The Art of Listening

It seems that, most of the time, we are not really listening. We walk around in our own limited worlds believing that what we see is all there is. We are comfortable in the known, but also profoundly limited. This changes when we start listening.

“To listen is to continually give up all expectation and to give our attention, completely and freshly, to what is before us, not really knowing what we will hear or what that will mean. In the practice of our days, to listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.”
- Mark Nepo

…

At this weekend immersion we want to practice our listening skills. We will be working with opening our bodies, minds and hearts to new experiences, working from a perspective of not-knowing and presence, allowing the embodied listening (that is already happening when we are not holding ourselves too tightly) to lead us. 

The weekend will be a mix of facilitated exercises where we work with awareness (circling, relatefulness), touch (bodywork) and movement (tai chi, dance) to open ourselves up for really listening for what is there and Surrendered Leadership, where we investigate how we show up (or don’t show up) in what could maybe be called a simulation of real life. 

Movement/Bodywork/touch: 
We will be exploring the ways we can listen more to other bodies through facilitated exercises inspired by dance, tai chi, body therapy and other forms of bodywork. The way in is to discover how we can get out of our own way and really trust in our embodied experiences.  

Circling/relatefulness: 
We will be practicing awareness in connection. Being present with someone else while staying open to the impact they are having on you, listening with your emotional body as well as hearing the words. When we stay open to and listen to each other in presence we can step into new territory and explore connection. 

Throughout the workshop we will bring in these facilitated practices to discover and play with new parts of ourselves and then go into Surrendered Leadership circles to “pressure test” our newfound capacities. 

Surrendered Leadership: 
We use surrendered leadership, an open container that in many ways simulate life (or at least seems to allow us to experience ourselves in the ways we instinctively show up around other people) as a testing ground. Usually what happens is that we get to see that it is difficult for us to do something new and maybe also get in touch with why and do small experiments with stepping into the unknown together. 

Please do this at home: 
We want the workshop to be an inspiration for everyone who participates (including ourselves) to listen more in our everyday lives. Our intention is that you will go home from this workshop with concrete “listening moves” that you can apply in different situations in life. We will also follow the workshop up with an integration call 10 days after the end, to inspire all of us to experiment with our listening after we leave the workshop setting. 

Time and place
Introduction
April 11th, 18.00-21.00
If you want a short taster or feel uncertain if this weekend is for you, please come to our intro night where we will create a gentle landing pad for practicing listening. 

Immersion
At the immersion we go deeper into practicing listening in all the different ways and work on how to integrate our listening capacities in real life situations through surrendered leadership. 
April 12-13th, 9.30-17.30

Both the intro and the immersion takes place at: 
Moveri - Located in central Gothenburg, in the same house as Pustervik.
Adress: Järntorgsgatan 12-14, vån 5
413 01 Göteborg.

Cat Party
Since Peter is in town and he likes to host Cat Parties, that is going to happen Saturday night. The cat party will be more of an open event for the relating community in Gothenburg, but it will be a great place to practice listening skills and you are very welcome.

Price and payment info
If you just want to come to the intro, it's 30 euros.

The price for the immersion is 300 euros, this includes the intro, the cat party and the integration call. Also some snacks during the weekend, but please bring your own lunch.  

If you are not able to pay this price but really want to participate, you are most welcome to contact us and we can look into the possibility of a discount and/or work exchange arrangement. 

Leaders
This weekend is led by Peter Munthe-Kaas, supported by Tova Ekenberg and Navi Camilla Säregård. 

Peter Munthe-Kaas
I am a Copenhagen based researcher, body therapist, coach and workshop facilitator. I am interested in practices that support me and others in relating and listening better and believe that the ability to relate to myself, others, society and nature is key to living a happy life in service of what is good in the world.

Tova Ekenberg
Tova first discovered Circling in 2018 and has been leading the practice since completing the leadership training with Circling Europe (now Transformational Connection) last year. With a background in the Performing Arts she has been facilitating spaces for adults for the past few years translating her training in theater and dance into transformative practices that foster playfulness, embodiment and personal + collective growth.

Navi Camilla Säregård
I'm Navi Camilla Säregård, I'm a somatic coach and experimentalist with a background in individual bodywork and nervous system regulation, as well as facilitation of relational- and embodiment based practices in groups. I hold that we both as individuals and groups absolutely can find real alignment and aliveness in all aspects of life, and my kink is working with change in all its forms.