Healing Circles Gathering 2019
During the Healing Circles Gathering at Commonweal on January 17-20, 2019, we spent an hour gathering a snapshot of who and where we are.
We learned that we are growing: Members of our learning community held healing circles in 31 locations with four more in the planning stages.
We are international: Most of these circles were held in the United States and Canada.
There were retreats and healing circles held in the Netherlands, India, Israel, Australia, and South Africa with new centers in planning stages in Switzerland and Brazil.
We are creative: Our circle hosts have created 185 different types of circles from one-time learning events and weekly circles that have met for more than four years to monthly circles that have been going for decades. No one size fits all.
We are responsive: Each circle responds to the needs of its members and communities. We began by serving cancer patients and today our cancer circles might support anyone living with cancer or may focus on specific cancer patient populations, such as gender, race, age, types of cancer, as well as support roles, caregivers, spouses, parents, children. These circles promote intentional healing through both deep individual healing work as well as navigational learning opportunities.
We support our communities: Beyond our cancer work, we are supporting other areas of concern for our communities: grief, chronic illness, healing, wellness, caregiving, trauma, pain, divorce, homelessness, resilience, youth, aging, meditation, spirituality, conscious dying, and more.
We support each other: We also support those who serve others: our volunteers, our staff, healthcare professionals, family caregivers, first responders, clergy, social workers, and the rest of the learning community.
Our agreements are the same; our practices are diverse: To better serve our communities and the individuals within them, we reach out using a variety of self-discovery methods—silent meditation, circles of one, circles of two, circles of more, energy work, art expression, movement, and learning circles.
As we share our own perspectives and learnings, the community grows stronger.
No one person makes Healing Circles. We all do.
Photos by Oren Slozberg, Colleen Chan, and Diana Lindsay
