Werben im Podcast: Christina Wunder

Over the last 33 days, we’ve reflected a lot on what our ideal communities could look like. We’ve spoken about the neurological, political and practical aspects of community building. Today I finish with my last invitation, which is a way to take this work further, and deeper. More infos in the audio. Reach out to me if you're interested. It has been a pleasure to do this with you, and I wish you the absolutely very best for your community building efforts going forward.

We’re almost finished with our time together, and before we part and you go on your community building path by yourself, I want to speak about how to create supportive accountability systems that can help make it easy for yourself to keep your connections alive. Invitation today: What are the things you find hardest about maintaining regular (e.g. weekly) connection with your people? Try to go beyond “no time” or “too much work”. What dynamics, habits, patterns and beliefs are lying underneath here?

Join me today for a quick, SOS nervous system reset in this audio. It's a short breathing exercise that helps me not lose my shit on busy days like today.

Today we begin putting all the separate pieces we spoke about together into a coherent community picture. Reflection invitation: do you see any connections emerging between your individual roles, interests and sore spots, and what the world needs right now and in the years to come?

Today, we are going to continue on the theme of conflict. Reflection invitation:  What is a thing that hurt your feelings lately? Did you share with the person that it hurt you? Is there someone who you have hurt, and that you would like to apologise to?No pressure to do anything about it, just reflect.

Today we speak about tricky dynamics in relationships, boundaries and conflicts. Reflection invitation: - What are some things I would like to start saying no to a bit more often? - What are some things I want to ask for help about? Use the resources provided in today’s audio, and if you want to dive deeper, check out “Love in a F*cked-Up World” by Dean Spade, which I am referencing today.

Today, I have 2 invitations that you can take your pick from. 1. If you weren't quite sure what your roles, gifts or contributions to the collective are, message 3 friends. Send them the following: “Hi there, I'm currently taking part in a program on community building, and I was tasked with asking you this: Can you name 3 strengths or talents that you associate with me? Things that come naturally to me that you might have observed or noticed, and which contribute to the communities I’m part of? I will explain more later, but for now I would be really grateful if you can answer this question for me. Thank you!” 2. If you already had some ideas that you had in your mind, write them down, and remember that for each person like you, who likes these specific kinds of things, there are 5 or more people who might somehow benefit from this creative expression of the individual that you are. Then, see how you could invite them to join in on this activity. Just try things out. Experiment.

Today, we’ll speak about the things you enjoy doing, and the unique contributions you are bringing to the people in your life are receiving from you. Reflection invitation: What are the roles that you tend to fall into in your social circles, and do they overlap with the things you enjoy doing? What do you enjoy doing? How can you own that, and simultaneously let go of the things that you don’t like doing?

Today we continue on the concept of group health. We'll speak about some powerful examples of how to create the conditions for collective nervous system regulation and unity between people, which come from Robin Wall Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass. Reflection prompt: with all the people you interact with, what is your common ground? What beliefs, interpretations or visions do you share with these people?

Today we finish our nervous system regulation excursion by talking about community health. The reflection invitation for the next few days is a continuation of yesterday's: which people do you want in your life long term? (Whether they live close by or far away doesn't matter at this point). Try to write down as many as possible. Bonus points if you reach out to them over the next few days.

Today we speak about activities that can boost oxytocin - individually and collectively - and the benefits that can bring to our bodies and groups. Reflection invitation: Are there any people that you can aim to see regularly, i.e. once a week? What kinds of activities would be supportive to have another person (or several) join? How can you create consistency in a way that doesn't add mental load, but takes things off your plate?

Today we'll continue covering the nervous system, including differences between the female and male nervous system, and the vital role of oxytocin, as well as the vital role of oxytocin and how this impacts collective nervous system regulation. Reflection invitation: how does your body react when there's a stressful situation? How does it feel in your body (sweaty palms, racing heart, etc etc)? And what automatic behaviours are triggered by it?

Strap in for today's Nervous System Science 101! This knowledge underpins everything I do in my community work. We'll cover how our body responds to different inputs and impulses, and how to create space for stress-recovery - which is the pre-condition for sustainable community building. Our nervous system is like a snow globe. It has two states: "shake up", where all the particles whizz up in the air, and "slow down", where the particles slowly slowly fall to the ground. The former is fast and immediate, the latter is slow and can't be rushed. Reflection invitation for today: how many "boring" activities do you have in your life, where your nervous system's snow globe gets the chance to let the dust settle? See you tomorrow, where I’ll cover how our individual nervous systems begin to interact with each other, when we’re in the same room together.

You're likely back in your day-to-day life after the holidays. Today I invite you to reflect on: What is the contrast between your holiday-life, and your day-to-day life? What are the benefits of both, and what emotional quality do you associate with each? (e.g. rushed vs relaxed; stable vs lost by having no routine, etc) I'll be back tomorrow - have a great day. PS: if you're based in Brussels, join our next Idealists Quarterly event on 21st January, 6pm! https://luma.com/ooq6evcm