Women circles
Written by Elegance Retreat
Women have been gathering together for centuries to share stories, prayers and support each others. Women’s circles are part of our culture and have been a forgotten ritual in our daily life.
Don’t we all love as women to gather together for lunch or a night out, to share, laught and cry together.
Women circles create a safe space for women of all ages and background to find support.
Women circles are very easy to structure and put together. In different culture, a women circle is called a red tent.
We have gathered a few ideas and guidelines for women’s circle part of the self care training. It will help you give you ideas on how to lead a women’s circle.
“A circle of women may just be the most powerful force known to humanity. If you have one, embrace it. If you need one, seek it.” Jeanette LeBlanc
To create a women circle, you can just gather a few girlfriends together at your home, at the beach, in a yoga studio. A women circle can be held anywhere as long as the space fell safe and private.
The ideal time can be from 1 to 2hours depending on how big is the circle. A good average is from 6 person to 20 persons. However I have been to circles with more than 40 women gather together.
Each time women gather in circles with each others the wolrd heals a little more
When you start a circle, always have a theme in mind. It can be anything that speaks to you and the participant at that specific moment. The circle can be held anytime. I prefer during full moon time as it holds the power and the energy of the moon.
Idea of theme can be: “how do you define feminine?, What does it mean for you to be a woman? What is your relationship to yourelf? How has religion shapped your view on feminity?What are your fear about period?… it can be anything you wish and fell related to.
To prepare the circle, do your research about the theme you will set, meditate on it and prepare a closing meditation ceremony. Set your intentions.
Prior to the circle make sure you prepare the space to make it unique and special. Have flowers ready, petals, essential oils, sage to burn, candles, angel cards, paper if you have a journaling exercise.
I have also created a talking stick which is used by native american tribes and have been used in cicles i have participated to before.
Get ready the space by smudging with sage, reflect your intentions, organise the yoga matt, pillows and blankets in a circle.
I then create a center piece with petals, mandala and cards.
As the participants arrive welcome them in the space, you can do some sage smudging around them and invite them to find a confortable sit in the circle
I love to open the circle with a prayer to all participants and then introduce the theme of the ceremony.
I then invite them to meditate around the theme and to integrate what it means for them.
As we start I invite each woman to introduce themselves, invoque their mother and grand mother to bring their ancestors in the circles and invoke the women who had an impact on their life
Once everybody is ready I introduce the talking stick and explain that we will be passing the stick around the room for each womman to talk and express themsleves.
Each woman express herself around the theme and sometime even more. It is such a liberating moment to feel being heard, beeing supported and hold by others.
These are extremely powerful and intense moments where a lot of emotions are beeing released. Welcome these with love and comprehension.
As all women have expressed themselves, give thanks and make a small prayer showing gratitude for each one participating.
I also like to conduct a small meditation to reflect on the moment .
One the meditation is finished I close the circle, offer tea, chocolates and sweets to the ladies.
Women circles are extremely powerful and are a way to heal and to express ourselves but also to feel the support of the community.
We offer women circles in most of our retreat and we invite you to create your own circles in your own community too.
Written by Elegance Retreat
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