Group Guidelines
Welcome to Like a Pro! The most important part of the workshop is your experience of each quadrant of the Wheel of Consent. The Wheel itself will be your teacher. There will be moments of surprise, delight, challenge, tender-heartedness, and vulnerability. Sometimes the challenges will take center stage and sometimes the surprises. (And sometimes the surprises will be challenging!)
We do not try to avoid discomfort. Neither do we "push" you. The workshop itself is gentle and spacious. And it is very likely that feelings and insights will arise that may be uncomfortable. We seek to create a space in which you feel safe enough to do what you came here to do - learn and explore.
To that end, some rules and some guidelines:
How we ask that you engage with each other (the rules):
- Confidentiality — Outside the group, share only your own experience and learning; do not share the names or personal experiences of others in the group that could lead to others identifying them.
- Feelings are welcome and do not need to be justified or explained; honor the feelings that arise in others by allowing them to feel without fixing or advising.
- When sharing, speak from your personal experience - Use ‘I’ statements (eg. I feel, I notice, I’m experiencing, etc.). This helps you to notice and take responsibility for your own experience. Please avoid speaking on behalf of others.
- Group care — Use the names and pronouns people request, and honor the lived experience of those in the group. Don't make assumptions about people's identities and experiences (eg. regarding gender, race, sexual orientation, etc).
- Group limits for exercises — Clothing stays on; no genital or explicitly sexual touch.
- Interrupt for justice - If something is said or done that conflicts with these agreements or harms you, please address it as it happens if you can. When harm happens in public, we will try to address it in public.
What we invite for your own experience (the guidelines):
- Invite a beginner's mind — If you have some experience with the Wheel of Consent your opportunity is to take it deeper. There is always more to learn! Everything we offer is an experiment and an opportunity to notice.
- Participation can look many ways — join an exercise, witness, journal, take a break, say no to a practice, and change your mind at any time!
- Practice self-awareness around how you take up space — if it’s easy for you to step in and share, pause and wait a moment; if you find it challenging to take up space, practice stepping in and sharing.
- Self-care and nervous system regulation — take care of your needs for water, toilet, etc; if there is something specific you need, can you find a way to ask for it?
- Notice what you need to stay in your learning zone — take a break, move your body, express something to the group, etc. There is no need for overwhelm!
As facilitators of this group, we will hold to these rules and will remind you of them as needed. When we make mistakes, we will do our best to clean them up. We invite humility and goodwill.
We do not tolerate harassment of participants or staff in any form. Anyone violating these rules may be expelled from the event without a refund at the discretion of the organizers.
