Practice Groups - Guidelines and Questions

Guidelines for Practice Groups
 
Microphones, speakers and cameras during practices: Mute your devices during times of individual practice; if you wish, you may turn off your camera off or volume down during practices. Stay aware of the leaders’ cues about coming back to the session.

  • Help the practice groups be a circle of care and empathy by participating with curiosity and patience with ourselves and others.
  • Stay close to the practice and keep sharing briefly and at the level of sensation (hold gently the processing of experiences, but if these are bombarding you - try to lean back and find a way to adjust your physical comfort level)
  • Speak for your own experience and refrain from evaluative statements (“maybe you should do it more like this”) about others’ practices or responses.
  • It’s okay to pass it to another person and return to the question later, or say, “I’m not sure.”
  • Attempt wholeheartedly to release judgment of our own and others’ bodies, pain or limitations. (If you find yourself being self-critical about your practice, check out the FAQ on www.copingincommunity.com)
  • Welcome your own body’s response to a given practice. Stop or shift a practice that is “no” or brings pain.
 
Group debriefing time:
  • Monitor your own participation so others have opportunities to speak in the time provided.
  • Provided your internet connectivity and technology provides, please have your cameras on during debrief or verbal sharing times. Take care to reduce environmental noises when sharing if possible.
  • Say goodbye to your group, if you have to leave early, using the chat window (when at all possible).
  • Respect the privacy of others by keeping all personal information confidential, including the names/identities of those who attend.
  • Affirm the creative spirit needed to include all who wish to be here and prioritize that creativity over the value of efficiency.
Practice Group Questions:

Introduce yourself with your name and geographic location before you begin. Invite the next person to speak in the group. It’s okay to pass it to another person and return to the question later, or say, “I’m not sure.” Read the brief guidelines for practice groups allowed.
 
Each group member should get an opportunity to share. Please refrain from commenting on one another’s shares or giving any advice. Follow your own covenant and ground rules you were offered. Responses should be affirming and supportive.

Tech: When you’re sharing, its important to turn your camera on, so you can be present to the person sharing. But then you can turn it back off when we practice
 
1. Share: Is what you are trying on so far feel like a “Yes,” “No,” or “Maybe” for your body? How do you know? How/where is your body telling you it’s a yes or no? 
 
2. Try to feel and identify the sensations:Turn your cameras off. Do the practices again (only the ones that were a “yes” or “maybe”) for about a minute.  Make any adjustments to the practice. Turn your camera on when you’re done and ready to return to the group.
 
  • Sensations can be something like a temperature, movement, numbness, blankness, stillness, contact, pressure, texture, emptiness, fullness...
  • Your sensations might also include an image - like a sponge floating or a wave in the ocean.
  • You might identify a sensation nearby where the practice was focused - those are welcome, too! (ex - you feel warmth at the back of your head, you notice a pressure in your neck)
 
3. Share: Which parts of the practices did you like best? Do you have a strong preference? 

If there is time left, you could take 1-2 minutes to repeat the practice you like bet, before the last question.
 
4. Share: Notice any small impacts: are you a little more relaxed? Is there some softness? A new slackness somewhere in your body? A change in mood?
Summary of Wednesday Practices:

​Conscious Completion
Speak aloud or write about each of the following four categories (in whatever order works for you) as they apply to your ending:
* Resentments
* Appreciations
* Regrets
* Learnings
 
So, I’d invite to take up first either resentment or regret. For example, for the “Resentment” category, you can say (or write), “I resent that________” or, “One resentment I have about_____is: ______.” 
 
“stream of consciousness” style - naming one resentment or regret after another without pausing. Every once in a while (maybe every 3 or 4 resentments or regrets), tune into your body sensations and hang out with them for a bit.)
 
Write them down or describe them aloud to help you stay with: 
1. what they are (are they a temperature, a texture, a sense of movement or stillness, a “mood”, an image etc.), and 
2. where they are (your big toe? Deep inside your chest? Floating just above your head?).
 
Take a few moments now to do 3 or 4 on your list. Take a long slow inhale and exhale. Feel your sensations again. 
 
(Or, you can do it this way - express one resentment, pause, and then complete a long, slow inhale and exhale. Feel your sensations. Then move on to the next resentment. Follow it with another long, slow deep breath. Continue until you have expressed all the resentments you can access at the moment.)
 
Switch to the next category (Appreciations, Regrets and Learnings) and follow the same process. Notice when you have “had enough” for now.  Don’t push through. If you feel “done,” stop.) If there are more Resentments, Appreciations, Regrets or Learnings to be expressed, you can repeat this practice later on as much as you need.
Don’t forget to check in with your sensations! 

Eyes and Jaw 

​
Summary of Tuesday Practices:

1. Tunnel of Ancestors and Our Back Body 
- Imagine the tunnel of ancestors supporting your back body.
- Place a hand or prop behind you, making a layer of protection and support for your lower spine, your back body.
- Get curious with the type of support that helps you feel the tunnel of ancestors behind you, or feels the most supported.
 
2. Lower Belly or Hip Bones 
- Hands hovering or making contact with our lower belly. Hands and fingertips finding our hip bones.
- Modifications - one hand in back and one in front of our belly, feeling our depth. A rowing motion (if you need/want to be more active), feeling more settled back by rocking forward and leaning back.
 
3. Declaring our Competence 
- Create and speak aloud your sentence: “I am [#] years old. I am THIS experienced. I have THIS MUCH training. I know a lot of stuff.”
- find the intensity, speed, volume, tone that feels just right.
- try to repeat the “right” version a few times

Notice your sensations - temperature, movement, numbness, blankness, vibration, tingling, stillness, contact, pressure, texture, emptiness, fullness, a mood, an image.