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3:13 ص
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It’s been few months now that I am associated with Singapore Association of Visually Handicapped (SAVH). I conduct Laughter Yoga sessions with my friend T.C Lim on a monthly basis. Laughter yoga is a blend of yoga-based deep breathing; gentle stretching, simulated laughter exercises and playful games and activities. As a Laughter therapist I help people to cope up with the stress in their lives and cultivate the inner spirit of joy.
The people who attend our sessions at SAVH are born blind as well as those who have lost their vision through ageing, accidents or illnesses.
Happiness can be found in life’s finer moments and through this blog I would like to share one such profound experience.
We have many regular attendees for our session and one of them Madam Tay has been attending our sessions for past few months. She loves the concept and philosophy of Laughter Yoga and embraces it with all her heart.
On 3rd September 2016 she turned 75 years and had invited us for her birthday party, which also involved “Dining in the dark”
‘Dining In the Dark’ is an initiative to raise public awareness of the challenges that visually impaired individuals have to deal with in their daily routine. The concept is themed in a way so as to enable a sighted person to experience what it is like to be blind without the use of blindfolds. The idea for Dining in the Dark originated from the Blindekuh (Blind Cow) restaurant in Switzerland where blind and visually impaired people served patrons at the restaurant.
The dinner starts with a briefing session done by a visually impaired individual. The briefing session involves making sighted people aware of what to expect when they step into the dark room, how to navigate with the help of the assigned waiters and how to handle the food and cutlery.
After the brief we were guided by the Dining in the dark team (visually impaired waiters) to the dining room with our hands on each other’s shoulders. As we were slipping past the curtains, it was pitch dark and cold. The assigned waiter skilfully guided us towards the tables so that we don’t bump in to any furniture or people.
In beginning I had my own share of anxiety and what ifs, but as the time passed I felt reassured and calm. Different people had different reactions to this unique situation that they were experiencing. There were some in the group who were overwhelmed by the darkness and started feeling a bit dizzy. As people started chatting amongst themselves the overwhelming darkness seemed to be forgotten and everybody was able to recognise people by their voices.
The menu for the day was a 4-course meal made especially for the party. The first thing I did, as I sat on the dining chair, was get acquainted with the plates, glasses and cutlery; just to ensure that i don’t break any.
The waiters were wearing Ghungroos so we could here them walking across the floor and passing on Juice and Water. The first challenge for each of us was to pour the Juice and Water in the glasses without spilling it over the top, but with the guidance provided during the initial briefing session we all managed to do this without any challenge. Basically one needs to keep their finger across the rim of the glass and stop pouring as soon as you feel the liquid on your fingers. The lovely evening continued with amazing starter menu, mushroom soup and garlic bread followed with Spaghetti (for vegetarians). For meat lovers the main course consisted of Beef Balls, Fish and Chicken all served with mashed potatoes and coleslaw.
During the entire course of the event we all kept joking and telling each to be careful … the soup is hot ..do not pour the spoon on your nose..
Don’t burn your tongue…ha ha ha… Every body had let their inner child out and were having complete fun. The sound of Ghungroos was adding a certain melody to the whole event and it was always pleasing to hear this as the waiters passed by.
The novelty of dining in the dark is the realisation that you get when you discover a whole new way of savouring your food. With zero visibility in the dark room the other senses in the body get heightened. These heightened senses makes you enjoy your food, listen to all distinct sounds in the room and keep your mind at peace.
City life can be demanding and nagging at times; our lifestyle has changed in volumes. We’re living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, decoherence. We give our eating schedules least priority. As I was enjoying each morsel of my main course I realised I was just concentrating on one activity at a time… may be this is how you feel being in the present moment…
Brain is just processing one activity at a time.
The feeling of NOW NOW NOW is lovely and feels balanced.
I was pleased to find that some foods were distinctly recognisable. I could smell the aromas better and I was receptive to flavours, temperature. May be my heart is loving the idea that I am spending me time.
After the dinner everybody had lost track of time as we no mobile phones or watches with illumination are allowed inside the dark room. We were all guessing what time it would be when suddenly we hear a mechanical voice telling us the time. After asking around we found that one of our visually impaired friend from SAVH had a watch that could tell the time by pressing a button that would make it speak out loud. It was 8.45 pm, almost 2 hours had gone by without any realisation.
At the end of our unique dinner, we came out of the room with mixed emotions and hugged each other to say Thank You. I felt that I just returned from a long journey of realisations and introspections. I had a remarkable experience and would encourage people to try out this new experience in life.
The people who attend our sessions at SAVH are born blind as well as those who have lost their vision through ageing, accidents or illnesses.
Happiness can be found in life’s finer moments and through this blog I would like to share one such profound experience.
We have many regular attendees for our session and one of them Madam Tay has been attending our sessions for past few months. She loves the concept and philosophy of Laughter Yoga and embraces it with all her heart.
On 3rd September 2016 she turned 75 years and had invited us for her birthday party, which also involved “Dining in the dark”
‘Dining In the Dark’ is an initiative to raise public awareness of the challenges that visually impaired individuals have to deal with in their daily routine. The concept is themed in a way so as to enable a sighted person to experience what it is like to be blind without the use of blindfolds. The idea for Dining in the Dark originated from the Blindekuh (Blind Cow) restaurant in Switzerland where blind and visually impaired people served patrons at the restaurant.
The dinner starts with a briefing session done by a visually impaired individual. The briefing session involves making sighted people aware of what to expect when they step into the dark room, how to navigate with the help of the assigned waiters and how to handle the food and cutlery.
After the brief we were guided by the Dining in the dark team (visually impaired waiters) to the dining room with our hands on each other’s shoulders. As we were slipping past the curtains, it was pitch dark and cold. The assigned waiter skilfully guided us towards the tables so that we don’t bump in to any furniture or people.
In beginning I had my own share of anxiety and what ifs, but as the time passed I felt reassured and calm. Different people had different reactions to this unique situation that they were experiencing. There were some in the group who were overwhelmed by the darkness and started feeling a bit dizzy. As people started chatting amongst themselves the overwhelming darkness seemed to be forgotten and everybody was able to recognise people by their voices.
The menu for the day was a 4-course meal made especially for the party. The first thing I did, as I sat on the dining chair, was get acquainted with the plates, glasses and cutlery; just to ensure that i don’t break any.
The waiters were wearing Ghungroos so we could here them walking across the floor and passing on Juice and Water. The first challenge for each of us was to pour the Juice and Water in the glasses without spilling it over the top, but with the guidance provided during the initial briefing session we all managed to do this without any challenge. Basically one needs to keep their finger across the rim of the glass and stop pouring as soon as you feel the liquid on your fingers. The lovely evening continued with amazing starter menu, mushroom soup and garlic bread followed with Spaghetti (for vegetarians). For meat lovers the main course consisted of Beef Balls, Fish and Chicken all served with mashed potatoes and coleslaw.
During the entire course of the event we all kept joking and telling each to be careful … the soup is hot ..do not pour the spoon on your nose..
Don’t burn your tongue…ha ha ha… Every body had let their inner child out and were having complete fun. The sound of Ghungroos was adding a certain melody to the whole event and it was always pleasing to hear this as the waiters passed by.The novelty of dining in the dark is the realisation that you get when you discover a whole new way of savouring your food. With zero visibility in the dark room the other senses in the body get heightened. These heightened senses makes you enjoy your food, listen to all distinct sounds in the room and keep your mind at peace.
City life can be demanding and nagging at times; our lifestyle has changed in volumes. We’re living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, decoherence. We give our eating schedules least priority. As I was enjoying each morsel of my main course I realised I was just concentrating on one activity at a time… may be this is how you feel being in the present moment…
Brain is just processing one activity at a time.
The feeling of NOW NOW NOW is lovely and feels balanced.
I was pleased to find that some foods were distinctly recognisable. I could smell the aromas better and I was receptive to flavours, temperature. May be my heart is loving the idea that I am spending me time.
After the dinner everybody had lost track of time as we no mobile phones or watches with illumination are allowed inside the dark room. We were all guessing what time it would be when suddenly we hear a mechanical voice telling us the time. After asking around we found that one of our visually impaired friend from SAVH had a watch that could tell the time by pressing a button that would make it speak out loud. It was 8.45 pm, almost 2 hours had gone by without any realisation.
At the end of our unique dinner, we came out of the room with mixed emotions and hugged each other to say Thank You. I felt that I just returned from a long journey of realisations and introspections. I had a remarkable experience and would encourage people to try out this new experience in life.
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