Michelle Smith will host our meet-up topic discussion on the role of stillness in facilitating Consent. This topic was inspired by Linda Kato who facilitates meditation groups. (If you have a topic idea please feel encouraged to share it. This is a peer learning meet-up!)
In this article from Non-Profit Quarterly, the authors note that “organizations committed to social transformation are experimenting with a variety of structural and cultural practices” including meetings that
incorporate moments to ground, pause, (re-)center, reflect, deliberate, and see from multiple perspectives. We’re not all working in the social change arena per se, but I would submit that simply by facilitating consent-based decision-making, we are transforming culture in organizations, businesses and networks.
Does this idea of including “stillness” seem like a touchy-feely, navel-gazing waste of time? Or does it seem like a good practice for tapping into the deeper wisdom available for a group that has very concrete decisions to make and work to do?
Have you had any experience with including stillness in facilitating consent-based processes? Could you use some ideas for ways to “sneak” it into a group you work with who might resist including these kinds of practices in their meetings?
Please join us to share ways that you’ve been able to include stillness in your facilitation or learn from with your peers about methods other facilitators have tried and their results.
