 young men aged between 18 and 24 have enriched my soul. They were invited to learn of mindfulness and its positive impacts on health. They were invited to learn of examples of different stages of mental health and the conditions they can become. They were invited to share their own experiences from their lives so far.
I held this space for my colleagues. We work for the UK's largest Sea Rescue and First Aid charity - the RNLI. We sat in circle to uncover the issues surrounding the alarmingly high rates of male suicide and cases of poor mental health amongst men in the UK. We have no wish to exclude women but we know at this point we must stand amongst other men. We must push the boundaries of our own comfort zones to find the solutions of how to progress and be at peace in our society.
We shared feelings of not being good enough, of thinking we could of, or should of done better. We shared our body image issues, we shared our tiredness and pushing too hard. We shared depths of depression and the unknown journey which took us there, we shared the pain of children being shutdown and punished by their parents. We shared non-expression, we shared laughter, we spoke of the need for tears. We shared hopelessness and feeling helpless to assist others who need it most. Unbound and with open hearts we wandered into new territories of feeling and expressing, we laughed, we joked, we made connections that we were once quietly craving.
We felt the pull of kindred spirits, we acknowledged each other more fully than ever before and now we wait until we can do it again and go deeper, immersing ourselves in who we are and how we are.
I honour these young men and all young souls who are opening up to the reality that we are all connected. We share a beautifully complex yet simple life with each other.
Connection is paramount to wellbeing, I feel humbled at being with such beautiful honesty and truth. Authentic human interaction at its best.
I hope this may inspire or enrich you on your journey - know that what you feel, I do too. Open up, share, connect.
