Mana Shah - Facilitator

As I return from my weekly social dancing classes on Sundays, my mind wonders what this experience is teaching me about facilitation... let's start by unpacking what actually happens in class.  As you enter the class, it is a warm and welcoming feeling - people hug, say hello as if they have known each other a long time... there is usually a five min chit chat time before the class begins!  Our instructor Aamir teaches us a new step set for the dance form we are learning (Waltz or Rock n Roll) in a sequential way. He first demonstrates how the step looks as danced with a partner - when we first see this - we are both "wowed" and "howed"... meaning we can imagine how it will feel when we do this effortlessly and then our enthusiasm is crushed by the thought of the complexity of the step! Aamir then breaks up the full step into parts and teaches the leads and followers the step separately. We are able to slowly get comfortable with how each one of us has to move w...

My son and our family had a beautiful gift of growing up with Aarambh Waldorf - a loving community of parents and teachers who made us see and feel the real joy of parenting and connection to self, others and the world around us. One of the rituals at Aarambh was making hand made gifts for each other. Teachers and children would make cards when there was a child's birthday. Teachers would make beautiful cards for parents when they moved on in their journey. Slowly we as parents also learnt how beautiful this act of creating a gift for someone you care about. You think about the gift - what would make a good gift? what would this person use? what would bring a smile to their face? what would they like to keep with them for a long time? Then you sit and gather the things you need - using as little or reusing as much as possible - and then actually making it. Not knowing what exactly will emerge - each stroke, each line open to so many possibilities... and then you have something that...