What people say about the Circle Work they offered or experienced as participants:
We could have a perfectly lovely time gathering informally at our Thursday Evening Women’s Circle. We could talk about our families, our jobs, and our latest shopping trips, but if we want to have the kind of intimate, open-hearted conversations we always have, we have to create the right container that can hold that level of depth. In this case, the container is the Circle, where we pass a talking piece and listen deeply to each person’s stories without interrupting or redirecting the conversation.
- Heather Plett
From a large number of hours on a zen meditation cushion, I guess I now come to the Circle way a little like when I was starting with zazen years ago: with wonder, humbleness in front of the elders, and a clear sense of something very basic and essential to our humanity in this practice.
- Olivier Winghart
On my teleseminar last week I invoked the visual of circle by sharing some words “Even though we are on the phone – calling in from all over the world, I am picturing us in a beautiful room, with some large windows letting in the sunlight, our notebooks in our laps, tea and coffee mugs in our hands… sitting in a circle to learn together.”
- Amanda Fenton
This morning I discovered that the university class I teach had fallen into conflict over the group project that they're doing (a fundraiser for a local charity). As soon as I heard about, I said "okay, time to move the desks against the wall and get into circle." I pulled out the talking piece I always carry in my purse and gave a brief introduction to circle practice. A few rounds with the talking piece allowed people to share honestly about their feelings, wishes, and needs, and now we're ready to move on with the project. Once again I found myself wondering how I ever managed to do group process before circle!
-Heather Plett
We could have a perfectly lovely time gathering informally at our Thursday Evening Women’s Circle. We could talk about our families, our jobs, and our latest shopping trips, but if we want to have the kind of intimate, open-hearted conversations we always have, we have to create the right container that can hold that level of depth. In this case, the container is the Circle, where we pass a talking piece and listen deeply to each person’s stories without interrupting or redirecting the conversation.
- Heather Plett
From a large number of hours on a zen meditation cushion, I guess I now come to the Circle way a little like when I was starting with zazen years ago: with wonder, humbleness in front of the elders, and a clear sense of something very basic and essential to our humanity in this practice.
- Olivier Winghart
On my teleseminar last week I invoked the visual of circle by sharing some words “Even though we are on the phone – calling in from all over the world, I am picturing us in a beautiful room, with some large windows letting in the sunlight, our notebooks in our laps, tea and coffee mugs in our hands… sitting in a circle to learn together.”
- Amanda Fenton
This morning I discovered that the university class I teach had fallen into conflict over the group project that they're doing (a fundraiser for a local charity). As soon as I heard about, I said "okay, time to move the desks against the wall and get into circle." I pulled out the talking piece I always carry in my purse and gave a brief introduction to circle practice. A few rounds with the talking piece allowed people to share honestly about their feelings, wishes, and needs, and now we're ready to move on with the project. Once again I found myself wondering how I ever managed to do group process before circle!
-Heather Plett