Dancing in the Shadows by Laura Bryannan

Partner Exercise

• Have each person take a partner. If there are friends in the group, they should partner with someone they don't know.
  
• Have each woman take a few minutes to ask the name of their partner, where they're from, and one other bit of interesting information their partner wishes to share about herself.
  
• Each woman then introduces their partner to the group.

My Favorite Things

Having each woman share a few things they like: favorite movie recently seen, good books, music, etc. can provide more ways for women in the group to connect. There's always a fondness in our hearts for folks who like the things we like.

Prop Exercise

• Put up a large piece of cloth and have some blank name tags on hand.
• Each woman should think about a particular item or prop that, if she could, she would like to have with her throughout the course of the group.
  
• It could be something she would like to have with her for support, security or protection, such as a sword, wings, teddy bear, or magnifying glass.
  
• It could be something that stands as a declaration of the woman herself, such as The Cauldron of the Goddess, an Amazon's bow and arrow, a Priestess' wand.
  
• Have each woman write her prop on the name tag and place it on the cloth, telling the group what she has chosen and why it is important to her.
  
• Tell the group that if they have a real representation of their prop to feel free to bring it with them to each session.
  
• Women who own a prop chosen by another may feel moved to bring and share it with that woman for the duration of the group.
  
• You may want to hang the cloth with the props up somewhere in the room for each session.

Rose Exercise

• Bring out a large piece of paper for each member of the group and a box of crayons.
• Tell them, "If you were a rose, what would you look like?" Ask them to draw a picture of the rose they would be.
• When everyone is done, have everyone hold their pictures up so that all can view them. Isn't it interesting how many different interpretations can be made of a rose?
• Are some roses in pots and some out in nature? Are some big and others small and timid-looking?
• Do some have thorns and others not? Did some women draw an environment for their rose or is the rose alone in the picture? Are some roses growing by walls, trees or some other protected situation?
• Now ask each member to present their picture to the group, telling the others why they drew the rose the way they did.
• How the pictures are drawn can provide clues to each woman's self-image. What insights can the group provide about each picture? (P.S. This is not an art contest, look at content rather than how "well" the pictures are drawn.)
• Let the group have fun with their interpretations, but each artist should have the final say about what her picture means.
• You may want to put the pictures up around the room for each meeting of the group.

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