Every Sunday I try to hold a late-night meditation group with the youth just before their bedtime. My goal for this activity is to show the youth the benefits of self-care and being grounded. Since I am still relatively new to the Crisis Program, it is also a great way for me to build relationships with the youth.
Even though there are a limited number of youth that attend the meditation groups, the ones that do join tend to be regulars every week. The reason for this is because they feel the activity is helpful for getting them to sleep at night as well as providing them ways to destress or wind down after a long week.
Some of the young people would comment on how they were enjoying the activity and how excited they were to see what I was planning for the following Sunday. There is one youth, who had an extensive history of past trauma, who would express how grateful he is for being able to stay at Covenant House Vancouver.
He would also recall the countless times that he felt lost in life and how meditation would have been beneficial for him if he had practiced it during those times. I could see that he was beginning to shed tears as he opened up about how much of a downward spiral his life had taken due to his past.
He shared that ever since he came to Covenant House, he has been able to connect to helpful resources and build trusting relationships between his youth workers and some of the youth. He said that his life was now going in an upwards spiral because he finally found a place where he belonged.
Shared by Kevin, Youth Worker at our Crisis Program