It was an awfully long day. You forgot to submit an important assignment and the professor did not miss the opportunity to embarrass you in front of the class. You were almost in tears and nothing seemed good. But then, it was evening. You went home to your mother who was waiting for you. A hug from her and that frown was instantly turned upside down. Everything just fell back into place.
Relatable, isn’t it? Hugs are magical. That’s the same realisation that hit 20-year-old Aashima Taneja, when she came up with an idea that would help people make their hugs as worthwhile as possible. “It all began with curiosity. I wanted to see how many people would actually be interested in a Hug Workshop. Surprisingly, the response was huge,” says Aashima, who is a student at Delhi University and also a certified yoga instructor. She runs the workshop along with a facilitator and a few volunteers as a part of the You Are Beautiful project that she started in March.
The project aims in spreading body positivity and making people confident about how they look and hugs workshop is a part of it.
So here’s what happens in a Hugs Workshop. “You are taught to be present here, not just physically but also emotionally and mentally. We teach people to put emotion into their hugs,” says Aashima, who recently organised Hugs Workshop 2.0 at Innov8 Coworking, Connaught Place, New Delhi. “I cannot really put the experience into words. One will understand it better once they experience it,” she says, insisting that each two-hour workshop is different from the previous one.
It all began with curiosity. I wanted to see how many people would actually be interested in a Hug Workshop. Surprisingly, the response was huge
Aashima Taneja, who initiated the workshops
One of the activities in this workshop includes blindfolding participants and having them hug each other. This way, they get to feel the hug and appreciate the emotion behind it. If safety or the worry of being hugged by the 'wrong’ people is what's stopping you from attending the workshop, fret not. Everything here happens under the supervision of the volunteers who ensure that you're hugged only by the ‘right’ people.
Aashima recalls the case of a young woman who once attended the workshop. “She was never hugged by her mother. You could see how much she craved for one. There was another attendee who was as old as her mother. She walked up to her and hugged her tight. This moment was very emotional and put all of us in tears,” she says.
Aashima wishes to expand this three-month-old project to other cities too. She wants more people to accept themselves and embrace their personalities like she did and fall in love with themselves and with life. So when somebody asks her why she does not enjoy parties and do what most 20-year-olds do, she tells them confidently, “This is what I love. I love to make people happy.”
