Hey! My name is Alireza. I´m Iranian and a sociable person.=D

At the moment I´m doing my internship at the Together Association. I think it´s nice to work here because you can be helpfull to  people who need help. I study at ???

My job at the Together Association is that I sometimes teach the staff members how to use Photoshop and if a visitor or a staff member has a problem with computers, Microsoft etc. then I will solve the problem. 

Nico and I started the Junior Club. The amount of participants bacame stable little by little and the kids in the neighbourhood got to know the club. These days we have 10 to 15 kids every week, it´s been nice to do stuff and plan the big picture.

The Information Day has brought a lot of new things to learn and a feeling that I have really been helpfull to people both in every day things and in more complicated cases. I can also remember that not everything goes according to plan every time. When I was helping this one lady with her studies, in came an older Somali woman. She sat down next to a closed computer and looked at me. I smiled and looked back at her.

The Somali lady said KAUNIS (beautiful) and I stood there wondering what is beautiful. The lady looks at me again and again: KAUNIS. I smile and nod at her like a dumb person. The lady looks at me again, she looks a little fustrated this time, and says KAUNIS! I look at her a little fustrated and think WHAT CAN BE SO FRIGGING BEAUTIFUL ABOUT THIS! When the lady once again says KAUNIS, the light finally comes on in my head and I undertand that she wants me to turn on the computer. NOT KAUNIS (beautiful), BUT COULD I KÄYNNISTÄÄ (turn on) THE COMPUTER 😀

I have enjoyed myself here and learned a lot. I can´t even describe how great the community of colleagues is here. Everybody works together and wants to take the association further. The fact that I have found the godfather and godmother of my soon to be born child here tells a lot about how much I like the place and how near and dear my colleaques have become to me.

Juho

                      Have you noticed that often you are carried away by your thought stream? Do you constantly worry or think about past or future events? You are not alone. The so called “monkey mind” by buddhists is an unsettle and restless mind, a mind that do things by default. When we do things by default we miss a lot of the beauty of the now. How many times have you drunk your coffee thinking about something else? Where were you while drinking your cup of coffee? Did you enjoy every sip of it? If you pay attention to such matters you will realise that that´s not often the case. But not worries! Mindfulness can give you back the most precious thing of all: the here and the now, your life.

What is mindfulness?

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally,” says Jon Kabat-Zinn. So paying attention is the key to detect the patterns of thinking and dismantle the problem they are creating for us. For example, while you are drinking your coffee you could worry about something in the past or be anxious about a future event. And both, past and future don´t exist. The only thing you have right now if your cup of coffee.

              Sometimes negativity and thoughts of unworthiness strike us: I am not enough, I am an awful person, I should be better, or I should be like my sister or mom or whoever. But is this really true?  Through meditation and practise of Mindfulness you will realise that you are not your thoughts, they are your just events on the field of your awareness, and you don’t need to go along with them. The rumination patterns and negativity pull us very often into low moods and depression. The fact that you don´t identify so strongly with your feelings or thoughts will give you space and freedom, so that you are not carried away by them.

The nine attitudes of mindfulness practise:

1.  Non-judging

(we tend to classify things as good or bad, which narrows our reality quite a lot. Moreover such labels don´t allow us to be with things as they are.). 

2.  Patience 

3.  A beginner’s mind

(see the world with curiosity, as a child. Drink your coffee as if it was the first time)

4.  Trust

5.  Non-striving

(you don´t need to achieve, do things for the sake of things)

6.  Acceptance

(life never goes as we want, so by practising acceptance we can decrease the resistance that leads to suffering)

7.  Letting go

(don´t hold on things that are in the past, feelings or thoughts. Practise letting go, nothing belongs to us)

8.  Gratitude (Can you feel the power of gratitude? There is so much be can be grateful about: having a home, having food, clean water… Are we taking these things too much for granted? Feel how rich you are…)

9.  Generosity 

(give as much as you can, not material things… This refers to time and care… Dedicate yourself to improve other people´s lives, even in small ways, and observe what happens to you and your own life)

How can we practise mindfulness?

There are formal ways of practising, such as sitting meditation, laying down meditation or walking meditation, but actually there are many more ways in which you can do it informally. Basically everything you do in your everyday, if you do it mindfully becomes mindfulness. It can be brushing your teeth, if you pay attention to the way your brush feels in your mouth, sensations of cold, etc. You can eat mindfully, paying attention to every bite of your meal, feeling the sensations that it triggers and how it feels in the different parts of your digesting system.

Being more mindful could keep you happier and healthier, among the benefits of mindfulness we can find anxiety reduction, prevention and treatment of depression (also prevention of possible relapses), improvement of cognition and concentration and stress reduction.

What are you waiting to give it a try?

– Carmen –

Ha, yeah right.

I blame my Finnish husband. We met in 2009 on an online game called World of Warcraft. Gamers, if you’re reading, you probably know what I’m talking about. For everyone else, it’s a video game played by millions (or billions!) of people all around the world. I met him through our shared love of writing stories together inside the game, and in 2012, I finally made good on my promise to meet him. 

So far so good! 

I have been here nearly eight years now, and while much about Finland is very similar to how it is in America, there is plenty different, too. I miss the conveniences of the United States, mostly, such as having ALL my mail brought to the door instead of having to go to the post office to pick it up. I mean, why can’t they just knock and hand me the package?

One thing I both love and despise about the Finns is the quiet. Everything is so quiet here, silence everywhere. At night, I can hear every insignificant noise in great detail. And even during the daytime, it can be the same. People in general tend to be quiet here, and they often keep to themselves. 

Which is why I love the Yhdistys. 

It’s the first place I’ve been to in so long where it feels like America. The good aspects of it, I mean. I enjoy so much that there is noise, laughter, people yelling, kids playing, and so on. I love hearing the multitude of different languages (which is music to my ears!) And don’t get me started on the cultures! I feel like there is always something to learn, either about the people or the places they’re from. 

I was really worried I would not find such a wonderful place. Previously, I found a different place for my work practice at an aquarium shop, but the work was not suited to me at all because of my health situation. The Yhdistys was suggested next, since I had an interest in other languages and cultures, and I’m so happy that it was! Even though it is somewhat far to travel here from Raisio (1hr by bus, 25min. by car–one way), I am happy to do so, because I absolutely enjoy coming to the Together Association. 

It’s a place where I truly feel welcome. And as mentioned, it’s like a little slice of America, right here in Finland! 
Now, if only things would change with the postal system.

– Linda (who works as a group counselor and language adviser in Together-association)