Relational Presence Journal March 2016

The Pleasure Principle of Public Speaking

by Lee Glickstein, founder, Speaking Circles International (see class schedule and other links in yellow box below)

Last month on this page I located the heart of masterful public expression at the intersection of Pleasure and Purpose. (See link to article.) Here I continue the discussion with some personal history to provide a sense of how a small shift in perspective can bring a quantum leap in your ease and engagement with audiences.

This shift works wonders for those who suffer from severe anxiety in front of groups as well as for experienced communicators who are ready to access a higher vibration of authentic impact and charisma. ______________________________________________________________________

NEW: Pleasure & Purpose Speaking Circles: Saturdays, March 12 (Petaluma)

and April 23 (San Rafael) -- See below

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As those who've followed these monthly articles know, in the past 25 years I've evolved a co-mindfulness practice--Relational Presence (sometimes referred to as Relational Stillness)--as a workaround for not having been able to sustain a meditation practice on my own.

For those new to this work, Relational Presence practice refines a gaze of attunement that matches the vibration of mother mirroring and evokes a luminous listening field. In Speaking Circles this field facilitates a level of co-creative synergy that expresses itself in a scintillating range of emotional intelligence with no efforting.

As I indicated last month, this practice that leads to quantum leaps in ease and impact with groups is greatly accelerated by entering any audience engagement through the portal of pleasure. This entails taking a deep breath or two to tap into the pure pleasure of their company before saying a word, and then maintaining awareness of that pleasure and letting it expand.

As I continue to open my Speaking Circles by breathing deeply into the pleasure field myself and sharing from there, the rarefied air of grace has lifted these sessions even higher. This has led me to schedule one-day sessions to meet the demand for spaces.

What's new since last month...

is that I found a way in to establish a sustainable solo meditation practice by applying to it the pleasure principle of public speaking. As I sit and breathe and locate myself as the observer of the three-ring circus of the mind rather than identifying with the spinning wheels, I notice the pleasure of every breath, letting each flow to a place in my body that wants its caress. Pleasure seeker that I am, I now look forward to sitting for a half-hour alone, a whole new experience for me.

I understand better now why I was passionately drawn to deconstruct public speaking anxiety into an opportunity for ecstasy. It's the one fear many of us are called on (sometimes forced) to confront in the real world, so it is an ideal arena in which to learn how to navigate fear of all kinds. Here we practice dropping defenses and coming back back back to co-mindful presence with one listener at a time. This allows us to embody the capacity to sit back and observe the anxiety rather than identify with it. There is no pleasure in the anxiety but there can be great pleasure in not cowering from it with the support of a warm intelligent receptive group.

The pleasure seeker's path to the other side of public speaking anxiety, from mild to severe, is through it. Or more accurately, to fully experience it and let it pass through you.

To close, would you take a deep, pleasurable breath with me?

Pleasure & Purpose Speaking Circles

Transform your relationship with groups through practicing the pleasure principle of public expression

Saturday, March 12, 10 am - 5 pm, Petaluma (on wait-list)

Saturday, April 23, 10 am - 5pm, San Rafael

Fee is $150; early bird special of $125 for those who register by March 10. Limited to 10 participants.

We start the day with a Speaking Circle to practice tapping into the essential pleasure of Relational Presence without agenda as to content or style. [Note for newcomers: Any public speaking anxiety starts to dissolve in the listening field of kind regard that naturally calms the nervous system.]

Along the way you'll notice threads that lead to clarity and expression of life purpose, passion, meaning, stories, inquiry, your teachings in the world -- whatever wants to arise effortlessly and authentically in the pleasure field as the day unfolds with more turns.

Email to schedule a phone discussion to determine if this may be a fit for you.

Free Teleclass in Public Speaking Ease -- Tuesday, March 8, noon-1 pm Pacific

Experience the pleasure of attunement over a phone line and understand more about how to bring Relational Presence into public (and private) speaking.

Local Speaking Circle Schedule -- Ongoing sessions in S.F., Berkeley, Marin

Facilitator Certification Training
California: October 2016, dates TBA
The Netherlands: 17-20 May 2016, Utrecht

Resources -- Facilitators worldwide Articles on website Private Coaching

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