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Suggestions and guidelines for facilitating the Work That Reconnects online.

  1. Find a Webinar Platform – You will need a group conferencing platform such as Zoom or Skype. Here is a  link to a comparison of some different platforms. We suggest that you use one that has the ability for creating small breakout groups so you can do dyads and triads. Each platform provides how to YouTube videos.
  2. Keep Webinars Interactive – People right now need to talk with each other and share their feelings and thoughts. They can watch endless talks and presentations online, so try to minimize talking at people and give them a chance to talk with each other. Not everyone needs to hear what everyone has to say, so break into small groups or dyads for in-depth sharing and deep listening. 
  3. Managing Technology and Co-facilitating – You may want to find a person to facilitate with you who can share running the webinar and/or help you with the technology side of things. This is particularly helpful if you have a big group. Your helper/co-facilitator can set up and time break-out groups, post ideas and info in “Chat,” as well as share the responsibility for planning and delivering the webinar. Also, if a participant is having a very hard time, one of the facilitators can go into a private breakout room with them to check in. 
  4. Follow the Spiral of the Work That Reconnects (more detailed “how to” for particular practices given below).
    • Start with Gratitude – it allows people to calm their nervous systems and reconnect with themselves, the earth, and that which gives them joy. 
    • Honoring our Pain – this stage in the Spiral is so present right now and people will go deep quickly. 
    • Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes – we are in unprecedented times and need to see in new ways, so make time for this exploration. 
    • Going Forth – allow people some time to figure out next steps even if very small so they have something to move forward with. 
  5. Processes and Agreements Start with some meditation and grounding. Bring Gaia into the space and hold time for silence and inspirational readings, music or poems. We are creating sacred space and connecting to each other, Earth, Ancestors, and Spirit. 
    • It’s good to have some agreements for the time together (see suggestions below as a place to start). Ask for any agreements that are not included that people might need to feel safe. Ask all to show hands for accepting the agreements. 
    • Start with a check in and end with a check out at beginning and end of session. Can be a few minutes or a couple words each.  
    • Invite people into practices – “If it is comfortable for you… close your eyes or stand up, etc.” Tell participants they can adapt for their own needs. 
    • Be transparent that the most important thing is that they hear each other and experience being deeply heard. 
    • Timing is important to keep an online session alive. Give yourself and the participants a clear time frame for each practice, each sharing session, each report-out, and ring a bell or tell people if they are going way over time. When participants are in break-out groups you can send them a message re timing – when to switch speakers, move to the next question etc. 
    • Debrief practices with the whole group briefly. After a practice, either as a whole group or in small groups, take 5 or so minutes to allow those who want to to reflect on how that was for them or share something else from their experience. There is no need for everyone to speak – just a few works well.   
    • Vary the modalities Rotate between whole group activities, small groups, journalling, slide presentations, dyads, meditations… etc. 
      • Do some movement activities that get people to stand or move in their chairs to keep the energy up. You can always take a short stretch break or have people move as an element of nature. (“The bodhisattva check in” and “eco milling” can be done with participants moving around in their own rooms, for example.) 
      • For contemplative body or breath based practices use trauma informed language. Be invitational vs directive. You may ask participants if there is an object, image or pet they’d like to invite to be with them, to help them be present. 
      • Many people are visual learners, so it can be helpful to prepare a PowerPoint with the outline of the session, images, directions for practices, poems, music, short videos and readings….
  6. Webinar size and duration
    • We have found the maximum time for a productive webinar is 2 hours. That said, you can do longer if you take a long break (1-3 hours) in between sections of the webinar. To allow time for participants to really drop in, connect and share what is on their hearts you need ideally 90 minutes. 
    • It is good to know ahead of time the size of your webinar, so having people pre-register is helpful.
    • 6-10 people is the minimum size to have energy and have a variety of viewpoints in the space. You can manage this number easily alone. 
    • 20-25 a good number for an interactive webinar. You can see everyone on one screen and can still, with a short check in, hear from everyone. It’s good to have a co-facilitator and/or tech help. 
    • Over 25 means you can’t get everyone on the screen at the same time but if you spend most of your time in small groups they will have the opportunity to share with each other. You definitely need tech support.  
    • One time, a series or drop-in webinars?  You may want to do a one- time webinar and then see if there is interest in an ongoing or multi-week series. In these scary times it could be very helpful for people to have an ongoing group they feel comfortable connecting with. It could be a drop-in group that shares once a week or you could deliver a series that progresses through the Spiral. You could do a series of 6 sessions once a week.
  7. Online facilitation tips (These are based on using Zoom but ideas can apply to a variety of platforms.) 
    • Welcome everyone as they come online.
    • Take time at the start to review the logistics to be sure everyone is connected and can see and hear.  
    • Gallery View vs Speaker View: Let people know how to change their screen to gallery view so they can see each other vs just seeing who is speaking. 
    • Mute/Unmute – Have everyone stay muted when not speaking to minimize background noise, and be sure everyone knows how to unmute themselves when they speak. 
    • Rename – Have people put their name and perhaps where they live under their image. 
    • Post your phone number or support person’s phone number so if they get bumped off the call they can get help. Suggest they first try logging on again. 
    • Call on people to speak. When checking in or asking all to speak to a question, call on people as you see them on your screen. We have found calling on 3 people at once gives people a heads up about who is next. Everyone will see participants in a different order.
    • Chat – If you are on zoom or a platform with a write-in function like Chat, introduce that function. Tell them how to click the bubble icon then write in at the bottom and click enter to send a message. 
    • Some people may not be able to be online but they can phone in. Be sure to tell the people on the phone to please interrupt and speak up when you want to talk. (People on phones without mute buttons can press *6 to mute and to unmute.)
    • Break-out groups – Introduce the use of break out groups. Tell participants to click on the invite box to enter the group but DO NOT click on the box at the end of a small group because you will automatically come back to the large group in one minute. Also if you have directions for their small group, put the directions in Chat. Remind participants to re-click on the Chat icon once in the small group so they can see it again. 
    • Useful signals:
      • Thumbs up = agreement, support 
      • Raising hand up close to the screen = I want to talk 
      • Wiggle / twinkle fingers = yeah, great idea, I’m with you

Group Agreements:  What we need in order to hold space for big emotions. This is all of us showing up for all of us:

  • Confidentiality
  • I statements
  • Deep Listening with heart as well as head and no back talk
  • Sacred speech / keep it short and to the point
  • Avoid unnecessary apologies
  • Avoid advice giving
  • Impact over intent
  • Make space, take space / Step up, step back (If you tend to talk a lot, step back. If you tend to stay quiet, step up.)
  • Limit  use of digital technology besides zoom. This maximizes presence and minimizes distraction
  • Self-regulate (opt-out or vary levels of intensity…I’m here, I’m safe)  

Some suggestions of practices that work well online 

The in-person versions of all these practices are on this website under the Resources section. Please adapt and try out other practices. We highly recommend re-reading all of Coming Back to Life to get familiar again with core concepts which include; the 3 Stories, The Spiral, Deep Time, Deep Ecology, and System Theory. Also, review the chapter on guiding the Work.

Active Hope by Chris Johnstone and Joanna Macy outlines the core concepts and has practices. There is an online course outline for Active Hope available for free. 

  • Orientation 
    • Introduce Work That Reconnects and the 3 Stories of Our Time; Business as Usual, The Great Unraveling and The Great Turning.
    • Introduce the Spiral of the Work and how you will be going through the stages of the Spiral during the session/s. 
  • Gratitude 
    • Check-ins can be a gratitude round, ie. My name is and what I love about being alive right now is…..
    • Open Sentences in dyads on gratitude. 
    • The litany of gratitude using Chat/write in function. Lead people into meditation on what they are grateful for, then ask them to type their gratitudes into Chat. Then facilitators read the list aloud and it becomes like a poem. (This is a practice from WTR facilitator Barbara Ford, so is not on the website.) 
    • Gratitude Rounds works well in small groups. 
  • Honoring Pain
    • Introduce and practice the Breathing Through practice. 
    • Open Sentences in dyads on Honoring our Pain.
    • If you have an ongoing group and are doing a session focusing on Honoring our Pain, have them send in photos of something they are grieving and make a slideshow in PowerPoint to share with the group. As you show the slides, have each person speak to their slides. You can also prepare a slideshow of images that break your heart to show to the group. Prepare them by reviewing the Breathing Through practice. 
    • The Milling can be adapted to webinar by having people scan their eyes over the screen looking at all the faces then settling on a different  face for each of the sections as you read the text. (No one can tell who is looking at whom; please edit language for online.) At the end you can send people into dyads to share. 
  • Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes and Deep Time
    • Guided meditations work well on line.
    • You can do the Bodhisattva Check-in (or Owning my Life) with participants standing and moving around their space. (Online it works better shorter – 10 minutes for meditation and 5-10 to share about it in pairs.) 
    • The Evolutionary Gifts of the Ancestors or Gathering the Gifts of the Ancestors can be done moving in their own spaces and using their own body to sense the gifts of the ancestors. Shorten it to 15 -20 minutes.   
    • Letter from Gaia and/or Letter from a Future Being are writing activities that can be done in silence, and each person reports out either in the whole group or in small groups.
    • When I made a difference works well in groups of 3. Have them come back to the whole group to share. You can list in Chat what qualities (of “power with”) were at play when they made a difference.  Or have them enter the qualities themselves. Read aloud. Then all together make a list of “power over” qualities. 
  • Going Forth
    • Callings and Resources is a great journaling activity. (5-10 minutes)  You can edit the questions so it takes less time; then have pairs tell each other about what they would do if they knew they could not fail (10 min). This can be followed by a whole group brief sharing of their projects. 
    • Networking – Small groups can discuss their projects and what they have to offer. You could organize groups by similar topics of interest based on their report outs from Callings and Resources.
    • The Four Abodes can be a virtual milling with participants passing their eyes over all the faces and stopping in front of a different face for each section. 
  • Home work in-between sessions 
    • It can be very helpful to suggest practices, videos or readings to do at home if you are doing an on-going series or a couple of sessions with a long break in between.  
    • Suggestions: nature connection time; meditation; journaling; doing some of the practices on their own or with friends; looking for the Great Turning around you.
    •  If an ongoing series you can encourage participants to read chapters of Active Hope or Coming Back to Life or sections of the workthatreconnect.org website.