American and native OS

[Michael Herman]

i love this bit, doris. some friends and a teacher named julie henderson
and i have been playing with language for this sort of movement... i've
taken to talking about organizations as 'bigger bodies.'

there are a tremendous number of parallels to be made. bodies run on
pulsation. all of life is pulsation. in ost one of the four mechanisms
is breathing, for instance. moving from awareness of the parts to
awareness of the whole, back and forth, until we become aware of both.
there is the blurring of the boundaries between bodyworker/facilitator
and the body being held, which raises questions of i/we nature. there is
a rhythm with which people check the wall, between sessions, which is
also a return from breakouts and reconnecting with bigger body... and
overall, it is the bigger body becoming aware of itself, waking up to
all of its parts.

i thnk this is what happens at harrison's fifth level, spirit level,
sitting atop physics, biology, psychology, and theology, as mysticism. i
think that all cultures have spirit/mysticism stories/practices. all
cultures know spirit. my guess is that most don't support them very
well. most people in most cultures are not real live practicing mystics.
so the distinctions between cultures i don't find so useful. yes the
stories are there in some and lost in others, but at that level, like
with open space, it's not about being able to tell the story... it's
about the skill, subtly and power with which it is embodied. and that's
what i think is not done very well anywhere on the planet. talk is span,
practice is depth.

for more on pulsation in body and embodying well being, you could see
some of the pages i just updated at another site...
http://www.zapchen.com ...zapchen somatics is a marriage of tibetan
buddhism and western somatic psychology. it is all about space and
awareness and body. it's how i've been understanding the inside of my
own open space practice. oh yes, see also, a short piece called
"embodying open space" in my inviting organization collection at
http://www.globalchicago.net/ost/invitingorg/35yawning.html.

we were talking about this topic at our midwest osonos a week or so ago,
maybe jane lewis will be getting some notes posted about this soon, when
she finishes some travels.... she's a HIGHLY skilled cranio-sacral
worker and open sapce facilitator.

to me this whole practice is opening and uncovering the space that each
of us already IS embodying and then consciously and carefully inviting
the rest of the group, org, world into that space.

thanks for bubbling this up. michael


Mikk Sarv wrote:

> Perhaps it’s a bit far but if this is true on a physical level of the
> organs, the blood, they lymph etc. then maybe another reason that OS
> can be used all over is because it is picking up on very deep human
> (and molecular even) rhythms that transcend culture and move into the
> realm of biology.
> Of course beyond that it seems really obvious to believe that certain
> cultures are more in tune with this biological rhythm than others…



--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Avenue #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
(312) 280-7838

http://www.michaelherman.com - consulting & publications
http://www.globalchicago.net - laboratory & playground
http://www.openspaceworld.org - worldwide open space

...inviting organization into movement

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