A mountain, a path of reconnection
On a magnificent Thursday in August, we set off to conquer the Silver Mountain, accompanied by a group of young lads aged 14 to 17 from the Huberdeau Youth Centre.
Many of these teenagers are dealing with anxiety, stress, and sometimes difficult and tense family situations.
Our goal was simple, but very important: to offer them an experience that would allow them to surpass themselves, develop their perseverance, strengthen their sense of accomplishment and reconnect with nature , while introducing them to concrete tools to better regulate their stress.
But to fully understand the significance of this day in the mountains, we must first go back a few weeks.
It all started with three breathing exercises.
The Reconnection program consists of three workshops focused on breathing and regulating stress and anxiety, followed by a special outdoor activity.
From the moment we arrived for the first workshop, we quickly realized that the day would not go as planned.
At the entrance to the center, staff were in discussions with police officers following an intervention triggered by a disturbance involving a young person. The atmosphere was tense. The staff were visibly on high alert, and the young people were also deeply affected by what had just happened.
We did try to take them outside to the grass to offer them some breathing exercises, but it was clear that their attention wasn't fully available. Their bodies and minds still seemed to be in "fight or flight" mode, completely preoccupied with the event that had just occurred.
Jean-Manuel, our instructor, tried to gradually bring them back to the present moment through various exercises. But for these young people, regaining calm wasn't as simple as closing their eyes and breathing. So we adapted our approach.
Rather than fighting against their current condition, we chose to walk.
We went into the woods behind the center. Gradually, their attention shifted to their surroundings. We showed them some medicinal plants that were literally right in front of them.
A simple walk then became an opportunity to make an initial connection between nature, the body and well-being.
The second encounter: moving before breathing
For the second week, we chose to adapt our approach. We set up the activity in the gymnasium, a calmer environment, sheltered from mosquitoes and more conducive to relaxation.
But before asking the young people to slow down, we encouraged them to move. An intense physical training session allowed them to expend their energy and become aware of what was happening in their bodies. Then, gradually, we reduced the intensity using various breathing and relaxation techniques, including the 4-7-8 breathing method.
During this session, Maxime, who was with me, brought a Tibetan singing bowl. The instrument immediately piqued the young people's curiosity. We asked them if they would like to experience a sound therapy session. The answer was unanimous: yes.
And what followed was a magnificent moment of calm. For a few moments, the young people were simply able to stop, listen, and feel.
Learning to reduce activation
The third session unfolded in the same spirit. We began with a short period of intense training to allow them to concretely feel the activation of their bodies. Then we invited them to gradually slow down using their breathing. The goal was to have them experience something very simple:
When we feel activated and emotions rise, breathing makes it possible to return to calm.
We practiced deep breathing for almost an hour. The guys relaxed. Their breathing became slower. The young people were visibly calmer. One of them even fell asleep.
At the end of each session, we take the time to talk with the young people about what they have just experienced. This time, their stories particularly moved us.
Some told us that the activities had been beneficial and had given them tools to better manage certain consumer urges, to improve their sleep, or to acknowledge emotions they tended to keep bottled up. These words filled us with great gratitude.
Because behind the breathing exercises, the training and the nature activities, there was something much more important: enabling them to discover that they already possess within themselves the resources to get through difficult times.
Then came the day of the mountain ascent
For the fourth and final activity, we chose to leave the center.
Destination: Silver Mountain.
This time, the challenge was physical. But the mountain would quickly become much more than a hike. It would become a metaphor for their own journey. Before setting off, we explained to them that climbing a mountain requires perseverance. You have to move at a steady pace, conserve your energy, watch where you put your feet, and know how to recognize obstacles.
Roots, wet rocks, and more difficult passages become opportunities to talk about risk management and choices.
Then we set off. Along the trail, the young people discovered an environment completely different from that of the youth center. The lake with its fish, wild mushrooms, birds, mature trees, and forest surrounded us. Nature naturally imposed a different rhythm, slower, more present, more attentive.
At one point, the group split in two when one of the faster groups took a different path. A great opportunity then presented itself. We talked to them about those times in life when you can take a wrong turn.
Taking the wrong path does not mean that all is lost.
We can stop, reflect, retrace our steps, and find our way again.
The summit
After several attempts, we finally reached the summit. Before us stretched a majestic view of the steep rock faces and the Red River valley.
We then invited the young people to look far ahead. They had just experienced something concrete: they had started at the bottom of the mountain and, step by step, they had reached the summit!
We pointed out to them that their lives could sometimes resemble this ascent. There would be difficult times, moments of discouragement, times when the urge to turn back would be strong. But one difficult moment never represents the entire journey.
Sometimes all you need to do is keep moving forward, one step at a time.
We talked to them about their dreams, their possibilities, and their own personal peaks to reach. And most importantly, we reminded them that they couldn't always see what lay around the next bend in the trail. Just as in life, they can't always know what the future holds, but they can keep moving forward in the right direction.
Breathing at the summit
Once they reached the summit, Jean-Manuel offered them one last experience: a breathing exercise, facing the majestic landscape, followed by a guided meditation with their feet in the moss, to fully experience the present moment.
The silence of the mountain, the breathing, the forest, the landscape, the body that had just exerted itself, and that feeling of having accomplished something. All these elements came together to create a special moment. A moment where the young people could simply be present.
A day of reconnection
This day will remain etched in our memory. Because deep down, we hadn't simply gone for a hike. We had gone to encounter something greater.
A reconnection . A reconnection to the present moment, to their breath, to their abilities, and to nature. And perhaps, above all, a reconnection to all the possibilities that still lie ahead.
The mountain reminded them of one essential thing: the summit is never reached in a single step. It is built with a succession of small steps. Even when the path is difficult, even when doubt creeps in, even when one feels like giving up.
Sometimes, all you need to do is keep moving forward.
Nature was there to remind them that it can become a refuge, a space to slow down, catch their breath, and find their bearings. And perhaps, as they left the mountain that day, some of these young people took something invisible, yet precious, with them:
The possibility of believing that their own summit is still ahead of them.
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