The Human Minute - An online and offline practice

The Human Minute is a practice of being and relating. You share one minute in silence with someone, looking at each other with complete focus but with a little space, rather than going into the depths of eye gazing. It’s a practice of Being, because during this minute you don’t do anything actively. You don’t need to accomplish anything or perform in any way. Instead, you are simply present with whatever you’re experiencing. And it’s a practice of relating because, even though you don’t actively communicate with the other person, by simply being and looking at each other, something happens between you. You transmit something to each other. The language of silence.

Somehow the communication that happens in this subtle way, can sometimes be deeper and more “real”, more authentic than what you might say to each other with words.

How to do a Human Minute?

You can try this online at Human Online, sign-up and connect. Alternatively, this can be done in real life with the following instructions:

1. You and another person commit in advance to being with each other in this way for one or more minutes.

2. Find a space, preferably quiet, where you both feel comfortable and safe.

3. Make sure someone sets a timer for the duration of the experience.

4. Sit and face each other. Find the right distance so you feel connected but you also clearly feel you have your own space.

5. Once ready to start, look at each other and take one deep breath.

6. During the experience, try to “stay here” with the other person. What makes the Human Minute different to other practices such as eye gazing is that you don’t “lose yourself” into the other person’s eyes. That can also be a deep and powerful experience, but in the Human Minute you stay “here”, aware of yourself and the other and what happens between you.

7. No action is required. At first there may be nervousness, laughter, or discomfort among others. There is no need to react to them but to “observe” the feelings and sensations.

8. As you go deeper, accept any feelings, emotions or thoughts that may arise. The idea is to Be with whatever you are experiencing. Being is recognizing and giving space.

9. At some point, you may try to quiet your mind and be as present as you can be with the person in front of you. What is left, when you let go of your thoughts about the situation and are simply in it?

10. After the minute is over, you can thank your partner with a small gesture or a nod.

11. Take a moment for yourself to digest the experience. What were your feelings, body sensations, thoughts? What is alive in you now, what still resonates?

12. When you do this offline, you may choose or not to share about your experience afterwards. Depending on the setting, you might want to decide this in advance. If you do this in a group setting, the facilitator may choose to do more than one round and give space to one-to-one or group sharing when they consider it appropriate.

“My deepest longing for this space is that someone is simply there with me. However I am in this moment, and however they are, we are here with each other in an essential way.”

— Nicolas, Co‑Founder of Human Online