Our first placemaking effort was heartening and has inspired us to do more.

As budding placemakers, we have spent the better part of our year exploring different ways in which we can transform spaces into meaningful places where communities gather and connect. Our explorations brought us to interesting neighbourhoods like Geylang, connected us to interesting folks from seemingly ordinary neighbourhoods — some of whom we managed to speak with here and here — and eventually led us to one conclusion: While well-designed spaces provide individuals and communities with suitable spaces to gather, but reason must be provided for communities to gather and form.

It was with this in mind that we began exploring different ways in which we could organically activate communities in the neighbourhoods that matter most to us, and in a way that would ensure the continuity of these communities. After many twists and turns, this eventually led to us curating our first wellness day retreat alongside our partners in the Kampong Bahru neighbourhood — Concentric Circles of Healing, Felt Sense, and Hello Body — in hopes of kickstarting our own community at Kampong Bahru.

Aptly named A Mindful Kampong, the retreat was curated with the intention of celebrating the elements of a ‘kampong’ into the similarly named neighborhood — the spirit of community, a culture of togetherness and fostering of genuine human connections. Through the programme, we wanted to re-introduce the neighbourhood as a warm and welcoming one; one that houses a number of safe spaces where individuals could — for even just a moment — put away their worries and facades, and connect with other individuals, or even within themselves, on a human level. We titled this inaugural edition of A Mindful Kampong ‘The Initiation’. For this initiatory session, we sought to induct attendees into some of the most sought after wellness modalities today in a holistic and coherent manner. 

We centred the programme around the idea of the mind, body, and spirit, and curated the modalities based on the desire to empower attendees to go beyond their usual practices to explore alternative healing modalities that could support them in achieving overall wellness. During the retreat, participants explored:

• 1 Movement Modality
• 1 Sound & Energy Healing Modality
• 1 Reflective Exploration Modality
• 1 Creative Exploration Modality

Exploring Movement & its Healing Effects at Hello Body

A brief exploration in the concept of embodiment, we incorporated a movement class into the retreat programming as a way of encouraging participants to tap into their bodily sensations and encourage them to stay present, self-regulate, build self-awareness, and empower themselves through enhanced physical awareness. By inviting participants to engage in their physical senses, we sought to support them in better understanding their bodies and through this, their mind and their spirit.

Sound & Energy Healing at Concentric Circles of Healing

We also explored the concept of Sound Healing & Meditation as a complementary practice to support holistic healing, wellness, and perhaps even spiritual development. Sound Healing works beyond the physical, and supports healing for the body, mind, and spirit through the combined power of frequencies and intention.

Turning Inwards For Reflective Exploration with The Afternaut

Besides experiencing, we also sought to have participants consciously reflect upon what they were experiencing to better integrate and understand themselves and the practices. During the programme, a series of prompts were provided to participants as part of a guidebook that was shared with them at the beginning of the retreat. Throughout the day, pockets of time and reminders were offered to participants to encourage them to pause, reconnect with themselves and jot down their reflections.

Igniting an Inner Spark Through Art at Felt Sense

Lastly, we explored art as a form of self expression. During a conversation with the practitioner who conducted the session, she shared her perspective on art and its function —

“Art materials and creative processes are just mediums for accessing one’s psychological state. The purpose is to observe, understand and explore our wellbeing. Thus, we use therapeutic art for exploring our inner state that fosters self-discovery and well-being.”

— Shirly Zhu, Art Therapist

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An often overlooked aspect of wellness is the concept of Social Wellness, which we define as the ability to build and maintain healthy, respectful, and positive relationships with those around us. We kept this in mind while we were curating the retreat and intentionally programmed the day such that attendees would have pockets of time to connect. On a broader level, our intention with the retreat was also to bring like-minded individuals together to form a community that could and would come together intermittently to support each other — beyond the retreat alone. 

The retreat ran across two weekends — 9 and 16 November. Despite it being our first attempt at running such a programme, we were very heartened by the outpouring of support and positive response from the public.

Participants enjoyed the fact that through the programme, their meditative processes — something typically highly personal, introspective, and practiced individually — could be expanded into a communal practice, which made the experience richer and brought about an opportunity of expansion and connection.

“I have learnt so much from the sharings and about myself as well, and am very grateful for this experience,” said one of the participants.

The positive feedback towards this first placemaking effort of ours is heartening and encouraging, and it has inspired us to continue our efforts to do more for the community around us.