GROUNDING EXERCISES

The very last part of the workshop, the moving into everyday reality, is very important. (This section has a tendency to be mistakenly reduced because it is not so 'extra-ordinary' as the rest of the workshop.) It is by fixing this 'new reality' (which we have perceived through the eyes of our allies) into strategies for concrete action and continued community that the effects of the Council of All Beings are felt in the 'real world'.

Personal goals and strategies.

If there is more time available than one hour, another process can be inserted before the final sharing circle - anything which encourages participants to translate their weekend experiences into relevant actions and life-changes. An example is an exercise adapted from Joanna Macy's book, 'Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age' which I call "If I was completely fearless....". This is a pair exercise, so ask people to find themselves a partner. It will take about 45 minutes. (Remind people that they are a part of the Earth and that their goals may indeed include caring for themselves!)

The members of the pairs take it in turn to be (i) question-answerer and (ii) scribe (question asker and recorder of answers). Ask participants to decide who will be person A and person B. Explain that person A asks person B this question and then records in note form their answer.
1. If you were fearless and completely in your power as a part of the web of life, what would you do to care for the Earth?
Allow 2.5 minutes for people to answer this question, then ring a bell or bang a drum. Then get person A to ask person B the next question and record their answer. (Repeat for the following questions.)
2. What abilities, attributes and skills do you bring to this task?
3. What do you need to acquire, learn in order to achieve you task, what resources do you need?
4. What obstacles will you put in your way of achieving the task?
5. How might you overcome these obstacles you place before yourself?
6. Think of a specific amount of time in the future, 12 months or less. What do you need to do in this time to achieve your goal?

Person B then reads person A's answers back to them. For example: "Eshana, now that you are fearless and comple;ly in your power as a part of the web of life, you are going to ..........". After the whole piece of writing is read out and the paper given to person A to take home from the workshop, the whole process begins again, but with person B asking the questions to person A.

(A 15 minute version of this involves the facilitator asking the questions, and each person writing their own answers down. In partners, read the answers out to the writer. Because there is a possibility that an even number of participants requires the facilitator's involvement as a partner, it should be noted that trying to keep time and participate is difficult. We suggest that two of the facilitators get together as a pair, and both keep their attention divided, so that the time-keeping is accurate.)

Networking.

After this partner exercise, hold a sharing circle in which people briefly describe their current environmental work; their 'new' task and how they feel about it; and what they need. Encourage people to be concise. This is the beginning of networking and strategising for future environmental work.

It is helpful at this point to hand out a list of participants' names (and allies?), complete with address, phone number, email, and a space to write notes. (Try to arrange with the workshop venue and organisers for copies to be available by this time in the workshop.) Suggest before the sharing circle that people write brief notes about the people whose work most interest them and who they would like to connect up with in the future.

As facilitator, your job is to try and link people together. See if there is a particular project /s which people can get together and work on, or if there are common themes emerging amongst participants' projects (e.g., kids, adult education, tree-planting, direct actions, council of all beings). One technique for doing this is to use a white-board, writing different projects/themes up and connecting participants so all can see.

Then encourage people to get together and arrange concrete meeting times and events. It is really important that these workshops do not simply act as isolated events in people's lives, but that they continue in some meaningful way (through more rituals and community feeling, and through concrete environmental action).

Feedback.

After this concrete networking, it is important for the participants and facilitators to have a brief feedback circle: positive and negative. "What was the worst thing and the best thing about the workshop for you?". This helps in the completion process for the participants, preparing them for the outside world and letting go of any feelings and comments which belong in the circle. The feedback session is also very useful for you as facilitators, who could take notes, as it will help in improving your future workshops , build your confidence and encourage you to do more.

Grounding.

It's important as facilitator to give people a bit of a rave about 'grounding' after the workshop. It has been an intense shared experience and the energy-field built up through such an event is suddenly not there for participants once they leave. This can leave people feeling rather "spaced out", a bit "out of their body". Warn people about this and make sure they are careful driving home etc. Give people suggestions about how to deal with this over the following days, incl;uding:
* Pay attention to your legs and feet, walk in nature, do physical exercise
* Have time alone to write in your journal. Don't try to share everything that happened during the workshop with your friends and family, all at once! Talk to a sympathetic listener, preferably another workshop participant.
* Eat grounding food - protein, root vegetables, etc.
* Garden, recycle, buy organic food - keep your practical connection with the Earth.

Ritual closing.

Some kind of ritual closing is necessary. In some workshops, we have left the ritual burning of the masks until the very end of the workshop. Sometimes, we just have a big group hug, which is sufficient, but a longer process is nice. Sing a group song or two, especially one about appreciating each other, and say good-bye to everyone. One process which works beautifully is that, while singing, the large circle of participants holding hands breaks at one point and one person leads the circle back on itself (inside the circle), looking into each person's eyes and hugging them.

AFTER THE WORKSHOP

The co-facilitators should also get together after the workshop and have a critical evaluation session, general sharing and appreciation. Don't forget to tell each other what you really liked about each other's facilitation styles. Congratulate each other and thank the Earth who supported you!

All fine tunings which you come up with will be very useful for the forthcoming manual, so please send them in!

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