Energisers for Introverts

[Rachel Prosser]

Hi all,

Anyone have any idea of some good energisers or warm ups for introverted types?

I've realised that several of my tools don't work so well in a group dominated by introverts..

Thus far, brain-gym seems to be more introvert friendly:

- Rubbing the earlobes (with crossed hands is best)
- Doing the right hand on nose, left on right earlobe and then swap to left hand on nose, right hand holds left ear lobe and swap.

Can I harness the power of the network to get a few more ideas?

Cheers

Rachel

[Andy]

Target: increased muscle tension is one of the causes of stress, that is why the goal of relaxation techniques in the treatment of harmful habits is to create a state of calm, placidity and serenity through the merger with a deep and rhythmic. It implements a relaxation of the body musculature as a viable alternative for the reduction and elimination of states of anxiety, stress and anxiety causes of bruxism, the habit of finger sucking and the onicofágia.

In the treatment of the harmful habits in both adults and children, the dentist will be able to implement the technique to consider or make a combination thereof, must achieve the relaxation of individual muscles throughout the body, from muscles in the head and compared to the foot, mainly in the muscles of the face, neck and back because these areas are where most is accumulated tension.

There are a variety of methods to produce a body relaxation: aromatherapy, implementation of visual or auditory as classical music or nature sounds of birds, oriental techniques such as yoga or to observe the comings and goings of fish in a fishbowl and a result successful, the techniques of relaxation. To carry out the relaxation techniques in the dental is recommended to take into account the following suggestions:

- The frequency of consultation will be determined by the magnitude of the problem: one appointment a week in very mild daily or in severe cases.

- Cite the subject at a specific time and planned to not interfere with the consultation of another patient.

- The atmosphere within the office should be pleasant for the patient.

- Eliminate distracting visually striking paintings or televisions in the vicinity of the dental chair or at the place where the exercise.

- Do not use background music and take care that the area is sealed to the external noise or distractor auditory and phones of any kind in order not to disrupt the exercise.

- Instruct staff assistant not to interfere during the time period in which the exercise.

- Use a dialogue is understandable to the patient, with a voice soft and slow, which causes a state of confidence and placidity. Not saturated with the patient or excessive repetition of words and phrases.

- Apply a bar waiting on dialogue and ensure that the patient is relaxed by implementing a slow, rhythmic breathing.

- Do not perform any procedure if the patient is sick or dentist - for example if they are cold, as this may interfere with its effectiveness.

Burgundy Wine

[Jodi Cohen]

the after lunch slump can be awful, especially if people had turkey for lunch, might as well tuck them in for a little nap! without regard to intro/extro verts, i try to get people into their bodies so they can keep their physical energy moving a little. also, laughter is a good way to keep the energy afloat as well. with a group (i've done it w/a group of up to 60) i play a game called 'anybody who' where you make a big circle, w/one person standing in the middle who makes a statement that's true for him/herself and if that is true for anyone else in the circle, then people in the circle have to find a new seat. so there's one seat less than there are people and one person always ends up in the middle. people are lunging for seats, and there's laughter, screaming and a fun competitiveness. also, whoever is in the middle gets to reveal info, and that's fun as well. it can be innocuous, such as 'anybody who has a brother' or 'anybody who loves pizza' and then people have to switch seats accordingly. i try to start in the middle and make a statement that will make EVERYONE have to relocate, such as 'anybody who ever flossed/had a haircut/fell in love, etc...' sometimes, if i've taught the game earlier in the day, and the energy is sagging, we play a quick round of 'anybody who' just to get the juices going. when i played this with kids they got bored one time, so we adopted 'personas' of people (real and imaginary) and played 'anybody who' as those people. it was wild. we guessed at the end who the people were (abe lincoln, joni mitchell, mickey mouse, bill clinton, etc...) it was a blast trying to figure out what the statements would be for those people...(anybody who's ever ridden in a limo, anybody who was president, anybody who plays guitar, etc...) hope this helps.

[Cheryl Gould]

Rachel,
It is probably best to get a video from the library if you want to do this convincingly. I was asked to do some Tai Chi breaks as part of a several day conference so spent a few months learning it from DVD's from the library. The basic start position is to stand with feet shoulder width apart, knees soft (not locked). Arms at side but not resting on your body. Head balanced on top of shoulders, Shoulders, hips and ankles in alignment. Next you ask people to drop their shoulders (cause most everyone has them articiailly raised up), then you ask them to pretend they have a long heavy tail and they should drop their tail to the ground. (By rotating hips slightly backward and relaxing) This is a very grounding position to be in and from here I have them do some simple moves that really come from Chi Gung. (Videos at the library ;) My favorite is called swimming dragon. From the "ready" position, you have them sweep one arm forward and across the body like they are pulling water into them, then the body rotates and you "swim with the other arm. Kind of hard to explain without the visual. There are a lot of other simple moves to do from the ready position -you can just have them play with an energy ball and do things like figure 8's with it or whatever they like. My other favorite is to use your hands to tap vigorously on your own low back to get blood flowing there - especially good with long days of sitting.

cheryl

[Cheryl Gould]

Interesting thread you've started. I'd like to add a few thoughts. I teach librarians. Ultimate introverts. Sometimes just before the afternoon break I do a couple of tai chi moves. Just getting people into the starting position when you begin Tai Chi is a big deal for a lot of people and I've found that though I tell people they don't need to do it and can leave for the break, they all stay and do the exercises with me. I can give details if anyone is interested. I use a ball in all of my trainings. Usually at the beginning. It's always something soft and squishy that won't hurt if it hits anyone accidentally. It's amazing how quick the room loosens up. They always laugh. And again - librarians are NOT ball people. Usually, I have them introduce themselves and then throw the ball to anyone else in the room so it keeps everyone awake. You could do this to debrief an exercise or get answers/comments (or questions) from the group. I find it valuable to get them to play in a non-threatening way. Quickly forms a group. Last idea, I do exercises I call cocktail parties where they walk around until I say to form a group of 2 or 3 and tell them what to discuss. I give them 2 or 3 minutes, then have them move on to mill around until I ask them to form new groups and discuss a new issue or share something about themselves (related to the topic or not)

Cheryl Gould

[Rachel Prosser]

Hi Cheryl - I'm interested in your Tai Chi idea - what moves do you do?



Rachel

[Jerry Kail]

Here's an approach I've used as a general, all-purpose opening to gradually get the energy flowing, especially with introverts and mixed introvert/extravert groups - usually works better with bigger groups. I open by having the group get up and do a "space walk" ("Here is the space - start walking in it"), silently at first, then with the encouragement to begin making eye contact with others as they pass each other, then a head nod while mouthing (but not saying) a greeting. Then I stop them and say, "Now, when you pass someone, stop and exchange a greeting in which you reveal something few people know about you, such as "Hi, I'm Jerry, and I had 35 kids in my high school graduating class." Then quickly move on and greet someone else, but rather than giving your own information again, reveal the information the last person you greeted told you. So the person I greeted would say, "Hi, I'm Rachel, and Jerry had 35 kids in his graduating class." [The goal is to get people to focus on others rather than just on themselves. Encourage the group to keep moving and greet as many others as they can.]

Of course there are many different ways to set up the "information" you have them share - from "what's your favorite color?" to "what are your expectations for this session?"

[Paul Levy]

One thing I've learned is that introverts in workshops are not "not extroverts". Introverts (as they are called), simply express their energy differently. In terms of workshops, introverts do not need "energising". In my own view, workshops do not need energising either. Just as "ice breakers" make the dangerous (and often wrong) assumption that there is "ice" at the start of a workshop that somehow needs to be broken, the idea that a workshop needs "energising" at the beginning is also a bit sweeping and often mistaken too.

I've heard other facilitators needing to "dynamise" a workshop at the start, and thi, too, is an erronious view of workshops.

I prefer to look into the creativity field and find the concept of "flow". Flow is better when it is not manipulated by a facilitator (no matter how well intentioned). Flow happens differently in different people. Flow is often not "fluent" at the start of a workshop for various reasons. Sometimes nervousness, sometimes hesistancy, sometimes resistance born of organisational politics and context. I tend not to start a workshop with an "energiser", but I do like Goethe's view that, even quicker than light, is conversation! Now, introverts, don't necessarily like public conversation, and tend to hate tokenistic "energisers". So, I would encourage the group to engage in conversation from that start that allows small group interaction, in pairs or threes. Answering a simple question that can be shared in plenary, but would aid flow from the start. the question could be controversial and could be a "theme-catcher" for the event as a whole. It could also involve a "poll" or a prioritising of several issues. Though it may seem "unsexy", I'd begin with a gentle conversation starterm in small groups, aimed at generating "flow". The extroverts will love it anyway, the introverts will find it more suited to their social introduction to the workshop style of interaction.

[Johnnie Moore]

Paul, great comment! I so agree about the pitfalls of the "energising" notion.

I'd add that what often gets left out - in the rush to "energise" is a willingness to hold a little silence in one way or another. Sometimes the supposedly awkward pause will be followed by something really interesting.

I'd consider the option of a time when people can work on their own, maybe leave the space and go for a wander... possibly with some drawing/writing activity.

[Viv McWaters]

Hi Paul and Jerry - this is a very useful discussion. Jerry I like the opening you've described - a good way to get everyone involved. And Paul I really like your description of 'flow' of the group and agree that about energisers without meaning or intent. I suspect that Myers Briggs has a lot to answer for in dividing the whole world into either introverts or extroverts, when in reality I think many of us experience a continuum and can flex between introversion and extroversion when we need to. I'm an introvert and I can be very loud - it's not so much about how I am with people, but how I recover from being with people. So for warming up a group to the work they need to do I tend to choose activities that will reflect the type of thinking they will have to do during the heart of the session, and I also try and provide opportunities for poeple to express their own identity withing the group, connect with others and move into action.In fact jerry's actgivity embodies all of those - I can be myself in the group and acknowledge who I am, connect with others and do something active. Brilliant!

Cheers

Viv

[Rachel Prosser]

Thanks so much !

I've often done variants of "walking around the room" but didn't think of asking to share information. I really like Jerry's suggestion to share an odd fact with someone else - the numbers in the graduating class is non-personal and I can see how that would work really well to get the group energy going, and get individuals starting to "form" and "norm" into a group (using the forming, storming, norming, performing model.)

It's probably useful if I clarify my meaning of "energiser". I was thinking not so much of warm up/introductions, but of quick exercises to do when the dreaded after-lunch slump hits, or when the energy in the group has got bogged down by some thing highly theoretical. That time where nodding off is not to far away or boredom is nigh. The exercise is needed for both extroverts and introverts to get the group and individual's energy flowing again.

I had found that some techniques just haven't worked well with a group who predominantly identified themselves as introverts. (In case there are any introverts out there who felt unloved: I'm not trying to change you, just find a way to get the energy flowing in a way that works for you! )

Viv's definition of an introvert's way of recovering is interesting too: I am an extrovert who draws energy from a crowd, but then need time on my own to come down and rebalance tap into quieter energy sources.

I really like the approach to try and get activities which lead into the next part of the session. I'd like to have more of them - both to get the energy flowing when blocked, and to calm the room down and bring back to focus. To to use a river analogy - a way of flushing out the silt in the water or of calming the rapids

Thanks for the contributions! Any more ideas?

Rachel

[Paula Beltgens]

Hi Rachel,

Thanks for starting this discussion - I'm really appreciating the responses and ideas. I am an MBTI practitioner and I also agree with Viv that it isn't so cut and dry. Extroversion and Introversion often seems to have a continuum for people...which I think speaks to a need for creating space for recharging in different ways throughout a session.

Considering that the classic description of introversion speaks to a need to go inward to recharge, I like to make time for people to be able to do something reflective. Last week I was doing a strategic planning session and we were just at one of those places where thoughts and ideas were really divergent and things were getting a little groany. I asked everyone to spend the next ten minutes writing anything that came into their heads about the two topics we were about to start talking about next. It took a while for the more gregarious folks in the group to settle down but then everyone really got into to it (pens scratching away, brows going up and down with ideas, tongues between teeth...interesting to watch). What was really interesting was how much more 'energized' and focused the group was afterwards - especially the quieter ones seemed more fully engaged and were able to draw from the time they'd had to connect with themselves. On a side note - it really helped me regroup and connect with myself and also watch for what wanted to happen next.

I really think this is a useful discussion and especially am interested in some more discussion with regard to the 'flow' of working with a group that Paul brought up.

Best wishes,
Paula

[Paul Levy]

I'm not completely sure what this means, but i wrote it as a reflection on a theatrelab workshop that involved a lot of spontaneous working, very emergent and impro-led:

Before FLOW comes the STUMBLE.
.
The stumble can lead to the RETREAT.

Yet PERSEVERANCE through EFFORT can lead to a flow that can end in books, in poetry, in song and in dance, or in further flow to whatever. It can also lead to holocausts and dictatorships, rape of the earth or the sweetest kiss that enlivens the heart, even the world.

FEAR OF FLOW can be fear of excellence or success. It can be fear of failure or of the end of flow itself. Then comes the stumble, sometimes born of fear, though more often born of TIREDNESS AT LIFE.

When FLOW is achieved, PASSION is born and transforms the mundane into the AWESOME.