The Day of Emotions was held at the Olimp Sports and Recreation Camp. The student vacationers were able to express everything at heart and learn to understand themselves.
The first event of the day was a lecture on emotional burnout, given by the Director of the Centre for Training and Psychological Education Iuliia Belkova.
The conversation began with the simplest question addressed to the participants: “What did you come for?” The answers were very different: some had already faced emotional burnout, some were extremely close to it, and some simply wanted to learn more about this topic.
Then Iuliia Belkova spoke about the causes of burnout, physical and emotional symptoms, and behavioural signs characteristic of a person in such a state. She listed four main stages of burnout: taking on responsibilities, needing a rest, being constantly tired, and completely exhausted.
Why does burnout happen? It happens due to a developed sense of responsibility, for example professional, excess communication, high degree of uncertainty in life, fast pace of work, lack of understanding of the value and balance of contribution, because workaholism and perfectionism are approved in society. Each of these reasons can lead to big problems if you do not take care of yourself!
How? Iuliia Belkova advises monitoring your sleep and eating patterns, keeping a diary to practice mindfulness, learning to say “No”, changing your environment and, of course, not being shy to ask for help in difficult times.
“The topic of the lecture is quite interesting. My comrades faced burnout quite often, and I myself was on the edge of it. That’s why I came to listen to what the professionals had to say. We were given advice that scientifically summarized my own assumptions. I cope with burnout myself by exercising, socializing with friends, and reading books, such as the classics. I really liked the speaker’s work, especially the way she asked and answered questions. Overall, the event was interesting, entertaining and really worth the time spent,” Ilia Sinelnikov, Head of the SUSU Debate Club, shared his impressions.
After the lecture, students enjoyed a common meditation, where the main technique was “soul retrieval”, or “grounding”, developed by psychologist and author Sandra Ingerman. Those who came were able to learn about three points of peace and try this technique in practice.
Then participants had the opportunity to experience playback theatre, a form of improvisational theatre, where primary goal is to transform audience members’ personal stories into works of art on stage. The vacationing students happily shared their emotions and life experiences with the performing team. The actors used not only body movement and voice, but also an incredible relationship and mutual understanding. The performance of the artists deeply touched the audience and helped them live through and feel each episode.
The Day of Emotions at Olimp became important for the students: in a few hours they were able to understand each other’s feelings better than in a whole camp session.