Feeling Frazzled? Join us for an online Frazzled Cafe meeting.
We know how important it is to stay connected in these unprecedented and uncertain times. Frazzled Cafe meetings are a supportive online community where you can come and talk in a safe, non-judgemental space about what’s really going on for you.
What to expect from a Frazzled Cafe meeting.
Frazzled Cafe Facilitated meetings run for an hour and Hosted meetings run for 45 minutes. Both styles start with a run-through of our guidelines to ensure a confidential, respectful and safe environment for all of our attendees. It is important to us that these are adhered to.
Each meeting opens and closes with a short mindfulness exercise. You don’t need to ever have tried mindfulness before, and your participation in these exercises is completely optional.
After the mindfulness exercise, all attendees can unmute themselves and talk about how they are feeling, or to borrow one of Ruby’s expressions, ‘explain what the weather conditions are like in your head’. Again, your participation in this is optional and you are very welcome to sit and listen and not speak if this feels more comfortable.
Attendees usually speak for 1-2 minutes to ensure everyone that would like to has the opportunity to speak. You can of course speak more than once. Speaking is optional. If you would just like to listen, that is perfectly OK. In all meetings, and in between people speaking, we expect some silences and those are normal.
The Facilitator and Host’s role is to ensure everyone that would like to speak gets a chance to, that the topics of conversation are appropriate for the space and that attendees are both present and respectful of the space and one another. Questions to one another are avoided, and the Facilitator or Host will manage this
After the closing mindfulness exercise and the end of the meeting, we recommend attendees take a few minutes to reflect and decompress before returning to their usual routine.
“I find it remarkable that this support is on offer and for free?! It's a unique, friendly, safe place, allowing me to feel less alone with my anxieties by gaining support from others experiencing similar feelings. I can't thank you enough and also M&S for hosting.”
“Really useful outlet during a period of anxiety. Great to meet and help others on their journey whilst finding a way through my own in a helpful setting.”
“It was a bad time for me. I was pretty down. I can’t thank you enough Ruby Wax. Although I have not attended for a while as have returned to work after retiring as a nurse. I am in a much better place. The meetings were a BIG help, and I love to know it’s there. Thanks a million.”
Frazzled Cafe is a registered charity that operates with the purpose of providing a safe, confidential and non-judgemental environment where people who are feeling frazzled and overwhelmed by the stresses of modern life can meet on a regular basis to talk and share their personal stories.
FRAZZLED CAFE GUIDELINES
To help ensure that our meetings run smoothly and in line with the values of Frazzled Cafe we ask that all participants agree to follow these guidelines:
- To act with integrity. Please respect one another’s confidentiality and anonymity. Please do not name anyone or discuss anything you may hear in a meeting with others who have not attended.
- To let everyone have a voice. Please respect one another by giving everybody the chance to contribute without interruption and by not dominating or disrupting the conversation. The facilitator may show a white card after 3 minutes to signal the end of a speaker’s turn.
- To listen without offering solutions. Please focus your contribution on personal experiences and not political/thematic concepts. When speaking please focus on what resonates with you personally, not on providing answers or solutions to others.
- To be kind to ourselves and each other. This is NOT group therapy and no-one should feel under pressure to say anything. We do hope that in hearing others’ experiences you will feel encouraged to share your own. Whether you speak or not, please treat each other in a supportive and considerate way.
- To welcome people from all backgrounds and points of view. We have no religious, political or commercial affiliations and ask that participants refrain from promoting any that they might have.
- To be present. To benefit fully from the session and stay present in the room, please try to avoid distractions from phones or other devices.
Please bear in mind that these meetings are not therapy sessions. If you are currently suffering from serious mental illness it may not be appropriate to attend (see our FAQs for more info). If you are in need of further support please visit our “Need Help Now?” page which offers some contacts that may be useful alternatives.
