exercise · all tools

Emotion Sculpture

Depth · what it can open●●●3 — emotional
Holding · facilitation2 — facilitator
Trust · group readiness★★some
Disclosure · what is sharedrequired

One person chooses an emotion they struggle with and sculpts their partner into it — shoulders, brows, posture — adjusting like a director until it is right, walks around it, and then speaks to it: with compassion, or by yelling, or by crying. The manual is explicit that the intent is not to fix the emotion but to meet it, and insists on a full demonstration to set the tone.

Hold with care
  • The sculpture may be yelled at or wept over; whoever holds the pose is consenting to receive that, and the manual asks both to stay connected to their sensations throughout
  • The manual gives no aftercare guidance for an emotion that does not settle when the exercise ends; a facilitator should have some

Practical

Time
10-20 min
Group
2 · pairs
Settings
in-person
Mechanisms
somatic-awareness, emotional-processing, creative-expression
Change scope
state → skill · repeatable

Instructions

Where
authrev.org/ar-games-manual Authentic Relating Games Manual, paid
Availability
In the source document — the instructions live inside the material linked, on its terms
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0 (Authentic Relating Games Manual)

Source link checked 31 Aug 2026 — unchanged since we recorded it on 29 Aug 2026

This directory describes and points home; the instructions stay with the people who made them.

Origin

Indigo Townsend — Authentic Relating (Authentic Relating Games Manual, 2025 edition); embodiment work

In this directory via Authentic Relating Games Manual

Variation in the manual: Embodied Emotion, a shorter form where a named emotion is embodied and witnessed.

status: checked · added 2026-08-31