Designing trauma informed meetings Walking into all of our meeting spaces is “trauma” – stories of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE’s) the trauma from families, violence in our communities, anger, difficult or overwhelming emotional experiences.  This trauma resides in our bodies and shapes behavior and the ability to listen, learn and participate. We’ve all adapted and most who show up at our meetings have found ways to function.

Trauma affects our brains – our executive function (how we organize information and tasks), it effects our reactions , it effects our ability to learn and process information and can affect our memory.   For many people when they are stressed they are not picking up what is happening around them.  They are occupied in their internal world of trauma and the associated neurological patterns of  fight, flight, tension, freeze, or protect.   Our bodies in stress response have the capacity to release 1400 different stress chemicals and hormones, designed to help us survive and deal with danger. … Continue Reading...

Each fall Chris Corrigan, Caitlin Frost, Tenneson Woolf and I meet up on Bowen Island to host our annual West Coast Art of Hosting (joined this year by Amanda Fenton).  It’s our own journey home to see how the year has shaped us, weathered us, changed us.  When we are lucky in timing the Salmon are also making their journey thru the cove.   This has been a year of challenge and by leaning in – landing in a new place.   What the Salmon know has a lot of relevance this year.

Mark Nepo’s reflection from The Book of Awakening feels like it’s bringing me right home.

“Salmon have much to teach us about the art of facing things. In swimming up waterfalls, these remarkable creatures seem to defy gravity. It is an amazing thing to behold. A closer look reveals a wisdom for all beings who want to thrive.

What the salmon somehow know is how to turn their underside – from center to tail -into the powerful current coming at them, which hits them squarely and the impact then launches them out and further up the waterfall; to which their reaction is, again, to turn their underside back into the powerful current that, of course, again hits them squarely; and this successive impact launches them further out and up the waterfall.… Continue Reading...

It’s a crazy world – we’re all running in 100 directions, and thus our capacity to think, learn, move  and listen together can be severely challenged.  It’s also at a time when our paradigms and systems are severely stressed and we are in deep need of innovation.

I’m always on the lookout for practices that help us truly arrive and be present to one another and to create “deep meeting” – where there is room for our intuitive intelligence, our wisdom, innovation – where we know how to work with our some of the toxic stress and emotions  – consciously shifting our patterns of relating.

One set of practices I love comes from the Heartmath Institute.   They contrast the state of being in “coherence” to that of being in our stress responses.  They’ve clinically demonstrated what happens to our bodies, brains, and creative when we are under stress (anger, anxiety, frustration, fear). … Continue Reading...

The first Art of Hosting for The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE – link) was held in Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, Sept 22-24.  Christine Ageton the Managing Director of BALLE brought together Fellows, Staff, Board, and Network members.  I’ve always admired BALLE’s work and ran my first Open Space meeting with them in 2003 here in Seattle.  BALLE now is North America’s fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses, comprised of over 80 community networks in the US and Canada.

Their work relies on building strong relationships and being able to work well together as self-organizing teams.  It involves convening local leaders and community, and together envisioning and creating emergent solutions that meet our local needs and address systemic issues right here.

During the AoH we looked at the leadership paradigms of Hero and Host.  What is the frame of leadership that works from a living systems perspective and from a network perspective?… Continue Reading...

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

I recently completed a Reflected Best Self Exercise with one of the people I coach.  The Exercise was created by the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship University of Michigan.   We modified it a bit of course!!

Basically you invite people you’ve worked with closely AND significant people in your life to offer insight into “You at Your Best”.  They are invited to write descriptive words, phrases and give examples.   You gather feedback from at least 7 people.  Then absorb the feedback and look for patterns, insights, gifts, and the path forward it illuminates.

It is quite a brilliant mirror to look in – seeing the best of who we are.   It invites forward our brilliance, courage, and wisdom.   We need ourselves, and each other, to stand in our strength and wisdom these days – all of us.… Continue Reading...