This is a concept familiar to me from my coactive coach training - we call it "level 3 listening". It is about listening to what is going on in the space of a relationship, group etc., under the surface words and emotions, and noticing our own impact on it. Being present and showing up is often challenging because I so easily get on my own way - messages about appropriateness, "shoulds", are loudest and most distracting.
In our training sessions there are always assistants present who have themselves been through the course. They have an executive function, to get coffee and water and tissues etc., but their main job is to "hold the space". They are attending to the space and holding it as a powerful and safe learning area. They are holding all the people in the space as creative, resourceful, and whole. If they leave the room, I notice the impact of their absence immediately. When I am holding space for others, I find it requires a very high level of attention and presence - a muscle I continue to develop, as a coach, instructor, and OSer. My impact is something I am still figuring out, but I am sure that it has something to do with the way I love and accept myself, warts and weirdness and all. Somehow my blurting out of unsuitable things gives others more confidence to do the same. I can also bring intentionality to the impact I am having. Sorry for the rambling - I am thrilled to see this being discussed here! Joanna Fletcher Lion Life Coaching j...@lionlifecoaching.com 604-340-1855 www.lionlifecoaching.com _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Funda Oral Sent: October 6, 2006 3:59 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: FW: Showing up & being present This kind of presence provides people & myself with some kind of comfort and liberty to breathe and to flow. funda ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack Ricchiuto <mailto:j...@designinglife.com> To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 6:12 PM Subject: Re: FW: Showing up & being present Harrison writes, There is yet another level which I might call "Silent Presence." Somehow this goes beyond, beneath Intellect and/or emotions. The power of this level of presence in terms of grounding/supporting a group is profound, I have found. Don't ask me how it works, but it does. In my experience, the silence we bring creates space for consciousness which itself is transformative because it expands everyone into a larger space where more is possible. So that explains why my whole life outside OS events is cultivating this consciousness, this silence, this Presence. -- Jack Ricchiuto Leadership coach, facilitator, author Just Released! "Mountain Paths: A Guide on the Journey toward Discovering our Potential" - available at www.DesigningLife.com * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist