Podcasts, powerpoints and/or papers from the presentations are available to LEADR members and
'kon gres 2011 participants via a password protected area. Click here >>

How can your body help you in a mediation? Explore how incorporating an awareness of our body's intelligence can help us respond effectively in situations of conflict.

Neuroscience tells us that all decision-making involves rational and emotional processes centred in the body, and that we cannot observe, think or respond clearly without our bodies and our feelings (Alexander and LeBaron 2009 and 2011; Lloyd 2010).

As conflict resolution practitioners and teachers the ability to work with these insights is crucial to understanding how people in conflict wrestle with ethical dilemmas in conflict and make choices. This workshop will offer participants the opportunity to engage in embodied learning and reflect on its application to training and practice.

This workshop will engage participants in three different embodied skills-related activities, one offered by each of the presenters. The group will be divided into three smaller groups and the presenters will move around to each group to offer their activity. There will be short small group debriefs followed by a large group reflection to aid learning transfer.

During and after the large group debrief, the presenters will share some of the new thinking and research about how embodiment and creativity foster intelligent conflict resolution.

Podcast: Listen to Nadja, Sam and Cathryn talk about this session pre-kon gres (11 mins) >>

Since living in Hong Kong, Nadja spends her spare time exploring this culturally diverse place. Here she is (left) with Sam with a view of the famous fragrant harbour.

When Sam is not teaching, researching or working with clients in conflict, she can be found underwater with her digital camera!  Sam is a qualified dive master and underwater photography instructor, and has found the best of both worlds in Townsville where the Great Barrier Reef is close by and the water is warm and clear!

Spending time in nature walking, sketching and photographing has always been a priority for Cathryn.  More recently this has taken on another dimension as she and her husband John have purchased land in the stunning Granite Belt region in South-West Queensland. Cathryn says “the property really reflects what we love about the region. It’s full of stunning granite rock boulders and close to all the great wineries. Every time we go for a walk we stumble upon a new group of these ancient monuments.  They are awe inspiring in their scale and the way they often defy gravity”. Currently a shed on the land offers ‘glamping’ opportunity, very basic but comfortable. The long term dream is to build a couple of small eco-dwellings.