Hospital Storytelling Clubs

I've just got back from the hospital where I facilitated two storytelling Clubs. The first one was just after the patients had had there evening meal. Five of the women took part. We started with a few riddles to warm up the brain and then did some physical warm up. We then imagined a light ball, about as big as a foot ball and gently threw it around the circle to each other. The patients in this group have been taking part in the storytelling club for about 18 months so feel quite comfortable with the concept of storytelling. In last months club we decided to start the 'Norse Mythology'.
Since February this year I have been reading the Norse Mythology and getting to know the Gods and Goddesses. In the past week I have concentrated on the creation part only. Because the creation is a lot of description I decided to use the percussion instruments and the thunder maker so as the patients could use them to add atmosphere to the burning ice and biting flame at the beginning of life. Some of the gods and goddesses have been introduced to the club. Norse Mythology will continue till Christmas when we will review what we want to do. i.e. more mythology or wonder tails, legends, folk tales. The verbal feed back from the patients was positive and everyone in the group took and active part.
After the Female ward I went to the Male ward. There were also five patients that took part. This was only the third time storytelling had taken place on this ward, so it is still quite new to them. We did the physical warm ups and checked to see if we were all feeling OK. Then I told two stories. The first was Bear Skin. A German wonder tail. The second was a request of a story I told the first time: 'When The Squirrel and the Fox Where Friends'. A story from Daniel Mordens 'Dark Tales From the Woods' Following the stories there followed a bit of a chat about the stories and one person was telling a new person to the group about other stories that had been told so far. Then it was 'fag time' and the patients went to the smoke room. I enjoyed telling, and they seemed to enjoy listening.
Good night for now.