Young people today know the words for mental health.

Three batches. Three hundred students. One shared intention: to understand ourselves a little better.

Across these sessions we used movement, experiential activities and open dialogue to explore stress, mindfulness, and what it actually means to be present.

What struck me most is that today’s students are not lacking mental health information. Words like trauma, trigger, mindfulness and journaling are everywhere. They have heard all of it.

What many of them are missing is the practical side:

• What do these words actually feel like in the body?
• How do you recognise stress before it overwhelms you?
• What can you realistically do to regulate yourself before reaching a point where professional support becomes necessary?

That is the gap these sessions were designed to address.

What stood out was how openly students engaged. The questions they asked were honest and specific. The willingness to explore something unfamiliar – to move, reflect, and sit with their own experience – was genuine.