It was a Monday evening and I was nervous.

In front of me: the screen with the zoom tiles, which was slowly filling up with the faces of my peer group, and a script that I had written myself - because English is not my first language and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't forgetting anything important. I was about to write a so-called Global Social Witnessing Session as part of the facilitator training programme. Topic: Living with chronic illness.

A topic that I know not only from books.

What is Global Social Witnessing?

We live in a time in which we are inundated with news every day. Wars, climate catastrophes, social injustices, discrimination, poverty, exploitation, violence. At some point, we switch off - not because we are heartless, but because our nervous system is simply overfordert.

This is precisely where Global Social Witnessing (GSW) comes in. The Pocket Project led by Kosha Joubert has developed a training programme with many international experts to facilitate Global Social Witnessing Calls. I have been taking part in this training since April 2025.

The basic idea of GSW: We humans have the ability to remain mindful of what is happening in the world - without looking away, without becoming numb, without becoming unfeeling. We need to practise this ability.

GSW follows three steps:

• First the attentive perception - You pause instead of scrolling on. You really let the information sink in.
• Then the inner resonance - You feel for yourself: What does this do to me? Where does it show up in your body? Is something tightening in your chest? Is there sadness? Anger? The event turns from an abstract number into a human experience.
• And finally the reflected answer - From this pause, you can act more consciously. Not out of panic or anaesthesia, but out of clarity.

Brené Browns "Strong back - soft front - wild heart" For me, this fits in perfectly with the Global Social Witnessing approach.

1.3 billion people - and we hardly look at them

Chronic diseases are now the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for around 75% of all deaths. Around 1.3 billion people, or one in six people on the planet, live with a significant disability that is often caused by chronic diseases.

These are not abstract numbers. They are neighbours, colleagues, friends and family members. Maybe you are one of them yourself.

And yet, this topic is largely invisible to society. This is because many chronic illnesses - autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, ME/CFS - do not show themselves from the outside. Anyone who is not in a wheelchair or does not look visibly ill is often not recognised as being ill. The world is built for healthy, productive people - with 9-to-5 working hours, long commutes, social expectations of energy and presence.

Wer davon abweicht, fällt durch's Netz. .

What I felt in that Monday session

I started the session with a breathing exercise - the so-called Cardiac Coherence, which I again saw for the first time in the Art of Hosting Training I learnt 5 years ago.

Inhale for six seconds, exhale for six seconds, six times in a row.

Der Gedanke dahinter: Wenn wir gemeinsam in diesem Rhythmus atmen, synchronisieren sich unsere Herzschläge – auch über vier Zeitzonen und zwei Kontinente hinweg, so wie in "meinem" Call.

At that moment, I realised why I had chosen this topic.

Nicht nur weil die Zahlen erschreckend sind. Sondern weil ich weiß, wie es sich anfühlt, wenn der eigene Körper und Geist nicht so funktioniert, wie die Welt es erwartet. Wenn du nach außen hin „normal" aussiehst, und innerlich kämpfst. Wenn du erklären musst, was sich von außen nicht erklären lässt.

In unseren Salons zu "Krankheit in Organisationen" befassen wir uns seit Oktober 2024 mit diesem Thema, auf einem oft sehr sehr persönlichen Level, und ich wollte das Thema in eine weitere Öffentlichkeit bringen, ihm auch eine globale Dimension ermöglichen.

In der Session habe ich dann als Host quasi das Witnessing meiner Peergroup bezeugt. Das war für mich eine wirklich interessante Erfahrung, denn die Kolleginnen waren allesamt überrascht über meine Themenwahl. Sie konnten die Bilder, die ich von erkrankten Menschen ausgesucht hatte, kaum ansehen und hatten mit dem was diese Woche in Welt los ist, wohl sehr damit gerechnet, dass ich etwas zum us-amerikanischen Angriff auf die islamische Republik Iran "bringe". Die großen globalen World News sind in der Regel das, was es in die Global Social Witnessing Calls schafft. Mein Thema war persönlich. Und global. Nicht weit weg im Iran, der Ukraine, dem brasilianischen Regenwald. Sondern wirklich überall. Gleich nebenan. Oder sogar im eigenen Körper.

What does that do to you? When you see such a personal issue, which is repeatedly privatised, suddenly placed in a global context?

We then explored this together. 

What happens when we look collectively?

GSW does not claim that looking at the world will save it. But it does claim that looking away makes it sicker - in the literal sense. Collective traumas that are not felt and processed become ingrained. They become unconscious cultural patterns that are passed on from generation to generation.

When we as a society learn to dwell on what is difficult - on the invisible illnesses, on the silent exhaustion, on the people who fall out of the system - then something begins. Not a revolution, perhaps. But a crack in consciousness through which light can shine.

An invitation

You don't have to attend a GSW session to get started.

The next time you see a headline about health, poverty or exhaustion - don't scroll on immediately. Pause for a moment. Breathe in and out deeply and ask yourself: What does this do to me?

This is the beginning.

Because in order to heal a wound - even a collective one - it must first be seen and felt.