Discover
no sorries
The first round of bean bag tossing was interlaced with exclamations of "sorry!" as members missed a catch or made a mistake. Then soon there were laughters instead of sorries, and the air in the room shifted. Walking around the room with bean bag on one's head again shifted the air, it started to settle. "Can we play again?" This time, members were wide awake and had a more relaxed facial expression with joyful expression. Playfulness set in. As the game progressed, one could feel and see that concentration and enjoyment was increasing. Playfulness settled to calmness as the bean bag once again is on top of one's head, every step fresh, every step new. Then members were invited to lie down, rain was dripping outside the windows from different directions. Attention shifted from outside of the room to settle on the skin and fabric of air outlining the body, the space of the body as one, without weight and melting onto the ground. "Wish for a new breathe, with an expansion going in all directions, body like a boat that floats on your breathe." This is the memory of relaxation that members carried with them.
- day 1 -
now this is more comfortable
This was a collective game to observe how the individual affects the group, and vice versa. Too often when one is given a task, like untying the knot here, one is too eager to accomplish and loses the attention. In the beginning, there was obviously one member giving instructions to the group. Then as the knot loosened up, more members pitched in and started to voice out "Now this is more comfortable" for the position they were holding themselves or that of another. The atmosphere became more energetic as members took a moment to feel the contact of touch and considered how to make it more comfortable for one another.
- day 1 -
not dancing
"The body moving with music is not dancing because then it loses the spontaneity. Imagine that the body is hollow like bamboo and feel the sound of silence. When music comes, it has a rhythm. Where does it touch you first? And your body moves, then your body moves in space." There was a noticeable change in energy as there was ease in the movement of members.
- day 1 -
sweet trust
In this partnership game with eyes closed, members felt the concentration in the body as they discovered the quality of eyes closed in trust. When one was leading was one actually following? There was such quietness in the room as the activity went on with full concentration. At the end of the game there was a sharing between partners. The air became more sweet as bubbling conversation filled the room. To cultivate quiet receptivity, one need to be aware at the same time of the world outside and the movement inside.
- day 1 -
same game played differently
The "Fall and Catch" game is so widely used in all sorts of group activities that almost all members had either played or facilitated this more than a few times. But to "fall like a plank"? How does the body become a plank, not like a plank? How does one catch a plank, not a body like a plank? There could be so much nuances in this experiment in trust if one becomes fully aware of how one's own body anticipates, behaves and reacts in a relationship with another body.
- day 1 -
saida
The next morning, members were invited to share about their first day.
Bl: When I opened my eyes after lying down for relaxation at the end of the session, I saw "SAIDA".
(In Macau, exit signs read "SAIDA" in Portuguese)
B: When closing our eyes to walk around the room, there was no sense of space, just awareness. Later on when the partner started calling, the awareness change to a visualisation of the room and discovered that one can shift awareness to a point.
E: When I was lying down I could hear the sounds of my childhood neighbourhood where she felt safe and surrounded by family. Previously the safe feeling she had was when she were alone with nature. But yesterday the safe feeling was with the others.
After the sharing, there was a change in the fabric of the atmosphere.
(A): Take patience to discover, make no conclusion.
- day 1 -