VOLUNTEER
MEDITATION PROJECT
SUPPORTING UKRAINIANS IN BERLIN
At the beginning of 2022, due to the military invasion of our country by russia, millions of Ukrainians were forced to leave their hometowns.
Approximately 1 million refugees from Ukraine were accepted by Germany, and it was Berlin that became a new temporary home for many of us.
The first months of the war turned out to be the most difficult period of my life. Desire and motivation to give meditation practices appeared again only in April. Had realized how many Ukrainians were in Berlin and what mental state they were in, I decided to look for a space for practices and meditations, that would become a safe zone of support and peace for us.
The Shala, Berlin, 2022
Almost immediately, I was lucky to find a magical yoga studio “the Shala” with wonderful teachers, who allocated free rental hours for our practices and provided all the necessary technical support to broadcast the practices online, for which I am very grateful.
For 6 months, we have been gathering every Tuesday as a Ukrainian community, and practiced somatic meditation, talked, cried, laughed, hugged and supported each other in this extremely difficult period of our lives.
These meetings brought inspiring acquaintances with beautiful people, unexpected meetings with old acquaintances from a "past life" and gave faith in the power of unity.
Film: Inga Pere
For many, our meditation practices became the first spiritual experience in whole life, which is specially valuable for me.
In summertime, when weather conditions allowed, we also practiced in natural locations under the open sky of Berlin:
Tempodrom, Tempelhof and Tiergarten.
Sunrise meditation
tempelhof berlin
I am very happy that I had the opportunity to volunteer in Berlin in this way, and I am sure that everyone has the opportunity to be useful and make their own charitable contribution to support our people and country on the way to victory.
Photo: Nastia Onoiko