<p>Do you ever feel anxiety in social situations?  Whaadt if, instead of avoiding it, you could turn it into a doorway to deeper connection? Join us for an evening of Authentic Relating Games, where we'll explore how moments of nervousness, awkwardness, or uncertainty can actually be opportunities for deeper presence, self-discovery, and connection with others.</p><br>


Authentic Relating Games Night - Anxiety as an Opportunity (✅ Beginner-friendly)

The Curiosity Game is one of the best exercises for beginners. It's a smooth way to land in the present moment in something relatively familiar. One of the two participants asks questions to the other one and the other one answers. The person asking commits to asking only the questions they are genuinely moved to ask. After a few minutes the person answering provides feedback on how they felt receiving the questions. The person asking adapts to that feedback while still trying to reveal themselves by asking the questions they truly feel like asking.

Curiosity Game

We usually start a Game Night or a Workshop with different kinds of meditations to ground us in the present moment and physical sensations before connecting with others. Depending on the theme and foundational competences we are building the meditation invites to explore different parts of our psychology, phenomenology and somatics. The participants are invited to develop an intimate relationship to their breath and come back to it whenever they need to find themselves again in the midst of strong emotions or thoughts.

Mindful Presence

The Noticing Game is a key exercise in Authentic Relating that fosters deeper connection through mindfulness and honest sharing. Two participants take turns verbalizing their present experiences—whether physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, or observations of the other person. The focus is on staying in the present moment, sharing what arises without judgment or projection. The listener simply receives without reacting or trying to fix anything. This practice encourages self-awareness, vulnerability, and empathy, creating a space for deeper trust and understanding between participants, helping them feel more seen and connected in real-time.

Noticing Game

A global community and a practice that uses games, exercises and conversations to offer a playground for rewiring our deeply ingrained patterns of relating and foster deep, meaningful connections. Authentic Relating is a movement towards a more authentic, connected and compassionate world, opposing the ever-growing isolation, polarization and fragmentation of our society.

Authentic Relating

Discover the power of authentic relating and transform your relationships

Authentic Relating Warsaw

This is very broadly what you can expect at an Authentic Relating Games Night with us. A Game Night is a great way to experience Authentic Relating in a relaxed and fun environment and then hang out with the people you met. We often pick a theme for the evening to make the experience more focused and varied. Example themes include: *relational tension as a source of richness*, *transparency*, *conflict as an opportunity*, *authenticity in a workplace*, etc.

In a circle we land together in a group, talk a little bit about the structure of the workshops and like hearing what you come with and what your hopes and expectations are.

Introductory Circle

We then often proceed to some kind of movement exercise that grounds us in our bodies. We use it also as a way to land in the group and to find new partners for the exercises.

Movement

Throughout the practice we bring you back to your breath and into your body through different kind of meditations and mindfulness exercises.

Mindfulness

Each time you stand in front of someone we will invite you to first meet your own emotions and only then encourage you to connect with another person. Example exercises we might be doing are the Noticing Game and the Curiosity Game.

Dyadic Exercises

In-between the exercises we often ask for your reflections - they can be helpful for the rest of the group. But we also like to have slow cool down at the end with lots of space to integrate the experience together before separating.

Cool down & the Closing Circle

Authentic Relating Games Night

This is how an Authentic Relating Workshop with us looks like. A Workshop is a deep dive into the practice with more space to explore particular topics or competencies. We often pick a theme for the workshop that will help us dive deeper into particular area. Example themes include: *trust and vulnerability*, *boundaries and consent*, *the limits and opportunities of transparency*, *listening and being heard*, etc.

**Place**: yoga studio, dance studio, cozy workshop rooms, etc.

In a circle we land together in a group, talk about the structure of the workshop and hear what you come with and what your hopes and expectations are.

We proceed with movement exercises and icebreakers that ground us in our bodies and help us connect with others in the group.

Movement & Icebreakers

A guided meditation to bring you into the present moment and connect with your inner experience.

Mindfulness Practice

We dive into a series of exercises designed to deepen your understanding and practice of authentic relating principles. They are in pairs too but often in larger groups.

Core Authentic Relating Exercises

Time to process and integrate your experiences through journaling and small group discussions.

Integration & Reflection

We come back together as a group to share insights, ask questions, and close the workshop.

Closing Circle

Authentic Relating Workshop

Mickey (Michał, in Polish)

Check out our upcoming events and workshops

Upcoming Events

Authentic Relating is a practice that fosters deeper, more meaningful, and conscious relationships. It encourages individuals to be present, self-aware, and open in their interactions, whether with themselves or others. This approach helps people connect deeply, communicate honestly, and lead relationships toward greater understanding, connection, and intimacy. It empowers individuals to become more engaged in their relationships while exploring themselves and supporting others.

Verbal Embodiment

Relational Contact Improvisation is an experimental approach blending Authentic Relating and Contact Improvisation, combining conscious connection with spontaneous movement. Participants explore communication through words and body language, using physical contact to deepen understanding. It emphasizes presence and attunement, allowing interactions to unfold through touch, shared weight, and dialogue. This practice fosters trust, awareness, and connection, integrating the physicality of Contact Improvisation with the relational depth of Authentic Relating.

Nonverbal Embodiment

Relational Contact Improvisation

Slow Improv Theatre is a practice that explores emotions, creativity and connections at a slower pace, allowing for more authentic interactions to unfold. Instead of focusing on quick humor, it emphasizes being present with subtle moments, making room for complex emotions and genuine reactions. This approach helps performers expand their emotional range and create more nuanced, dynamic interactions outside of the stage.

Emotional Range

Slow Improv

Transparent Relating is an approach to romantic relationships that moves beyond labels like monogamy or polyamory, focusing on honest, flexible, and individualized connections. It rejects fitting relationships into cultural norms, instead recognizing the complexity of human experience. Each relationship is co-created through open communication about desires, boundaries, and needs, allowing for a connection that evolves naturally. Transparency about feelings and intentions enables ongoing negotiation, respecting the unique nature of each relationship.

Relationship Models

Transparent Relating

What We Practice

Rediscover closeness in a world full of chaos and isolation

How to be with

Discover Relational Arts in Warsaw, transform yourself and your relationships

Warsaw Institute of Relational Arts

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Hey there! Curious?

Appreciate and understand others from their perspective, seeing them with empathy and curiosity.

This invites trying to truly see others, appreciating their uniqueness and inherent innocence. It encourages deep listening and understanding. By stepping into the world of another, you foster empathy, connection, and the ability to see others as they are, not as you assume them to be. This principle helps break down relational barriers, allowing for greater depth and intimacy.

Be With the Other in Their World

Stay present and connected with whatever arises in your interactions, embracing the real impacts between you and others.

This invites continuous presence, allowing real emotions and truths to be explored without forcing vulnerability. It's about staying engaged with both the comfortable and uncomfortable, focusing on genuine connection. By doing so, you learn to navigate discomfort and allow it in your relationships.

Commit to Connection

Take responsibility for your emotions and perceptions without projecting them onto others.

This invites recognizing and claiming what you are feeling or experiencing. It encourages personal accountability for thoughts and reactions, making space for shifts in perception and emotion. By admitting your deepest truths, you can navigate relationships more authentically. Letting go of fixed outcomes and expectations opens doors to deeper connection.

Own Your Experience

Focus on bodily sensations to discover deeper truths and stay grounded in the present.

Awareness of bodily sensations is often overlooked but essential for understanding emotional states. By tuning into subtle physical cues, you can share more truthfully, with less projection or assumption. The body offers insights that the mind often clouds, and sharing these with others can foster deeper, more grounded connections.

Stay with the Level of Sensation

Principles of Relating

Trust your internal experience while navigating the unknown, and accept both rational and non-rational insights.

Trusting experience means accepting whatever arises within you as valid, even when it feels unclear or irrational. You're invited to honor your emotions and perceptions while discerning what is happening in the present moment. To explore both the conscious and unconscious, allowing for personal and relational growth.

Trust Your Experience

At Michał's workshop I experienced remarkable closeness and attentiveness in contact with other participants. I miss these qualities in today's world.

Michał's facilitation made me feel safe, and his full presence and quality of connection with participants inspired me to discover similar qualities in my work with patients.

I think that relational arts are a space that everyone should experience. The attentiveness, presence, authenticity and time for true reflection that Michał offers are qualities that I have not been able to experience anywhere else.

Words of Gratitude

Find the courage to share your true self. Bloom. Experience how gentle honesty and openness can deepen your relationships, creating a fresh canvas for true understanding and the magic that unfolds when you really show up.

Being with Your Truth

Discover ways to deepen your relationships and support your personal growth sustainably in our speeding, increasingly digital world. We offer no shortcuts and no easy answers - just the safe space and guidance to explore your own path forward.

Cultivate a deeper understanding of your emotions and those of others. Learn to experience life anew. Let yourself be taken by its wonders by allowing emotions and extending your emotional range and flexibility. Grow your capacity for empathy, fostering kinder communication and more harmonious connections.

Dancing with Emotions

Uncover the quiet symphony of true presence; of being with what is. Learn to soften your mind's chatter, bringing presence and attentiveness to each moment shared with others.