For many adults, Lego blocks remind them of their childhood. With scant instructions, these little plastic bricks allow one’s imagination to run wild. From colourful towers to extensive castles, the process of building with Lego blocks is a therapeutic experience. At a recent mental wellness workshop, some adults, comprising members of Singapore’s co-operative movement, are rediscovering the magic of these building blocks as an innovative mental wellness tool.

Organised by SNCF, A Good Space (AGS) Co-operative and one of AGS’ members, The Ubuntu Space, the mental wellness workshop, titled ReDiscovery Through Play, took place at Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre at Yishun on 25 October. The workshop saw about 20 participants from SNCF, SG Tenants United For Fairness Co-op, Kyosei Travel Co-op, Customs Credit Co-operative, Singapore Amalgamated Services Co-op and Registry of Co-operative Societies (RCS) attending.  

This initiative was held in support of the World Mental Health Day that falls on the 10 October every year. The theme for this year Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality aims to empower individuals to take better care of their own mental health, as well as spotlight strategies to support one another. 

“Work-life balance is a buzzword, a question mark, and also an aggregation of the stressors and pains that many have been feeling has been on our minds,” says Lai Si Yu, an experience designer from The Ubuntu Space. “Many haven’t had the space to contemplate and act on these elements which are crucial to one’s health. Hence, we wanted to create space for people to crystallise what they actually need and seed actionable steps for their well-being through experiential mediums such as Lego.”

At the workshop, participants were provided with special individual LEGO kits from the LEGO Serious Play series, which is aimed at enhancing innovation and business performance. There, participants were encouraged to "Think with hands" when building the LEGO models and "listen with eyes" when sharing their stories behind their LEGO models.

Si Yu adds: “We hope that the participants will rediscover the connection they have with themselves and others. The focus here is to uncover their inner wisdom on work-life balance and self-care. We have designed the programme to be a retreat for participants to get clarity through Lego models they build, get aha! moments as they tap into the collective wisdom of the group, and leave the workshop armed to turn changes that will improve their well-being into habits.”

The four-hour workshop also comprises a body scanning meditation exercise.  For the uninitiated, body scan has been known to be one of the most effective ways to meditate, where individuals are guided to tune in to their body, to reconnect to the physical self. The goal? To systematically focus on different sensations and areas of the body, often from the head to the toes.

During the “Empathy Conversations” segment, participants were introduced to different approaches to communicate with empathy, such as being an attentive listener, as well as the value of using empathy conversations as a medium for connection at the workplace.

On what he thought of the workshop, Mazlan Bin Ridwan from Kyosei Co-op says: “I had no idea that using a Lego model could be used as a form of therapy. This is something new to me.”

“Self-care, to me, means loving oneself both physically and mentally. For example, eat healthily, get enough of rest, and participate in physical activity,” he adds.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of and upended the lives of many. SNCF is hopeful that the participants have benefited from attending the workshop. As the saying goes, there is a child in every one of us. By bringing out one’s imagination through a child’s play, the workshop shows potential to take the participants on a different perspective in their journey of self-discovery and hopefully, to start and continue the journey of self-care and caring for others.

< Click here for photos on the workshop! >

By Maggi Lim, Sng Ler Jun.