The Acknowledgement Round—The Skill We Forget to Use

One of the best ways to improve your general state of mind is to acknowledge or thank people in your life every single day. This is a core practice of the branch of psychology called Positive Psychology, but even though it’s a simple and powerful process, it’s hard to change habits.

So in our regular groups, we’ve added something called “the Acknowledgment Round,” a practice that allows us to become more familiar, more skilled, and more consistent in acknowledging others. The Acknowledgement Round might easily be seen as simply part of the Chrysalis, but it’s important enough to be mentioned separately.

When the Choice Round is coming to an end, the leader should ask, “Are there any more choices?” If there are none, then the leader should begin by making an acknowledgement of the person who brought the topic. You can begin by saying, “_____(name), I acknowledge you for…” or “_____(name), I want to acknowledge you for…”

Continue until you’ve acknowledged everyone in the group—including yourself. (“I acknowledge myself for…”) Then acknowledge the group as a whole. This might be something like, “And I acknowledge this group for providing a safe place where we all feel that we can say anything we want without being judged.”

Then ask, “Who’s next?” Especially at first, some people will be shy about making acknowledgements, so it’s important to allow people to hang back. But always encourage everyone to make acknowledgements of everyone.

In addition, it’s likely that at the beginning of your group, some people will be very shy about acknowledging themselves. Encourage them gently, but don’t make a big deal about it if they can’t. Eventually, they’ll discover that it’s very self-empowering to do so. In addition, some people will forget to acknowledge the group. Just ask, “Would you like to acknowledge the group as well?”

When all of the acknowledgements are finished, move on to the Conscious Evolution (or Boosting) Meditation.