Dear Koos,
what you wrote helped me very much to become clearer on this topic,
which has been interesting and important for me since a long while
What you offer is: pragmatic knowledge about relaxing and you are not
"nebulous" when doing so. Very often when I want to talk about such
questions with people, there are two kinds of typical reaction: 1.)
They treat all this as "rubbish", irrational non-sens 2.) They are so
"inclusive" in their thinking, that they leave no possibility for
critical analysis and any "systemic delimitation" ot the topic. Both
reactions made it difficult to me to continue the communication
But your reaction is very different: So you delighted my heart and my
brain. And I learned that looking at these things differently than (1)
and (2) and communicate clearly from a "3rd position is possible.
Thank you
Bernd Weber
bernd.we...@change-facilitation.org
Austria Mobile: +43 6641354828, Landline + 431 5968657; Sri Lanka
landline +94 11 2799081, mobile +94 71 6090838
Change Facilitation s.r.o.
A Global Partner Who Makes Change Happen in Complex Environments
The organization: www.change-facilitation.org The news: www.change-management-blog.com
The resources: www.change-management-toolbook.com
Am 17.10.2009 um 16:39 schrieb Koos de Heer:
Hi Alex,
Interesting questions. I will give you my thoughts on this. I will
relate my thoughts to stretching, breathing and visualization,
because I understand those are the topics you are interested in. Of
course, there are many more ways to relax (e.g. take a walk, get a
massage, take a nap, have a Martini). But I will leave those out for
the moment. This email will be long enough anyway ;-)
1. About relaxing.
For me as a facilitator, relaxing is appropriate before the event,
right up until the moment I open the space. I usually meditate in
the mornings, but on the morning before the event starts, I make a
point of getting up early enough to do some exercises (stretching,
breathing) and have a longer meditation than usual. At the moment
when it is all about to start and I stand there and someone (host,
sponsor, whoever) is introducing me and the last seconds are ticking
away, there is a mixture of relaxation and tension. I find that just
a touch of stage fright gets my energy up and makes me attentive and
clear in my mind. Later on, during the event, I find that being
relaxed and awake at the same time works best. For me, meditation is
what helps me the most in that respect. Below that, I also find that
feeling connected with my body and being present in my body helps my
meditation. Therefore, I also regularly do some stretching and
breathing exercises.
I have had discussions with people who proposed to me that we should
collectively do some stretching or physical warming up with the
entire group at the start of a conference, e.g. as part of the
opening. Visualization and meditation have also been suggested, or a
combination of those. So far, I have the belief that in most cases,
this is not appropriate. I do not know if this is what you are
thinking of, but I will say something about it anyway. I do believe
that exercises like stretching and warming up help people to relax
and to feel connected with their physical being and therefore will
generally improve performance. Usually, the same will count for
meditation or visualization. That is the reason I do these things
myself. However, in my opinion, the opening of an Open Space
conference should be as simple and lean as possible. I make a point
of reducing rather than adding. The reasons for that are that
simplicity is inviting and complexity is not, and that I do not know
if people will be comfortable with the exercises, for whatever
reason (not the least matters of different cultures). I do not want
to impose something on them in a situation where the law of two feet
has not been introduced yet and where it would be awkward to walk
away. Now if someone proposes to do a session on this type of
exercises or if people want to start their sessions with it, of
course that is fine.
There is one exception: when I do an Open Space event for a group of
people who are accustomed to doing a warming up and a meditation at
the start of their meetings, I gladly include it in my opening. And
I must say I really like doing it and I love the effect it has on a
group when it is done collectively. I tend to think that this effect
is partly due to the fact that the people are used to it and feel
comfortable with it, but I have not researched this.
Visualizations are to me somewhat different: I have the idea that in
a warming up or a meditation, I create a container that lets people
experience more or less what is appropriate for them. With a
visualization, there is so much more direction from me, so much more
guiding the experience, that I will not do this as part of Open
Space, not even with a group that is used to it and asks for it. Of
course it is fine if folks want to do it as part of their session,
but I will not do it as part of the opening. I do use visualizations
in training programs, but then the arrangement is that I provide
guidance because I am the trainer. As an OST facilitator, my role is
different and I cannot take on responsibility for the content of
what people do and experience.
2. About bliss
Yes, I am sure many people on this list will agree with me that it
does exist. Also collectively. And it does show up in Open Space!
Often the atmosphere in an Open Space event is described as "high
learning and high play" and I think there are moments when this goes
so far that it can be called bliss. Of course, bliss is an
individual experience that we tend to project. If I feel bliss, I
can easily have the idea that others around me feel the same, which
may or may not be true. Now you ask if anything in a group process
can be called bliss. I want to be careful on that one, as I believe
it is an individual experience in the first place. Now I do believe
that the bliss of others can strengthen my own experience of bliss.
This may be a little off topic, but I also give Tantra training
courses and there, we work with the exchange of blissful energy. But
that is something completely different.
3. Reducing tension
You want a surprise here. Well, I don't know if this is surprising,
I guess not.. But I will say it anyway because it is what I believe.
Open Space reduces tension by allowing the tension to surface and by
making space for people to do what needs to be done. Is this
effective? Yes, very much so! Would introducing techniques that are
designed to reduce tension help making Open Space even more
effective in this respect? I do not think so. To me it feels as if
by introducing one or more collective exercises into an Open Space
event, the space would get smaller and on the whole, it would be
less effective. Assuming that people will do what needs to be done,
these things might show up in sessions and that is fine.
But what if people are not familiar with the beneficial effects of
breath, stretch and visualization, and therefore do not use it? It
might help them but they do not know it - isn't that a missed
opportunity? Maybe, but it is not for me to decide that that is what
they need. For me, that goes against the principles of Open Space.
It might help them - but at the same time, it might be completely
wrong. In Open Space, we reduce tension by giving trust and getting
out of the way; by being present and invisible.
I understand the desire to share the power of working with breath,
stretching, meditation and visualisation with others. I have that
desire too. But I believe that Open Space is not the right setting
for me as a facilitator to share it with a group.
And now it is time to go outside and enjoy a beautiful sunny autumn
day. I wish you all well.
Koos de Heer
At 02:20 17-10-2009, Alex Iglecia wrote:
My questions to you as facilitators are:
1. How does relaxing affect performance, and when it is
innappropriate?
2. Does "bliss" actually exist, and would you call anything in
group process bliss?
3. Please say something about OST and reducing tension - something
surprising...
Thank you!
I've posted related to body-mind work before, and I continue to be
very interested in dialogue with OS community on this aspect of
things.
A project I'm launching with my wife, and (and I want to include
teachers, trainers and movers and shakers in the near future - so
please inquire directly with me)
is a teleconference/webinar called Melted Bliss, for the purposes
of using breath, stretch and visualization pragmatically to
refresh, renew, and plant seeds of resolution.
I welcome your thoughts.
http://www.innergetaway.com/melt/
Alex Iglecia
781-405-1248
http://www.alexiglecia.com
http://twitter.com/AlexIglecia
http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexiglecia
Initiatives:
http://www.innergetaway.com October 20th
http://www.epicworkout.com
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