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Our reactive dog or cat - reflections and training

14/2/2016

Reactivity stands at one of the roots of anguish, illness, personal unfulfillment and unsatisfactoriness. There are plenty of reactive patterns to discover possibly when we take up the rewarding honest journey to our-selves for the sake of our own amd others' well-being.

What will change when we are letting go of reactivity as a continuous commitment to our life? From my own experiences (and I am still experiencing reactivity :D ) I would suggest the following:

Life loses its tightness and dwells in lightness
Life becomes an act of love and care for oneself and the other
Life provides options to act
Life wants to freely develop

At our work, in our private lives, in intended change and development processes of any size reactivity can be observed, often shortly transformed and yet it still remains prevalently a solid unmovable rock in our conditioned behavior.

Here are some questions around reactivity for reflections which obviously provide only a short glimpse at the “sitemap” of reactivity:

Do I know, am I conscious about my own reactivity?
If no, what can I do about it?
If yes, what experiences can I recollect of my reactivity in relationships or life situations?
What kind of suffering was caused or inflicted on myself and others?
What are powerful practices to transform or let go of reactive patterns
What is the treacherous “benefit” of being reactive?
What is the hidden message behind reactivity (fear …)?
How do I experience my experience with regard to reactivity?
How does reactivity show up in partnerships of any kind and in group settings?
What has reactivity to do with my self-defense patterns in order not to feel, not to perceive adequately, not to change my standard prompting and not to comprehend of what I can be conscious about?
Where does my reactivity predominantly arise, for example in the head or at some specific point in my back?
What happens if I don’t bind my current experience by identifying the appearance of reactivity with “me” or “mine”?
Can I postpone my reactive response to the other(s) by allowing myself to stay with my body, feelings, perceptions, inclinations, and being conscious about a certain issue?
What has reactivity to do with letting go of patterns that don’t serve my personal or organizational development (prejudices, mean opinions …)?
What are my options to respond when my partner, friend, colleague, client etc. is caught up in reactivity?
What practices have I proofed working or am I aware of which can contribute to bringing reactivity to an end?
What is the difference between reactivity and intuition?
How can a change in my bodily patterns (how I walk, stand, breath, my overall posture shows up) contribute effectively to a change in my mental reactive patterns?
Where is my flow of breath when reactivity jumps in?
How can I slow down in general?
What is my contribution not to follow socially or culturally constructed reactive patterns?
How can I become my own master in embodying and experiencing my sensorium system without falling back to reactive patterns?

At the end of these short reflections on our reactive dog or cat I offer for those, who want to know more about, a practical and ethical approach called the 4-fold task in this unique way outlined by Stephen Batchelor:

Embrace life - [comprehending suffering].
Let go of what arises - [letting go of reactivity].
See its ceasing - [beholding its ceasing].
Act! – [cultivating the path].

How to act on reactivity? What experiences have you made with reactivity in a setting and what would you suggest accordingly to work on it, indvidually and as a group?

Link: http://www.synergy-rhodes.com/untitled.html

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“Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing”

23/1/2016

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Bagger Vance: Yep... Inside each and every one of us
is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that
can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to
be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of
that swing... It get buried inside us under all our
wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even
forget what their swing was like... –- The Legend of
Bagger Vance

A kind of similar metaphor can be found on a playground with a playground swing which acts as a pendulum. Pushing a person in a swing in time with the natural interval of the swing (its resonant frequency) makes the swing go higher and higher (maximum amplitude), while attempts to push the swing at a faster or slower tempo produce smaller arcs. This is because the energy the swing absorbs is maximized when the pushes are "in phase" with the swing's natural oscillations, while some of the swing's energy is actually extracted by the opposing force of the pushes when they are not.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonance)

In mentoring, coaching, and hosting the true authentic swing, the resonance in the relationships is an essential foundation for change and development. In a trustful mentor-mentee-relationship the seasoned mentor is open and tries to get into resonance with the autonomous world of the mentee.

In his concept of integral health Belschner speaks about the resonance process and adds the transpersonal (spiritual) dimension which was so far missing in previous health concepts to his way of modeling “integral health”. Two premises are given by Belschner:

- Basically a human being seeks a meaningful life and tries to make sense
- A human being can only find meaning when he or she knows to belong something greater than
him- or herself

Against the background of integral health or seeking a meaningful life or finding one’s own calling the resonance process in the mentor-mentee-relationship is also of paramount importance. But what is resonance in a human developmental relationship as it occurs in mentoring and coaching? The mentor is able to open himself to his inner emerging resonances and to interpret those resonances as observations and calls for action. In mentoring dialogues the mentor discerns (to a large extent) the generated resonances unbiased. The perceptions are to be interpreted in a reference system. Is there a humanistic reference system available to the mentor, he can interpret himself and the mentee in this reference system of dignity, beauty, respect, esteem etc. His self-reflective social and ecological acting radiates accordingly. The importance of our reference system in which we interpret our existential encounters becomes immediately recognizable when we exchange the above mentioned values with values such as exploitation, competition, greed, violence, force etc. [Belschner 2002}

According to Belschner the quality of the resonance process does depend on the mentor’s subtlety of consciousness structures and the suite of metaphors he has. Questions Belschner formulated around this topic are:

How subtle are the consciousness structures of the helper?
Which personal and transpersonal (spiritual) consciousness qualities are open to him?
Is the helper for example capable of holding a transpersonal quality such as wholeheartedly embracing the other or holding available stillness in the relationship with the other person thereby the “client” can develop into such a quality?

Scope of metaphorical repertoire:
Helpers differ in the scope of metaphorical repertoire with regard to transitional metaphors by which situations are symbolically enlightened.

Flexibility:
Helpers differ in their competence of situational related employment of transitional metaphors.

Fitting of metaphors:
The degree of the fitting between action-relevant metaphors of the “client” and host may vary. The degree of the fitting impacts the degree of the pace, the depth of development, the sense of being understood and well-being.
Metaphors are tools in this context in order to acquaint somebody with an unknown subject matter by means of an analogy or to enrich an existing perspective by a new perspective or a new approach on a given subject matter.
By means of metaphors we are often capable of referring to more familiarized realities in which we find [more easily] our paths via the orientations offered by the metaphors.*

----- The Legend Of Bagger Vance Clip 2 Seeing The Field - Video Dailymotion -----

In my iM&C work as a mentor, coach and host I help in finding your true authentic swing, your path. Something that got to be remembered, that makes your life outstanding, precious, and flourishing.

Best wishes,
Jurgen

* [Belschner Integrale Gesundheitsförderung, Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Uni Oldenburg.2002}

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The Beginning of the Mentor-Mentee-Relationship and What You want

20/11/2015

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Questions about Self like "Who am I ?" or "What am I here?" or on earth ?" find a very smart and elegant response in a highly profound and ethical mentor-mentee-relationship (the same applies for the relationship between coach and coachee).

The solid ground of this relationship is compounded of trust: On the one hand the enormous trust of the mentor he has developed in his own life, on the other hand the client's trust he feels in himself for stepping ahead into an "unavoidable" relationship with the mentor.

The mentee knows often only very vague what he could do about his unfulfilling situation in life. At the same time his heart or body sensations may indicate already that something is wanted to be born. Quite frequently he has also a kind of glimpse at the dawn's horizon about "what is at stake" for the well-being and fulfillment of his unique life call. In this situation he may feel puzzled, perplexed, fear, tension, pain and sadness. An experienced mentor helps significantly in this zone of uncertainty and not-knowing.

After having a first conversation the mentor is screening in the following step the mentee's horizon by asking questions that really matter (at this point) to his life. Questions about his success so far, his unique gifts he can offer etc. are part of getting more of the whole picture.

The mentor offers trustful and ethical support in his life's quest while providing constructive, analytical, emotional and metaphorical feedback, inquiring into the mentees Self so that his sails can take the winds of his own life force to shores he would like to belong to.

What are your reasons to go for mentoring or coaching? Here are some good reasons which may resonate:

You want ...

to feel the trust and support for committing to your life's purpose wholeheartedly

to understand how your body-mind works

to discover what really matters for your life

to make sensing journeys into where your energy flows.

to get acquainted with your fears and where they are situated

to become more alive, at ease, powerful and joyful in pursuing your life's destination (despite sometimes hard work)

to develop unshakable Self-confidence

to get inspiration, advice, and prototyping support

to be mirrored and witnessed while the world in and around you experiences tectonic shifts.

to have support in questioning belief sentences, thinking patterns, and illusoriness values

to develop your life long spiritual path

to obtain support in fostering presence, body awareness, and compassion

to live in fulfilling relationships

to become more sane, loving and generous

For ordering and any question you have click here for the contact details or use the contact form.

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38+1 Questions on System Leadership

19/1/2015

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...And What Lies Ahead...

Photo: http://digital-photography-school.com/24-beautiful-dawn-images/

"... Is there any realistic hope that a sufficient number of skilled system leaders will emerge in time to help us face our daunting systemic challenges?" *

-- Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton, John Kania

There is no hope at all and the system leaders won't emerge in time!!! Of course this answer is to be understood as a challenge to wholeheartedly engage in what lies ahead us to face the challenges.

My questions on System Leadership try to illuminate parts of the wider field of System Leadership. They arose out of meditations on "The Dawn of System Leadership". The 39 questions are clustered around important themes which are:

- System Leader Type(s)
- Integrated System Leader
- The "Now" and the "Should" of System Leaders / System Leadership
- An inquiry into illuminating the blind spots of current System Leadership / System Leaders
- Learning / Education
- Practice

Let us engage in one of the most important and pressing questions of mankind as above formulated by Senge, Hamilton and Kania. We are called to bring in our courage, hands, hearts and minds. There is hope and system leaders will emerge as soon as we hold that intention in the global community of change makers.

And now the questions are yours. What other questions and comments do you have?

With deep appreciation,

Jürgen

~ The Questions ~

A: System Leader Type(s)

A.1 What kind of system leader do we need on the group, organizational and mundo level or when working on all levels more or less at the same time?

A.2 When looking at Galtung’s faultlines[1] in the human construction Nature, Gender, Generation, Deviance (criminal, mental, somatic), Race, Class (military, economic, political, cultural), Nation-Culture-Ideology and State-Country-Territory are there different system leaders required to working on the fault lines at different systems levels?

B: Integrated System Leader

B.1 When looking at Galtung’s faultlines in the human construction Nature, Gender, Generation, Deviance (criminal, mental, somatic), Race, Class (military, economic, political, cultural), Nation-Culture-Ideology and State-Country-Territory what can be said about the scale of integration a system leader working on different systems levels should embody?

B.2 What is to say about a system leader’s own healing processes accomplished in terms of psycho-existential-somatic healing and against the background of Galtung’s faultlines?

B.3 What does it really mean to have the ability to see the larger system?

B.4 How much is a system leader capable of fostering reflection and more generative conversations in a daily life apart from training events?

B.5 How much trust can an integrated system leader reflect (because of his or her overall commitments and journey through difficulties, challenges, and gateways) - to inspire others in processes for shifting relationships and contexts?

B.6 What perceptional qualities should a system leader reflect with regard to individual and collective vulnerability?

B.7 Is there a foundation of ethical values hold and performed by system leaders necessary at the mundo level? If yes, which are indispensable?

C: The “Now” and the “Should” of system leaders / system leadership

C.1 What is the core group of system leaders at the mundo level currently and what might be a core group “constellation” in mid-terms in the sense how Senge, Hamilton and Kania see him or her?

C.2 What additional skills of system leaders are currently seen as emerging on the horizon beyond the ones Senge, Hamilton and Kania are speaking about?

C.3 What about bringing (growing) system leaders together in regular (online) meetings who have massive “testified” experience in employing models of change that weave together process, human development and outcome?

C.4 What about measuring all leadership and change methodologies according to their contribution to solving the most pressing problems and foster or discard methodologies accordingly?

D: An inquiry into illuminating the blind spots of current system leadership / system leaders

D.1 What are the (future potential) working methodologies / practices in terms of healing the collectives as new paradigms for bringing forth collective leadership?

D.2 What are the required methodologies and transformational processes at the mundo level in the 36 months?

D.3 What contexts (like climate change context) at different societal levels enable the best leverage points for shifting systems smoothly, non-violently now?

D.4 What else has to be said in addition to the system leadership introduction given by Senge, Hamilton and Kania in terms of Galtung’s deep culture[2] and its syndromes?

D.5 What is needed to enlighten the blind spot of the three core capabilities of system leadership in order to move from relatively unknown (or known only superficially) to a “living” matrix of indispensable core capabilities?

D.6 When reflection means thinking about our thinking the question arises what conceptions do we hold about thinking? Isn’t the verbalized “non-thinking”[3] process the point in inspiring resp. enabling individuals, groups or organizations? What do we hear from the field when we be before our thinking?

D.7 How can budding system leaders be helped in going through their gateways while not destroying their courage, commitment, trust, resolve and determination along their paths?

D.8 What is the correlation between one’s own health commitment / achievement and the core healing a system leader should embody?

D.9 How much is known about the way leaders, groups, communities, and collectives of any kind (incl. change maker communities) bestow structural, cultural violence [4] and suffering (illnesses) on (potential) system leaders at a soul level?

D.10 To work effectively as a system leader at the mundo level contexts does it require first to be well integrated / healed as an individual?

D.11 Otto Scharmer and Katrin Käufer speak about three openings which are opening the mind, opening the heart and opening the will. I understand this as ongoing life process and not as a training event. I would suggest additionally a fourth dimension which is open the body mind complex as a Whole meaning incarnating fully. This means in following Graf Duerckheim the body mind complex has permeability, penetrability or conductivity at all system levels. What is known about this conductivity with regard to being in resonance with the mundo level?

D.12 What is the key question / commitment for system leaders or what was the key question / commitment for system leaders in taking and crossing most challenging gateways in their lives?

D.13 How much does a certain grasp of how the Tao works contribute to discerning “direction” in counter-intuitively behaving non-linear systems?

D.14 To what extent can our body-mind-wisdom [soul-heart-mind-connection) contribute to distinguishing the short-term from the long-term effects of an intervention?

D.15 How much has a system leader overcome his or her cultural immune system?

D.16 The work of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) might be partially an example of a system map on climate change when looking at their working collaboration and major reports. How can this example serve as a helper for other system leadership contexts or as a paradigm to bring (future) system leaders together?

D.17 What does it mean that a growing number of people are trying to adopt a systemic orientation? Is it meant as only thinking orientation or meant as a breakthrough into the world of form and non-form which is beyond the subject-object-split of our consciousness? Is this systemic orientation reflected in daily doing or work?

D.18 What are the values (German: Werte) of system leadership / system leaders with regard to current values and what isn’t seen as leadership values for the emerging future?

D.19 What does systems leadership mean under different socio-political-cultural settings?

D.20 How can a shared common intention be established and held among system leaders, among the current global change maker community with regard to the most pressing problems in the mundo context?

E: Learning / Education

E.1 What are the criteria for learning how potential system leaders go on in their personal development processes?

E.2 What educational background resp. experiential background are supportive to contributing to bring forth collective leadership?

E.3 What new learning and education settings are seen on the horizon?

F: Practice

F.1 How can a commitment, a profound commitment to contributing to the health of the whole over centuries be sustained, what kind of practices are required by (potential) system leaders?

F.2 Is a system leader willing to let die his or her previously held assumptions resp. convictions about system leader(s)(hip) which turned to be out “non-working “ or having less impact?

F.3 What is the daily practice of system leadership / of a system leader in order to avoid a fall-back into old patterns of thinking, old patterns of individual and collective acting?

Remarks of the author:

This paper is considered as an outcome of a meditation on questions about system leadership and system leaders. The author was inspired by the “The Dawn of System Leadership” by Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton, & John Kania.

The author is aware about the fact that he by nature can only have an incomplete overview on the themes, practices and insights already available in the global change maker community.

The author assumes that several questions written down in this paper are already part of the evolving global change maker community.

The order in this meditation does not necessarily reflect priorities of concern.

The author is grateful for the information, observations and insights given by Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton, & John Kania in “The Dawn of System Leadership”.

*This is the article, published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_dawn_of_system_leadership

[1] Conflict transformation by Peaceful means by Johan Galtung
https://www.transcend.org/pctrcluj2004/TRANSCEND_manual.pdf, date: 2015/01/09

[2] Conflict transformation by Peaceful means by Johan Galtung
https://www.transcend.org/pctrcluj2004/TRANSCEND_manual.pdf

[3] http://wwzc.org/dharma-text/thinking-about-not-thinking, date: 12.01.2015

[4] Conflict transformation by Peaceful means by Johan Galtung
https://www.transcend.org/pctrcluj2004/TRANSCEND_manual.pdf

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Our reactive dog or cat - reflections and training

“Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing”

The Beginning of the Mentor-Mentee-Relationship and What You want

38+1 Questions on System Leadership

...And What Lies Ahead...

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Author

Maria Bakari

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Our reactive dog or cat - reflections and training

“Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing”

The Beginning of the Mentor-Mentee-Relationship and What You want

﻿﻿﻿38+1 Questions on System Leadership ﻿

﻿...And What Lies Ahead... ﻿

Archives

AuthorMaria Bakari

Categories

38+1 Questions on System Leadership

...And What Lies Ahead...

Author

Maria Bakari