STEPS TO CULTIVATING A GENERATIVE MEETING or SESSION
Developed by Kristin Mathis
Within a group space, the flow of a meeting determines the ease of participation. This archetypal meeting format by Regen Collective member Kristin Mathis can help you as a facilitator and as participants to better hold space for one another, craft your time well, and create a generative flow in each of your sessions and the overall group activity.
A Template for Generative, Sacred Future-Making: A Practical Guide for Meetings, Classes, & Conversations.
This template provides a simple, adaptable framework for holding generative space. These six steps can be “scaled up” to be explicitly spiritual, or “scaled down” to fit into a boardroom. Below are each of the seven steps with brief descriptions and examples of how such adaptations might look in real life situations.
Ground
Come into this present moment. This could be with a deep breath, a brief somatic exercise, a song, or any other embodied practice that brings people out of their busy lives, their mental chatter, and ready to step into the space of generative future-making.
Call in
Ancestors from many different areas of the world have taught us that it’s important to take a moment at the beginning of a meeting or gathering to acknowledge where and who we are, what our purpose is, and who (other than those present) are the stakeholders in the process. By explicitly naming who is “in attendance” at the gathering, including those affected by any decision made, we create a generative social field that holds and reflects everyone. This ‘calling in’ should include both human and non-human stakeholders, to whatever degree is practical or appropriate for the setting.
Exchange
This is the preliminary stage-setting of the meeting, which includes:
- any logistical details to be worked out (wrap-ups from last time, future meeting times, e.g.)
- Introduction of the “problem” or issue to be tackled in the meeting
- Brief sharing of preliminary thoughts, and more importantly, sensations (feelings, impressions, intuitions) arising about the issue
- Clarification of the hoped-for outcome (is the goal today to find a solution? Get a better sense of the issue? Does a decision need to be made?)
Create
Individually or collectively, the group takes time to explore the issue artistically, through journaling, art, movement, music, or meditation. This should be a decent portion of the meeting, not rushed through quickly, because the artistic exploration opens up space for us to sense the emergent future. The facilitator may wish to remind the group before the artistic exploration begins about all the “stakeholders” who were named or called in at the beginning of the session.
Emerge
The group reflects collectively, through conversation, on the sensing work done through artistic exploration. If a decision is required, this is the time for the discussion and decision-making process to occur. If the meeting is more open-ended, note-taking during at least the portion of the meeting will provide continuity for the next session. Care should be taken to make sure each voice is heard.
Give thanks/ gratitude
Closing the meeting should feel just as sacred as the opening. It begins with thanking everyone in attendance (including those named in the “calling in”), and can close with a moment of silence, some meditative breaths, or even a poem. No matter how difficult or troubling the content of the meeting, whether in person or virtual, the last “taste” of the meeting should feel graceful and grounding, setting a tone and precedent for future meetings.
CO-CREATION
If you are inspired to serve as a facilitator, this generative practice of sensing, embodiment, and reflection will support you to co-create a rewarding and fulfilling experience. These are co-creative dynamics and relations that value personal needs and fulfillment, as well as the participatory value that each member brings to the collective whole. This allows us to shift any gathering into a highly-intentional and transformative experience, shift any organization into a generative community. Cultivating this alignment of attention and intention, we can support the emergence of civilizational renewal and disrupt cycles of ruin in a nonviolent and evolutionary manner.
You can read more about generative communities HERE.
Regen Collective is a multinational organization that cultivates awareness practices for social regeneration. We are a community-of-practice for the regeneration of education and learning, with community gatherings on the first Friday of each month. Regen Collective is also a u.lab hub: a self-organized group exploring awareness-based practices to support positive cultural change. As a collective, we seek to shift the education system from the inside out, to support the emergence of new social cohesion, and disrupt cycles of ruin in a nonviolent and evolutionary manner. Learn more about participating in Regen Collective HERE.
Regen Collective was created within the Societal Transformation Lab of The Presencing Institute in order to co-create awareness practices for social regeneration and cultivate the conditions needed for the evolution of education and learning towards holistic and humanitarian practices. We look forward to cultivating this with you!
Please consider donating to support the work of Regen Collective HERE
