3.1 Reconnection and Holistic Check-In

Lerning Objectives:

• To facilitate trust, mutual respect, and group cohesion
• To support participants in getting in touch with their body, mind, emotion and spirit
• To encourage mutual empathy towards each other

Materials: Markers, Name tags, Flipchart, Handout 2.1.1 – Holistic Check-in

Time Required: 15 Minutes

Activities & Instructions

Set-up:

• Participants sit in a large circle. Facilitator welcomes participants back.
• Co-facilitator post Ground Rules/Guiding Principles from last session for participants to refer to.
• Facilitators provide any announcement as needed.

Instructions to Participants

1. Facilitator says, “Welcome back. It is good to see everyone. We will begin with the Land Acknowledgement that supports us to be mindful about our relationships with Indigenous People and the land we live on. (Facilitator reads Land Acknowledgement on page 2 of this manual) Today, we will continue to do the “Holistic Check-in”. (Co-facilitator circulates the Handout 2.1.1 – Holistic Check-in in plastic sheet protector and collects them afterwards.)
2. Facilitator continues, “By holistic check-in, as shown in this diagram (show PPT slide, or refer to handout, or flipchart drawing with the 4 quadrants for holistic check-in), we mean that we are checking in with attention to the different aspects of ourselves: how we are feeling Physically, Mentally, Emotionally and Spiritually.”
3. Facilitator role models by saying, “ Just speaking for myself as an example, physically I am feeling energized; emotionally I am feeling excited; mentally I am alert; and spiritually I feel connected.”
4. “We also want to hear from you where you are at in terms of your energy level. From a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being extremely low energy level and 10 being very high, tell us your energy level. We may ask you about your energy level at the end of each session.”
5. (After all participants have taken a turn, facilitator thanks the participants for sharing.)

Key Summary Points

• In collaborative learning it is important that we are aware of our own and others’ energy levels and levels of well-being.
• We encourage everyone to be sensitive and supportive to each other and to participate in the best capacity we can.

Source:

Holistic Check-In framework from AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program of Ontario Training Manual, retrieved from http://abrpo.org/