Oh, the places healing circles can go!
Healing circles offer more than just a framework. They are a catalyst for connection, compassion, and cultivating healing. As more people engage in this work, we are witnessing how training sparks innovation, inspiring individuals to adapt healing circles to meet the unique needs of their communities.
In this issue, you will learn about circles inspired by Healing Circles training and brought to life in diverse settings. For example, Ang Coxen brings healing circles into schools, while Geo Errante brings them into prisons. Beth Light offers them at nursing retreats, and Jaune Evans carries them to the heart of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. Finally, Diana Lindsay turned the building that housed her communications company into a center that hosts hundreds of in-person circles each year.
We often describe healing circles as secular sanctuary — a safe, supportive space that isn’t tied to a religion but that offers the same sense of sacred belonging. We hope you are as inspired as we are by the way some of our circle hosts have brought secular sanctuary to meet the unique needs of their community.
Now, where will you take healing circles?
Amidst the profound challenges unfolding across the globe, we are all navigating tremendous change, and the world is in greater need of the compassion and light that healing circles provide than ever before. I warmly invite you to join us in shining light by hosting your own healing circle. Together, we can create spaces of peace and connection that touch the hearts of many.
Our training is designed to guide you in bringing healing circles to your community, organization, or workplace. You will find more information about upcoming trainings below.
Speaking of bright lights, we extend a heartfelt welcome to two wonderful new members to the HCG team: Meghan McGraw and Elin Stebbins Waldal. They are integral to our mission and to building a sustainable future for healing circles. I am truly excited to have them with us. You can learn more about them below.
Studies show that social connection improves health outcomes, and Healing Circles Global offers support for people at every stage of their cancer journey. Circles welcome those who have been recently diagnosed, are in treatment, remission, or terminally ill. They offer support for people who care for loved ones with cancer as well as for healthcare professionals who accompany patients throughout their healthcare journey.
Since 2020, our volunteers have hosted more than 2,000 circles for people who have been diagnosed with cancer and more than 100 circles for their caregivers!
These circles fill almost as quickly as our team of 40 Living with Cancer volunteers can create new ones. If you are interested in joining this deeply committed group of circle hosts, please contact [email protected]
Each of us has something to contribute toward building a better world, and every act of generosity counts. It is more important than ever to show up for one another. People heal in community, and they need the collective way of healing that circles provide. But to continue offering healing circles, we need your help!
Circles provide a safe space for people to connect and access their own inner wisdom and capacity for healing. With participants joining from across the US and from more than 30 countries, your contribution truly has a global impact and is an investment that promotes deep connection and healing in the world.
In this quarterly update, we are excited to share transformative stories and experiences that highlight the profound impact of healing circles in our communities. Through the power of storytelling, we will take you on a journey of healing, resilience, and connection as we explore the ways in which healing circles make a difference in the lives of individuals and groups.
From personal anecdotes of growth and self-discovery to testimonials of community support and solidarity, these stories serve as a testament to the profound healing that occurs when individuals come together in a safe and supportive space.
Join us as we celebrate the power of human connection and the ripple effects of compassion and empathy through the stories of those whose lives have been touched by healing circles.
Does your community have needs that a healing circle could meet? Healing circles bring people together to share, listen, and reflect, guided by a reliable framework and a consistent set of values. Circles hold space for connection and belonging, and they welcome all.
Are you ready to plant a new healing circle that meets the needs of your community? Learn how in our four-week training, which gives you the skills and resources to support people on their path to healing and wholeness.
Recent trainees say the following aspects of the training were most valuable to them:
- seeing how the mechanics, structure, and flow of healing circles are implemented
- practicing the roles of host or guardian and observing others in those roles
- spending time with mentors and fellow trainees who were generous in the way they saw and heard one another
- making connections with likeminded people from different countries and backgrounds
- gaining experience that empowers them to serve, not just help, others
Learn more about these trainings, register here, and be sure to forward this message to the friend you want to co-host your new healing circle with. We look forward to seeing you in an upcoming training!
The impulse to share the healing experience — to help others face what we have faced — is built into the human psyche.
As Rachel Naomi Remen puts it,
We heal in community.
Healing circles help us step out of ordinary time into a safe and accepting environment in which we can explore our healing. Together, we explore ways of deepening our capacity to heal, alleviating our suffering, and finding meaning in both challenge and joy.
So for whatever is on your heart today, we invite you to join an online circle. Our circles are small, confidential, and free of charge.
An old proverb reminds us that sharing joy with others doubles that joy and sharing sorrow halves that sorrow. Scientific research is starting to confirm what people have long known to be true: Those with positive social support have fewer heart attacks, live longer, experience less dementia, recover from illness more quickly, and are generally happier. But many don’t have the support they need.
Healing Circles is a non-profit whose vision is to provide positive social support to anyone who asks for it. This takes place in small circles built on a framework that brings out the best in people. It encourages participants to treat one another with kindness and respect, hold one another’s stories in confidence, withhold judgment, and honor one another’s unique path to healing without advising, fixing, or rescuing.
Circle participants work together to explore the best ways to remove obstacles to healing, alleviate suffering, and deepen their capacity to heal. They also access their own inner guidance to determine where the greatest healing — physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—can occur.
Healing Circles quickly spread among our cancer healing communities, then to people who were under lockdown alone at home, then to caregivers, nurses, and healthcare providers. At first only in the United States, but then there were circles in Israel, India, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam, Germany, Canada, Slovenia, and more. Then, special circles emerged — grief circles, writing circles, and creative art circles. Now we even have circles within hospital systems and the Veterans’ administration.
Sometimes it takes a wake-up call like cancer
to bring us back to ourselves.
The crisis of illness may shake us free of the life
that we have created
and allow us to begin a return
to the life that is our own.
… Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
The deepest work of a healing circle is
to allow each one of us
to be fully and completely ourselves.
Being fully seen and listened to in a circle
has the potential to heal deep hurts,
be it a physical pain
or a deep sorrow of the heart.
When we are received by others
who have the capacity to hold our pain
with a loving, non-judgmental acceptance,
we can start to believe that we are whole,
that we have something to give,
that our contribution to life
doesn’t depend on us being healthy
or even being of sound mind.
A circle member can offer a genuine presence
that can be deeply healing and helpful
to another person.
… Janie Brown
Executive Director and Co-Founder
of Callanish
In profound ways, the global pandemic is teaching us about our need for refuge and deep healing. It is next to impossible to do this alone. We need the loving accompaniment of others and the experience of how profoundly interdependent we are as human beings. And now, we can join circles from anywhere, healing ourselves and our planet.
Healing Circles help us explore ways of deepening our capacity to heal, alleviating our suffering, and finding meaning in both challenge and joy. Healing circles are a safe and supportive space to walk with each other through our experiences. Each circle is a blend of sharing and silence, compassion and curiosity. Agreements ensure acceptance and confidentiality. We honor our own unique paths to healing and respect the choices of others.
You are welcome to join online circles from anywhere in the globe, or to join an online training to learn how to host a circle in your own community.
HeART of Body: A Compassionate Self-Care Practice Circle
It can be transformative to hold our intention of compassionate self-care by engaging in the simple practices of easy movement, breathing, self-massage, and meditation.
With each practice — which encompasses body, heart, and mind — we learn to relax deeply, become more resilient, and shift our lives into better overall health. When we practice in community, we learn from one another, and we feel held.
More info
Healing Circles Global is proud to be a program of Commonweal, a four-star Charity Navigator, a non-profit working in three core fields — health and healing, art and education, and environment and justice.
Commonweal
Bolinas, California
In gratitude,
Lindsay Espejel
Co-Director
Healing Circles Global
Leave a Reply