Focusing Roundtable - Taking Heart in Turbulent Times: Crossing Focusing with the Work-That-Reconnects

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 from 1:00-3:00 pm EST (New York - US)

Times worldwide: convert to your time zone

Joanna Macy’s Work-That-Reconnects (“the Work”) provides both a model for the current unraveling of social and ecological systems and an experiential group process for transforming the difficult feelings arising from this unraveling. By normalizing these feelings as a natural response to the crises, we widen our vision and deepen our power to create a life-sustaining society. Drawing on deep ecology, systems theory and engaged Buddhism, Macy’s open-source body of work has evolved over 40 years through her teachings and methods.

Focusing and the Work are both revelatory processes.  However, Focusing typically investigates a personal issue in a dyad by cultivating a relationship with the felt sense, while the Work investigates a shared thematic issue in a group using ritual, structured sharing, role playing, and other processes. This workshop will explore how Focusing and the Work might complement each other. It will include some conceptual framing of the Work, breakout exercises, and group harvesting.

In this Roundatble, some questions we might explore are:

• What is my deeper response to the world as it is now? What care and values underlie it?
• How do I thrive and remain resilient for the long haul?
• How is my exploration informed or affected by the group?

Other questions may emerge from our mutual exploration during the Roundtable.

Preparation for this Roundtable: For those unfamiliar with Macy’s work, Chapter 1 of her 2014 book Coming Back to Life provides an excellent framing for the Work.  It is recommended pre-reading for this Roundtable and can be accessed here.

Who might be particularly interested in attending this Roundtable?

Experienced Focusers may benefit by exploring this shared thematic issue and turning their responses into meaningful personal contribution. Folks familiar with the Work may discover ways that Focusing skills might deepen and sustain the benefits they derive from the Work.

CONNECTION>CONVERSATION>COMMUNITY

Each Focusing Roundtable is designed to promote informal peer-to-peer conversation. Rather than acting as expert presenters, the Hosts will serve as conversation moderators to encourage sharing and exploration of the topics from the participants’ own perspectives.  All participants’ sharings are welcome and valuable, no matter what level of experience or knowledge you have on the topic. To preserve the nature of informal conversation, the program will be offered live only and no recordings will be available. Registration is limited and on a first-come, first served basis. Participants are encouraged to create follow up opportunities for connection among themselves after the Roundtable.

The TIFI Membership Committee is pleased to offer this series of Focusing Roundtables designed especially for members of the Institute. If you are not a member, please join at http://www.focusing.org/membership, then return to this page to register. This program will afford members a valuable opportunity to engage in casual peer-to-peer conversation with other members who share Focusing-related interests.

About your hosts:

Rebekah Hart is a somatic psychotherapist, couple and family therapist, creative arts therapist and a longtime facilitator of the Work that Reconnects, based in Montreal, Canada. She has studied extensively with Joanna Macy and continues to collaborate with her. Rebekah takes a systemic and trauma informed approach to her work as a facilitator and therapist, weaving together a diverse background in dance, poetry, activism and mindfulness meditation. She has been offering workshops and mentorship in the Work that Reconnects for nearly two decades. For more information on Rebekah and her work, see www.rebekahhart.ca.

Frank O’Neill is a Focusing trainer living in Boulder, Colorado, USA. From him 3-1/2 years living in contemplative community, he discovered what’s missing is a contemplative way of perceiving and speaking to go with the on-the-cushion practice. Since then, he has explored small footprint living in 10 intentional communities. He now leads groups crossing Focusing with Non-Violent Communication (NVC) for the purpose of generating mutual inquiry and liberating creativity and innocence. He sees these modalities as each possessing certain skills of presence that can shift us from evaluative dialogue to emergent dialogue