The Trust Leans Exercise

Trust Leans is a fantastic, powerful and exciting exercise for your group to build skills like trust and empathy. The beauty is that most people don’t see it coming, until they reflect back on what they have just done.

Start by giving a demonstration of the correct procedures, before breaking your group into pairs to try it out for themselves. Ask for a volunteer (the ‘faller’) to stand with their feet together and their back towards you (the designated ‘spotter.’)

The faller stands firm and places their arms across their chest.
The spotter positions themselves with one foot in front of the other, hands-up in ‘ready’ position behind the faller.

Upon issuing a series of agreed ‘Are-you-ready?’ commands, the faller leans back slowly into the hands of the spotter a small distance.
Upon being supported, the spotter returns the faller to the standing position.

Now yes!. Form pairs and invite them to do the exercise.

Ideally, the spotter should start with their hands on the back of the faller to build confidence and to gauge for the first time the momentum and weight of the person they are supporting. Once comfortably received, return the faller to their original standing position.

You may now repeat the calls, this time allowing the faller to lean back a little further, perhaps providing a little more space between the faller’s back and the spotter’s ready hands.

It is possible for the faller to lean a long way back, but the fall should only go as far as the faller and/or spotter feel comfortable. Indeed, the process will continue until either the spotter or the faller chooses to stop.

However, encourage people where possible to take a step beyond their comfort zone, because this is where growth and learning really occurs.

When ready, switch roles and repeat.

Then, invite people to find one or more new partners. Not only does this reinforce their newly-acquired skills, but they get to expand their support and trust to and of others.

Moment of Reflection

• What emotions came up for you during this experience?
• How did it feel to lean back and trust your spotting partner? Did you commit fully? What was the evidence?
• In what areas were you vulnerable during this activity? Why?
• What did it take to trust your partner?
• What might this exercise teach us about the development of significant relationships in our lives?

The topics of this publication: teamwork, trust, integration, interactions, reflection, foster relationships, self, empathy, cooperation