The level of your desire, determines the quality, as well as the creativity of your outcomes. So.....stoke the fire!.....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
I'm waiting for the workshop group & wondering about the overall level of desire that's coming to greet me. This will determine how I go about designing the classwork, as well as the metaphors I'll choose. Every class is different & even though there are always participants with a high level of desire to learn new things, it's rare for the whole group to be so invigorated.
Usually the desire level is low to medium. This brings me to the point regarding teaching or writing for adult learners. While it's vital to strike a balance, one wants the learners to leave the session or workshop with at least a high level desire to carry on what they have experienced, but perhaps more importantly, to feel very strongly about traveling to an even higher level. This is my goal here.
I like teaching & writing for adults. Each individual has been on a unique journey & most are willing to open their luggage & to share, especially when the environment is condusive to safe exploration. It's my responsibility to provide that, because I know that the more people are willing to open & share, the better the workshop.
Teaching or writing from the position of true, living experiences, in the moment, is sure to raise the level of desire in each & every participant. It truly doesn't matter if questions or life experiences take us off the track I've planned. It's my responsibility to take what I've been given & to mould it into positive teaching material, perhaps reframing it to carry a much needed message, now imbedded with real, living, personal power.
MOOD CHECK
Remember those "mood rings" that turned different colors, supposedly reflecting your mood? I seem to remember that "hot desire" was bright purple. Black or gray indicated "not interested."
We all have a "standard" mood that we wake up with & maintain for most normal experiences. We call this our personality, but it truly isn't. It's simply our mood of choice. On occasion, we may change it, but most of the time we wear it like an old coat.
I ask the group about their "coats"....This conversation will break the ice, build some rapport & let me know where everyone sits in this regard.
The coats are being hung up one by one. There are 3 depressed coats, 6 high stress, 2 quiet & timid, 3 happy-go-lucky, 2 quiet & serious & 4 non-descript. This means that four people aren't sure about their daily moods. Obviously, they are not very attentive to Self.
HOT DESIRE
We always begin where we are. The idea is to move from this position to one of hot desire. Usually, this is not going to happen in one fell swoop, especially when one's daily mood tends to be on the negative side, or not known at all. I call these low to medium negative moods & it's easier to move from this position to one of low-positive before even considering climbing up to "hot desire."
Believe it or not, there are people who have never experienced true, hot desire & so this can even be frightening. When people who are tense are asked to relax deeply or to experience meditation, the release of the body often catches them unaware & this can be quite un-nerving both physiologically & emotionally. Sometimes this can be perceived as "having an anxiety attack" or tears can flow, causing embarrassment. So, it's important for me to tread carefully. My group tends to be on the low to medium negative level & so I'll bring them into images that will take them to a low-level positive experience.
I'll have to hunt for these experiences & prefer for the individuals to give them to me. I mentioned earlier that it is a good idea to work with personal experiences or stories & this will be a good time to collect some of them. I don't want anything too big. I'm only going to low-level positive. These rememberances can be found accompanying small accomplishments, either current or from childhood. In this instance I prefer current accomplishments because the group tends to be on the somber side. This didn't happen overnight & since we've just met, I don't think I'll touch childhood right now.
Here's some examples that were easily gleaned from the group.
Harry sold his car last week. He felt great about it.
Sarah found out that her pain wasn't anything serious & she felt relieved & even joyful. Sarah was one wearing a depressed coat. Ralph received a good quarterly review at work & will receive a raise in salary. Jenna cleaned her garage & felt a great sense of accomplishment.
While these may sound like insignificant things, they are going to be useful to the entire group because everyone can relate to these. I'll have the group relax deeply into the moment & to locate their mind screens. Next, each group member will appear with their new coat. Other members will be invited to try it on for size. One by one, each member will experience a positive shift in their own body chemistry. These are like gentle nudges, taking them out of their own old coats, into something more positive, but non-threatening. By the end of the exercise, the mood of the group will have changed.
Soon, we will be able to climb up to a medium positive mood & experience that. Hopefully, we will ascend to "hot desire." Sometimes we have this within ourselves, but most of the time we don't. And so, we need to get it from somewhere else.
In the next blog entry the group will go to locate & collect this for themselves. Then, they will practice attaching it to things they own....
