How to run community meetings

Created OnJanuary 29, 2020

Last Updated OnJanuary 29, 2020

byadmin

Version 1.3 – January 2020 Samma Karuna

Author: Ishi

Audience: Program and Events Manager

Abstract: The following document describes the series of steps required to facilitate community meetings event on Mondays at 11am in Buddha Hall.

Before it starts

Come at least 10 minutes before the event
Ensure mats and cushion have already being placed on the middle of the hall
Place some warm-up dancing music
As people start coming inside the hall encourage people to dance and hug
- “Invite someone for a hug and to dance, invite some you don’t know much..”
- Prevent student to sit during this stage unless they have disabilities
- Prevent student to talk with each other instead of dancing
Around 10 minutes passed 11am you may play the following music track and invite people to join you in a circle holding hands
- Whilst everyone still holding hands you may change the “o” shape of the circle to an “c” type of shape encouraging students to connect through the eyes and move one step to the right very slowly.
- Continue this exercise until the music is finished and complete joining hands in Namaste posture.
- Invite people sit in one of the cushions provided around the circle

Welcome everyone and introduce yourself.
Explain what the event is about
- “This is an event to welcome new members of the community and to talk a bit about what is going to happen this week on the Awakening & Healing program”.
If there are printed copies of the Awakening & Healing calendar available you may pass them around encouraging students to only take one if they need a printed copy of it. Most people feel fine by just take a picture or downloading the online copy of the calendar.

You may inform people about our weekly community dinners and that all profit goes to a noble cause. Invite students to put their name down on the provided form if they plan to come (so people at the kitchen would know for about how many people they have to cook for).

Invite new comers to share their name, from where they come from and one word of something they are working on at the moment. For example: Im Claudia, Im from Austria and Im currently working on self-acceptance.
- You want to discourage people to share whether they are volunteers or not as often the school has more volunteers than students attending to this event as the attendance to the community meetings is mandatory for volunteers but not for students. You want to avoid the students that are not volunteers to feel out of place.
- Only new comers’ share, if you go through everyone the whole thing will take too long and people will feel bored.
Go through all major events of the week up to about 5 events.
- Avoid talking about more than 5 events as the people get confused.
Go through all workshops happening that week and promote them as long as possible.
- Promote the facilitator
- Encourage people to come to the classes that the facilitator offers that week
- Promote the workshop