Group-as-a-whole is a psychodynamic concept that offers a powerful way to see and study the group as a separate entity, possessing its own character and tasks and, what is of vital importance, its own shadow. In growing up or in waking up we often tend to overestimate the personal: efforts, goals, inspirations, motives, insights, resources, or traumas. And often we speak about relatedness and interconnectedness but it’s hard for us to break the limits of duality and directly experience and embody this interconnectedness.
Working and experimenting with the Group Relations approach in meditation and business settings for the last 3 years I’ve discovered that it allows individuals and groups to face very quickly their shadows and patterns of spiritual bypassing and, what is more important, to really get insight into beyond-the-surface dynamics that define their decisions, feelings, and behavior. And to change it.
It’s like a zen koan. We build our work on Wilfred Bion’s premise that “a separate individual doesn’t exist”, but through experiencing this ultimate relatedness we open our minds and hearts wide open to grow up and wake up as more mature selves.
During this presentation, I would like to share how I’m using this approach in business and meditation settings and how it supports the development of our individual hearts and also the collective heart and collective awakening.
