The Daylight Saving Club is the latest brainwave from Melissa Noble of the Academy of Wide-hearted Living. Small groups meet online to blow away the winter blues. Here, she explains the three different flavours of what goes on. There’s still time to get involved.
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Last Tuesday, as the Americans went to the polling stations, I sat in a rocking chair, knees covered with a blanket of purple and pink knitted squares. Some of the squares were decidedly wonky. Others, perfectly formed. It’s easy to spot which ones 8 year-old me made, and which were crafted by my nimble-fingered Nan’s much more experienced needles. Somehow, my aunt managed to crochet them all together so they form a giant square. I call it the blanket of love. I’ve moved many times over the years, my belongings condensed down to fill a transit van. This is one thing that I will never get rid of.
And so I sat, reading poems and stories to a group of women from all around the UK. At my invitation, they had turned their cameras off, some choosing to stay silent from the beginning of the session. I shared a reading from Gunila Norris’ ‘Shared Silence’ and then we entered a short meditation. We finished with a guided relaxation. It was strange for me, ‘delivering’ to a blank screen – such a departure from my usual interactive style. But my hope was that, in creating a space where others felt able to turn up without a thought to tidying or putting on a brave face, we would all get a sense of connection. Effortless connection.
The feedback was a resounding ‘yes!’ One said: “That was just wonderful. A real treat”. People loved just being able to ‘be’. They said it was a liberation. Deeply relaxing. Left them free to really listen, to get fully absorbed. That’s a win then!
That was Pure Zen. It is just one of the three flavours of meeting that make up the Daylight Saving Club. Another is Creative Zing, where we got stuck into a series of short-form creative tasks. Here, we all said how entirely ‘present’ we felt. And this offered a tonic. A different kind of rest – giving the thinking mind a break, allowing playfulness. There was no pressure to share so everyone felt able to explore their own ideas without fear of being put on the spot.
We are yet to try the third flavour: the Hygge Huddle. At present, it is simply a plan: a series of questions designed to support conversation around designing the ultimate winter self care routine. What ingredients do we really need for a richer, happier life? How can we make sure that we’re making the best use of the time and resources we have available- in a way that feels nurturing and easy?
It might mean something as simple as committing to a bubble bath with candles once a week. It might mean booking in some routine health checks. One thing’s for sure – it will mean different things to different people. In coming together, sharing our challenges, generating ideas and perhaps offering accountability, my sense is that we will all stand more chance of actually doing what’s needed to take better care of ourselves this winter – and that this community we’re building will be of benefit to us all.
We started when the clocks went back and will run through until March next year. There’s still time to join. Doors close at the end of the month. Curious? You can find more info and booking here. There’s also a link to book a chat if you want to talk more about if it’s right for you. Oh – and if you do want to book, coupon code SPARKLERS gets you £25 off.
If you’re curious about the type of activity we do in the Creative Zing sessions, I’ve put together a booklet to accompany Session 1. You can request a copy of that here.