Boundaries with Friends- Workshop 8: Authentic Relating

"A boundary is not a NO to someone else's existence. It's a YES to yours."

- Boundaries by Jeff Foster

For those who haven't been before- welcome! I'm Gwen and I hold our weekly sessions at the lovely Folkestone Bookshop.

These are cosy workshops designed to build deeper trust and connection to ourselves and others.

This week we will be exploring Authentic Relating!  This framework originated in San Francisco in the 1990s and provides gentle exercises for exploring our authenticity and vulnerability, in order to allow trust to be formed between people. (We've already been exploring some of this already- it will just be a further exploration.)

As always, if you've been before please bring your string boundary if you find it useful (I'll have mine!)  Please also bring a notebook and pen as we will be doing some introspective exercises.

If you haven't been before, you will receive a string boundary if you'd like one, and we always have chocolate and tea as part of the session.*  

The session begins with a grounding meditation within our string boundaries if you'd like to, followed by various exercises and discussions. We normally have our chocolate and tea break at 7pm, but you're welcome to have some whenever you need it in the session.

Boundaries can be energetic, spatial, verbal, non-verbal, physical, intellectual, intentional, and a lot of other things, and we explore the nuance of them in the sessions and the emotions that stating and receiving a boundary can inevitably bring up. 

I provide techniques for dealing with these emotions and there is a breakout space and lots of permission to do what you need to regulate your nervous system.  

As a facilitator, please know that I wholeheartedly welcome and celebrate your "No" as well as your "Yes" in the space. All of you is so welcome and will be listened to. It makes me feel safer running the workshops knowing that you're actively looking after yourselves and saying what you feel comfortable with. If it feels difficult to state a boundary verbally, please know that your non-verbal cues are equally celebrated and will be equally listened to. That's what we're here to practice!

I also ask that we be present and respectful in the space with ourselves and with each other. We're all different and have different needs and experiences, so please be kind to yourself and others. Some of us may be more spatially sensitive, others more noise sensitive, etc. If a boundary needs to be set, please receive it and give it with love. It's in this way that we keep ourselves and each other safe and can learn from each other. Ultimately it's how we build trust and connection.

Location:

For those who haven't visited before, we will be based at The Folkestone Bookshop, rightly described as our "Radical, independent, locally-owned bookshop and community hub": https://www.thefolkestonebooks... run by lovely people, and the amazing Jay will be with us on the night.

If you're coming by car, here are some cheap parking suggestions: https://en.parkopedia.co.uk/pa...

If you're arriving by train to Folkestone Central, it's an 18 minute walk.

Accessibility:

We have a ramp for wheelchairs/ mobility scooters and the space has soft lighting and fairy lights, soft ambient music and comfy, soft furnishings.

Stimming, comfort items and fidget-toys are actively encouraged.

If there's anything I need to be aware of that would make you feel safer in the space, please let me know as soon as you can in advance of the day. We go through all the exercises slowly and gently and have a tea/ chocolate break half way through.

If you know that you are particularly sensitive to group settings, especially with people you don't know (yet!), I encourage you to look after yourself before and after the workshop. Grounding and resourcing yourself with whatever makes you feel good (be it food, a walk, meditation, a bath etc). You can also imagine yourself and your energy protected by a golden bubble of light.

And lastly, if you're curious about these workshops but have any questions or worries prior to the event, please let me know and I'll be more than happy to talk it through with you! Please know that I honour and respect your decision either way! 🧡

Thank you for your courage and curiosity and if you feel you'd like to join, I can't wait to invite you to the space!

*(If chocolate doesn't do it for you, please let me know if you need another grounding snack! Since I will be buying them, my boundary is that it's something plant-based. Thank you for listening to my boundary. 🧡)

Love, Gwen