An internal process:
This is either an individual practice or one that works well with a trusted partner.
The facilitator in this process can be someone who is with you or an imagined internal voice facilitating the many other voices within you.
1. Create the safe place for the conversation-
Externally: a quiet room, in nature, etc
Internally: a quiet inner space, relaxed, centered, expansive and open
If you have a partner, have them sit beside you and follow these centering practice as well.
Shape your self as much as possible in a way that centers you physically. (Abbreviated)
Take several deep-relaxing breaths
Align your belly, heart and head on a vertical axis and let your skeleton hold you up.
Feel your feet open to the earth
Drop the weight on your shoulders
Unclench the sphincter muscles
Call forth an intention for listening such as: respect, inclusiveness and most important gratitude. Ask your body/soma, “How would it feel if I felt a little more…………(.fill in the quality of intention) allow the soma to respond with a physical sense of that quality. Notice and stay with the changes. (Our bodies do not like to not know and will respond. Fill the internal space with this intention.)
2) Within that intentional relaxed space, use your imagination (the language of the soul) to greet all the voices (participants)
Head
Heart
Gut
Feet
Any other voice that wants to be included (back, solar plexus, genitals.
Above are the main participants in the internal community conversation.
Different participants can be added but this requires some advanced facilitation that I wont go into here,
Yourself at different times in your life i.e. newborn self, infant self at various ages, teen age self, adult self, present self
Unknown voices that seem to be outside these categories, often scary and a product of trauma that brings in some form of compartmentalization.
3. What is on the agenda? What is the question you are in? What do you want to decide?
4) Begin the Conversation
One voice at a time. No cross talk. You can imagine a talking stick that is passed from one participant to another- who ever has the stick talks uninterrupted until it is passed on. This requires practice.
Begin with whichever voice wishes to speak first. Ask the question that is up for you and listen for the answer. Example: Heart, “Is it best for me to stay with my partner or to move on?
Listen carefully, to which voice is talking. Ask the question directly to the voice and listen for the first and immediate response. If one is not forthcoming, than this is a good time for the facilitator (the facilitator can be yourself or another person if available) to prompt with a suggestion like, “What is the first thought? “ or “First thought, best thought?” “Best guess?”
It is common for some voices to take a long time checking their answer. This act of self-censoring is often because other voices are chiming in trying to influence the speaker in habitual ways. So in this example, if you get the sense that the heart ‘s answer is somehow tainted or odd, check in with it. In these confusing moments where it is difficult to discern which voice is which, a good facilitator will slow things down and come back to the voice that has the floor, or the talking stick.
You, as the facilitator, must step in to check in with the heart by asking it if the answer it spoke was it’s own answer. Again prompting with, first thought?” Helps. Then ask the question again. And open your senses to listen for the answer.
When the first voice is done, in this case the heart, move to the next voice, let’s say the gut, and ask the same question about the relationship. The gut will give its answer; again capturing its first thought is essential. Gut may also build on the conversation by offering its thoughts on what was previously contributed by the heart. Answers, for the most part should be as short as possible.
As each voice has the chance to speak all the others listen. In this example, the heart may want to stay in the relationship, the head is undecided, the gut is afraid of the unknown, and the feet say, “stay.” Each voice will offer its fears, reservations, excitement, desire, understanding, and wisdom.
Through diligence and practice the facilitator learns to hold the various contributions and direct the conversation in an orderly, fair, intuitive, occasionally stern and sensitive manner.
All participants offer empathic listening, intuitive impressions, honest feedback for reflection, and the resources they each uniquely contribute.
5) In time proposals for agreements new actions, practices, choices, etc. are offered and discussed collaboratively.
6) There is a call for concerns and if some are brought up the conversation continues
10) If there are no concerns there is consensus
12) With consensus comes commitment and implementation of new actions, choices, practices etc.
1. Core Competencies for a healthy Somatic Consensus process.
a. Sense of Interconnectedness- a spirit of community comes from pulling together in times of adversity, natural disasters, etc. The way to do this in the day to day of community building is through the practice of authentic communication and paradoxically, by acknowledging our differences with a willingness to hear multiple viewpoints.
b. Sustainable Collective Wisdom/intelligence-This requires improving the skills for rapidly shifting between the group’s head, the heart and intuitive senses to grow a collective intelligence, which can be put into action. This can be experienced as an ongoing development of the group’s wisdom. A group wisdom that exceeds the individuals’.
c. Learning Structures Both visible and invisible structures affect a group’s ability to experience itself as an authentic community. Unless these forces are acknowledged and examined they will hinder the group maturing. It is essential to develop systems and structures together that give a sense of continuity memory and systemic learning to the community consensus process over time. -
*No matter if there is interconnectedness, group intelligence, team sprit or learning going on, it will be unproductive if insightful action is not taken to change unjust or unethical structures.
Consensus is not
➢ Not a set pattern of rules
➢ Not just a decision making process
➢ Not an alternative to parliamentary procedure
➢ Not about giving one person the ability to block, as in tyranny of the minority
➢ Not a process that allows the majority to overrule the minority
➢ Not about lobbying every one to your side
➢ Not about voting or sides taking
➢ Not about personal agendas
Consensus:
➢ Is a process that reflects the uniqueness of each group
➢ Requires the capacity to move rapidly between group and self awareness and needs.
➢ a whole way of life
➢ Creates a healthy balance between relationships and the work at hand.
➢ Builds the capacity to stay open, vulnerable and accountable in the midst of conflict and relationship.
➢ Develops the sense of we are all one.