Heart and Soul first Planning Meeting. 6/1/2011, 12-4pm, Van Gogh Room Blue Star House.
Present: Sue Bell (convenor), Rebecca Brewin, Saadat Yusuf, Duncan Law, Lara Francis, Rakesh Bhambri, Merlin Hayward, Sue Sheehan (at 1pm and again at 4pm)
Apologies: Sarah Cannon
Sue introduced and invited people to talk for 10 minutes on their project or proposal.
LIFE PROJECT:
Local Initiative for Faith and the Environment.
Sadaat (Muslim Sisters Group), Rebecca Brewin
a good way for Muslim women to get involved with other faiths and the environment
AIMS
- common ground between women of faith and environmental activists.
- support one another
- focus on our environment – and its threats like climate change.
- reduce fear of the unknown.
LIFE is an opening – understanding, working together, freedom from fear, sharing of celebration and culture.
Mission statement is available from Rebecca.
How LIFE project came about:
Spiritual common ground between faith and environmental consciousness.
Connection with Heart and Soul
Matthew Fox quote. ‘A space for action from our freedom not from our acting out’
A place for engaging with deep change.
Laurence Freeman quote:
Getting away from ego. Change is inevitable but must not be limited to the level we are at now.
Saadat said: LIFE is life – change.
PERMACULTURE:
Rakesh,
His yoga practice is fundamental. Basic yoga symbol = ‘star of david’ interlocking triangles representing your inner journey and outer journey. They are in balance.
He is a yoga teacher, qualified homeopath, DJ of conscious music, Permaculture teacher.
Permaculture encompasses all ethics. Dogma free. Gets people thinking towards a more coherent, progressive way of thinking.
What is Permaculture? Started looking at food production. ‘Permanent Agriculture. Came out of Limits to Growth’s conclusions about resource depletion affecting ability to support growing population.
Permaculture a strategy to create a food system not dependent on Oil.
ETHICS: Earth Care, People Care, Fair share
Permaculture Principles aid thinking, observation, planning, execution.
A perfect framework to progress humanity, better communities. It encompasses everything.
Non violent communication
Lara Francis
Interior designer, therapist and facilitator.
Believes in inherent capacity to heal – therapy = guiding. Same applies to earth see Gaia theory.
Fell in love with NVC and uses it in her personal life.
Rumi quote: ‘out there beyond right doing and wrong doing there is a field and I will meet you there’
It is a state of compassion.
Authentic connection with self and others feels good.
It involves deep listening.
There is no right or wrong. All violence is a tragic expression of unmet needs. Head gets in the way of connection, with being able to listen to real deep needs.
People can find a different way of listening to themselves and others.
It can be seen as
- a form of spiritual practice to access common humanity.
- a set of skills to facilitate relationships, clarify emotions, values, what our needs are and how to ask for those needs to be met.
NVC could run through everything that we do in TTB, Heart and Soul, LIFE. Especially useful in ‘hot potato’ situations
Violence is defined v broadly. Including small acts such as ignoring, conflicting.
Lara can help to communicate authentically, compassionately. Can be challenging. Not ‘nice’
It can transform anger, reduce stress. She is also interested in mediation. And other therapeutic techniques such as Mindfulness, Sidona method (??)
Idea with a friend to form a group to set up low cost ‘empathy’, therapy, deep listening. ‘Tea and Empathy’. (see development of this idea below.)
FACILITATING LEADERSHIP.
Mamading Ceesay. (reported by Sue Bell)
London Creative Labs, Decision Labs are already offering TTB and other local community leaders their Facititative Leadership Programme
1 major workshop p month encompassing:
- Facilitating better decision
- The 4 powers of integrity
- Hosting courageous conversations
- Proaction cafe
- Ways to empower
- Coping with conflict
- Lab for social start-ups
In addition there is access to an online community, personal and group mentoring and buddying.
Intention is to do FLP for group of 6 people. £150 p month.
Some accreditation available at end of course. Flexible.
Merlin adds: Wisdom and skill = positive intervention.
Duncan adds: Facilitation = making easier like oil little and nearly invisible but makes things work optimally.
THE NEW MEMORY SHOP
Sue Bell
LIFEjourneys – strategies for profound living.
Originated from 2 dances/choreographers in US discovering how body work can reveal old hidden memories.
We are born to be happy and alive.
People triggered and limited by old memories.
Pushed by genetic nature to
- satisfy basic developmental needs.
- Integrate and unify polarities of being
- good bad
- masculine feminine
- Develop Conscious ego.
- Develop our ‘Pilot’
- Realise our uniqueness and potentiality
Create totally new ‘synthetic’ memories can open up new possibilities and strategies for positive living
eg
early experience tells me ‘to get things done I have to do it’. Create new memory of ideal parents who supported you to ask for help – allows possibility of feeling good to take new actions – which increases the chance of success – thereby adding a real re-inforcing memory.
Lara adds:
It is like Matrix re-imprinting – rearranging an event in the way you would have wished it to have happened. It is a re-programming tool. It needs to be done with care. It should be done with full understanding from ‘client’. People can believe that is an actual part of their past.
Sue adds: it must be client led. Therapist is facilitator. Past memories are not altered. Create new synthetic memories. Created in a sacred space.
Deeply embedded memories can come up through the felt sense – through body which doesn’t deceive in the same way as the mind can.
95% of what we do is unconscious. Ego is there to convince us that we are in control. Decisions are made 7 seconds before conscious mind is aware it has made a decision.
Joanna Macy: The Work that Reconnects-
American ‘Deep Ecologist’- inner transition – we cannot do change without being change. How do we become agents of change? Change cannot be forced – people have to agree that this is what they want. Blocks are: anger, grief, us being right while everyone else is wrong etc. Without confronting these blocks, we cannot change. ‘The Work that Reconnects’ is a way of connecting with our personal place as part of global change. Developing attitudes of gratitude – releasing ourselves into attitudes by making contact with what is negative and allowing it to be transformed into positive strategies for living in the world. Unburdening workshops use ritual to help understanding – objects representing different types of emotion. People are then invited to use these symbols to express their emotions. Another activity is inviting people to become a rock, tree, mountain, river to explore experience of being connected with the earth and others. (Duncan attended a workshop on this and uses the word ‘re-invigorated’. Sarah has been trained as a facilitator and would like to offer this material as part of the Heart and Soul group). ‘Without a fairly deep process, we cannot find our power’… If we are not engaged in deep change ourselves we cannot implement transition in the lives of others. Book called ‘Finding Your Power’ by Chris Johnston. ‘Coming back to life’ Joanna Macy
Lara adds: She is a Be the Change workshop facilitator. And would like to do it through TTB. She also mentioned Community Building taken from M Scott Peck’s ‘A different drum’. Lara knows a facilitator.
Would be interested in having a TTB Group facilitators’ support network.
Lewes Group Convenors have a right to a monthly session – to be listened to and receive support. ‘Tea and empathy’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sue as facilitator wanted us to find common ground. Wants to stop us from ‘OK let’s go’ mentality. Using Sophy Banks Dragon Dreaming notes she asked us to answer the following question:
What would this project need to achieve to make your participation 100% worthwhile?
Thanks Duncan and Rebecca.
I am grouping the answers, with my perception, into VISION/VALUES/PROJECT ACTIVITIES. Please alter if you do not agree.
VISION
To incorporate the LIFE project into this project.(TTB/Heart and Soul group)
To have heart-to-heart connections
To provide the heart and home of TTB
To connect with the disengaged people and communities not in TTB
A way of living with ‘like’ beings
Changing the material dreams of the past and transforming the grief and loss into freedom from fear
To do something that meets my deepest values that develops my feeling of heartfelt JOY
H&S group to be the holder of the vision and source and resource for heartfelt practice
Holistic logo
VALUES
To support, develop and re-energise anyone involved
Engage with diversity and accept everyone by clarifying what is needed to be involved and what is offered
To include spirituality and psychology
Create a culture of being deeply heard, understood and valued – my basic needs met.
A self-centering support as a model for self sustainability leading to response ability for what others and our environment needs
A mutual culture to contribute and receive with balanced flow
Self-sustaining as the bottom line for the H&S group
To provide a home for welcoming, nurturing and connecting
To create hope and resilience
To seed community trading using the Brixton£ and credit/debit currency
H&S group to be non-denominational
To network with like projects
To create the balance of the inwards reflection and the outwards action – THE STAR
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
To provide a place for learning and educating in this area of experience
To develop the roles of:
- Container of conflict and burn-out of the eco-activists/spiritual warriors of TTB
- Engage with the communities within Brixton
Set up an intentional community
Explore the psychology of change and transmit our learning positively
Trips that allow opportunities for connections, inspiration and new dreams
H&S group to have a life outside TTB
A difficult time drop-in centre TEA & EMPATHY – may be close to job centre (non-job centre)
Supports people with ideas that link with TTB
Create success measurements that are monitored and reviewed that will provide a new form of measurement
Reskilling around facilitation for growing change
To use ritual through art/culture and look at universal symbolism
Regular meetings like conscious parties that opens space for all denominations without smoking and alcohol
H&S host regular meetings that include the sharing circle
Sue suggested we could use the business model generation canvas as a simple and clear way of moving our project activities forward. A copy of the 9 building blocks and an explanation was given.
Evaluation to assist with future meetings.
What was good: It happened. Enjoyed listening to the variety of offerings and skills. Had space to include my interests. Nicely paced. Hearing what everyone said about goals and ideas. Allowed to express myself and comfortable place to do it. Appreciated competent leadership and structure. Enjoyed lunch together as social space within the meeting. Valued the balance between being affirmed and challenged. Filled with enthusiasm for the year of change 2011.
What could have been done better: could use a process to open up dreaming. Circular table. Some struggle with the use of business language. In future to include check-in/bonding/group exercise at beginning. Get to meeting on time. Sue Sheehan to be included. Keep a vigil that the meeting is inclusive.
There was agreement:
The next meeting of the H&S group will be held at Sue’s home. Please contact Sue if you would like to come on Wednesday 9th February 11-3pm. Bring lunch to share. If there are more than 12 people attending then it will be held at Lilian Bayliss school in Kennington. Lara to facilitate this meeting. Rakesh to open the meeting.
ACTION: LARA RAKESH
There will be 30 minute meeting at the TTB Shared Space on the evening of Monday 7th February ?WHERE. Everyone else who has said they want to be include will be invited. Sue bell will arrange this meeting. A mission statement will be drafted by Rebecca and Lara for this meeting. It is important that the people joining us be included and feel their inclusion in the forming of the H&S group.
ACTION: SUE REBECCA LARA
Rakesh will look at the core values of the H&S group, with his experience from his own projects.
ACTION: RAKESH
It was suggested that we have a skills and interest audit.
We considered who should be present at the group. Georgina Evans will be here. Sue will contact these people. Lara, Merlin, Mamading and anyone else please let me know how to contact the people you know who want to be included.
ACTION: ALL
