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Flow of Day 2
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Story of Day 2
by Ceri Lan The second day started with our first morning practice hosted by participants with different activities such as meditation, dance movement, martial art, Zen walking meditations or simply free time for creative conscious practice. One of the best thing about Art Of Hosting are the people in it. Both the host team and the participants are like match mates in heaven. They are undeniably unique yet naturally connected like one. We felt a sense of belonging regardless of which group we joined or happen to meet despite the fact we might have met them all for the first time.
My personal experience in the meditation group was empowering. The collective presence allow us to find peace beautifully to start our day. It was a very bonding and supportive experience for us that we continue to host the meditation group after the training is over. As we arrived to the training hall to start the day, a big poster of “Welcome to the space of open mind” was at the entry door. I felt the opening of the day with a warm welcome & framing, continued by a meta harvest from day 1 and check in from all participants. One of the thing I appreciated very much in the Art Of Hosting anyone can feel instantly was the respect for creativity and individual voice. There is a silent trust in the air that we breath in more powerfully than any declaration. This gave all of us space to be welcomed, to be natural and to be heard. It set a perfect space for all of us to discover and grow with a sense of security and support. We continued with an outdoor activity called the World Café. Let’s imagine a powerful space pulled in by one focus. Together, we sit in groups of 4 or 5 around small tables, equipped with colorful pen, an open space of white paper, in rapt conversation with each other around the same question – a question that is engagingly relevant to meaningful conversations. After 20 minutes or so, all but one person at every table get up, move randomly to another table, sit down again and carry on talking, continuing the conversation around that same question. This continues, till groups are invited to share the insights that have arisen from the conversation at their tables. We throw in a Bingo for similar ideas shared, and absorb new insights that was shared by other explorers. At the end, there was a lot of fun with collective harvest to the one important question. |
Filled with new insights, we gathered back to our training room to learn about the sequence of different ‘breaths’. The concept that all hosted conversations go through phases of divergence and convergence with emergence at each step that feeds the next breath. Breath also provides a good reminder of the importance of presence.
Lunch is very well taken care of. The best part of it is the gathering of like minded participants, and on the second day we were privileged to have mentoring sessions over lunch in preparation for our circle practice after lunch. The mentoring was very practical, simple and empowering that allow us to immediate put to practice with confidence right after lunch.
Hosting the circle for the first time was nerve racking and empowering. Practice makes perfect, and that has been the main activity in the training. We had a chance to hand on, to bring what we learn to practical application, and we are supported with much love as we take our first baby steps. The circle is not a new concept, we gather for family dinner or for group discussions all the time. Yet, how to host and hold that space so that it can offer people to stop, to sit down, and to listen to each other is very enriching. In that circle we build relationship to have difficult conversations and make difficult decisions. During our circle, we invite meaningful dialogue around the topic of what makes us tremble. The authentic confessions bond us and ignite in us wisdoms we can never discover on our own.
Participants continue to host the dialogue walk and continue with another hosting oneself in the solo walk. These are the activities that we do everyday, yet a participant who had a dialogue walked with her husband shared: “I thought I knew everything about my husband, there is nothing exciting about walking with him. But this time we got to this for 45 minutes, at times we were in silent and at times the silence bring us topics that we would never knew we had to talk if we didn’t host this space for each other”. Hosting a space for another, for ourselves has been with me ever since. It is one of the best thing I can give myself, or others around me.
We left the day too rich with new experience and happiness. It left us the need to reflect, to recollect. Surprisingly, we were still supported even after a long day by the hosting team with coach preparation session and sense making sessions after dinner. I saw smiles from faces to faces, I knew how it felt because my heart was smiling the same too.
Lunch is very well taken care of. The best part of it is the gathering of like minded participants, and on the second day we were privileged to have mentoring sessions over lunch in preparation for our circle practice after lunch. The mentoring was very practical, simple and empowering that allow us to immediate put to practice with confidence right after lunch.
Hosting the circle for the first time was nerve racking and empowering. Practice makes perfect, and that has been the main activity in the training. We had a chance to hand on, to bring what we learn to practical application, and we are supported with much love as we take our first baby steps. The circle is not a new concept, we gather for family dinner or for group discussions all the time. Yet, how to host and hold that space so that it can offer people to stop, to sit down, and to listen to each other is very enriching. In that circle we build relationship to have difficult conversations and make difficult decisions. During our circle, we invite meaningful dialogue around the topic of what makes us tremble. The authentic confessions bond us and ignite in us wisdoms we can never discover on our own.
Participants continue to host the dialogue walk and continue with another hosting oneself in the solo walk. These are the activities that we do everyday, yet a participant who had a dialogue walked with her husband shared: “I thought I knew everything about my husband, there is nothing exciting about walking with him. But this time we got to this for 45 minutes, at times we were in silent and at times the silence bring us topics that we would never knew we had to talk if we didn’t host this space for each other”. Hosting a space for another, for ourselves has been with me ever since. It is one of the best thing I can give myself, or others around me.
We left the day too rich with new experience and happiness. It left us the need to reflect, to recollect. Surprisingly, we were still supported even after a long day by the hosting team with coach preparation session and sense making sessions after dinner. I saw smiles from faces to faces, I knew how it felt because my heart was smiling the same too.
World Café
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Question 1: What relationships are important enough for me to engage in difficult conversations?
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Question 3: What do we need to practice to invite the conversations we want?
Final Question: What do I intend to practice? 
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Teach: Breath Pattern & Design from Harvest
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Teach: Foundational Patterns
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Further resources: Chaordic Path Video
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Circle Practice
Further resources: Circle Practice Video, Basic Guidelines for Calling a Circle & Circle Way Website
Teach: 2 Loops
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Further resources:Two Loops Video, Activity Note
