Alaya email -----Original Message----- From: Peter Strobosch [mailto:pe...@alaya.nl] Sent: maandag 5 december 2005 12:45 To: OSLIST Subject: higher learning through silence in OST
Subject: Higher learning through silence in OST Peter Strobosch Drachtenpad 14 6835 KC Arnhem The Netherlands Phone +31 (0)26 4820122 Mobile +31 (0)6 28067422 Fax +31 (0)26 4820124 Email pe...@alaya.nl Website www.alaya.nl & www.largescaleinterventions.com Hi all, I came back recently form an OS conference I facilitated near Joburg, South Africa. Inspiring working room and envrionment, amidst giraffes, zebras and antilopes! Sixteen highly qualified participants from development organisations all over the world. We did a 2,5 day conference. After having worked the first 1,5 days according to the regular OS schedule I took the decision to step out of the regular schedule for the third day as I sensed that people head's were full after 1,5 days of intensive and inspired dialogue and discussion, and that some breakthroughs might unfold themselves by creating more mind-heart connection. During the evening of the second day I wrote a guided imagery focussing on the theme of the conference. The morning of the third day we celebrated the report with a glass of non-alcoholic champagne, after which we did some physical playing outside with the intention to get the particpants a bit out of their heads. Directly after that I guided them through the imagery, with some music at the background, leading them to individually answer some of the questions that were at the heart of the conference. After that the particpants made a drawing of their answers on a flipchart and wrote the answers down. All in silence. Only after that the particpants started reading the document. From celebration until reading took the whole morning. From the imagery until reading the particpants worked in silence, so practically the whole morning. Consequence of this approach was that in the afernoon there was no time for separate action meetings. Being a small group, we worked on convergence and prioritization in plenary during the afternoon. Each participant used his/her drawing which made their interventions very lively and connected wthh the heart. The important thing to mention is that the participants expressed that doing the imagery and drawing in silence before reading the document had so to say increased their perspective of reading the document. They read it with their minds and their hearts, and not only with their minds. They had also come to, both individually and collectively, some breakthroughs in learning and follow up actions to which, as they said, most probably would not have come to if we had continued the third morning with directly reading the document after celebration. Their awareness was higher, they saw things from a more holistic point of view, and in consequence the sources for their follow up actions were of a different nature. And most certainly the atmosphere we worked in was full of Spirit... Be well all of you, Peter Strobosch * * ========================================================== 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