In Session: Forging Meaningful Relationships

Community MeetUp on Leveraging the Power of Emotions to Communicate Effectively and Nurture Relationships

If you are seeking a mindful break and discovering your emotional spectrum, keep reading :)

Emotions are at the core of communication, soft skills, and being human. And is there a better way to end the year with a bit of reflection? We had the opportunity to speak with Meenal Rastogi , Director and Coach at Atmatva, who led us through a beautiful art based exercise to show us the power of emotions :)

While you read on about the experiential meet-up, we encourage you to reflect on some of the prompts!

Prompt: Think of a time when life came effortlessly to you. How did you feel then?

If you’re smiling at this question, so was our community. So many happy moments came up - from marriages and due dates to travel and first clients.?

Meenal effortlessly led us into noticing our emotional highs - times when life was content, joyful and fun.?

Art Based Activity: Get a pen and a loose sheet of paper and try this out :)

1. Doodle any pattern / cartoon for 7 mins. Not a second more or less.
2. Once done, take a look at what you’ve created.?
3. Run your fingers over the lines.?
4. And then slowly, tear it apart. Into tiny little bits.

Prompt: What was on your mind when you tore your beautiful, painstakingly created art?

The community said they were frustrated, irritated, and sad - hurt that we had to destroy what we lovingly created.?Some said they wouldn't have invested so much time, love and effort if they knew they would have to tear it.

But, if you're wondering, what was the point of this activity, it shows...

1. How nuanced emotions are: The same activity evoked a range of emotions. Same trigger, response depended on our individual mindset and past.
2. Self awareness as the first step towards self regulation: The community observed that after feeling the initial emotion, they immediately rationalised it with a logical thought, which led to regulation :)
3. Plans and their inevitable demise: No matter how beautiful a doodle (read: plan) we make, sometimes life will tear it up. What's in our hands, is how we react to it

From a Trainer / Facilitator Lens:

Art based activities are effective in evoking emotions in our participants, are they not? Drop us a comment if you have facilitated / experimented with such activities :)