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This is a valentine’s day event! Think of it as an odd mixture of: neo-tantra, experimental speed dating, authentic relating and relational deep play.More info: https://www.deepplayinstitute.com/sparks.html
Registration: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedeepplayinstitute/1547978
The shared intention for our event is to notice and explore the vast multiplicitous ways our hearts open (or close) to others. Attraction includes romance, but is also much wider. We can be drawn to someone because we want them to be our parent, or our gardener, or our best friend, or a platonic life partner, or a teacher, etc. We will notice and explore these attractions. Rejection (dislike, repulsion, animosity) is never so simple; rather, it is almost always felt because the other represents something we don’t want to include in us. We will notice these feelings, and see what happens if we begin to welcome that in a bit closer to us.
The evening will trace the following arc:
-arrivals, collaborative drawing, and surrealist conversation prompts
-doors closed at 6:20pm and no further entry allowed, then an opening circle, welcome, agreements
-experimental speed dating mixed with authentic relating (for example: a round where you can only speak 1 word at a time, a round where you have to speak as your 3-year-old self, a round where you only speak in questions, a round where you fill in the sentence stem “You think I am _____”)
-a slightly more involved authentic relating game in dyads
-sociometric clumps* - the edgiest & juiciest of the moments of our evening (see below)
-blindfolded hand exploration - where we are blindfolded and explore the field of hands in the room
-co-counseling, reflection, integration
-closing & hanging out with drawing, tea, and surrealist conversational prompts
Tickets: $20-40
A few important things to note about this event: although “speed dating” was using in the description, the facilitator will not be setting up matches or taking contact info of participants, etc. This event is for all genders and all sexual preferences. Participants should be open to being paired with the wide and vibrant manifold of genders and sexual preferences. Participants don’t need to be seeking romance to come to this event, however that will be one component of the activities. The only touch that the workshop will be facilitating for the evening is briefly placing hands on other’s shoulders, and the exploration of others hands while blindfolded. Participants are welcome to opt out of any section of the workshop (except for the opening circle and agreements). Participants need to arrive before 6:20pm. Participants should please BYOB (bring your own blindfold).
*Sociometric Clumps: This activity is rooted in sociometry, a method derived from psychodrama that maps the relational and emotional dynamics of a group by exploring interpersonal choices and preferences. The way it works is a facilitator asks a question like “who in the room do you want the most to be your sibling?” and then everyone puts their hand on the shoulder of the person they want the most to be their sibling. This creates an incredibly complex social constellation where perhaps some people have many hands on another’s shoulder (so many people want them to be their sibling!) and others have very few hands on their shoulders (perhaps nobody wants to be their sibling). For those who are chosen, the one who chose them says a bit about why they are chosen - therefore exploring the unique attraction felt. For those who are not chosen, they clump together and then a) we welcome them exactly as they are, beaming affection and love (meta) towards them in the exact state they are in, of feeling not chosen, the affection saying “we choose you” b) people can reflect internally what this person brings up in them that makes them feel distanced, afraid, etc and see what happens internally as they welcome that feeling in closer. These rounds will continue into more edgy terrain, as we ask questions like: “who in the room do you want more to be your best friend”, “who in the room do you want most to go on a first date with,” “who in the room do you want most to kiss right now.” etc.
This kind of activity might be triggering, as it may bring up feelings of rejection. The structure of the workshop attempts to mitigate those feelings of rejection by: a) giving loving kindness to those rejected b) having other participants reflect on their reasons for rejection as something which is their own c) moving into the hand attraction game afterwards (which erases identity and foregrounds sensuality); however, participants who choose to partake in this activity are also consenting to the possibility of feeling rejection (and of navigating the potential fallout of those feelings).
About the Deep Play Institute The Deep Play Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to exploring life’s deepest questions through transformative play. DPI’s facilitators – therapists, artists, coaches, and philosophers – aim to use play to bring people into an experiential questioning of what it means to exist. Each program that DPI runs is a unique container, creatively constructed and inspired by practices that include: Gestalt therapy, Process Work, Psychodrama, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Tavistock Group Relations, Relational Psychoanalysis, Authentic Relating, Nonviolent Communication, Circling, coaching, performance art, contact improvisation, experimental theater, LARPs, surrealism, existential games, and various schools of meditation.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Awakenings Wellness Center, 1016 SE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97214-2513, United States,Portland, Oregon
Tickets
