Defining Circling
Circling is a relational-technology based on numerous practices and distinctions that support you in finding what is most true to you, communicating this powerfully and naturally, widening your perspectives and your ability to receive and stay open to others and nurturing a sense of deep personal and collective trust that is both relieving and generative.
It works within the often unseen fundamental ground of communication and relationship that underpins our experience.
That's why we see such strong transformation and development through the practice, because a small change in the areas that most matter can lead to a profound unfolding of potential over time.
It originated from applying meditative awareness onto our connections with others. In the same way a microscope reveals a whole other level of reality, Circling can reveal a new way of being in relationship.
What Makes Circling Different…
While it can have similar benefits to meditation, performance coaching or therapy the point of focus with Circling is what is happening in the present moment in our connections with each other.
There is no trying to get anywhere (although we include our longings and desires); we simply open more skilfully to what is here within us and between us.
With a wide variety of tools we effortlessly uncover blind spots, facilitate powerful trusting relationships, and often experience and open to the mystery at the heart of our being and connection.
An Empowerment Paradigm
What makes Circling distinctly different from coaching, therapeutic or other spiritual or developmental based modalities is it is primarily based on a relational context. Connection is the focus and it invites a form of ‘self-responsible adults relating’ at its base.
As a result, we do not try to guide the process in a typical way toward a predetermined outcome—it is always a co-creation of the relationships and group intelligence centred around connection.
Within this context therapeutic things can happen, and therapeutic knowledge can be very useful in order to help us see more accurately what is present. However, the focus is connection rather than on trying to get somewhere.
This invites everyone’s agency and leadership to the foreground which can be incredibly empowering for people unused to this environment. It can also be challenging for people who are used to directing others’ experience towards release, healing, openness, or change. It can also be challenging for people who are used to being more traditionally ‘directed’.
As part of this paradigm shift of—’radically being with’—the leaders are also part of the process. Even while the leaders hold the responsibility for continually helping to set context through ideas, principles and practices, they must also surrender to being just a part of the wider intelligence being generated in the group field.
This makes an elegant dance with uncertainty central to the process . This willingness to be in the unknown and openness to being surprised is part of what cultivates an attitude of wonder that through practice becomes more and more available inside and outside of Circling.
This practice can also be confronting and challenging for people and may reveal deep seated relational patterns or struggles. It may also feel incredibly peaceful and like ‘coming home’.
You’re not a problem that someone needs to fix.
Circling is a practice of meeting you exactly where you, as you are.
We hold whatever arises—both in you and in ourselves—with a degree of wonder and meet it with innocence.
And, we find that doing so usually cultivates nourishing and far-reaching growth.
What’s it based on?
Circling is a 21st century practice that’s grown out of a synthesis of knowledge from cutting edge psychology, philosophy and spiritual wisdom.
Circling stands on the pillars of wisdom of generations that can be uniquely woven and distilled into a hugely practical and useful technology to create change. Without such contemporary profound access to the world’s best knowledge and practice on how humans can grow and develop this would likely not have been possible. At the same time it includes century’s old ‘Circle Wisdom’.
It’s also simple at it’s core, very human and essentially about unveiling the things that get in the way of the love and clarity between us.