Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!

As Nan Zhubin’s words fell, he took the lead on stage and stomped his foot three times with a heavy "thump, thump, thump."

Because he needed to demonstrate, his movements were very big and very forceful, to the point that after three stomps his legs felt a bit numb.

And after Nan Zhubin moved—

Thump—

Thump thump—

Thump thump thump—

The employees, whose engagement had already been completely activated, followed suit one after another. Some were even in a playful mood, repeating the "three stomps" several rounds in a row.

In the spacious conference room, packed with people, the commotion they caused was comparable to a small earthquake.

If not for the fact that they had no tacit coordination and their movements could hardly be called synchronized, they might even have triggered a resonance in the floor.

The man at the center of the conference table turned back with a cheerful smile to look at this scene, while Boss Wang watched him with a tense expression, as if waiting for him to speak and ready to respond at any moment.

But this time, the man in the suit said nothing more.

"Very good, everyone has completed the first step." Standing where he was, Nan Zhubin discreetly moved his calves a bit.

"Next, please follow me and clench your fists tightly, feel the tension in your fingertips, then slowly release and feel the sensation of your muscles relaxing. Repeat three times."

"Stay with my rhythm the whole time, don’t rush..."

...

The group grounding exercise Nan Zhubin was doing now was clearly different from what he would do with an individual visitor in the consulting room.

In individual counseling, the consultant often adjusts wording and movement rhythm flexibly according to the visitor’s state—such as the degree of Dissociation and somatic sensitivity—and may even add personalized anchors.

At the same time, the grounding movements Nan Zhubin was using now were larger in amplitude yet more basic and generic, retaining only these two simple, easy-to-perform actions of stepping on the ground and clenching–releasing fists, whereas individual counseling would add more detailed sensory guidance.

In addition, Nan Zhubin was also downplaying the in-depth exploration of individual sensations during grounding at this moment, instead of focusing, as in individual counseling, on the visitor’s real-time feedback, guiding them to deeply feel changes in their own body and promptly adjusting the intensity of the practice.

The core reason for this distinction was still to fit the needs of a group debriefing setting: to avoid disorder, lower the threshold for participation, and allow all employees to quickly keep up;

The basic movements could also, as much as possible, accommodate employees with different levels of somatic sensitivity, avoiding discomfort in some people that might be triggered by complex actions;

On top of that, it further strengthened group resonance and weakened employees’ sense of isolation.

...

"Very good, everyone’s movements are very standard." Nan Zhubin’s voice came from the stage through the microphone.

The employees below might have only experienced the fun in this simple "grounding training" just now, but without realizing it, their bodies had indeed, more or less, relaxed from the two movements of "stomping" and "clenching–releasing fists."

And those who had not yet relaxed were being affected by Nan Zhubin’s voice and by the people around them who had already relaxed, through Infection.

"Next, we’re going to further ease the tension in the body."

As he spoke, Nan Zhubin switched the microphone to his left hand, freeing his right hand and placing it on his chest.

"Please put your right hand on your left chest—"

He lowered his voice: "Quietly feel the heartbeat coming from inside."

After saying this, Nan Zhubin paused for a full ten seconds.

In this silence, no one felt impatient; instead, they cooperated very well and repeated Nan Zhubin’s movement.

Some people who had found the previous step rather amusing and still had smiles on their faces began to have their expressions gradually smooth out in this step.

"Quietly feel the heartbeat coming from inside your chest cavity," Nan Zhubin repeated once more.

"And, along with the heartbeat, the sensations gradually surfacing from different parts of your body."

"It may be very steady, or it may be beating very fast."

"Your body may be calm as still water, or it may still carry the lingering discomfort from when you previously felt unwell."

"It doesn’t matter... all of this is a part of your body."

"Feel it quietly, and tell yourself in your heart: I am very safe right now, I can... slow...ly... re...lax."

This step could be seen as an extension of the previous "emotional awareness"—"somatic awareness."

The core of this exercise was to accept one’s own stress responses.

People’s expressions grew increasingly calm; some gently closed their eyes, and the only sound left in the venue was faint breathing.

...

The man in the suit at the center of the conference table also subconsciously raised his hand and closed his eyes, but a few seconds later he quickly opened them again.

He didn’t feel much of anything.

Although the man in the suit didn’t have any profound sensations, when he looked back he could see how different the employees’ current state was compared to before.

In carefully recalling how the employees had looked when the meeting had just begun, the contrast at this moment became all the more striking.

"This employee assistance program... the professional stuff, I don’t really understand." The man in the suit at the center of the conference table turned his head and asked, "What do you think?"

He wasn’t asking Boss Wang, but another man on the other side, the one who had entered the conference room with him just now.

Boss Wang pricked up his ears.

"Brother Zhang, that’s not quite right—my operations aren’t all that professional either, I’ve just seen more of these kinds of large meetings, that’s all," the man being asked replied modestly.

"As for this young teacher, it’s not like he’s using some particularly advanced technique. But to make such a large venue, with so many employees, all become cooperative, and even produce changes visible to the naked eye—" the man being asked assumed a Memory-searching expression, "—that is indeed rare."

Whoosh—

Boss Wang let out a slight breath.

His facial expression was still stiff. But the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch slightly.

He stared intently at Nan Zhubin on stage, no one knew what he was thinking.

...

"Alright, let’s slowly lower the hand that was on our chest. I saw quite a few colleagues close their eyes just now; let’s slowly open them too and pull our attention back."

"If anyone here just now felt anything unusual in your body, then please continue to follow my instructions next."

Nan Zhubin smiled and said, "If everything felt normal, that’s even better. But the exercise we’re about to do can also be useful in the future when we experience discomfort triggered by emotions or mood."

Nan Zhubin swept his eyes over the whole room.

For demonstration purposes, he lifted his right hand, which he had just lowered, again, this time placing it slightly below the collarbone, at the very center of his chest.

"Next, please follow my instructions for three ’4–2–6’ deep breaths. Follow my rhythm to further ease bodily tension and release stress and unease."

"What we call ’4–2–6’ means inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 2 seconds, and exhaling for 6 seconds."