During the January school holidays, Myli’s Korumburra and Leongatha branches ran a series of Mindfulness events led by our programs officers Kate and Rochelle who kindly shared some reflections for our blog.
Handbuilding Clay Basics workshops – Leongatha Library
The clay workshop was held at Leongatha Library, and it was such a great session! We had children between ages 2 to 12 in attendance and many helpful parents lending a hand. Kate set out clay on a placemat with tip sheets showing different methods and techniques for handbuilding basics such as coiling, slab pots, pinch pots, and joining clay pieces, and there were slurry pots and lots of different clay tools for everyone to use.
There was lots of fabulous conversation and some super proud children showing off their creations with their new friends. The team also put out a table with pottery books for participants to check out on their way out and Kate discussed our online resource Creativebug as a great source of crafty fun. Seeing the many wonderful creations was fantastic, and we had many keen requests for another session soon.
The session was fully booked out within 48 hours and we had a fully booked waitlist on top of that, not to mention many hopeful parents calling the library to see if a spot was available! Hopefully, we will be able to run the workshop again soon to give those who missed out a chance to enjoy it too.
Basket Weaving – Korumburra and Leongatha
Our participants had a fabulous time making baskets in a workshop led by our talented team member Kate. Kate provided raffia to make one large or two small baskets, both plain and dyed with natural dyes (beetroot, blackberry, turmeric, paprika and red cabbage), which made for some beautiful vibrant basket colours. Participants were shown the basics of basket weaving, including how to begin, adding layers, different sizes, adding sides and lids, and mixing in colours to make patterns. Patrons could take home their raffia and plastic needles and finish their baskets at home. The team also put out books on basketry, weaving, natural fibre arts and natural dyeing, which were checked out by participants and Kate chatted about our online resource Creativebug.
Kate left the meeting room doors wide open and had many interested library patrons pop their heads in to see what was happening. We also had many requests from patrons to run the session again in an evening as an adult-only class, and it was fantastic to see so much interest in the program.
Yoga with Alison – Korumburra and Leongatha
We enjoyed two wonderful yoga sessions with our lovely expert Alison who has been practising and teaching yoga for over 20 years. All participants knew they were in good hands and were excited to learn about the basics of yoga.
A range of patrons attended the sessions with ages varying from grandchildren and grandparents, high schoolers and young adults! Alison engaged with the kids fantastically, making all the poses seem easy and achievable. We also passed around balloons filled with water of the same weight as organs in the human body, and spent the session considering how important our organs are and how they help us move through life!
We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the two yoga events, with multiple people asking for repeat sessions in the future. It was amazing to see how engaged and interested everyone was during the entire event! There was also a sense of calmness to the events – particularly noticeable as often events at the library are quite loud and fast paced!
Alison commented, ‘I loved how inclusive the event was and that participants could join at any time! The spontaneity of this was very welcomed, and the fact that all ages and experiences could join and have fun was amazing. Adding to the fun was the fact that everyone was also learning how to participate and create yoga sessions at home’.
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