Last week, we had the pleasure of flopping with 75 library professionals from across the state of North Carolina that had gathered for the NC Public Library Directors Summit. We were part of an afternoon lineup arranged by the State Library of North Carolina that included a session titled “Understanding Trauma: When Bad Things Happen to Good People” to help libraries become more aware of the prevalence of trauma in their communities and develop responsiveness to it. A much needed topic especially at this time. 

The presenters included resilience, self-care, and mindfulness in their session and we were able to follow that up by introducing a new skill that allowed the participants to embody strategies to practice mindfulness. That’s right, we flopped with them. 

Event organizers had given us a list of attendee addresses prior to the event and we took care of shipping the flop balls to each of them. They had them in hand ready to go for our session. By weaving playful demonstrations with our mindfulness based FLOP strategies, we transitioned seamlessly from the earlier, more intense presentation into ours which had participants up, moving, and learning new flop ball skills. 

The day ended with laughter and lightness which was the organizers goal after the heavier content that preceded us. Here’s what one of the attendees had to say:‍

"I always enjoy the challenges that are associated with the FLOP and the encouragement to practice mindfulness in such a fun way. By far the best staff development activities!!!!"  Jennifer Sackett, Director, Lincoln County Public Library

If you are looking for a playful session with meaningful content to complement your speaker lineup, contact dawn@flowcircus.com