Activity 7: Sharing in Groups of Three (12 minutes)
Materials for Activity
- Bell
- Clock, watch, or timer that shows seconds
Preparation for Activity
- Think in advance about how to form triads in your group. Determine whether you will have participants number off or form their own groups.
Description of Activity
Tell the group that now they will have a structured opportunity to share stories about their own experiences of wonder, "wow" moments, and the Spirit of Life.Invite participants to form groups of three, preferably with people whom they do not yet know well. Or, form the triads yourself. If the number of participants in your group is indivisible by three, form pairs as needed.
Ask participants to arrange their seats so that each group can converse easily. Then, offer these instructions:
For this exercise, each person in your group will have a turn at each of three roles: speaker, listener, and holder of the space.
When you are the speaker, it takes courage to speak from your depths to another person. You choose what, and how much, you want to share. True, honest speaking creates community and strengthens you in being true to who you are.
Listening is a way of showing respect and care for another. Listening is a way to learn and grow. Listening creates community. Listening without interruption and with attention takes concentration and effort.
When you are holding the space, you hold the good intentions for the group and provide sacred witness to the sharing between speaker and listener. As you hold the space, you want the best for the time. You want safety and compassion. You want truth to be spoken, and heard. When you are holding the space, you give your attention and support to the speaker, to the listener, to the process, and to the relationships it creates.
Each person will have two minutes to speak. When it is your turn to speak, you might begin by taking a deep breath. Speak the essence of what you have to say. Take all the time given to you. Not less, so as not to show up. Not more, so as to take away from someone else's presence in the group. You might think you've said all you have to say, but if your minutes are not up, you can pause quietly, breathe, and perhaps get in touch with something more to share.
Invite each triad to determine the order in which they will rotate the three roles. Participants who are paired will each take a turn as speaker and listener.
Tell the group you will ring the bell to begin the exercise and at two-minute intervals so they can switch roles. Ring the bell, and watch the clock. Ring the bell again at two minutes, at four minutes, and finally at six minutes to end the exercise.
Now, tell participants they will have two minutes to reflect on the exercise within their triads or pairs. Ask each triad or pair to allocate the time evenly, on their own, so that everyone has the same amount of time to speak and to listen. Offer this question to guide triads and pairs in reflection:
- How was this experience for you? What did you notice?
Begin and end the two-minute period by ringing the bell. Bring the whole group back together, and invite brief responses to these questions:
- What was it like to hear about others' experiences of wonder, "wow" moments, or the Spirit of Life?
- What was it like to share your own?
- What will you carry with you from this experience of sharing?
Tell the group:
The triad sharing you have completed introduces some practices that many consider spiritual: To speak the truth in love, to listen as a way of showing respect and care, to hold good intentions for a group, and to witness to sacred possibilities in a moment of human interaction.
You may choose to share these stories with your group:
After an experience of this kind of triad sharing, one woman said that holding the space is like being in the same room with her two children when they are having a conversation. She is not part of the conversation, but she wants so much for the conversation to go well.
A leader said that while timing the sharing, she found she tried to hold the space for the whole group, wanting each person to feel safe, to feel heard and for the sharing to go well for all.
If you have time and you sense that participants would like to comment, lead a discussion with this question:
- How do we define practices as "spiritual?"
Including All Participants
If you notice participants struggling to hear one another in their triads, allow some groups to leave the room and find a quieter space. If you have two to three participants requiring ASL interpretation, and only one interpreter, put those participants in the same group. If you have more than three participants needing ASL interpretation, find a second interpreter to help.Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
