Have you ever led a group, things seem to be progressing well and then suddenly, they are stuck and floundering?  Have you ever had a group that was “so close, yet so far”?  Do you wonder why?  What do you do with them?  Can you create that breakthrough moment that assists them to get back on track?Often, when working in teams, once focus is lost, performance deteriorates.  Understanding the energy within us is important.  Being able to harness and focus the collective power of the group can bring them back to previous levels of performance and then move beyond.  One of the greatest resources in our lives is the power of our minds.  This is why, if we want to get the most use out of this power, it is important to understand the brain’s functioning and abilities.  Recent brain-based research on the performance of mirror neurons and the positive effects of play in creating flexibility, support the usefulness of these activities to increase focus, team performance and the ability to have that “a-ha” moment.This workshop will provide opportunities for attendees to participate in active and reflective activities that can be relevant for all types of experiential educators.  The activities will help to illustrate the power of the focused individual, and of the collective mind.   It will explore how our brain is working when we use experiential activities to bring the group back to a state of elevated concentration.  Methods taught can be used to frontload learning, to sustain group momentum, to energize initiatives and to provide new streams of insight during processing.

Attendees will leave with a larger bag of experiential tips and tools usable for focusing their groups.  They will begin to understand how activities are able to create positive teambuilding moments by understanding how effective mirror neurons are in helping us collect experiences, even passively, and help us to show empathy for others.  This understanding increases the chances that facilitators will be able to redirect the groups they lead towards achieving their stated goals.