Digital Wellness Day 2021

Hello there,

Let’s us tell you a bit about Digital Wellness!

We live in the digital era where most of our life is online. Now with the global pandemic, this is truer than ever before. Let’s think about our studies, social interactions, maybe our work and hobbies. While using technology gives us brilliant advantages and benefits, it can have serious damages on our mental, psychological and physical health. The information overload we have in our digital environment can lead us to experience continuous distraction, difficulties to focus, unconscious & unintentional content consumption, low sleep quality, stress, emotional overwhelm and many more.

With Hekate Conscious You(th) we wanted to figure out how not to let our tech control our life and how to take control over our tech usage, so we enrolled in the Digital Wellness Institute’s (a key partner of the Netflix documentary the Social Dilemma) certificate program to bring new knowledge, experience and tools for you!

 

The Digital Wellness Institute has helped hundreds of organizations and individuals to optimize their mental health, work habits, and productivity – all while embracing a positive, digital work culture. Their proprietary Digital Flourishing® model equips learners with research-based tools and best practices to take advantage of the benefits of technology while avoiding associated harms. 

 

But what is Digital Wellness? 

 

“Digital wellness is defined as the optimum state of health, personal fulfillment and social satisfaction that each individual using technology is capable of achieving. It focuses on Digital Flourishing® that refers to a mindful approach to digital technology usage that supports our thriving in different areas of life. This approach empowers us to take advantage of the benefits of technology while avoiding associated harms. In order to digitally flourish we can enhance our skills in at least eight areas that our digital behaviors relate to, including; productivity, environment, communication, relationships, mental health, physical health, quantified self, and digital citizenship.” (https://summit.digitalwellnessday.com/)

 

Our Nora, freshly graduated Digital Wellness educator, has designed two events for you to celebrate the Digital Wellness Day:

 

  • 14. May – Walk & Talk: a relaxing workshop to disconnect from your screen, connect with humans and reflect on your tech habits
  • 15. May – Digital Wellness Design: a creative workshop to make some salad and build a fence

 

Let us invite you to join think about, talk about and change our relationship with technology!

With love,

Hekate Conscious You(th)

 

Conscious You(th) News

For Counscious You(th) news click here.

Hekate Conscious You(th) is a proud community of Hekate Conscious Ageing. Ageing might sound scary and difficult to digest, especially when you’re only in your 20’s and are still very young, we know. You don’t even need to think about getting old one day, yet, although researches show massive benefit of consciously visualising ourselves in a more progressed age. 

Care migration: cause or symptom?

Towards a scarcity of care? Tensions and contradictions in transnational elderly care systems in central and eastern Europe

It is the title of the book issued by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Budapest.

Our co-founder Kinga has contributed to the volume.
Read the full article here.

Quote from the book:

“Hopefully this initiative is an effective step towards a large-scale change in the entire care sector. Legal working conditions, training, quality control and supporting structures must be built and developed so that they offer a safe and suitable environment to work in. This work can be done in cooperation among carers, researchers, policymakers, politicians, experts, NGOs, the media and many other relevant actors in society.

There are numerous capacities, potentials and powers in the hands of policymakers, politicians, activists, academics, intellectuals, carers themselves, and many other stakeholders to reach out for. After the first wave of the corona pandemic, it is expected that economies are going to work hard to reinvent themselves. ‘Unskilled workers’ are now ‘key workers’. At least for the time being, societies seem actually to mean it. We now have a major opportunity to help create the supporting structures and capacities needed to really make it happen.”

Source: “Challenges facing Hungarian carers wanting to act for themselves in the United Kingdom and in Hungary” by Kinga Milánkovics

Download the book from here.

Guacamole

Ingredients

  • 4 avocados
  • 2 tablespoons of pico de gallo
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 2 chopped Jalapeño OR 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper OR 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 4 teaspoons of olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
  • 1 minced jalapeño OR 2 minced serrano chiles OR 2 tablespoon minced of any chile pepper like (adjust for spiciness)

Procedure

  1. Pit the avocados.
  2. Score avocado without cutting through the skin.
  3. Scoop out one avocado with a large spoon and place in mixing bowl.
  4. Add the lime juice and stir to evenly coat the avocados.
  5. Stir in the Pico de Gallo, garlic, oil, jalapeño, salt, red pepper, and black pepper, mashing and tossing the avocado pieces until thoroughly mixed.
  6. Then scoop out the other avocados and gently mix and toss in the larger pieces.
  7. The guacamole is the right consistency when more large pieces than mashed parts remain.
  8. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

This article uses material from the Wikibooks article “Cookbook:Guacamole“, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 cup peeled and cubed sweet potato
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 14-oz cans of nonfat and low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable stock
  • 1 15-oz can of pumpkin
  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

Procedure

  1. Melt butter in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion for 3-4 minutes then add flour, curry, cumin and nutmeg and saute for 1 minute.
  2. Add sweet potato, salt, chicken broth and pumpkin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered for about 20-25 minutes or until sweet potatoes are cooked through and softened. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes to cool.
  3. Place half of the pumpkin mixture in a blender and process until smooth. Using a strainer, pour soup back into pan. Repeat with rest of soup.
  4. Raise heat to medium then stir in milk and cook for 5 minutes or until soup is heated through.
  5. Remove from heat and add lime juice.

This article uses material from the Wikibooks article “Cookbook:Spiced Pumpkin Soup“, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

HOW TO/HOGYAN: Start university in the Netherlands / Menjünk ki Hollandiába tanulni?

Do you consider continuing your studies in the Netherlands? Are you full of questions? Do you need some advice? Come join us this online session!

Petra Bardócz came from Hungary to start university here in 2019. Now she’s in her second year at Utrecht University’s Global Sustainability Science faculty. She is happy to share with you her experience and give you some useful hints & tips in the following topics:

Continue reading “HOW TO/HOGYAN: Start university in the Netherlands / Menjünk ki Hollandiába tanulni?”

How to prepare for the unpredictable?

Changing Plans. Ruined Schedules. Same me. – Let’s prepare to the unpredictable with this autumn programme!

Already over the first wave of the global pandemic we see that the old normal will never be back again. We had dreams, goals, action plans but the strict measurements due to the outbreak made us adjust them all. And it’s not the end. We already experience a second wave coming, and who knows how many there still will be and how measurements will stand obstacles in front of us.

What describes the best this time is: unpredictable.

We need to gain skills and be prepared, both mentally and emotionally, to be able to adapt quickly to the changing environment, requirements and possibilities. Formal education usually cannot create space for developing such competences therefore we find our role crucial, as non-formal educators and experts, in standing up for resilience-education. We designed four sessions to guide young students, working students and/or unemployed through building essential skills to gain mental and emotional resiliency. 

The sessions are built as per the following:

06.10.2020. , 18:00-20:00 – RESILIENCE: emotional self-awareness & -management
20.10.2020, 18:00-20:00 – SELF-CARE
03.11.2020, 18:00-20:00 – OTHER CARE: connecting through empathy
17.11.2020, 18:00-20:00 – CREATIVITY for resiliency
  • In order to understand how we experience and react to certain changes, we need to be aware of our behaviour, thoughts, patterns and emotions. During the first session we learn some practical tools on how to raise emotional self-awareness in order to be able to manage ourselves and build emotional resilience.
  • As changes, even when they are for the better, might be difficult to progress and enjoy we need to put emphasis not only on the part of hard-work but the recharging part, too. We believe that we need to care about ourselves and give ourselves what we need. During this session we will identify our personal care-needs, flow activities, de-stressing methods and pampering tools so that we can practice self-care in this demanding period. 
  • We need to understand that we do not take challenges equally. Each one of us has a different way of digesting and adjusting. For some it’s easier, for some it’s more challenging. We believe that it’s our responsibility to not to take care only of ourselves, but the people around us especially when they need support. During the third session therefore we are going to understand and practice a deep empathetic approach while connecting to people around us, let them be family, friends, peers, neighbours or just random people we run into in the shop. 
  • For the ability of adapting faster to changes, besides emotional and mental resilience, the key is creativity. It’s not easy to think out of that box. During this session we’ll not only discover what creativity is but to see the enormous benefit of it while practicing through diverse tools. 

The sessions are led and facilitated by Nori Taliga, Hekate Conscious You(th) Community and Impact leader and Emotional Intelligence expert.

The participants’ contribution to the programme is donation based. It can be a cup of coffee, a nice reference after the programme, some help with marketing or anything that shows appreciation of our work. Just let us know! 🙂

The event will take place online. Please register here to book your spot.

You can find the event here also on Facebook.

YOU(th) events – the autumn calendar

2020’s autumn brings great possibilities for us and for You(th)!

In September we’ll continue with our Conscious Walks. This time we’ll discover the topics of accountability and diversity.

Click here for more information.

In October we’ll provide a a four-sessions-long programme to discover and learn how to support ourselves in challenging times through emotional self-awareness and -management, self-care, empathy & connection and creativity.

Click here for more information.

In November we’ll be organising an online storytelling session which will help to-be-university students to prepare to come to the Netherlands to run their studies here.

More info to come soon.

Conscious Walks – Autumn 2020

Here we are with the second part of our walk-campaign!

Research shows that outdoor walking groups not only facilitate interaction with nature, social groups, and physical activity but create space for mental, emotional, and social well-being benefits. (Mary Ann Liebert, Ecopsychology, 2014) Can you imagine then how multiplied these benefits can be if during a walk with fellow humans we have real BIG talks? 🙂

We invite you to WALK WITH US to discover and learn more about your important topics through powerful reflections, meaningful discussions and real life human connections!

It’s definitely your place if you:

  • Would like take a nice walk in the nature
  • Meet and connect with diverse people having similar interests as you do
  • Want to dig around some important topics
  • Want to just switch off and do something different

In the second season of the Conscious Walks we will discover other two topics that we consider our core values: diversity & accountability. These events are informal gathering: guided walks with activities. The events are designed in a way that participants will have space to walk in pairs while sharing their thoughts with each other, walk and reflect alone, and discuss about outcomes in the big group once finished – probably still while walking. We expect them to be very light and refreshing.

Practical information:

  1. Walk for Accountability: 10. September 2020.
  2. Walk for Diversity: to be announced soon
  • Location: Scheveningse Bosjes in Den Haag

The Conscious walks are free of charge. We ask you though to register via email to confirm your participation. We are waiting for your email to nora@hekatefoundation.org.

The events are organised by Hekate Conscious You(th) and will be facilitated by Nori Taliga, our Community and Impact Leader.

Don’t hesitate: this is the time to take a conscious step to engage with people, walk together and do something for Yourself.

If you have any questions, just get in touch with us! 🙂

To stay up to date follow the events on our Facebook page.

 

This is how we walked for Consciousness and Care

As our first local project, we promised you some walks: so we WALKED together! We loved to discover and learn together about important topics through powerful reflections, meaningful discussions and real life human connections – while enjoying the refreshing company of each other in the forest.

In June and July 2020 we dedicated our walks to two core values of Hekate Conscious You(th): Consciousness and Care. It was great to brainstorm about each topic, already prior to the events, and it was even greater to discover more together with you!

We believe that CONSCIOUSNESS is crucial. Consciousness in our thoughts, in our feelings, in our choices, in our actions throughout our life. We believe that conscious choices are key for creating meaningful and sustainable lives and communities around us, conscious actions are key for taking responsibility for our learning, growing and healthy and active progression in life.

We asked our enthusiastic, determined participants of our first guided gathering to share with us the first thing coming to their mind when they hear the word consciousness.

Here are some of the things they shared:

  • meditation,
  • mindfulness,
  • experience,
  • observation,
  • flow,
  • time,
  • critical thinking,
  • awareness
  • and emotions.

Although our individual definitions were diverse, we all agreed that consciousness basically is to be aware AND act accordingly. The following are some consciousness areas that we identified together:

  • Consciousness of feelings & emotions
  • Consciousness of thoughts
  • Consciousness of responsibility (accountability)
  • Family consciousness
  • Social consciousness
  • Consciousness of work & home
  • Consciousness of possibilities and choices
  • Consciousness of actions
  • Time consciousness

At the end of our session, filled with self-reflections, group conversations and short assignments, we all went home not only with positive feelings and inspiration but with our tiny commitments we made to ourselves about ‘how we will become more conscious’.

We believe in CARE. Care for ourselves (self-care), care in our relationships (other-care), caring about people (people-care), communities & society (social care), towards our environment with all living species inside (Earth-care). Care, that makes us trustful, authentic and sustainable.

On our second walk we took some more tiny steps at the beginning of our journey for a stronger community.

A small group of young, international, enthusiastic, open to learn people joined for a walk in Den Haag to discover what care means. Here are some ideas of the participants we noted down which lead to really meaningful, supportive, care-full conversations:

  • Care is a feeling.
  • Care is granted.
  • Care is being patient with yourself.
  • Care is allowing yourself to fail.
  • Care is (self-) compassion and kindness.
  • Care is an attitude.
  • Care is about caring and being cared for.
  • Care is a learned ‘skill’.

We’re grateful for having such opportunities to get to know and start co-creation with our community and we’re looking forward for our upcoming walks.