Background Information for Group Mandala
Acknowledgements: This exercise has been
adapted from an exercise facilitated by Chris Loynes at the 10th
National Outdoor Education Conference, 1997, in Perth, Western Australia
and subsequent personal advice. Chris attributes his learning
of the learning to Roger Greenaway who provided me with some excellent
information about a similar activity he calls Stones
and a related activity called Human Sculpture.
Psychodynamics & Personal Objects:
My intention in developing this particular adaptation was to use
it in an outdoor education graduate seminar class to facilitate
within group communication and interpersonal understanding, and
to stimulate discussion about psychodynamic theory in outdoor education
settings.
The most obvious psychodynamic principle at work
is the notion of "projection", although this is a psychologically
complex activity that is likely to elicit several other observable
psychodynamic processes (such as ego states and interpersonal transactions).
The group had in the previous week been introduced to background
readings about psychodynamic theory and had been challenged to think
about possible ways this theory might be seen at applicable to outdoor
education.
Students were requested to bring a small,
non-fragile object of personal significance to the class.
Note that the selection of personal objects of significance for
the exercise is likely to bring into play the history of psychological
association and meaning that individuals have attached and invested
the object with. Thus the decision to include these objects
immediately heightens the level of psychological investment in the
activity. That comes with associated risks and liabilities
of course, so I would be hesitant to recommend this part of the
activity lightly. It can make for a weightier
and more sobered session than might be the case when using readily
available objects in the immediate environment.
Surprisingly little has been written in the psychological
literature about the psychology of objects. Probably the key
text is still Jungs Man and His Symbols, along
with a relatively recent book by Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton,
The meaning of things: Domestic symbols and the self
in which they state in the preface:
To understand what people are and what they might
become, one must understand what goes on between people and things.
What things are cherished, and why, should become part of our knowledge
of human beings. Yet it is surprising how little we know about
what things mean to people. By and large social scientists have
neglected a full investigation of the relationship between people
and objects.
Roger Greenaway made a useful suggestion here that
it may be tricky to move from here to group dynamics
if, say, someone brings a photo of their boyfriend, another a family
photograph, another a tiny piece of jewellery, another a goldfish
in a jar ... So each person may like to have the option of choosing
a new object when switching into group dynamics that is more representative
of their image or role within the group.
Before the activity, I gave the group the extra
instruction that their object would be subject to group activity
and that they would lose a certain amount of control over their
object so if they wished they should select an alternative object
for the group activity. No-one took up the offer (to my knowledge)
although a couple of people had forgotten to bring an object, so
just used something they had handy.
What is a Mandala?:
Mandala is Sanskrit for circle, polygon, community,
and connection. The The Concise Macquarie Dictionary defines
mandala as
a mystic symbol of the universe, in the form
of a circle enclosing a square; used chiefly by the Hindus and Buddhists
as an aid to meditation,
but my experience of mandalas is that there are
not so narrowly definable. A quick search on the internet
using the term mandala reveals many traditional and
contemporary mandala designs which go well beyond a circle enclosing
a square. What seems to tie them altogether is their patterned
interconnectedness. I didnt share my title for the
activity with the students, I left it nameless, but for me the notion
of mandala serves as a reminder of the intricate patterns and interconnectedness,
both conscious and unconscious, that seems to form even in the most
rudimentary of group structures.
Description of Group Mandala
Participants in a group select a small object.
The object can be anything, from anywhere: e.g., an object of personal
significance or collected from the outdoors
1. Standing in a circle, ask a participant for
their hat (or some other container).
Place your object in the hat, and pass the hat
on to the next person who does the same.
2. Caste the objects, with some care, some randomness
(like rolling dice) (may use casting mat, e.g., a sarong or coat,
particularly if using personally significant objects)
3. Ask people to look at the objects and then take
turns sharing how they feel about the place of their object in relation
to the other objects in the group.
4. One-by-one then go around in a circle and move
your object to a new position that feels more comfortable and explain
why.
5. Ask the group to discuss and create the ideal
arrangement of their objects.
6. What do you think of this activity? Discussion.
7. Can you see what happened in this group during
this activity from a Psychodynamic perspective?
Note: The facilitator should consider his/her role
in the group and whether or not to participate.
Facilitator Notes
Participants brought a surprising variety of objects,
including an engagement ring, a pocket knife, a stone bearing the
inscription inspiration, a teddy bear, necklaces and
rings, trinkets, and so on. I intentionally did not ask students
to initially describe the significance of their objects not
doing this seems to heighten the sense of mystery and suspense in
the activity. Interestingly, by the end of the activity, the
students responded to an earlier suggestion Id made that we
might close the activity by sharing with others the personal significance
associated with the object. This provided a deep, but satisfying
sense of closing to the activity.
Overall, the exercise worked well, but was a challenge
initially to process as there was some resistance and anxiety associated
with the apparent open-endedness of the activity.
At a critical point when a student challenged me
on the seeming pointlessness of the activity I responded that from
a psychodynamic point of view, the ultimate activity is give someone
a blank piece of paper and ask them what they see. Whatever
they replied would be an indicator of their inner psychological
state, because there is little in the paper to see and respond to.
When we give people complex activities, it becomes difficult to
distinguish what parts are to do with the person and what parts
are due to the nature and structure of the activity itself.
Thus, I suggested, it is the very open-endedness of the activity
which is the point of the exercise from a psychodynamic point of
view. This comment appeared to serve as a catalyst to
help guide the student discussions behind the immediate details
of the activity and more or less from this point they were able
to make many interesting connections and insights to psychology
and outdoor education.
Links to other descriptions
From Chris Loynes
1. Place the objects in the hat - or whatever-
and scatter them. What's going on in this group?
2. Can repeat - how position changes felt sense of experience.
3. Throw - What is the personality of your object?
4. Throw - what would it be like to be your object in this group?
5. Can be a repeat of 4.
6. Arrange the objects to represent the ideal group.
7. If they don't move to this in 6 anyways - what, given the characters
you have developed - is an arrangement that represents the best
this group can be?
8. You could go on to - or introduce earlier - objects that represent
their own characters explicitly.
It'll work well for the purposes you describe! I'd be cautious abut
it being a fix for your group's particular dynamics but it could
be a step in the right direction. If you can I'd recommend moving
it into their own story rather than the fiction/projection they
develop especially if their comments give you an opening in this
direction.
From Roger Greenaway
There's many dimensions to this - starting with
where the exercise came from and how different people have developed
it. There is no correct way of doing this exercise. What I can tell
you about is some of my own experiences of using it, and then I'll
respond to your specific questions about using it with your group.
I remember trying out this exercise when I was
at Brathay on hearing someone suggest arranging objects to represent
group dynamics. I usually call it ''stones''. The most basic version
is described on my website as part of my reviewing cycle tutorial
(start at Facts and go round clockwise).
|