Circle Holding

By: Julia Davis and Tessa Venuti Sanderson
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • Do you run a group or a circle? Join us for insights into circle facilitation. In Series 1, listen to shorter episodes with Julia and Tessa for explorations into concepts about circle holding and practical tips: * What is a talking circle? * What is circle holding as a role? * How do you manage big personalities and big feelings ? * How do you support deep listening? * Should it be free, by donation or a charge? * Are talking circles just a bit woo woo? * And favourite memories and challenging moments in circle time Listen to longer interviews with diverse circle holders for fantastic insights into holding space: * Imposter syndrome and group dynamics with Kate Codrington * Radical empathy with Narrative 4’s Lee Keylock * Co-facilitation with Red School's Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlizter * Circle as a container for breathwork with Benedict Beaumont * Working with children and talking about sensitive topics with Jane Bennett * Creating space for health masculinity with Lee Stegels * Funding what your community needs with Becoming Mum’s Liz Allum * Including diverse voices through Participatory Democracy with Andy Pierce
    Circle Holding
    Show More Show Less
Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Relationships Social Sciences
Show More Show Less
Episodes
  • Part 2: The Nuts and Bolts of Circle Facilitation with Mike Irwin

    Part 2: The Nuts and Bolts of Circle Facilitation with Mike Irwin
    Jan 31 2025
    In this episode with Mike Irwin, he and Julia discussed: • It’s okay as a facilitator to be learning and not be perfect! People are looking for authenticity and not superconfident • Your nervousness can be a gift to the nervous attendees • The first part of starting the circle is to get present yourself as a facilitator • You can start with a centring question e.g. ‘What’s preventing me from feeling comfortable here?’ or ‘What do I want to feel like at the end of the session?’ • As important aspect of guidelines is to open up the requirements around confidentiality to the attendees eg.’if you see me in the supermarket ignore me’ through to ‘let’s swap phone numbers and keep in touch outside the circle’ • You may also want to discuss how the circle will deal with conflict. A ‘hygiene measure’ that might help is to make ‘I’ statements • There is a tension between what people want to talk about and what they don’t want to talk about but would be good to, like emotions! For example, relationships with parents, family, sexual relationships, with money. ‘Tell me a time when….(e.g. your relationship with money was difficult)’ • One exercise is to put an empty chair in the room and imagine putting someone in it e.g. mum, partner, • There is a tension between facilitation and participation – Mike feels you can’t fully be in the group and facilitate • The process involves understanding ‘Where am I?’ now and being in an intermediary position where you don’t want to be before you can get to ‘Where I’d love to be’. You might ask ‘Can you inhabit this inbetween place?’ • In closing the circle, you might give people a chance to say what they got out of it. • Circles are important because they counteract the influences on young men from what is on social media
    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • Setting Up a Circle

    Setting Up a Circle
    Jan 30 2025
    In this episode, Tessa Venuti Sanderson ask Julia Davies about her most recent circle, which is six months old. They cover who the circle was for, charging, venue considerations and much more.
    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • Running Your Circle At Home (and Plant Medicine) with Nicky Yazbeck

    Running Your Circle At Home (and Plant Medicine) with Nicky Yazbeck
    Jan 24 2025
    In this episode with Nicky Yazbeck (https://nickyyyoga.com/) and Julia, they covered: • How Nicky holds a women’s circle for those who’ve experienced plant medicine • Ayhuasca is a serious plant medicine and need to prepare through clean diet and other preparations • A circle is important for creating a container for the experience • There is a WhatsApp group important for the integration of what came up after taking the plant medicine – everyone in the group has shared experience • People are welcome whether it’s a good or bad day • Separate women and men’s circles are held because they’ve found a different level of sharing when the sexes are separated • Pre-circle phone call with Nicky to set expectations • Opening is an opportunity for someone to share – might be a chance to grow through vulnerability e.g. singing in from of the circle, teaching a meditation • She’s found that having done plant medicine, people are willing to go deeper: there’s no hesitancy about sharing • She asks people to be specific about what they want: to have space held for them, support given, reflection and / or advice. Definitely not there to rescue people. Attendees may check “Are you open to feedback?” • In a 3 hour circle, there are usually 9-14 women and Nicky doesn’t keep time for how long people speak for. • A firm guideline is that we don’t talk about people who aren’t present. • Closing is an opportunity to ask everyone how they want to close the circle to give ownership e.g. singing a song, rolling oms, holding hands
    Show More Show Less
    37 mins

What listeners say about Circle Holding

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
No Reviews are Available