Yoga for the mind

Meeting each third Wednesday of the month in Dingwall Library at 2 pm

The group’s purpose, in pursuit of lifelong learning, is to enable participants to become better informed and more considered thinkers who question their own thinking and assumptions in pursuit of personal understanding and growth.  Our ethos is never stop learning, there is always scope in changing our minds when responding to a changing world in pursuit of doing something different to get better outcomes for ourselves and others we care about.

At the first meeting of this re-formed group, we agreed on some ground 'rules' that will inform how we conduct our discussions.  These are not fixed and will be amended and developed as we progress over the coming months.

• We show unconditional respect towards others (seeing them as moral equals)
• We have a right to disagree respectfully
• We pursue understanding with curiosity and an openness to alternatives
• We have a right to change our minds
• We listen and hear in seeking to understand, before seeking to be understood
• We show a willingness to engage with ideas that are challenging and uncomfortable
• We have the right to be mistaken - by ourselves and others
• We name the opinion, belief or thought, not the person
• We recognise that people are not solely their points of view; that they are much more than this
• We follow the evidence underpinning our point of view with rigour
• How do we know? Where's the evidence?
• What are our sources, and who promotes and curates the evidence we are presenting?
• To what ends: who wins, who might lose out, and whose voices are being heard or not heard, and why might this be the case?

Our meetings start, having agreed the topic for conversation in advance, with a 15-minute introductory process whereby the topic is introduced by two speakers representing opposing or contradictory points of view on the matter. They speak without interruption for seven minutes each. The facilitator will then pose several pertinent questions to focus a direction of travel for ongoing discussion.

The main part of our discussion then takes 45 minutes, during which time the group explores the topic at length. The facilitator's role is not to add their own point of view, but to be the custodian of the ground rules, keep the discussion focused on the topic in question and encourage quieter members of the group to participate. At times, this might entail corralling more enthusiastic members to allow for wider participation.  The facilitator is also tasked with managing time and the pace of discussion.

During the closing 15 minutes, the facilitator summarises the main points discussed, and group members are asked for to state how the discussion has changed or modified their views on the topic.  Group members are also asked to say how the outcome, regarding the topic and what they have heard others say, might change how they go forward in daily life.

At our opening meeting, we discussed how the group would work together and had a discussion to exercise the discussion process around the question of - Is hope a good thing?  Everyone agreed it was an enlightening, interesting and engaging experience, and we all agreed to meet once a month.

Contact Stephen on the group's email for more details