The Origami Society Nigeria has urged Nigerians to prioritise their mental health and practice mindfulness for peak productivity in their lives and work.The society recently made this charge during the fourth edition of its Origami in Mental Health programme, an annual series of events, held virtually and physically, geared towards the promotion of mental health in Nigeria.
The society noted that the event ─ held in collaboration with the Nigerian Army and Deloitte Nigeria ─ tagged ‘Work-well: Mindfulness and mental health for peak productivity’, was in commemoration of the 2024 International Mental Health Day with the theme ‘Prioritising mental health in the workplace’.
The events started virtually, with a mental health conference, with participants from Nigeria and the international community in attendance.
The keynote speech, delivered by Amy Tuttle ─ a mindfulness expert from Cincinnati, United States ─ spoke on the importance of mindfulness in mental health and strategies to improve mindfulness in everyday life through practices such as dance, meditation, and origami.
The chairman of the society, Dr John Adenle, spoke on how origami can serve as a tool for the practice of mindfulness.
Adenle described origami as an ancient Japanese art of folding paper in a fun way, which can play a pivotal role in keeping the mind sharp, relieving stress, building meaningful bonds and promoting team and community spirit within institutions and communities.
He explained that the benefits of Origami “included improved mood through the release of feel-good endorphins, including dopamine, while making origami sculptures, improving attention, and concentration, and increasing creativity.”
The founder of the society, Oluwatobi Sodimu, facilitated a session and showed the participants how they can experience the therapeutic benefits of origami first-hand.
Representative of the Nigerian Army and current acting Commanding Officer Admin of the Nigerian Army band, Lt. B.T. Rotimi, spoke on the mental health policies in the army.
Rotimi reiterated that the Nigerian Army is dedicated to improving the mental health of its personnel through mental health awareness, provision of mental health clinics at different hospitals under the army, and opening to partnership with the Origami Society to introduce more innovative and creative ways to tackle mental health challenges in the army.
Dr A. A Sulaiman emphasised the role of mental health in the well-being and productivity of institutions and nations.
The moderator of the event, Mrs Yinka Enahoro, facilitated the comments and question-and-answer session to help participants get more clarity.
The virtual conference was followed up by a physical origami engagement for officers of the Nigerian Army at the Albalti Barracks Ojuelegba in Lagos.
The next day, the Origami Society was also hosted by Deloitte Nigeria at the Civic Towers in Lagos by Deloitte’s Medical Director, Dr Obadeyi.
Copies of the society’s instructional materials were made available for free to ensure that the participants would continue with their origami practice after the session.
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