‘Changing Landscapes of our Souls’

This year we met in a beautiful monastery on the edge of the Kinnoull Hill, at St. Mary’s Kinnoull Perth, a place of beauty, tranquility and history. It is located on the edge of the historic city of Perth, gateway to the Highlands of Scotland. A small religious community live and worship in the monastery. There were many lovely spaces both inside and out, for meeting, Focusing or simply spending time alone or with others.

From all corners of Europe, 35 Focusers gathered, of which 11 people joined for the first time. Unfortunately, many others were disappointed as the maximum of people the venue could accommodate was reached very quickly.

The program we created together on the first morning consisted of all kind of happenings, experiential workshops around Focusing, TAE and the philosophy of the implicit, with poetry, music, nature, doing nothing and more… In the evening, we enjoyed chatting on the sofas, music, dancing and singing…

PARTICIPANTS IMPRESSIONS

An impression by Millie Baker (UK)
Two things really stood out for me in attending this EFA gathering for the first time. Firstly, that there was no pre-planned schedule for the days. That came together creatively and dynamically, with those offering a workshop or an interest group (or a song, or a prayer) given the space to feel into exactly what they would enjoy before formulating it and finding a time to offer it. This somehow neutralised the stress and performance pressure that can be triggered in this kind of setting, and was such a relational way to organise, so fresh and creative, that I felt encouraged to offer a workshop myself.
Secondly, I was impressed by how welcome I felt, despite the fact that most of the people there knew each other already, and some for a long time. It can sometimes be hard for a newcomer to enter a group where the others have such established relationships, but actually the opposite was true – I felt actively welcomed, and immediately at home. Everybody was friendly, and everybody was interesting. How often can you say that.

A reflection on the Plant Arrangement by Hanspeter Mühlethaler (Switzerland)
During the opening session of the gathering I (Hanspeter) resonated with the arrangement of plants, alive and dead ones, placed in the middle of the circle of chairs. This motivated me to spontaneously propose the experimental and experiential workshop. In an initial tuning in, I invited the participants to connect to the arrangement and to alter the attitude between ʺbeing here, looking at the arrangement over thereʺ and ʺbeing part of the installation, or the latter is part of themʺ, the participants could experience the difference this change makes in them. This can be seen as an instance of interaction first, fundamental in Gene Gendlin’s Philosophy of the Implicit. In a second part we walked in the monastery garden and all of us collected our own objects. Back in the conference room we co-created our own arrangement in a playful way.

HAPPENINGS AT THE GATHERING