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W Swobodnym, Żywym Kontakcie. Obecność relacyjna poprzez 5 praktyk Authentic Relating

If my courses or workshops are not available or accessible for you right now, ART International is a great place to start your Authentic Relating journey.

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Games Directory

Authentic Relating

Want the full list? Explore the directory with difficulty, intensity and group-size filters.

Authentic Relating invites you to slow down long enough to separate what you observed from the story you added. Then you can ask, clarify and let reality update you.

Assume Nothing

Honoring self without honoring the other becomes domination. Honoring the other without honoring self becomes self-abandonment. The practice is to stay in relationship with both at once.

Honor Self and Other

This reduces blame and creates room for dialogue. It also helps you notice the beliefs, memories and expectations shaping your reactions.

Own Your Experience

You do not need to tell your whole history. Often one direct sentence about what you feel, want, fear or notice is enough to shift the quality of the interaction.

Reveal Your Experience

When you can stay with pleasure, discomfort, tension and uncertainty a little longer, you get more truthful information about yourself and the moment. That makes your next move less reactive and more grounded.

Welcome Everything

Five Practices of Authentic Relating

The Curiosity Game is one of the best exercises for beginners. One participant asks only the questions they are genuinely moved to ask, the other answers from live experience, then offers feedback on what kinds of questions opened or closed them. A second round follows, shaped by that feedback, so the game trains both real curiosity and responsive listening.

Curiosity Game

We usually start a Game Night or a Workshop with different kinds of meditations to ground us in the present moment and physical sensations before connecting with others. Depending on the theme and foundational competences we are building the meditation invites to explore different parts of our psychology, phenomenology and somatics. The participants are invited to develop an intimate relationship to their breath and come back to it whenever they need to find themselves again in the midst of strong emotions or thoughts.

Mindful Presence

The Noticing Game is a key exercise in Authentic Relating that fosters deeper connection through mindfulness and honest sharing. Two participants take turns verbalizing their present experiences—whether physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, or observations of the other person. The focus is on staying in the present moment, sharing what arises without judgment or projection. The listener simply receives without reacting or trying to fix anything. This practice encourages self-awareness, vulnerability, and empathy, creating a space for deeper trust and understanding between participants, helping them feel more seen and connected in real-time.

Noticing Game

A global community and a practice that uses games, exercises and conversations to offer a playground for rewiring our deeply ingrained patterns of relating and foster deep, meaningful connections. Authentic Relating is a movement towards a more authentic, connected and compassionate world, opposing the ever-growing isolation, polarization and fragmentation of our society.

Discover the power of authentic relating and transform your relationships

Authentic Relating in Poland

Our main practice: a broad set of games, exercises and structures for presence, honesty and contact.

Usually practiced as a group relational process rather than a set of structured games and exercises like classic Authentic Relating.

More language-structured and needs-oriented, with less emphasis on spontaneous inquiry into the shared relational field.

Places a stronger emphasis on direct truth-telling and emotional expression, often with more intensity than AR.

Like Circling, it more often takes the form of a group practice than a set of structured games and exercises, with stronger emphasis on attention quality.

If you want to understand how Authentic Relating relates to Circling, Transformational Connection, NVC or Radical Honesty, start with the relating arts guide.

Authentic Relating is the main reference practice for the Relating Arts Institute, but our workshops also sit inside a broader field of relating arts. If you want to understand how Authentic Relating relates to Circling, Transformational Connection, NVC or Radical Honesty, start with the relating arts guide.

Authentic Relating in the wider landscape of relating arts

A Game Night is a great way to experience Authentic Relating in a relaxed and fun environment and then hang out with the people you met.

We often pick a theme for the evening to make the experience more focused and varied. Example themes include: *relational tension as a source of richness*, *transparency*, *conflict as an opportunity*, *authenticity in a workplace*, etc. This is very broadly what you can expect at an Authentic Relating Games Night with us.

In a circle we land together in a group, talk a little bit about the structure of the workshops and like hearing what you come with and what your hopes and expectations are.

Introductory Circle

We then often proceed to some kind of movement exercise that grounds us in our bodies. We use it also as a way to land in the group and to find new partners for the exercises.

Movement

Throughout the practice we bring you back to your breath and into your body through different kind of meditations and mindfulness exercises.

Mindfulness

Each time you stand in front of someone we will invite you to first meet your own emotions and only then encourage you to connect with another person. Example exercises we might be doing are the Noticing Game and the Curiosity Game.

Dyadic Exercises

In-between the exercises we often ask for your reflections - they can be helpful for the rest of the group. But we also like to have slow cool down at the end with lots of space to integrate the experience together before separating.

Cool down & the Closing Circle

Authentic Relating Games Night

A Workshop is a deep dive into the practice with more space to explore particular topics or competencies.

We often pick a theme for the workshop that will help us dive deeper into particular area. Example themes include: *trust and vulnerability*, *boundaries and consent*, *the limits and opportunities of transparency*, *listening and being heard*, etc. This is how an Authentic Relating Workshop with us looks like.

**Place**: yoga studio, dance studio, cozy workshop rooms, etc.

In a circle we land together in a group, talk about the structure of the workshop and hear what you come with and what your hopes and expectations are.

We proceed with movement exercises and icebreakers that ground us in our bodies and help us connect with others in the group.

Movement & Icebreakers

A guided meditation to bring you into the present moment and connect with your inner experience.

Mindfulness Practice

We dive into a series of exercises designed to deepen your understanding and practice of authentic relating principles. They are in pairs too but often in larger groups.

Core Authentic Relating Exercises

Time to process and integrate your experiences through journaling and small group discussions.

Integration & Reflection

We come back together as a group to share insights, ask questions, and close the workshop.

Closing Circle

Authentic Relating Workshop

Mickey (Michał, in Polish)

Events

Check out our upcoming events and workshops

Upcoming Events

Newsletter

Workshops, events and practice spaces for more presence, honesty and deeper human connection.

Authentic Relating is a practice that fosters deeper, more meaningful, and conscious relationships. It encourages individuals to be present, self-aware, and open in their interactions, whether with themselves or others. This approach helps people connect deeply, communicate honestly, and lead relationships toward greater understanding, connection, and intimacy. It empowers individuals to become more engaged in their relationships while exploring themselves and supporting others.

Verbal Embodiment

Relational Contact Improvisation is an experimental approach blending Authentic Relating and Contact Improvisation, combining conscious connection with spontaneous movement. Participants explore communication through words and body language, using physical contact to deepen understanding. It emphasizes presence and attunement, allowing interactions to unfold through touch, shared weight, and dialogue. This practice fosters trust, awareness, and connection, integrating the physicality of Contact Improvisation with the relational depth of Authentic Relating.

Nonverbal Embodiment

Relational Contact Improvisation

Slow Improv Theatre is a practice that explores emotions, creativity and connections at a slower pace, allowing for more authentic interactions to unfold. Instead of focusing on quick humor, it emphasizes being present with subtle moments, making room for complex emotions and genuine reactions. This approach helps performers expand their emotional range and create more nuanced, dynamic interactions outside of the stage.

Emotional Range

Slow Improv

Transparent Relating is an approach to romantic relationships that moves beyond labels like monogamy or polyamory, focusing on honest, flexible, and individualized connections. It rejects fitting relationships into cultural norms, instead recognizing the complexity of human experience. Each relationship is co-created through open communication about desires, boundaries, and needs, allowing for a connection that evolves naturally. Transparency about feelings and intentions enables ongoing negotiation, respecting the unique nature of each relationship.

Relationship Models

Transparent Relating

What We Practice

Presence, honesty, and genuine connection

More Present, More Connected

Discover Relational Arts in Warsaw, transform yourself and your relationships

Authentic Relating & Relational Arts

We would be glad if you shared your email address with us so we can send you direct updates about upcoming relational arts events.

In how we communicate, we would like to rely less and less on social media, which do not serve the quality of relationships, democracy, or our individual agency.

Hey there! Curious?

Appreciate and understand others from their perspective, seeing them with empathy and curiosity.

This invites trying to truly see others, appreciating their uniqueness and inherent innocence. It encourages deep listening and understanding. By stepping into the world of another, you foster empathy, connection, and the ability to see others as they are, not as you assume them to be. This principle helps break down relational barriers, allowing for greater depth and intimacy.

Be With the Other in Their World

Stay present and connected with whatever arises in your interactions, embracing the real impacts between you and others.

This invites continuous presence, allowing real emotions and truths to be explored without forcing vulnerability. It's about staying engaged with both the comfortable and uncomfortable, focusing on genuine connection. By doing so, you learn to navigate discomfort and allow it in your relationships.

Commit to Connection

Take responsibility for your emotions and perceptions without projecting them onto others.

This invites recognizing and claiming what you are feeling or experiencing. It encourages personal accountability for thoughts and reactions, making space for shifts in perception and emotion. By admitting your deepest truths, you can navigate relationships more authentically. Letting go of fixed outcomes and expectations opens doors to deeper connection.

Focus on bodily sensations to discover deeper truths and stay grounded in the present.

Awareness of bodily sensations is often overlooked but essential for understanding emotional states. By tuning into subtle physical cues, you can share more truthfully, with less projection or assumption. The body offers insights that the mind often clouds, and sharing these with others can foster deeper, more grounded connections.

Stay with the Level of Sensation

Principles of Relating

Trust your internal experience while navigating the unknown, and accept both rational and non-rational insights.

Trusting experience means accepting whatever arises within you as valid, even when it feels unclear or irrational. You're invited to honor your emotions and perceptions while discerning what is happening in the present moment. To explore both the conscious and unconscious, allowing for personal and relational growth.

Trust Your Experience

Usually slower, deeper and more concentrated on what is happening between people in real time.

Looks more broadly at group culture, belonging and how a community builds trust, norms and the capacity to move through tension.

More language-structured and needs-based, with a clearer emphasis on empathy and requests.

Places stronger emphasis on direct truth-telling, emotional expression and greater tolerance for relational discomfort.

A more principle-driven and phenomenological approach to contact, with a stronger focus on the quality of attention.

The hub compares the main approaches and leads into dedicated pages on Circling, Transformational Connection, NVC and other neighboring modalities.

Authentic Relating and Relating Arts Institute workshops are part of a larger landscape of relating arts. See how the practices relate to each other and where each one is likely to fit best.

The Relating Arts Landscape

Authentic Relating and Relating Arts Institute workshops are part of a wider landscape of relational practices

At Michał's workshop I experienced remarkable closeness and attentiveness in contact with other participants. I miss these qualities in today's world.

Michał's facilitation made me feel safe, and his full presence and quality of connection with participants inspired me to discover similar qualities in my work with patients.

I think that relational arts are a space that everyone should experience. The attentiveness, presence, authenticity and time for true reflection that Michał offers are qualities that I have not been able to experience anywhere else.

Words of Gratitude

Find the courage to share your true self. Bloom. Experience how gentle honesty and openness can deepen your relationships, creating a fresh canvas for true understanding and the magic that unfolds when you really show up.

Being with Your Truth

Discover ways to deepen your relationships and support your personal growth sustainably in our speeding, increasingly digital world. We offer no shortcuts and no easy answers - just the safe space and guidance to explore your own path forward.

Cultivate a deeper understanding of your emotions and those of others. Learn to experience life anew. Let yourself be taken by its wonders by allowing emotions and extending your emotional range and flexibility. Grow your capacity for empathy, fostering kinder communication and more harmonious connections.

Dancing with Emotions

Uncover the quiet symphony of true presence; of being with what is. Learn to soften your mind's chatter, bringing presence and attentiveness to each moment shared with others.

The Art of Being Present

The Art of Connection

In how we communicate, we would like to rely less and less on social media, which do not serve the quality of relationships, democracy, or our individual agency. We would be glad if you shared your email address with us so we can send you direct updates about upcoming relational arts events.

Hey there! Awesome to have you here

A relationship shaped mostly by unspoken norms, inherited assumptions, avoidance, and default expectations.

Default Relating

Default Relating and Transparent Relating

A relationship shaped through honesty, self-awareness, ongoing communication, and explicit negotiation of what is actually true between these people.

We are all shaped by cultural norms: romantic ideals, couple privilege, expectations around exclusivity, scripts around sex, gender, loyalty, commitment, and family. The point is not to become culture-free. The point is to make the norms explicit enough that they stop running the relationship unconsciously.

Making the invisible visible

Default vs Transparent — real examples

Beyond the monogamy vs non-monogamy divide. An approach to romantic relationships based on honesty, self-knowledge, and negotiating each relationship on its own terms.

was never about being with multiple people at once. People practice non-monogamy and polyamory because they want better communication, connection with life as it is, and making the implicit explicit.

shifts the frame from counting bodies to focusing on what truly matters: the culture of negotiating every relationship without following cultural inertia and creating a relational container that can hold our realities as they really are.

It's time to reframe non-monogamy and polyamory

Many relationships become what they are through momentum, not choice

Transparent Relating is not anti-monogamy. Monogamy can be a beautiful expression of Transparent Relating when two people consciously choose it, continue to revisit it honestly, and stay responsive to what is actually true in their lives. Choosing one person is not the problem. Unconsciousness is. Silence is. Default expectations treated as truth are.

Transparent Relating includes monogamy when monogamy is:

Monogamy fully fits here

What many people actually want when they say they want non-monogamy

Transparent Relating is an approach to relationships based on honesty, explicit agreements, emotional maturity, and conscious negotiation — beyond the monogamy vs non-monogamy dichotomy.

Transparent Relating | Beyond the Monogamy vs Non-Monogamy Divide

Not forcing reality to fit the script we were taught. Not hiding from change, attraction, fear, tenderness, grief, or desire.

Being with what is

Taking responsibility for how we choose, what we agree to, and what we continue to participate in.

Agency

Not making other people responsible for our inner world, while also not abandoning ourselves to maintain connection.

Self-leadership

Knowing our own patterns, wounds, desires, fears, and limits well enough to speak from reality rather than from a role.

Self-knowledge

Naming what is happening, hearing difficult truths, negotiating differences, repairing ruptures, and staying in contact when something real is at stake.

Emotional & communication skills

Instead of squeezing every connection into inherited categories: What is true here? What is wanted here? What form fits this connection?

Meeting each relationship on its own terms

What Transparent Relating emphasizes

There is no universal template that tells every relationship what it should become. Some relationships want devotion. Some want spaciousness. Some want exclusivity. Some do not. Transparent Relating is the practice of creating relationships through truthfulness rather than inertia. It asks for courage, nuance, and the willingness to know ourselves better than the culture taught us to.

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