Mumbai (Ghatkopar) SHG #110

Dear Fellow Stammerers,

A very good evening to you! We had our 110th meeting at Ghatkopar today. We are joined by two new members today (Abhishek & Sai), and one old friend visiting from the US (Aditya). Honestly, I had not planned for today’s SHG. My game plan: Stay Present. Feel the room, and go with the flow. I’ll have to ask the members who attended today, if it worked. If you attended today, please leave comments here or msg me in private.

We started off by doing a round of introductions by playing “Uncle Joe’s Bag”. This is a game where each person has to pack Uncle Joe’s (who is leaving India to go back to the US) bag with one thing, you also need to say your name. Then the next person who speaks has to say the prior person’s name and object..and so on. We had some nervous laughs and great stammers, as this was the first time SHG members were opening their mouths at the SHG!

Then, we introduced about TISA and Stammering. We talked about curing the stammering mindset and not stammering itself. The stammering mindset was defined as Fear of stammering, and shame when we stammer. We talked about how the best way to recover is with courage, facing the fear and addressing the shame. It’s easier said then done – so we decided to do it! First face the fear.

We decided to do Extempore as a group. Rakesh started of by giving a great 2 minute Extempore speech. Then, I used my “powers” as a coordinator to somewhat shift the activity to a group story creating activity. We all stood in a circle and created a story, each person sharing one sentence. The story was created, almost from thin air! The story was about a Bear who came to city to work in a circus. Then the Bear went back into the forest and was eaten by a Tiger. I am missing details, but that’s the gist! What did we learn? Active Listening & Present Mind is very important for communication.

We then did the “CHANGE” game, that is like networking. Make pairs, get to know your partner and when the facilitator yells “CHANGE”, you talk to someone else. It was a great a way to get everyone talking and learning about each other. What did we learn? We are social creatures after all!

Then, Rakesh had an idea to do Dum Shrades. With unanimous support from the group, we jumped into it. We formed two groups, and went into a fun 30 minute session of Dum Shrades. At this time we were joined by a friend from Milaap, Ibrahim. He joined in the fun..and funnily enough, not one team was able to guess one right! I think we are all just giving very difficult movies that no-one had ever heard off (at least I hadn’t!). It was a good time, and everyone laughed and enjoyed a lot. What did we learn? That body language is very important in communication. Also that an important part of recovery is putting stammering aside and getting on with the game (life)! While we were guessing, we were stammering, but it didn’t matter, we were focusing on guessing the movie!

Then we came back into a group, and concluded the day. We handed our Apna Haat Jaganath to Abishek and Sai; Sai said he will go onto this blog and download the Hindi version.

Look forward to seeing all of you at the next meeting!

Date: 24 Jan 2016

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Venue: YMCA, near Municipal School no.3, Pantnagar, Ghatkopar E

Meeting # 111