Happiness Initiative’s Well-Being Circles to conclude after 5 years
The grassroots mental wellness programme has reached more than 1,000 participants from ages 18 to 80.
CNA’s Ivy Chok (in white, centre) joined a Well-Being Circles session where strengths were discussed. (Image: CNA)
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SINGAPORE: For five years, groups of strangers have spent their Saturdays sitting in small circles, sharing their personal experiences and learning practical ways to boost their mental wellness.
But the latest batch of participants will be the last to go through the Well-Being Circles, an initiative where participants trade personal stories and take part in reflective exercises.
The mental wellness programme, run by social enterprise Happiness Initiative, is winding down after reaching more than 1,000 participants, as its organisers rethink how to reconfigure the programme for people with less time to spare.
“We realised that participants nowadays find it harder and harder to commit,” said co-founder Sherman Ho.
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“When you talk about coming for an eight-week long programme, committing eight Saturdays, people find it difficult.”
The final run of the initiative, which ends in November, has 84 participants, ranging in age from 18 to 80.
FROM LARGE EVENTS TO SMALL CIRCLES
The social wellness enterprise has been running mental wellness programmes for almost a decade.
Before COVID-19, these included large-scale events. But when the pandemic brought group gatherings to a halt, its sessions moved online and became smaller.
That shift helped Mr Ho realise that these smaller settings could work better for participants.
“To really have an impact on someone’s well-being, you need (the setting) to be very intimate because it’s such a subjective experience,” he said.
“In order for people to really grasp a lot of these concepts and all these skills that we talk about, you need them to bring in their personal experiences.”
That became the basis for Well-Being Circles.
Each small group is typically made up of about seven participants and two facilitators.
Some former participants also returned as volunteers to facilitate subsequent sessions.
Mr Ho said such spaces matter more in a city like Singapore, where the fast-paced environment can take a toll on people’s well-being and leave little time to slow down and reflect.
“It’s a very stressful place to live in. The high cost of living, people are always rushing here and there. I think that creates a certain culture where … you always need to move on to the next thing,” he said.
Technology has added another layer to those pressures, he noted.
“Technology plays a very big part in a lot of stressors and mental health issues that we see today,” he said, pointing to the rise of artificial intelligence and the pervasive use of social media, especially among young people.
“We don’t have that time to understand what’s the implication of all this technology on people.”
LEARNING THROUGH SHARING
In one session observed by CNA, participants explored the idea of personal strengths through discussions, reflections and games, including an exercise involving lego blocks.
Well-Being Circles facilitator Darren Soon said in daily life, including within families, people often hear the question: “What’s wrong with you?”
“But (here), the question that we ask each other is, ‘What’s strong in you? What’s good in you?’ We are all unique, and all of us are created to have a place in this world, and we are worth it,” he said.
For participant Rachel Loh, the sessions came at a time of significant change in her life – she recently got married and started a new job.
“These two major transitions do take a toll on my life. And sometimes, I get very overwhelmed,” she said.
Ms Loh pointed out one concept in the programme that stood out for her – reframing negative beliefs into positive ones.
She said this mindset helps people stay grounded and present instead of dwelling and spiralling from negative emotions.
MOVING TOWARDS NEW CONVERSATIONS
Ending the current Well-Being Circles does not necessarily mean the programme will disappear for good.
For Mr Ho, the pause is a chance for the team to rest after running sessions almost every Saturday for five years, as well as to reflect on and redesign the programme.
“I think that if we keep pushing on and running it, it’s also contradicting what we talk about: Well-being,” he said, adding that the challenge is designing a shorter programme without compromising what participants gain from it.
“There will always be trade-offs,” said Mr Ho. “What’s important is the impact of the programme, (and the) accessibility.”
Future versions could take place over two or three weekends or perhaps even be condensed into a single weekend.
The aim would remain the same: Teaching participants skills they can subsequently apply in their own lives.
“I feel that well-being is always a personal responsibility. Whatever your life circumstances, we all have the power to transcend it and build a better life for ourselves,” said Mr Ho.
Happiness Initiative continues to run other well-being programmes for schools and workplaces.
Source: CNA/oc (dn)
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