How we practise
The following examples offer a small glimpse and are neither a complete programme nor a fixed sequence. The exercises we choose depend on the group, the situation and how we are on the day.
What they have in common is this: we create a clear situation, take the first reaction seriously, change something and compare. Depth comes through adjusting the intensity, guidance, encounter and sensing afterwards.
Some experiments are quiet and subtle. Others surprise us – and sometimes they also bring hearty laughter.
When faced with a challenge, our attention often shifts entirely to the grip, the other person or the question of how to resolve the situation.
Part of the exploration is reconnecting with ourselves while the situation continues: noticing the resistance – and at the same time bringing body, breath, floor, space, feelings and boundaries back into the contact.
Standing or sitting, noticing the feet and areas of contact, noticing the breath without consciously shaping it.
How much is already happening before we “do” anything? Where does the mind intervene? What changes when noticing is enough for a moment?
No holding the breath, no forced breathing technique. Dizziness or discomfort are a sign to pause and orient yourself in the room.
The same small movement is repeated with a different focus of attention, inner orientation or mental image.
Do range of movement, tension, stability, breathing or the subjective sense of ease change?
A change is an observation, not proof of a particular explanation.
After a small impulse, we give ourselves time without immediately prescribing a form.
Does a tiny movement, a shift of weight, an image, a word arise – or simply stillness?
We follow only as far as it remains voluntary, stable and feels right. Not every signal needs to be explored more deeply.
We begin with individual points of touch, follow lines and surfaces and later also include the space between us.
How does contact change when it is experienced less locally and more spatially? What remains clear when touch becomes subtler or is left out altogether?
Nobody has to feel “energy”. Warmth, pressure, uncertainty, calm, nothing at all or something entirely different are equally valid observations.
One person holds the forearm of the other with light pressure agreed beforehand.
First, the person practising tries to free themselves in whatever way comes naturally – perhaps by pulling, pushing or using more strength.
Then both begin again. The external resistance stays as similar as possible. This time, the movement does not have to succeed immediately. The person practising first senses the contact, the floor, the breath and the whole body. Unnecessary opposing force can ease.
Then the person tries moving again – without deciding in advance how they must free themselves.
What happens to breath, tension and mobility when we struggle?
What changes when the resistance is not immediately treated as an opponent?
Is my attention only on the grip and the question of how to free myself? Can I feel the resistance and at the same time include my feet, breath, back, space and my own movement again?
Sometimes a surprising amount of freedom arises. Sometimes there is only a small change. Sometimes the movement remains difficult.
Here, Wu wei does not mean doing nothing. It means reducing unnecessary forcing and using strength where it is actually needed.
Contact is voluntary and remains light and pain-free. Joints are not twisted or put under strain. There are no unexpected grips.
Both people can change the pressure or end the exercise at any time.
Strength is not wrong. We learn to distinguish helpful strength from unnecessary opposing force.
Two people stand or sit facing each other.
One person briefly brings a previously agreed emotional quality into the encounter – for example, mild impatience, irritation or anger. This can happen through voice, gaze and posture or, depending on the exercise, only as an inner orientation.
The other person first observes how they spontaneously react to this.
After a pause, the situation is repeated. This time, the person practising does not immediately try to get rid of the mood of the other person or their own reaction. They feel body, breath, floor and space and leave open what response might arise from this.
Do we become angry ourselves? Do we withdraw? Do we want to please, appease or explain ourselves? Do we hold our breath or lose our centre?
Not just: How do I get rid of the mood of the other person? But: What does this contact evoke in me? Can I retain or regain a sense of my body, breath, boundary and choice while the other person is still there?
What changes when the emotional quality is allowed to be there without us having to take it on or fight it immediately?
Perhaps more calm arises. Perhaps a clear no. Perhaps a question, more distance or a different form of contact.
We are not exploring whether someone can “transmit an emotion correctly”. We observe what is actually perceived in the encounter and how both people respond to it.
The emotional intensity remains mild and is agreed beforehand. There are no personal attacks, insults or unexpected confrontations.
Unresolved personal conflicts between two people are not used as material for exercises.
Both can stop at any time. Both then consciously step out of their roles and take time for sensing afterwards.
A simple, clear way to do this can be: “The exercise is over. That was the agreed role, not a personal statement about you.”
Two people vary distance, eye contact, touch or leading – slowly and with explicit consent.
When does contact become clearer? Where does pressure arise? What does a genuine yes, no or not yet feel like?
Every variation is voluntary. Touch can be left out, changed or ended at any time.
After an experience, we orient ourselves in the room, feel our feet and the contact, allow time and name only what was actually perceived.
An intense or surprising experience is not automatically more helpful than a small one. Integration prevents chasing effects from becoming the actual practice.
The role is visibly brought to an end. Both check whether anything remains unresolved between them and consciously return to normal contact.
KI-mo is not about functioning better under stress. It is about not losing touch with yourself in movement and contact – and finding more choice in your response again.
The examples are not self-tests or diagnostic tools. At a KI-mo evening, we create the setting together, with respect for boundaries.