Alex's project - and questions about relaxing

Koos de Heer koos at auryn.nl
Sat Oct 17 04:09:15 PDT 2009


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/>http://www.innergetaway.com/melt/
>
>
>Alex Iglecia
>781-405-1248
>
><http://www.alexiglecia.com/>http://www.alexiglecia.com
>http://twitter.com/AlexIglecia
><http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexiglecia>http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexiglecia
>
>Initiatives:
><http://www.innergetaway.com/>http://www.innergetaway.com October 20th
><http://www.epicworkout.com/>http://www.epicworkout.com
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