︎

(30 min session)

𓂃GROUNDING PRACTICE


BASE EXERCISE
𓂃DANCING ROLES
Following & Leading:


Index:

Welcoming introduction
to the practice + qualities of attention + modelling roles (approx. 3 minutes)

  • Walking the space/familiarization (2 minutes)

  • Dance (6 minutes) & verbal reflection (4 minutes)

  • Dance (6 minutes) & verbal reflection (4 minutes)

GROUP CLOSING 
Group circle debriefing, sharing the sensations, qualities, and insights that can be remembered, carried forward, and woven into our personal or professional practices.


Facilitator Tips — Embodying the Practice (practicing we preach)

  • Embody the feeling you wish to share.
Your presence sets the tone. Move, breathe, and speak in a way that models gentleness, curiosity, and attunement. Let participants sense the qualities you wish for them to explore. In brief, drop in and stay curious with yourself as you share.

  • Speak slowly and pause.
Allow participants time to feel and integrate the instructions. Silence is part of the practice — it gives space for attention and reflection to arise.

  • Demonstrate with a volunteer.
Show cues, stretches, and transitions physically. Participants learn as much from seeing and feeling as from hearing.

  • Encourage soft exploration.
Emphasise safety, comfort, and attunement. Invite participants to experiment without pressure, allowing small, subtle movements to have meaning.

  • Foster listening and presence.
Remind participants to listen — not only to the leader/follower dynamic, but also to the band, the space, and themselves. Attention is both inward and outward.

  • Invite playfulness and curiosity.
Encourage a state of discovery, where participants approach movement as an exploration rather than a performance. Mistakes, tangles, and surprises are part of the dance.

  • Model relational awareness.
Show how to attend to your partner — responding gently, noticing their movements, and respecting boundaries. This sets a relational, supportive tone for the group.



Facilitator Script:
Introduction to the practice + qualities of attention + modelling roles


(Approx. 3 minutes)

Setup

  • Invite participants to form a circle or semi-circle.
  • Hold one of the elastic bands and introduce the practice.

Introduction

(on your own words)

Welcome, everyone.

Let’s take a moment to arrive — notice the ground beneath your feet, the rhythm of your breath,... and the quiet presence of others in the room.

DaNCING𓂃BaND is a gentle, playful, and reflective practice — an invitation to move together with awareness and curiosity.

Through this simple elastic band, we sense connection — how movement travels between us, how attention shifts, and how subtle gestures can open new ways of listening.

Here, dance is not performance. It is a dialogue — with yourself, your partner, and the space itself. It is a practice of noticing, sensing, and responding.


Modelling

  • Ask a volunteer to join you.
  • Model gently with your partner as you speak through the qualities of attention first
  • Then, model the Dance (follower and leader) and explain the roles, so participants can both see and feel the cues.

Qualities of Attention


1. Attunement
  • Stay sensitive to the pressure of the band on your skin.
  • Move in ways that feel comfortable and fluid.
  • Let sensation guide you — not bind you.  Can I allow the band be a bridge, not a boundary?

2. Simplicity
  • Keep it simple. Small, subtle gestures can hold immense meaning.
  • Especially at the start, invite gentleness and quiet into the space. Let the dance unfold softly.

3. Including the Odds
  • If the band tangles or feels awkward, slow down, pause, and reset. Including thatas a partof your dance.
  • Notice how unexpected moments shift your attention, your movement, and your connection.

4. Curiosity and Care
  • There is no right or wrong.
  • Bring attention, kindness, and respect — to yourself, to your partner, and to the space.
  • Stay connected to your intuition and creative self.

Walking / Space Familiarization Cue


Now, let’s begin to move through the space.

Start with a simple walk — sensing, noticing, and feeling the room around you.
Notice your breath. Notice your feet connecting with the floor.
And, the sounds within or beyond the space.
Observe the shape of the room — walls, windows, light and shadows, temperature, texture... Move towards that catches your attention. 

Allow yourself to feel gentle. Move mindfully, with curiosity and care.
Let this walk help you arrive fully in the present moment — ready to explore, listen, and move together.


FIRTS EXPLORATION
4 STAGES  


(Approx. 10 minutes)



︎DANCE 

(Approx. 6 minutes)


1st Music Track𓂃(2 min)𓂃Each pair decides who is following and who is leading for the first music track. The leader keeps their eyes open. Follower, close your eyes.

  • Both roles listen to the sensation on your skin as a guiding force. Slowing down helps this.

  • Explore moving close to the same spot where you are standing.

2nd Music Track𓂃(2 min)𓂃Swap roles. As a facilitator voice over again: “leader keeps their eyes open. Follower, close your eyes. Both roles listen to the sensation on your skin as a guiding force. Slowing down helps this.

  • Both roles listen to the sensation on your skin as a guiding force. Slowing down helps this.

  • Remaining close to the same spot where you are standing.”


3rd Music Track𓂃(2 min)𓂃On the third track, play and swap the roles of leader and follower when and however you find, without saying anything to your partner.  If you are faciliating a group call out for the changing playfully. You might explore with eyes open now, or occasionally closing your eyes if you feel safe enough to do so.



︎ VERBAL REFLECTION :


(Approx. 4 minutes)

Each pair exchange verbally:

  • Is it possible to play both roles at the same time? What is leading and following, me, the other person, the band? Something else?




SECOND EXPLORATION
2 STAGES  

(Approx. 10 minutes)


︎ DANCE


(Approx. 6 minutes)

Playing and swaping the roles of leader and follower when and however you find, without saying anything to your partner—as we let the dance emerge, unfold.



 ︎VERBAL REFLECTION:


(Approx. 4 minutes)

To discuss with your partner after the experience.

  • Were you as a leader inviting, supporting the follower’s steps? And/or sustaning movement paths for the follower? Perhaps, moving between the two?
  • What ways of leading felt most supportive, enjoyable, or attuned? Were you kinesthetically/sensing movement or direction? Or, Something else?

(same questions for the follower)

  • Were you as follower inviting, and supporting the leader’s steps? And/or sustaining movement paths for the leader? Perhaps, moving between the two?
  • What ways of following felt most supportive, enjoyable, or attuned?Were you kinesthetically/sensing movement or direction? Or, something else?



GROUP CLOSING


As we come together again as a group, let’s take a moment to arrive — to feel the ground beneath us, the breath, the quiet pulse that remains after moving.  

Take a moment to notice: What qualities or sensations from today do you wish to carry forward?
Perhaps a feeling of trust, lightness, curiosity, or calm.

What have you learned through movement — about leading, following, or simply being with another — that you might bring into your own way of working, creating, or relating?

You might ask yourself:
– What moments felt most alive or resonant?
– What gestures, images, or sensations do I want to remember?
– How can I stretch this awareness into my own practice or daily rhythm?

As we close, imagine placing these sensations gently into your library of memories — a place you can return to, to consult and remember how it felt.

Let these embodied memories remain available to you — as quiet reminders, ready to resurface when needed — in your dancing, your working, your being with others.


Thank you all!



notes for Marga: 
  • Learning to lead through movement — cultivating presence, care, and connection in every gesture.