Embodied Compassionate Witnessing FAQ's

​FAQs related to our "We Space" practice inspired by Global Social Witnessing
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Will the event include everyone checking in at the beginning?

• It may depend on how many are present.   We want to interrupt usual patterns for the way we gather, to open up fresh ways to connect.  Also, we want to keep as much space/time as possible for the group sharing and listening process in the last part of the meeting.  

Will we go into small groups in the event? 

• It depends on the intention of the specific gathering.   If we are witnessing a world event or situation, we like to be together in the whole group as much as possible,  in support of us each sensing our experience of the whole group field.  In this case if the group size is on the larger size, 25 people or more, we will likely go into small groups to support a flow of energy between and among participants.  Our recent focus is on community resourcing and connection, and we have been breaking into small groups to support that intention.  

Will the event be recorded for later viewing?

• We do want to expand and connect with everyone and make the practice available to everyone who wants to join in.  And we likely won't share a recording of the event for this particular gathering. 
• Part of the practice is for each of us to sense into the space, which includes who is present and how that feels to each of us.  Our experience of the group informs each of us as to what we might want to share in the moment.  Having a recording shared with others who aren't present changes the context of the space that is being shared.  In the future as people are more familiar with the practice, we might plan in advance to record and share the recording with CT's.

 
Will there be verbal feedback, verbal empathy, or reflection after each person shares into the sharing space at the end?

• Sometimes there will and sometimes there won’t be.  The gathering is oriented around each of us exploring how we experience ourselves and the group space, not so much focused on personal empathy or healing.  However, the facilitators may reflect empathically in words to participants sometimes, as intuitively guided in support of a friendly and supportive experience for everyone.  Our intention is to resonate with each person and their expression, whether verbalized or not, with friendliness, love, and heartfelt curiosity.  

What is the intention of GSW practice?

• Global Social Witnessing small group practice is a structure of gathering in a group to connect our inner and our outer worlds, bringing more awareness to subtle inner movements as we connect with ourselves, each other in the group, and whatever is our topic for practice.  In the case of this particular gathering, we’ll continue to witness what comes up in us in relation to our larger community of NVC CT’s.  

Is there a particular goal?

• If there is a goal, it is to deepen our connection to presence as a resource which replenishes us.  The context Global Social Witnessing arises from is our interconnection with each other and our world, which is present even when we are not present to that.  It’s hard to respond to what’s happening when we’re not connected with what’s happening.  While Global Social Witnessing is not about taking action, it is sometimes described as subtle activism, as it tends to open flow in a friendly way related to the topic we are witnessing, and perhaps indirectly in other ways, too.  
• In GSW, we want to turn towards our edges of numbness or activation with heartfulness and kindness, as often it is these muted or frozen energies within and around us that create symptoms of fragmentation or polarization. At the same time, we want to take care of our nervous systems and remain grounded and connected with a sense of feeling resourced.  This is the edge upon which GSW practice allows us to dance. 

Is there an 'appropriate' way to share into the group sharing space?

• We invite people to practice speaking from their own experience and perception, using “I” language, drawing from their experience of what Thomas Huebl calls “3-Sync”:  speaking from connection with body sensations, emotional movements, and awareness of thinking in the moment.  
• The practice is not intended to be a space for group discussion, cross-talk, brainstorming solutions, or heart-storming.  Often people are impacted by what others share, and this may inspire something in subsequent sharings.  
• As listeners, GSW practice can help illuminate when we experience an inner polarization stimulated by what someone says, or how they say it.  We can become very curious about our inner movements and also the inner movements of others in the group, and the group as a whole - not as a problem to fix, but as an architecture of energy which is present whether we notice it or not.  The more we become present to what is, the more we can release any drain of energy in resistance, the more we can discover what needs loving attention, and the more we make space for what may emerge through each of us, and us together. 

Will everyone have a chance to speak into the group sharing space?

• Usually in GSW small group practices everyone who wants to has a chance to speak.  Although we usually do not time the practices or raise hands.  That said, in our initial meetings we may bring in more structure so that people feel supported to relax into the practice.  

Why is the event 90 minutes?

• GSW practices are often 90 minutes, with the intention to hold the dynamic tension between spaciousness for the practice, and also acknowledging the intensity of sustaining awareness and subtle presence can itself be tiring.  

Will the event include brainstorming about how to move forward?

• The event is not meant to open into brain- or heart-storming, and may be supportive before those types of gathering to make space for presence before moving into action in other types of contexts. 

Is it a mourning circle?  Or a celebration circle?  

• Our GSW Gatherings are not meant to be specifically mourning circles nor celebration circles, more an open space to witness whatever is arising in people at the moment of the meeting, which could be related to a person’s past experiences, current experience, or desired future.  Even when referrring to the past, we encourage people to practice speaking ‘from’ their experience in the present moment as much as possible, not as a right / or wrong way to speak, simply as a skill to build in relation to this particular practice of witnessing subtle energies.  

Will we be speaking directly about our met and unmet needs?

• Not explicitly.  GSW practice could be understood as exploring our connection to what is happening inside of us even before our inner movements are identified as particular needs.  And, people will speak in the way that they do, and that is welcomed.  

Is there a particular way we are encouraged to listen?

• Yes.  Our practice of listening in fresh ways, listening to our experience in our bodies in the moment as if we are listening with our whole bodies may be the most important and powerful part of the practice.  Also intentionally listening to the group field, as if the group that gathers has its own body, is one of the ways to listen that we are cultivating together.  We think of it as a beautiful experiment - listening this way together, and learning from what emerges in ourselves and each other.  

We hope to see you at the event!  We invite you to let us know via the Global Home or this contact form if you have any questions.  

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​About the Facilitators, both who are inspired and informed by their studies in the Thomas Hübl Community:  

Ivana Horakova is a nonviolent communication trainer, mediator and somatic experiencing practitioner (SEP). For the last 10 years, she has been applying her knowledge to support compassion, learning and life-serving communication. She works with individuals, couples, companies, and organizations. She has lead international practice groups and offered  group workshops within the EU. Since 2018 she is the lead trainer of the NVC mediation programme in Czechia, now in its 4th run. All her work is infused with body awareness and the wisdom of our nervous system.
www.ivanahorakova.com

​Rhonda Mills (she/her)  is a trauma-informed coach, group facilitator, and NVC trainer who is focused on evolutionary embodiment and is deeply engaged in cultural healing and transformation.  Since 2001, Rhonda has coached and trained hundreds of executives, teachers, parents, couples, therapists, ministers, and healers, and trained Facilitators of Embodied Transformation and Yoga Teachers in the U.S. and Canada. Much of her work centers in the principles of Global Social Witnessing.    TransformationPlayground.com