TICK VARIATION 3
Equipment:
Long branches
A Furry carpet (the same as in variation 2)
A soft brush
The exercise is undertaken by several participants at the same time, with the help of several assistants and a facilitator. The aim is to give the participants a kinaesthetic and tactile experience of how a tick hunts and catches its prey.
The assistants gather on the ground and together create a “big hairy mammal”: they go on all fours, crawl as close as possible to each other, synchronise their breathing and wait. The impression can be reinforced by covering the group with the furry carpet used in the previous variation.
The participant changes into a human tick by laying a branch on the ground between two and three metres from the big hairy animal, crouching down on it (as in the picture) and closing her eyes. This marks the hunting position of the tick. The eyes are kept closed during the whole exercise.
As the tick feels the touch of the passing animal on her skin (from a soft brush used by the facilitator), it is the sign for it to “attack”.
The tick slips away from its branch and rolls along the ground until it reaches the surface of the big hairy animal. (The horizontal rolling imitates the vertical falling and landing of the tick on the surface of the animal or prey.)
The tick studies the surface of the animal embracing it with its arms, until it finds a suitable place to “prick” it. This happens painlessly, by making one´s fist into a tight tube and pressing it lightly against the surface of the animal.
The tick can now suck the “blood” of the animal through the hand-made tube. In practice the participant breathes in through the tube and breathes out through her nose. As she breathes in, she can imagine that some of the contents of the animal body are flowing through the tube and filling her tick body.
When the tick is content with its meal, it detaches its grip from the animal, goes back to the initial crouched position and rolls back in the direction from which it came.
The facilitator stops the movement of the participant and helps her to rise to a sitting position. The participant returns to her human form by tapping her arms and torso energetically.
The exercise is done either one by one, or by everybody at the same time. It is over when every participant has returned to her human form.
