Embodied workshops for systems thinking
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Transition Design Trainings and Capacity Building
Tags: People, systems thinking, embodied and theater practices
Client: JHL Institute
Summary
How can we better understand our role as part of a living system? How do we develop agency and resilience to navigate changes within the system?
The members of Ekata Theatre and Falay Transition Design implemented improvisational theater, games and mindfulness to work around these topics in an embodied way, as part of the JHL Institute’s Development Training Program.
“Systemic thinking and functioning within complexity were meaningfully revealed through the experience.”
Our approach
Systemic Thinking through Embodiment
We live amidst diverse and unpredictable crises, where problems are becoming increasingly complex. Traditional methods of problem-solving are no longer sufficient; we need creativity and embodiment to navigate the challenges of the future.
In the workshop participants practiced skills such as playful presence, holding complexity, and tolerating uncertainty. Through insightful exercises, participants experienced being part of a living system, their own agency, and the transformation of the system without controlling it.
The exercises included ensemble and improvisational theater, mindfulness, and other embodied methods.
Connection through Embodiment
We are facing an epidemic of disconnection, which manifests as communication problems within workplace communities. However, our bodies hold a vast amount of unconscious wisdom about sensing others and improving relationships.
In the workshop on encountering, participants practiced non-verbal interaction and experienced the power of presence. They also explored principles of authentic encounters, considering the whole person. The exercises included theatrical techniques, games of authentic encounter, and mindfulness practices.
“I liked it, we could even have more of this. The topics each day really got my brain working.”
“It was incredibly fun!”
