03: Exercises & Methods
Exercise 1: Gordian Knot
In the team game Gordian Knot, a group of players stand close together in a circle and close their eyes. Everyone stretches their arms out in front of them and randomly shakes hands with another person; in this way, the whole group is "knotted" together. Now it’s time to "untie the knot", but without anyone letting go of the hand that he or she is holding. The task is solved when all the players are standing in a circle again and holding the hands (caught in the knot). (When knotting, you are not allowed to simply take your neighbor’s hand. And you are not allowed to cross your own hands or forearms).
Exercise 2: Let yourself fall
Pairs are formed. One person stands behind the other at a distance of about 50 cm. The second person puts one foot in front and one behind, their center of gravity is low, i.e. knees are not extended. The person standing in front slowly lets themselves fall and is caught by the person behind with both hands.
A variation of "letting yourself fall": A small circle is formed, one person stands in the middle and closes his or her eyes. The others in the circle let this person spin around and/or move them back and forth. The person in the middle enjoys this in a relaxed way.
Looking for each other: I move around the room with eyes closed. (2 persons, Outside-Eyes, watch from the outside that no one gets hurt). After a while, on command, you grab a hand that you meet. You try to remember this hand. Then you move further into the room. Another command is given and you go searching for that exact hand with your eyes closed. When you think you have found it, you stand still hand in hand. When everyone is standing, you can open your eyes. The Outside-Eyes will let you know if you have found the correct hand.
Counting: You stand in a circle, close your eyes and count – in no set order – to 20 and back again. Whenever 2 people say a number at the same time, you start again from the beginning.
Flash: During the process, the announcement is made from time to time that everyone shares a short statement about their own state of mind, about the feeling they are having at this particular moment, about their current thoughts. This way you can make sure that you don’t lose anyone in the process.