My son's learning space (https://aarambhwaldorf.in/) has thankfully not had any online classes the whole year. He is 9 in grade 3. Teachers worked with parents and we learnt (sometimes happily and sometimes annoyingly) to take the curriculum to kids in a joyful, purposeful way. One great thing about this was that we got a inside experience of the curriculum itself and how it is brought to the children.
The "work" starts with a verse. Always. In fact even in a community meeting, parent meeting, class group meeting, training etc at Aarambh we always start by reading a verse. (above is a verse Ayan and I read at home before we get to "work").
Why read a verse before starting? I will talk about what it does it us first. When we look at the verse, it makes us pause, it gives us a minute to realise that we ended what we were doing before and are now starting something else. As we read the verse together, the words slowly sink in (in Aarambh, Ayan says the children hug themselves as they say the verse). The breath slows down and it allows us a moment to connect with why we sitting down to work and learn.
It is quite magical. Imagine the amount of mental, emotional and physical readiness a player of a sport must engage in before he/ she steps into the ring, the court, the stadium, the field......We would not even question there how much full readiness is not just a good thing but a necessary step in significantly increasing the chance to be fully present = thereby increase chances to do the best we can = thereby increase chances of success.
But day in day out, moment to moment, we stop something and get into something else without taking the time to be "ready" for the next thing. I looked up the meaning of "readiness"
"the state of being fully prepared for something"
"the willingness to do something"
So when you step into a call, a meeting, the kitchen, the bath, a meeting, a meal, a drink.....do you just jump in or do you take a moment to get ready? Are you really fully prepared/ willing to do it? Do you even realise you are doing it?
As a facilitator, I am even more curious about how to help the individual/ group to get "ready" before we begin an online or offline meeting. The offline has advantages that the act of entering a new physical space, sitting down, grabbing a coffee, or a chit chat with others before the meeting actually starts - all helps in getting ready for what is about to happen.
In an online setting, we log off a meeting and log in the next one or in the short few minutes we have catch up on laundry or some to do list or a quick shower and log into the next one. So many times, when I see people logging into a meeting, I see the looks of "oh my another one" or "phew I managed to make it in time" or "I wish I had 2 min to go make that cup of coffee or check in on my son to make sure he is ok"...... Many times its even multiple screens, multiple devices and so the work of the facilitator is doubly difficult. So I put in extra effort to get people "ready" and I make genuine requests of them so they do some things to get "ready".
For example......
- I invite people into the room with music playing and a beautiful slide 5 min before start time. It allows people to enter, say hello...beauty of sound/ sight makes us feel good - feeling good reminds us of what we are feeling and helps us take a breath.
- I invite them to take 2 min to take a breath and do what they need to feel ready - they can stretch, do 10 jumping jacks, get a drink, clear up their desk, light a candle, adjust their posture/ chair, go hug a loved one or whatever else would help them get ready!
I did this yesterday and everyone immediately turned their videos off and promptly in 2 min were back looking far more relaxed than they did before, some chomping on some snacks, enjoying a coffee and one with both his kids on his shoulders!!!!!
- I ring a bell (an actual singing bowl or https://awakeningbell.org/) for about 40 seconds inviting people to breathe with the bell and just arrive in our space.
- One of the group members is invited in advance to bring a verse/ quote/ poem/saying that they connect with which they read out or we read together at the start.
- Sometimes I may do a "noticing" exercise to help people feel grounded - what do you see/ hear/ smell/ taste right now?
- I do a check in round with a question that is something that taps into their "whole being" - something like "how I am arriving?" (my husband when asked this quipped "with my feet"!), "what is alive for me now"?, "what made me smile today?", "what was the best part of the previous day?", "what is one nice thing someone said to me recently?"...... this question helps them pause, check in to their experience, share something personal and makes everyone connect to each other emotionally and make us all feel like humans.
In a meeting I was hosting, a person shared she was feeling blue (we chose colours and reflected what that said about how we are arriving) and said that she had not gotten good sleep! At the end of the session, she herself felt and look far more energised. Since the group heard her in the beginning, we all tried bits to help send energy. The space allowed her to share what she was feeling and just that little act of compassion makes people become more fully present (even though her "physical" tiredness never really went away - the emotional/ mental tiredness did).
- I invite people to share their "hopes and fears" from the meeting/ workshop etc.....either individually or in smaller groups. Just pausing to get in touch with these and sharing them helps people feel more present and ready.
- If I am running a training, I spend the initial minutes helping reflect on why does this topic/ course have meaning for them and what they see themselves doing differently in the future.....and as we move through the course we keep connecting with this and also towards the end. It is sort of a personal road map of how they would navigate through the experience. I may also ask them to bring with them a current problem/ project they want to see solved/ improved/ developed with the learnings from the training. Most of the times people discover answers to these questions in the training itself while we may assume they know these already!
- the content - why are getting together, how does this tie in with what we have doing or are about to do, why this has meaning for all of us, what is the agenda, what we can expect to experience, anything that we need to read up etc. This honours the fact that all of us work/ learn/ process things differently. So while I know very well that many people will not read what is sent earlier, I like to give a heads up to those folks who like to take time with a question or a document and would appreciate the courtesy of not being put on the spot. It also honours people's time.
- the way it is presented - I like to start with a picture or a quote..... I like to make the design look pretty so it is pleasing to the eye. I recently tried using https://www.loom.com/ for sharing instructions in a video format and it is the first time I got so many responses for the pre meeting mail:)
- Before any workshop/ training, they send out a readiness "video" that invites participants to take a pause and reflect on why they are attending this workshop, what they want to be able to do as a result of it, where do they see themselves using the learning......what their current worldview/ understanding of the topic is....what is their preferred learning style so they can maximise how well they learn and it is such a difference when you "enter" into a space with this clarity and grounding.
- A GC trainer invites participants to get a letter signed by the participant's employer agreeing on what the participant is expected to do with the learning from the training.
