Form a Co-Mindfulness Club
Personal change is limited when we go it alone. Joining together with others who share our goals and values greatly increases our chances of making long-lasting change. A group holds us accountable and gives us support when doubts start creeping in or our will starts floundering. In a group, personal change becomes collaborative and fun, increasing the likelihood that the changes we make will stick.
Author and consultant, Peter Block, loves groups of 3 as vehicles for change. When 3 people come together, everyone has a voice or, as Peter likes to say, “There is no place to hide.”
What’s your group of 3?
Textured Triangles, by Lauren W Designs
.jpg)
Do you have a friend who might benefit from co-mindfulness? Someone who is struggling with a difficult co-worker, a sullen teenager, a withdrawn partner. Invite them to join you and form a co-mindfulness club. Get together once a week, in person or over Zoom, and share with each other your experiences practicing each of the principles. Use the guide and questions in the “Let's Get Started” section to spark conversation. Stay vulnerable and curious. Listen and inquire. Be ready to share parts of yourself that have long been dormant and silent. Be ready to welcome and support those unexplored realms in your friend.
by Katie Merz
We realize that taking the initiative to form a co-mindfulness club might feel uncomfortable, extremely so. Reaching out to others and asking them to join you will deeply test your conviction and commitment to creating a more co-mindful world. How far are you willing to go to cultivate more intimacy and compassion in your life? How far are you willing to go to contribute to the creation of a more compassionate world? You might be thinking right now, Isn’t there a 5-minute video from some expert who can just explain it all to me? Looking for answers from someone else will not bring about the change you seek. You are the author of your own story. If you don’t take charge of your story, who will?
When we join together with friends to initiate personal growth and change, not only do we increase our chances of succeeding, our individual journey becomes part of a collective movement. We change while also contributing to the change of our wider human community.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Helen Keller
Story telling, by Leovy (available as a print)