Session 4: Soul

Unwind (Soul): Meaning Making in the Everyday

Short Activity

The process

1. Grab something in your surrounding that is yellow.

2. Think about a place, sounds, smells, landmarks, and scenery associated with that

yellow object.

3. Again, associate the object with a person (can be fictional). How does the person look like? What is the person’s name? How are you two related to each other? How both of

you interact?

4. Finally, relate a feeling with this person.

The reflection of the short activity

1. How are you feeling now?

2. Was it an easy process for you?

3. Can you associate how you feel about this person to the object?

Purpose of the activity

- To demonstrate how to make associations with one thing and another.

- Meaning making is making little associations of something with something else.

Aftermath of MCO

- How do you feel during MCO?

- We may feel that what is the point of living, sense of time is absent, and makes us feel

empty. We may also feel that we are not living, but just operating like a machine.

- We can learn how to find and reintroduce meaning while making new associations with

the things we do every day.

Meaning making

Reasons of why we cannot/ hard to find the meanings

1. Most of the time people see life in a bigger picture, which includes the past, present, and

future. A lot of times, we are drawn away by the past and the future.

2. We can get too preoccupied with the purpose and destination of the future that we forget

to be in the present.

3. Elements in life that are constantly moving make it difficult for us to make meaning, for

instance, we cannot pause life like how we pause for videos.

Ways to hit pause and reflect the meanings in the present

1. Starting with things as simple as what are we doing with our hands or checking if we are

breathing can bring our souls back to the present.

2. Have a conversation with yourself. You can talk to objects like pets and trees, talk to the

thin air, or even talk in front of the mirror. Ask yourself questions like How am I breathing? How do I feel now? Am I comfortable?

3. Always remember to observe your feelings and thoughts which can help bring you back

to the present time.

4. Draw out what is in your head and observe the drawing when you are confused. It helps

you to identify what confuses you.

Meanings to other’s feelings

- Your feelings are yours! The feelings of another person are theirs. Therefore, sometimes

it is hard to let others make yourself feel better, and you do not have to be responsible for

how other feels.

- However, you can try to understand why and how they feel that way, it helps you to build

compassion towards others.

The Qs The As

Q: Have you had clients who feel uncomfortable when you ask them questions about their

meanings in the present?

A: Sometimes. Therefore Ms. Sarah will tell her clients about some disclaimers before carrying out the session.

Q: 1 will automatically reflect on myself every night and sometimes I feel this is really

stressful.

A: Too many reflections may be too overwhelming for us sometimes. We may end

up our best and try to be the “chicken soup of soul” which can increase our stress in daily

life.

Q: Can you talk more about toxic positivity?

A: Toxic positivity is being overly positive that you dismiss the concern at hand. A better way

to go about is to acknowledge the concern the other party has first, then introduce some