142 NATURE-BASED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
brief movement. This opening provides a sense of the status of
the group, the individual and collective energy of the group
and the willingness of group members to engage in open-ended
improvisational movement and sharing. This opening
go-around can simply be a visual witnessing experience.
However, it is most effective as a kinesthetic witnessing
experience in which participants physically embody and
mirror the name and the movement of each participant during
the circle, thus beginning a practice of somatic empathy.- The leader invites participants to move outdoors and to gather
materials from nature (five to nine items that attract them). The
number of collected items is not as important as encouraging
a felt connection to the collected items. The leader should
encourage participants to take time to touch and smell each
piece as they gather items. The leader should keep the time. - The leader calls participants indoors (perhaps with a bell
or drum) and invites them to arrange the items they have
gathered into an individual installation piece. Participants
can place their installation anywhere in the room. The leader
encourages participants to take time in creating their piece, to
try out different arrangements and to find an arrangement that
is satisfying to them. - When pieces are complete, the leader guides the participants
through an individual movement response to the installation.
Providing a time framework of two minutes, the leader keeps
the time in order to provide a container for the movement
exploration. The leader invites the participants to move
without stopping for two minutes, to explore in movement
the lines, shapes and felt sense of their creation, and to not
worry about interpreting or making sense of their movement
response. With a group that is new to movement, it may be
helpful for the leader to demonstrate a movement response