Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Question about Consent Governance - Blood Pressure Rising

[Alan O'Hashi (adoecos]

David et al. - Our place had its monthly community meeting last night. One of 
the community members is a nurse. She put together a pretty good first aid kit 
that includes a blood pressure cuff. She also, ironically, was the "heart 
keeper" for the night who intervenes if temperatures rise.


At the beginning of each meeting we have an "ice-breaker." I was the 
facilitator and had a demonstration of how to use the cuff. It was also an 
experiment to measure if meetings cause blood pressure to rise. 


In addition to myself, there were three attendees who participated in the 
experiment and one resident in a "control group" who didn't attend. After the 
meeting, three member blood pressure readings went up slightly by a couple 
points, mine went up moderately, 8 points. The control group resident who 
stayed home from the meeting had a blood pressure reading that dropped 
considerably by 15 points.


The results are anecdotal, but reinforcing group behavioral norms and 
expectations before a meeting begins and naming a "heart keeper" who is 
empowered to keep the peace are a couple practices that can help prevent 
negative meeting tones to escalate.


Thx
Alan O.

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Alan O'Hashi - ECOS
EnviroCultural Organization Systems
 http://www.alanohashi.com/ecos
Colorado 303-910-5782
Wyoming 307-274-1910
Nebraska 402-327-1652
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