Positive Practices of Mental Success

By ZD • 7 years ago

Aug
2017

21 — 28 August, 2017
Coimbra, Portugal

The Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent, is happy to announce that we are part of the youth exchange “Positive Practices of Mental Success”, which will take place in Coimbra, Portugal, between August 21st and 28th. The exchange will will gather 42 participants from 7 countries: Latvia, Czech Republic, Malta, Poland, Macedonia, Slovenia and Portugal.

Meditation. Some people feel skeptical about it, some find it ridiculous, some are thankful for this activity and use it on a daily basis. In spite of such different attitudes, meditation and other related practices are becoming extremely popular nowadays. We can say that meditation and other similar spiritual and dynamic activities do develop our brain, increase our level of energy, improve psychological and physical health and, as a conclusion, help us to be effective, successful, active and productive people. Such features are enormous advantages for youngsters who aim to be active players in social and labor fields.
Today’s EU youth faces many situations and backgrounds which causes stress, unhealthy lifestyles, depression, apathy, “empty” living, etc. Self-development, brain work, mood control, expression of emotions, concentration and general productivity – these are brilliant and accessible tools which will help us to achieve a more healthy lifestyle. The initial and main technique to empower the above mentioned skills is meditation. Meditation yields a surprising number of health benefits, including stress reduction, improved attention, better memory, and even increased creativity and feelings of compassion.
Based mostly on methods of innovative non-formal education, each activity will target the most significant needs of youth. Analysing today’s youth problems, we, together with our partners, elaborated a Youth Exchange, which aims to improve studying and working productivity, the level of social participating and leadership by raising mental health and brain capacities.

To achieve this aim we also have set up several objectives:

to highlight the most common obstacles and issues which influence the psychological condition of young people (such as unemployment, exclusion, poverty, everyday stress, miscomprehension in social relations and many others)
and cause stress and depression, thus decreasing productivity in all spheres of life;
to share some knowledge about meditation (and other related practices);
to learn how to use techniques of meditation in order to improve our mental and physical condition.

The participants should be between 18 and 27 years old. We do accept exceptions in case of disadvantaged background and particular interest in the topic. There is no age limit for team leaders. We are looking for people that practice a healthy and ecological lifestyle, who are familiar with Yoga and Meditation and have practiced it at least once. People who are ready to broaden their horizons and are open to new information. We are giving priority to people with fewer opportunities, who have geographical difficulties (coming from rural areas, islands or districts with high criminality percentage), socio-cultural issues (coming from ethnical minorities, immigrants), financial problems (in state of poverty). Suitable participants need to be active in youth work within the sending organization and to be interested in participating in the follow-up activities.

All expenses such as accommodation, food, materials for the workshops are covered and the travel costs will be reimbursed according to the rules of Erasmus+ Program.

Project coordinator: TDM Portugal

If you wish to join the exchange please send a short cv and motivational letter to epeka@epeka.si. If you require more information, write to us at the above mentioned address.

Description of the project and some photos: