Alex's project - and questions about relaxing

Sat Oct 17 06:37:58 PDT 2009

A comment on Koos' comment about visualizing:
If visualizing is something important to you, I would suggest  
visualizing yourself, as facilitator, being as relaxed , open and  
flowing about the event you are about to lead as possible.  I agree  
with Koos that visualizing anything about how the event will be for  
participants is not a part of OST, at least as far as I understand it
On Oct 17, 2009, at 6:09 AM, Koos de Heer wrote:

> 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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