Applause
One at a time a volunteer steps into the circle and does or says anything at all for at least five seconds. The group applauds fiercely — regardless of what it was. Then the nex…
Relating R1
Appreciation
Relating to people and planet Earth with a deep sense of gratitude, positive regard, and joy.
Tools for this skill (30)
Appreciation Dyads
Five minutes of 'being with you, I appreciate…' — about yourself, the other, or both, in the present moment — then swap. People run dry after a couple of minutes, the manual not…
Appreciation Hot Seat
A volunteer takes the seat and everyone else says what they appreciate — things experienced in them, or intuited — while the person occasionally rates, one to five, how hot it i…
Appreciative framing in team discourse
To balance attention to problems with attention to what is working. When discussing team performance or reviewing work, deliberately include appreciative questions alongside pro…
Appreciative Interviews
In pairs, people interview each other for a success story — a time they worked on a challenge and are proud of what happened — then quartets distill the conditions that made suc…
Being Grateful
An introduction to gratitude practice: noticing and naming what is already present and good — in writing, jars, or rounds — shifting attention from scarcity to appreciation, wit…
Community Appreciations
Standing in a circle, a sub-group is named — facilitators, men, women, 'people who attend every damn event' — and steps into the middle, and three to five people appreciate a me…
Compliment Tag
Whoever is caught freezes as a statue and can only be released by someone walking up and paying them a compliment. The sheet suggests starting by working out together what compl…
Cultivating Awe
A solo imagination-and-reflection journey designed to evoke awe — vastness, wonder, the sense of something larger than oneself — and then harvest what it shifts: meaning, apprec…
Ending Appreciations
Round the circle, each person tells the one beside them something they appreciate about them from the last few hours. That is the whole game; the manual only adds to leave extra…
Freeze Frame
In a group who know each other, everyone but the receiver secretly chooses a quality they associate with that person and a pose to show it; on three, all strike and hold, then e…
Getting Presents
It is the receiver's birthday and the others shower them with imaginary gifts, fast, one after another; the receiver meets every gift — thoughtful or absurd — with delight and t…
Gratitude Journal
Write three things you are truly grateful for right now — not to play the game, the manual insists, but because they are true — and then, in a group of three to five, take seven…
Gratitude Practice
Appreciation strengthens connection and sustains motivation for long-term sustainability work. When teams notice and name what they value, they reinforce commitment to protectin…
Imitation Introduction
Two minutes each to discover your partner's superpower — what they are uniquely good at, and how it shows in the moment — and then, around the circle, introduce your partner as…
Kiss Kiss Diss
In a circle of five to ten who know each other, the person three seats to your left gives you a compliment — specific enough to land — the next gives another, and the person bes…
Like, Like, GOOSE!
Duck-duck-goose with a twist: the walker touches each head with a one-word appreciation instead of 'duck', then says 'goose' and runs. The manual is clear the game lies in the t…
Loser Ball
A ball is thrown to a named person, who is required to fail to catch it — and the group's job is to find something genuinely praiseworthy in how they failed. 'Good move!', 'Grea…
Love Blaster
Appreciate an object in the room for a minute — then close your eyes and appreciate the feeling of appreciating. Do it again with a partner and a second object. Then two pairs m…
Magical Moments
A guided return to a moment in your life that felt magical — its smells, colours, sounds, textures, the mood you were in — relived with eyes closed for a minute or so, then shar…
Milestone celebrations and pausing to appreciate
To mark achievements and counteract the tendency to rush past accomplishments. When the team completes a significant project, reaches a goal, or navigates a difficult period suc…
Mindful Nature Walk
The entry-level nature-connection practice: a walk in forest or park with attention deliberately in relationship — naming trees, listening to layered sounds, feeling the carryin…
My Best Qualities
Three questions answered privately — what am I proud of, what was my most courageous act, what do I most value about myself — then one of them spoken around the whole circle. Th…
Positive Gossip
Pairs "gossip" about colleagues — strictly positively: telling stories of what someone did well, as if the person weren't listening. Rounds rotate so everyone gossips and is gos…
Regular appreciation rounds
To create recurring opportunities for team members to express appreciation for each other. Include a brief appreciation round in regular team meetings: each person has the oppor…
Shower of Love
Each person in turn becomes the focus, and for a minute or two the group calls out single words for them — a quality, an impact, an attribute — anyone speaking, repeats allowed,…
Sketch Appreciation
After a minute or two of eye-gazing, one partner becomes an artist and the other their masterpiece: choosing an imagined medium, they 'sketch' the other's face, tracing features…
The Appreciation Expression
A seconds-scale daily micro-practice for Appreciation (VCoL collection): When you notice something a colleague has done well, pause and express appreciation specifically. Rather…
The Difficulty Gift
A seconds-scale daily micro-practice for Appreciation (VCoL collection): When facing difficulty, pause and ask: 'What might I appreciate here, even so?' Look for: what you might…
The Gratitude Notice
A seconds-scale daily micro-practice for Appreciation (VCoL collection): Two or three times during the day, pause and notice something you appreciate that you might otherwise ta…
Also develops it (16)
Acts of Kindness in Daily Life
The behavioural wing of compassion training: deliberately practising generosity, hospitality or kindness toward specific people — someone close, someone neutral, someone difficu…
Angel Walk
Slow music, a darkened room, two lines facing each other; one person at a time walks slowly between them with eyes closed while everyone touches and guides them through, perhaps…
Body Love
Three minutes appreciating three parts of your own body aloud, one minute to set any boundaries — 'don't speak about my stomach, arms or breasts' — and then your partner appreci…
Celebrating progress and successes
Hope is sustained by evidence that progress is possible. Teams that notice and celebrate progress build the foundation for continued hope. Create regular practices for noticing…
Enhancing Sensorial Connectedness
A day with a local ecosystem: participants engage it through their senses — observing, listening, touching, collecting in situ — and reflect on interdependence and appreciation…
Focus on contribution over credit
To shift team culture toward valuing contribution to shared goals rather than individual recognition. Cultivate norms and practices that emphasize contribution over credit: • Wh…
Frame
Like the Noticing Game but each statement begins with the word 'Frame', treating the present moment of contact as a still life to be described admiringly in a phrase. Partners a…
Love and Self-Love
Tell two people about someone you love, letting yourself feel it as you speak; hear what it did to them; then speak about why you love yourself with the same care and feeling, a…
Loving-Kindness / Compassion Meditation
The progressive compassion practice at the heart of most compassion trainings: settle into body and breath; direct kind, non-judging attention first to yourself (self-compassion…
Nature Quest
Structured solo time in wild nature in three phases: preparation (practical questions, naming worries, setting intention), the quest itself — going alone to a chosen place, leav…
Sit Spot Practice
Each person chooses one spot in nature and returns to it again and again — sitting quietly, observing what lives and changes there through weathers and seasons, journalling afte…
Storytelling about lessons learned
To build a team culture that values learning through stories. Integrate brief storytelling moments into regular team meetings. One person shares a 'learning moment' from recent…
The Shield
Each participant draws a large shield divided into four fields and fills them with PICTURES (no words) on personal themes — "this describes me…", "a difficulty I got over…", "I…
The Superhero in Me
Through a superhero framing, participants explore their capabilities and challenges by casting them: strengths as a superhero, compensated weaknesses as a sidekick, and challeng…
The Symbiosis Meditation
An eight-minute guided imagination journey through the elements of your own body — earth (bones, teeth, weight), water (blood, inner oceans), air (breath, oxygen), fire (heat, t…
Unconditional Hugs
Two circles; the outer one closes its eyes and the inner one gives them random hugs, silently, so no one knows who hugged them — with a tap on the arm first, so no one is surpri…