The Sharing Circle will be a completely confidential space

We were first introduced to sharing circles in 2007 by a volunteer who had lived at the Findhorn Eco Village in Scotland and learnt some of their community communication tools. Since then we’ve started our weekly staff meetings with a one hour sharing circle. This weekly team ritual enables us to continue the meeting knowing fully where each person is at. It provides a safe space for us to learn more about each other and deal with difficult internal team dynamics. The one hour this takes provides invaluable benefits both for personal growth and team building.

WHO * WHEN * WHERE *

Anyone can take part – it can be a work team, family, group of friends, house mates etc. It’s good to set up a regular session once a week or month when everyone can attend. All that’s needed is a space with minimal distractions where people feel safe and comfortable.

* HOW *

It first needs to be agreed that the Sharing Circle will be a completely confidential space.

Attunement: This is a short guided meditation to open the space and set the tone. The aim is to bring everyone into the present and to give people a chance to check in with themselves before sharing. The person who guides the attunement will also close the sharing.

Sharing: Each person will then have a chance to speak. It is good to find an object to use as a ‘talking stick’. This encourages only one person to talk at a time, as only the individual holding the ‘stick’ may speak. It could be about
work, personal life, lessons learnt or challenges.

Closure: This is another short meditation to bring the circle to a close and give people a chance to pause and reflect on what was shared and how they are now feeling.

More detailed guide to Sharing Circles | The Findhorn Community