Dear Donald,
Great post, sounds like a magical experience! I have never seen Ed
work, but I have seen him dance and that was very beautiful, grounded
and graceful, so I imagine his workshops have a similar quality.
I hope to get to the US conference next year, for some new experiences
and learning.
I think you are fortunate to be the 'receiver' of this experience. I
remember a couple of years back I was starting to get what I call
'representative envy'. I had been facilitating what seemed like every
week for a year but had never been to another's workshop, so I wanted
to get what the representatives were getting. I have since found a
useful way to change this.
I think the energy you talk about is available in any workshop but it
seems to arise more in the longer experiences. I prefer to hold 4 day
workshops and am looking forward to holding longer ones. As a Gestalt
therapist and Constellation Facilitator and Organisational Consultant
and Human Being I find all these blend together in the workshop. Its
very useful what can be noticed in the group by both me and the group
and how we can make this relevant to individual work. As you see
participants interact in certain ways you can help them be aware of
this and it seems to make the work they do in the workshop more
meaningful. There is much fun you can have, but it is serious fun, in
terms of where people sit, whether they come late or early, how they
sit, how they come into or withdraw from the workshop. And then, how
things move during the workshop, how they change where they sit, bring
their chair forward or back, or wear different clothes. And how their
state changes over the workshop re stability or openness for example.
And all this is relevant to the group as well, how certain cases
effect the group energy, how certain clients effect the group, and how
the structure of the circle, or not, effects the work. Now we even do
exercises where we change the shape of the seating, the structure,
and see how that effects the work. Its very good for Organisational
teaching. The list goes on. In business workshops we work more on how
the relevant aspects of a system show up in the workshop, talking
about and seeing how the group holds the work, how the way I take up
leadership effects the work, noticing what roles people take in the
group. We even do exercises on group self-organisation around tasks
etc. But all these things can be linked back to Systemic Constellation
work. In the longer workshops often themes arise and then these can be
explored in more depth by designing exercises. eg, Leadership, What is
the energy of Family Business and Succession, or what is the energy of
the 'Master', how do you relate to your Goals, or to your last
Constellation.
The Constellation space can hold much if you learn how to work in this
way. If you allow it to support you, the space seems like a creative
palette to blend with the energy of the group, and what you as leader
feel and notice and decide to do.
So people come to do cases, but often the feedback I get afterwards
from these longer workshops is like what you said, Donald, its the
overall experience that counts. in a way, the constellation leads to
something fuller, bigger. But these things are available in the
shorter workshops too. I have just held 2 half day workshops and this
alchemy was there too. Its the bigger picture.
I think the way you, Donald, described the experience with Ed, shows
that it can be important to move our focus away from 'doing cases',
then we maybe have the fixer energy in "there is nothing to fix, but
many things to honour" so eloquently said recently. We know from our
work that everything has its place, so there is a place for this fixer
energy, and in constellations it maybe the client who comes to heal
something in the family, without even knowing it. I think sometimes if
we say "Please thank your representatives" and move to the next
client, we may be fixing the workshop, doing the cases. However, if we
move slower, if we wait, then maybe we move the work from addressing
the symptom to something deeper, the deeper pattern, the deeper
healing or cry or scream, if the client and the group and we can hold
this.
I think we all have cases, I call them classics, the ones that really
teach us something important. I had one of those at a business
workshop a couple of years back. By the third day we had re-contracted
to move from the business issue to go into the personal issue, deeply,
and then see how it effected the business issue. So, at the end of the
workshop, thinking about finishing, along comes a really big case,
these cases often come near the end. A business issue but then the
woman said that the way she carries her business, and the men, is how
it is at home and in growing up. And an hour later, in a very big room
we have this big constellation, seemingly stuck with energy moving
around, and representatives changing who they seem to be representing,
and me scratching my head. But you know there is support because the
group want to continue. Sometimes the constellation is showing you
something, if only you could see it. So a group of female ancestors
are showing us something but we can't se it. Then one of them has to
go to the toilet, and when she comes back a very wise person whispered
in my ear, "It is that time of the month for her" Oh. And then I see
the obvious, the female ancestor the furthest back is wearing a bright
red coat. And then it all heals and the healing phrases are said about
true womanhood being suppressed, and the men being scared of it, and
the women feels it has changed now at work. And we all sit down and
have one of those alchemic moments when everyone really sees each
other, and the connecting energy has a subtle indescribability about
it, and you remind the group to breathe. And then three or four people
spoke about how that was the most important constellation at the
workshop and that had been the most healing for them. Then my
incredibly valued assistant/translator and I looked at each other and
then shared with the group what we had noticed, Those who spoke had
not done their case and were all men.
I am very glad Ed found and made the space in our fast-paced, time
poor, disconnected world, to hold his intensive, may that lead to
many others.
And for those of you in the Northern parts of the globe having
holidays, have a good time.
all the best
David Mathes
Sydney and Beijing.
