We will meet in a space where we can reconnect with our bodies through movement, nature connection, and stillness (of both body and mind). There will be an invitation to be present for our lives, to be with the body, to listen to it and learn from it. Bringing our attention to the body without judgement. All of this guiding us deeper into finding a sense of balance in our lives.

Movement. Embodied movement and bodywork will help us to develop a deeper relationship with the body. Through movement (dance) improvisation, embodied movement, and authentic movement, we will tune into the movement of the body itself – getting to the source and poetry of the movement. Meeting our skin, our tissues, and our bones, listening deeply to what moves us in life.

Nature. Feeling the movement of the grass, hearing the sound of the clouds passing through the sky, and our hearts beating a little bit slower amidst that. Nature has an incredible power to draw our attention to what is happening in the moment, and to take us deeper into ourselves, helping us to understand what is happening in our lives. She can gently heal and inspire. We will learn how to be with nature, how to move with her, and how to pay attention to her, perhaps a little more.

Stillness. When something becomes quiet, a doorway to small sounds opens, and with it a chance to listen to something which is deep and beautiful – inside us, ready to be heard, but usually drowned out by other sounds. We will learn how to quiet our minds and bodies through mindfulness, nature work, and simply appreciating not doing. 

Day 0 – ARRIVING: arrival at the venue, accommodation, logistics, setting up the frameworks of the program and introducing the people involved.
Day 1 – GROUNDING:  getting to know each other,  starting to move, connecting with the ground
Day 2 – BREATHING:  connecting with the body through breath and weight of the body
Day 3 – PLAYING: connecting with different layers of the body, exploring imagination through movement
Day 4 – FEELING: working with emotions through bodywork and movement
Day 5 – RECOLLECTING: building on the learnings from previous days
Day 6 – INTUITING: connecting to intuition, identifying individual strategies to maintain balance
Day 7 – CONNECTING: approaching the spiritual aspect of the body, formulating specific strategies to maintain balance
Day 8 – BUILDING: designing the online tool together
Day 9 – CLOSING: takeaways from YE, farewelling
Day 10 – DEPARTING: departure until 10:00

This might be adapted according to the community’s needs on the ground

* This is a plan but it will most probably change according the current needs of the group. Thus, you have an idea what is coming, but nothing is written in stone. 

• Program is fully vegetarian
• Program is without alcohol
• you will be helping with cooking (and learning on plant-based cooking in the process, under the guidance of our vegan-chief)

In this project, we aim to guide you to find a way how to sustain a balance in your life. This inspires us to create a project, where we want to build a community and communicate even before the project. This might be challenging, as the group formation is dynamic,  but our idea is the following:

Before the Youth Exchange, we would like to meet you in 1-2 online meetings (approximately a month and a week before the YE) where we will set out the framework for learning – you will have the opportunity to observe the patterns in your daily lives that bring you out of balance. Further, we will introduce the digital tool supporting individual well-being  https://bit.ly/HOPEtool, which will be later improved by the whole group during the Balance project. We will encourage you to test it even before the YE, so we will be better prepared for designing the improvements. Lastly, we will start building our small Balance on-line community on Facebook.

After the Youth Exchange (as written in the Main info) you will be working on improving the HOPE tool – using it for 1 month, sharing it with at least 2 people, and filling in the evaluation form. Apart from this, we would like to maintain contact to support you in implementing the changes, that you will name during the project, into your life. This will happen through communication in a Facebook group, which will be created before the YE, and through online meetings that are planned to happen several months after the YE: Though this will be a voluntary part of the project, we would be happy if we could create this continuation together!