My relationship to help goes back to my earliest memories. My mother “helping” me stay healthy by putting a jacket over my Halloween costume. My teacher “helping” by giving “tough love” so I will grow. I really resent help sometimes. Both when it’s offered, and how I feel when I ask for it.
It’s gotten in the way of the genuine ways I’ve received help. The way a friend reached out when I was pulling away. A home cooked meal after a long trip. Sometimes it seems harder to let them in to help. Maybe I’m just a bit numb to it all?
I am a professional helper. I facilitate, coach, and consult on thick, sensitive and nonsensical problems. I want to explore more my relationship to help, both giving and receiving. I want to get better at discerning the help I would like, and how to clearly ask for it. I want to get better at discerning what kind of help I would like to give, and how to offer it.
Helping Studio (see below) is a place where I hope to explore that with all of you. I want to give and receive help, but mostly I want to pay attention to the process of doing so. Where is easy, and where is hard? What am I learning about myself? Where is my experimental edge?
This is a Beta practice space, there will be things in the Helping Studio that DON’T work. Navigate the uncertainty and the barriers with your skills. Your ongoing feedback will mean a lot.
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Helping Studio
The Helping Studio is a place to practice your helping skills. You will receive real-time help attempts from fellow practitioners! That help could get you wildly liberated, or it might not do anything. The outcome is intended to practice our helping skills, both giving and receiving, the possibility of getting unstuck is just a bonus.
Bring something sincere. It could be serious like a disagreement with friends, or lighthearted like finding what movie to watch. But bring something that is true; something that would be impacted by help given. You will receive help and give help in a session. We have protocols (they look like game manuals) drawn up for you to experiment with, and flex your helping skills inside.
Unlike our other practice spaces, the Helping Studio is a collection of practices (protocols). They all share the purpose of helping, with a wide variety of ways to do so. Some of them are easy, and might come second nature to us. Others might be extremely complicated, and push our helping skills to the limit.
It is an hour-long session, done in breakout rooms of 2-3 (unless it needs to be more people). Open up a protocol sheet, and follow it like a game manual. Before attending, consider 1-3 helping protocols you’d like to participate in.
Helping Studio (Hosted by Justin)
Every other Monday, 1:00pm-2:00pm Pacific Time
Dates: September 21st, October 5th, October 19th, November 2nd, November 16th, November 30th
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Want to Vibe Check us?
We will host an introduction session before the new Hike starts, all are welcome. This could be especially helpful for those who are new to either relational practices or the Dojo. We’ll have all the practice hosts share about their practice, and make space for any questions. It is at 12pm-1pm Pacific Time on Thursday August 27th. Zoom link!