5. Let’s keep in touch: CI exercises to develop essential communication skills
Age Range or Target Group| Could target youth/teenagers and adults of any age who do not experience severe physical constrains. Depending on needs and aims, the workshop can be implemented on a specific age group or with mixed ages. If physical or mental constrains exist, facilitators should be aware of them and know if and how to adjust the activities to the participants’ needs. In regard to target group, as the projects depicts, both EU citizens/natives and immigrants/refuges/asylum seekers should participate in the workshop. The workshop is open to people from any socio-economic background and it is desirable to have as much variety as possible within the group.
Number of participants|10-20 participants. If the workshop is happening with more than 20 participants, more time should be given for each activity and maybe the help of another facilitator will be needed.
Duration: 1h- 1h30m.
General Aim- Objectives| Aim of this workshop is to work on participants’ interpersonal and communicational skills and as an effect to increase their self-esteem and self-confidence. To achieve this, the workshop makes use of basic CI exercises that highlight the sense of giving and receiving weight and focus on the movement coordination between partners. Participants in this workshop will be responsible for themselves and others and at the same time they will feel safe, trusting that others will also take care of them.
Key Words & Phrases| readiness, empowerment, interpersonal relations, mindfulness, movement, contact, trust
Instructions (Step by Step Process) |
A. Greeting and Introduction to the workshop (5-10 minutes)
B. Warm up (15-20 minutes)
B1. Breathing Exercise: Participants are paired in groups of twos. One person is lying on the floor relaxed, head looking at the ceiling with their eyes closed. The other person is sitting close by, relaxed and in silence. The person who lies on the floor brings their attention on their own breathing: what changes are happening in their body while they are breathing: the movement of the belly, the movement of the chest. Then, the person who observes the breathing, puts one arm on the belly and one arm on the chest of the person in order to experience the action of breathing. The active breather tries to feel their body with air during inhalation and to get rid of all air during exhalation. Both participants are asked to remain focused on the action of breathing and to forget everything else. After a while, the facilitator asks them to switch roles. The facilitator is guiding the pairs throughout the exercise. For further information on Breathing exercises, refer to the Resources section.
B2. Move across the room: a. The participants are asked to spread out and start walking across the room. They walk at normal speed across different directions. Be careful not to use repetitive partners or to move in circles. Use the whole room, all the directions. After a while, introduce the idea of walking between two other participants, of walking backwards, sideward etc. Gradually start speeding up and running across the room keeping the same principles as before. During this exercise, asked from the participants to be careful of their surroundings and the other participants.
b. Keep moving, the participants are now instructed to allow to have contact with the other participants. That is, when their routes are met, they can allow contact, gently push each other and see how this changes their direction. They then continue walking, going from interaction to interaction. For further information on Breathing exercises, refer to the Resources section.
C. Main activities (20-30 minutes)
C1. Feeling the push: a. Participants go in partners. Partner A stands still, with closed eyes, slightly bended knees and core tight in order to be more stable. Partner B starts to push with their hands different places of Partner’s A body. Partner A remains focused and feels the touch. Partner A puts resistance to where they feel they are being pushed. Partner B gradually starts using other body parts apart from their hands. After a while, the facilitator asks them to switch roles.
b. The exercise is repeated one more time with a variation. Partner B tries to find ways with which they can be supportive to the other person. Partners A will give their weight to Partners B and Partners B will become their support. They can explore different ways of doing this. For this exercise, is better to find big body surfaces of the beginning and then gradually become riskier. Partner B is responsible for the safety of Partner A and Partner A trusts Partner B and enjoy being supported. Advise Partners B to have core tight, keep their knees bended, have a good base with their feet and to exhale when receiving weight. Explore the idea for a couple of minutes and then switch roles. For further information on Breathing exercises, refer to the Resources section.
C2. Flying: Activity done in groups of 8. One person is the lifted while the others are supporters. The person who will be lifted, put their hands on the shoulder of the supporter opposite them and pushes. The lifted person will naturally lift one leg up. The rest of the supporters lift the person up with their hands. When the groups have performed the lift, they try the lift again. This time, the person who is lifted runs towards the supporter and dives in. The supporters push the lifted person up with their arms. Then they can repeat the exercise with fewer people. The lift can be performed only with 4 supporters. In the end, perform the lift and start walking across the room enjoying the flight. The person who flights can guide the supporters with their movement to the directions they want to go. Repeat the exercise, changing roles. When they place the flying person on the floor, make sure they first place their feet down to ensure safe landing. In order to make the lift more meaningful and fun, they can be given a scenario of a person who is flying and is experiencing for the first time how it feels to be flying. For further information refer to the Resources section.
C3. Jet Pack Lift: Activity done in groups of four and three of them are the lifters. The person who is going to be lifted, bring their elbows in and bended and pushes down. Two of the lifters take the person from their elbows and push the person up. The third lifter is behind and takes the person from their core in order to assist with the lift. The person who is being lifted is constantly pushing against, to help with the lift. The group can start walking and spinning around the room, enjoying the ride. Repeat the exercise, changing roles. In order to make the lift more meaningful and fun, they can be given a scenario of a person who is travelling in space and is trying to experience as much as possible. For further information refer to the Resources section.
D. Closure/Calm down (15-25 minutes)
D1. Breathing and brief stretching
D2. Debriefing – Suggested questions for initiating the debriefing section of the workshop: How did you feel during the workshop? Was there anything that made you feel discomfort or extremely comfortable? How was they experience of being lifted/lifting? What was the most enjoyable moment for you? Can you relate any of your feelings stemming from the workshop with your daily life?
Desirable Outcomes and Competences| Through this workshop, participants will work on their physicality and body awareness. The activities of this workshop take advantage of what people can do when they cooperate. Thus, not only those activities help develop a team-work and cooperative spirit, but they can also empower participants and boost their confidence because the activities gradually lead to the execution of complex movements. Activities that are used in this workshop demand being in alert, concentrated and coordinating. When achieved, they will help participants feel proud of what they did. Through these exercises, participants work on issues of trust and responsibility towards other and make use of quick thinking, action and reaction.
Photos and Videos deriving from the workshop’s applied process
Breathing exercise
The videos are uploaded as unlisted in youtube website and their goal is only to provide educational material for this output. Please use the videos only for your own personal understanding of the workshops.
Materials| No specific material is needed for this workshop.
Resources|
Breathing Exercise:
Farhi D., 1996. The Breathing Book. Good Health and Vitality through Essential Breath Work. St Martin’s Griffin, New York.
Feeling the contact relevant exercises:
Juri Schmidt. (2010, March 10). The point of contact – contact improvisation. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CekBZXsvvX8&t=181s
Lifts relevant exercises:
National Theater Discover. (2015, March 23). Frantic Assembly Masterclass: Learning to Fly. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4mXhW7TXQ8&t=515s
Media and Techniques| The workshop was based on CI classes, the theory of Intergroup Contact, scientific articles about the political and social power of CI, books about breathing techniques and videos available online and offline.
Tips for the educator |This workshop is better if is being implemented as part of the series of CI workshops. Specifically, this could act as the fifth workshop of this series. However, it can be also implemented independently.
The workshop can be implemented more than one time in order both for the facilitators and the participants to observe progress on themselves.
If participants need more time to familiarise themselves with certain exercises give them time and do not worry about not managing to go through all the exercises of the workshop.
Questions for Evaluation |
1. How did you find the exercises of the workshop?
2. Is the level of difficulty for the exercises appropriate both for facilitator and participants?
3. Are there any suggestions you would like to make?
4. Any other comment/question?
5. Are the explanations given adequate?