Beyond the Habit
Learning through the whole Self
A unique workshop incorporating Theatre of the Oppressed, Playback Theatre, Music, & Games
"People don't learn deeply by being told. They learn deeply through the senses."
We often think of learning as something that happens primarily in the mind—by listening, reading, understanding, remembering and applying information. But learning is much more than the acquisition of information.
Every time we learn something new, our body, attention, emotions, previous experiences, relationships, thoughts and actions are involved.
This three-day experiential workshop explores learning as a process that engages the whole self. Participants will experience themselves as learners, observe what happens within them while learning, reflect on those experiences, and explore how these insights can influence the way they work with students, colleagues, communities, teams and other learners.
DAY 1 : Me as a Learner
Central question:
“What happens inside me when I am learning something new?”
The day will introduce, recognising learning patterns, observing bodily and sensory responses to success and failure, identifying what help or blocks learning & discovering something new about the yourself.
DAY 2 : Understanding Learning
Central question:
“What happens between having an experience and actually learning from it?”
The day will introduce and explore a seven-step learning process, allowing participants to recognise the stages through which an experience can become deeper learning and eventually lead to new possibilities and creation.
DAY 3: Learner to Facilitator
Central question:
“What kind of environment do I create when I help another person learn?”
The day will introduce and explore how to trust people more, how do we support without control, enable capabilities to emerge and stand beside the learner than over them.
What Participants May Take Away
-
Understand themselves more deeply as learners
-
Recognise their own learning patterns
-
Become more aware of bodily and emotional responses during learning
-
Identify personal learning blocks
-
Develop greater comfort with uncertainty and mistakes
-
Recognise where understanding breaks down
-
Understand learning as an experiential and embodied process
-
Reflect on their own facilitation and leadership behaviour
-
Distinguish between controlling and supporting learners
-
Explore trust, collaboration, care and dignity as practices
-
Consider how Somatic Learning can inform their own professional practice
Viren Saroha
About the Facilitator
Facilitator |Theatre Practitioner| Somatic Learning Educator
Viren Saroha is an education professional, theatre practitioner and facilitator with over two decades of experience in the field of education. His work is centred on transforming the teaching-learning process into a more meaningful, participatory and experiential journey, with a strong emphasis on the holistic development of both educators and learners. Over the years, Viren has worked with more than 100 educational institutions, NGOs and community groups across India,
engaging with teachers, students, youth, women, parents, communities and development professionals. His practice brings together education, theatre, experiential learning, facilitation and social change.
Having trained extensively in Playback Theatre facilitated by Jiwon Chung (U.S.A.) and with Dr. Sanjoy Ganguli, Mrs. Seema Ganguli and Mr. Satya Ranjam Pal in Theatre of the Oppressed, including Forum Theatre, Image Theatre and Invisible Theatre; Viren's educational philosophy is deeply influenced by Paulo Freire's critique of the traditional “Banking Concept of Education”. He believes that education is not merely the one-way transfer of information, but a dialogical and participatory process in which teachers and learners can become co-creators of knowledge.
10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Venue : Symphony Resto Bar & Banquets
210/A, Range Hill Rd, Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411007
23rd-25th October 2026